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Fitness Under $50
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General/Other
"Fitness Under Fifty Bucks:
Discovering Flexible Deals on a Non-Flexible Budget
By Coach Rick Karboviak
Let’s face it: our country right now is in a huge economic crisis situation. As I’m writing this article, it is on the day of what will probably go down in the history books as a historic day, when the stock market fell almost 780 points, its largest drop in history. Who knows what this may bring down the road, but whether or not it goes into Depression-era territory or not, people will start looking for budget saving ideas on their fitness training needs.
Gym membership fees may end, as a method to save money each month, and more people may end up investing money into a home gym set-up to save some extra dough. The trouble is, is that most people who will do this might end up buying more than they actually need. I’ve seen people buy multi-station home gyms, only to see them become clothes hangers for their workout gear.
The truth of the matter is that most home gyms can be equipped with just bare-bone, basic materials, without a lot of extra attachment bars & straps to contend with, let alone the assembly times (& the confusion that arises from it).
Through my own experience, I’ve found the best deals for fitness CAN be had for under $50 or less, added a piece at a time to your collection. Here are some of my discoveries:
1. A 20# kettlebell: I purchased a GoFit brand kettlebell for $50. It came with an instructional DVD, and by itself, can offer a load of opportunity for the average person. 10 & 15 pound versions can also be purchased for even lower prices. Kettlebells are the BEST, portable ‘home gym’ out there, in my opinion & experience.
2. A Stability Ball: Ranging in price from $10 to $30 in most stores, you can find these in plain-jane fashion, or with a weight inside them, to help out with keeping it more stable. Your bodyweight & a ball can offer plenty avenues of resistance exercises to do.
3. Jump Ropes: Albeit not for everyone, mostly everyone can do some jump roping for fitness & for sports training improvement, too. Just short bursts of jumps with rest in-between offers a great high intensity workout, done on less than $15, even as little as $3 a rope, depending on what you seek out in a jump rope.
4. 40# Adjustable Dumbbell Set: Found from anywhere between $30 to $40 for a set at any major retail store, these can suit the need for many people for a general strength training workout. If you need more weight, simply purchase more plates at a sporting goods store, for about 50 cents a pound in most places.
5. 5-foot Standard Barbell: For $15 to $25 in most sporting goods or retail stores, you can get a 5 foot barbell, preferably with spin-on collars for added safety. Use this with your Dumbbell set’s weights to add more exercise variety.
6. PVC Pipe: I’ve created agility ladders & hurdles out of PVC pipe after a trip to the mega-hardware store, an"... read entire tip
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budget, home gyms, home workout, home equipment
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created by
kettlebell27
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saved on 10/14/2008
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1
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6.3
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N/A
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Foam Rollers are awesome!
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General/Other
"Okay, after 4 straight days of 9.5 hours/day of detailing vehicles, my body was 'a little shot' last night. I will admit that I have been a bit lax on keeping up my flexibility lately, and haven't been using my foam roller as I should be. All I can say is that foam rollers help out so much in alleviating stress in the muscles of the lower back & legs. I felt a lot better after doing that.
It is the best cheap massage that you can get on your own time & schedule."
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foam roller
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created by
kettlebell27
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saved on 10/3/2008
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1
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7.3
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N/A
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AKC vs RKC: Which Kettlebell Method is better?
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Strength Training
"In the world of kettlebells, there seems to be two camps of training methods & styles out there: The American Kettlebell Club, or AKC, and the Russian Kettlebell Certification method, or RKC.
Honestly, I'm not that prepared on the full & entire backgrounds on these two, but here's my quick & dirty observations.
RKC: the Russian Kettlebell Certification method is also known as "Hard Style", made known & created by Pavel Tsastouline. (Forgive me if the name is spelled wrong, my last name is just as difficult to type & say sometimes, too!) I am venturing to say that this method of getting certified, as well as the training principles behind it, is created as a for-profit entity for Pavel's business, simply put. Pavel created his own certification course & requirements & the classes to go along with it (usually a 2-3 day workshop). I respect the amount of work done into it, and I had the opportunity to be trained by an RKC trainer at his very own introduction to KB's workshop, that trainer's name was Jon Engum. As a fitness trainer, I'm not into getting certified by a for-profit company/business, which requires/suggests that you sell only their products that are KB related. That, to me, is a franchise hidden as a certification method. Part of me don't like that, but hey, if trainers want to do it, & have success with it, fine by me.
The AKC is actually a wing of the World Kettlebell Club, and has their own certifications, too. I am not sure if this is for-profit or non-profit, however. The websites I get don't really tell me much on that, and it seems that they only info you can get access to is by blog.
I just got a blog from the AKC a day or two ago, which is right here. I know its from the AKC position, but it does a lot to decipher the differences & similar methods they both have, in the AKC & RKC battle.
The thing I'm mad about is how secretive the AKC seems to be. I mean, I went to the World KB Club site, and the About Us section ironically tells me how there has been a "Cloud of Secrecy" that surrounded KB lifting, and how they want to remove it. But, I can't join the Forum, as it appears to be Super-Secret or something. As the Beaver would say on Leave it to Beaver, "Well, Gee Wally, I can't get an answer if I can't ask a question!"
Even a simple "this is how we certify, and when/where we'll do it, here are some of our AKC certified trainers, too" listing would be helpful, but this isn't the case.
Advantage? I"m going with the RKC at this point, since this method has a well-known & well-marketed system behind it, with aspects from all levels of fitness in the fields of sport, martial arts, and even military/law enforcement/emergency personnel physical training."
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kettlebell, kettlebell training, rkc, akc, wkc
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created by
kettlebell27
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saved on 6/6/2008
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1
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33.6
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N/A
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Auto Detailing & Fitness Training: Not much different from each other
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General/Other
"After a 'sabbatical' from the fitness training full-time profession I once had, I began doing auto detailing work at a Chevy dealer. I love Chevy's in the first place, so to work for Chevrolet is like 7th Heaven somedays for me. I had this job on a temporary basis, as I was awaiting news to see if I was going to be accepted into a Catholic seminary for a special 1 year discernment program. I got news recently that I wasn't accepted, but on the good side of that, I was offered to keep my current auto detailing job with a higher wage as well. Now, I'm doing auto detailing as my main career, with fitness training as a side hobby.
I recently went to an auto detailing workshop, and learned a lot of similar things it has in common with fitness training, between the 2 business aspects of it.
If an auto detailer is trying to make a sale on a detail job, he can't oversell & under-deliver. You can't say "I can make that car shine as good as it was new, I can get that carpet as fresh as it was from the factory...", and then when you CAN'T make it shine, you can't make stains come out, or you can't remove a smudge with 3 different cleaning agents you tried, you just can't start making excuses with your detail client.
Same thing with fitness training, as a career profession, and for many who take on the services of a trainer: you can't expect magic to happen if you don't do a full assessment of what you're about to undertake.
As an auto detailer, if I have a detail job to do, I should take a look at the damages on the car to get a full estimate of what I can do, and perhaps how long its going to take. If the exterior is all scratched up, filthy, tires are awful-looking in the rims, plus the interior is full of 'various farm stuff' from the fields, its going to take a while.
As a fitness trainer, I'd see many clients who'd expect a 'full detail' and want it done in less time than it would take. People who'd be literally 50 pounds or more over an ideal healthy weight, and want it off in a month or two by seeing me 2-3 times a week, and that would be all they'd do. YIkes, I just can't do that. Just like I can't be expected to get a farm truck, crew-cab style, and turn it into a shining piece of artwork in 3 hours. It just can't happen that quickly (maybe a full day's worth, like 6-8 hours of detail), when the carpets need to be shampooed, scrubbed, and possibly shampooed again, which could take 1 hour on its own.
Ideally, I can make this type of truck look better, but not 'fresh off the factory' new. If the truck's got 90,000 miles of beat-to-hell wear & tear on gravel roads & fields as a majority of those miles, then I'd be lucky to make it shine with minimal scratches. The customer has to know this, and not be expected to get a totally new-looking truck, and end up with something less than expected.
Fitness is the same way: you can't expect to detail your body into a fine, shapely-tuned piece of artw"... read entire tip
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created by
kettlebell27
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saved on 6/1/2008
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2
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14.7
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100 %
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Ride your bike more, folks...
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Endurance
"I just got an article published on the site, StandApartFitness.com, where I go into the benefits of bike riding instead of driving for trips of 5 miles or less, especially to work, during the summertime. I mention how I first discussed this topic on FitConnect.com, within the article, so its a 'plug' for both FitConnect & for the benefits of riding your bike more!
Start pedaling your way over there!
For less than $100, you got a fat-burning machine and a gas-saver, too, all on just 2 wheels.
Spin away!"
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created by
kettlebell27
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saved on 5/10/2008
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4
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18.4
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100 %
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Charles Atlas is STILL selling books...that oughta tell ya something.
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Strength Training
"Call me silly, but I love the aura & story of Charles Atlas. There was a time in early 2007 I saw a documetary on Charles Atlas on A&E. For those that don't know who Charles Atlas was, he was the first guy to really 'teach' people fitness, through exercise booklets, starting out in the 1920's, I believe. If you know the famous comic strip ad, which shows a guy getting sand kicked in his face and embarrassed at the beach in front of his girl, the guy goes & 'gambles a stamp' to get Charles Atlas' 7-day course on getting a bigger body. The comic strip ends with the guy coming back, beating up the guy who previously embarrassed him the week before. Cheesy, yes, but effective in selling fitness? You bet...
I actually bought the famous "Dynamic Tension Course" as a downloaded e-book, soon after seeing it online on the official Charles Atlas site.
I gotta say, I love the retro-fitness feel of it all. It is still in the exact format as it was in the 1920's-30's, which really makes it unique.
The main purpose of this book was back in the day, you'd send in for 'lessons' to be sent to you. So, there are 12 lessons, complete with other free tips on boxing, judo, wrestling, & feats of strength to attempt. This e-book I got had all 12 lessons & the tip guides on those things. Each week, you were supposed to work on one lesson, then work on 2 lessons every two weeks. There's a ton of info on nutrition that is still applicable today, for the most part. I love how it was totally free of taking any supplements, since there was hardly any at this time to take. Just basic principles on eating clean, healthy choices of foods.
The wonderful part about these lessons is everything is based on bodyweight and resistance created by your own body, like pushing down on your wrist as you curl up the other arm towards you. It pits your body's strength against itself. They are some fun exercises to do now & then. Most exercises are akin to bodyweight resistance only, like push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and other odd stuff that you hardly see today.
Anyways, my main tip with all of this is that if such a simple program that was created in the 1920's is still around in 2008, that ought to tell you something about how simple, effective training tips still out-last the complicated messes of just a few years ago.
I remember doing some complicated programs back around 2000-2003, and how much calculating and pre-planning I had to do just for one workout alone.
Now that I've learned simple training techniques like choosing less exercises and practicing them as more as a skill instead of a dreaded lift to do, its helped me get stronger & fitter over time. I've learned the more simple a program can be, the better chance you're going to see results from it."
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created by
kettlebell27
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saved on 4/29/2008
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1
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22.8
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100 %
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The Fat Loss-Muscle Gain Conundrum
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Strength Training
"I'm not sure if this is a tip, or a rant, or a mix of both. My tip with this is to not be overly concerned with fat loss, or muscle gain, or both at the same time.
Why?
Let's look at each:
Fat Loss: Many times I have seen people say to me "I used to weight X amount in high school, now I wish I could get back to that, since I have gained 30 pounds in 10+ years since then." Well, perhaps your 'high school weight' isn't what you should be shooting for. If you are female and have had 1-3 kids in that 10+ years time frame, I imagine you won't be able to get down to your high school appearances in weight alone. Obviously, the goal of fat loss is good to have here, but don't make it unrealistic. If someone compares their "HS Weight" to their current weight and wants to get back down to that, ASAP, it's a setup for total failure, 99% of the time. My suggestion: Get on a fitness strategy first, figure out how many days/week you're going to do what you need to do, in order to be more active in life, and more proficient in your exercise routines. No more of this "I do 100 crunches a day' BS that I see, that doesn't do anything in the long run. I've experienced how inefficient the 525 ab exercise reps a day workout can be, it killed my lower back by not balancing out my ab exercises with any back exercises (525 reps to Zero!) One should get a workout strategy developed first, one that's going to be ideally prepped to adhere to.
Muscle Gain: I see this often with HS kids who are athletes, or college guys who are 'looking to get cut & ripped'. Instead of going on a rant here, let's take a look at the oldtime strongmen of the 1900's to 1940's. Without any Super Whey Protein, Creatine, NO, or what-else-there-is that promotes itself as a 'muscle builder', these guys got 'cut & ripped' without any supplements. Just good, solid training methods that they STUCK to, and didn't have to look inside a glossy 'fit rag' that's full of pill ads and craptastic unfilfilling workouts, to find what they wanted. I'm sure they weren't fixated on a bodyweight number, they were fixated on one thing: lifting heavier things, and doing it with maximum strength. So, in general, don't get fixated on a magical bodyweight & body composition number. Just start lifting for STRENGTH and hone that as you SKILL, and your body will be developed to become proficient at that skill. Also, I have seen many young athletes ask me how to gain X amount of pounds because their coach mentioned that another '10 pounds on you will do you some good'. I then tell them if they follow that logic, they should 1) go out to the nearest Wal-Mart, 2) Buy a weighted vest in the exercise/sports section, and 3) put the weight that your coach recommends that you should have on your body, and see if you run any faster immediately.
Chances are, you'd be slower, and couldn't perform quite as well, with another 10 pounds or more that were instantly pl"... read entire tip
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fat loss, strength, muscle gain
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created by
kettlebell27
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saved on 4/22/2008
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3
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24.4
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100 %
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Don't forget the rest of the body...
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Strength Training
"One of my pet peeves are people who ask me questions like:
"What's a good exercise to get rid of my fat around the hips?"
"What's going to get me a six-pack look, like what ab workout do I need?"
"My arms are small, and I've been doing curls forever, what's it going to take for me to get them bigger, high reps & low weight?"
People, people, people...it takes more than just an exercise, or a section-of-the-body routine-only, to get what you want.
Personally, let me tell you from experience my successes & failures...
In high school, I did the following, mainly because I didn't know any better, and I didn't have the wonderful resource of the internet to perhaps get all my stuff from, in learning how to train for sports:
5:30am: wake up, do 20-30 minutes of a cross-country ski machine
6am: do 15 minute abdominal workout, doing upwards of 525 total reps of various exercises combined within this time frame, on average
6:15am: do some squats, bench, and curls with a sand-filled, plastic weight set & rummage sale bench.
6:45am: get ready and go to school for Open Gym
7am -7:30am, work on shooting drills in the gym, even doing a 'Heavy Trainer' basketball routine by shooting a weighted basketball, followed by regular shots with a regular one. I would only do close range shot with the heavy ball to work on my touch. When I went to the regular ball, it would literally feel like a balloon to me.
That was pretty much a steady routine of mine for 5 days a week. Let me tell you what it did:
The XC ski machine DID help my 'wind' at the end of a practice or game. I wasn't fast in the beginning, but from what I know now, my recovery ability was perhaps slightly better than my faster counterparts, so when they were slowing down, I was matching or beating their speeds & efforts. I noticed this primarily when I was 2nd to last on my team in 'Crushers' at the end of a 30 second or 1 minute bout of them my sophomore year, and went to being 2nd or 3rd on the team to finish them my junior year. Anyways, knowing what I know now, maybe a jump rope routine would have had me better off, because that would have made playing defense a hell of a lot easier with more body control & foot quickness. I had endurance, but I wasn't really quick enough right away in the early portions of a game or practice, when everyone else who was faster was kicking my ass.
The weight workout was crappy, I'll just leave it at that. I didn't know what to really do with this. We had no coach to lead us or develop a program, and all the football guys were doing a pyramid style program of squats & bench presses (mainly just bench presses), based on an old weight program from a former HS player from our school that was on a D-II national championship team in the 1980's.
The ab workout DID get me a six-pack, however, my lower back suffered miserably, especially my senior year, due to an overly-strong abdo"... read entire tip
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created by
kettlebell27
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saved on 4/12/2008
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3
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15.7
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100 %
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Benefits of Timed Work Sets
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Strength Training
"A Timed Work Set basically needs a few components:
1. A set time frame to complete the total number of reps within.
2. A lone, pair, or trio of exercises to do in the set time frame.
3. A goal number of reps to complete for the time frame
4. A sub-maximal load, such as a 10RM load, doing reps of 5-8 per set
This concept first came to me via the Charles Staley EDT program, which is Escalating Density Training. Essentially you are trying to complete more work (reps x weight) per unit of time.
EDT workouts range from 10-15 minutes in a pair of exercises chosen. To keep it simple, most EDT workouts have an upper body & a lower body exercise within each pair.
I have followed this format, but with 7 minute work sets, for 6 movements.
First 7 minute circuit: Squatting & Upper Body Pushing
Second 7 minute circuit: Lunging & Upper Body Pulling
Third 7 minute circuit: Twisting & Bending
I don't follow the EDT format 'to the letter', but I've noticed that the 7 minute workout circuits for each of those movements work greatly for a condensed workout format (i.e. total body workout in 21 minutes).
I've also used this 7 minute strategy with power-based kettlebell movements, such as a lone exercise and the 1 arm alternating exercises, like snatches, cleans, or if you want to get funky with a kettebell, the rotational swing & Figure 8 swing variants are nice little monsters to tame.
A common KB test to do is the 10 minute Snatch test, which is doing as many snatches as you can, alternating arms as you wish, but doing so continually.
The 10 minute Snatch drill/test is one hell of an intensified workout in itself. I would equal it to perhaps trying to complete 2 miles worth of running in 10 minutes (a 5 minutes/mile clip), equal to it energy-wise, perhaps.
My past experience with just a 25# kettlebell alternating swing for 5 minutes had me burning approximately 20 calories/minute, equal to a 7 minutes/mile pace calorie-burning rate-per-minute for my bodyweight. I tested this on a device called the BioTrainer in 2006. I know snatches require more control & energy exertion, and I don't need a scientist to tell me that, I can tell just by how I feel when doing a snatch workout.
Anyways, these timed work sets give you a simple thing in the end: a goal to shoot for, for your next workout.
Another advantage of doing these work sets is you can measure your total volume, and how much volume of work you can do on a per-minute basis.
Take for instance a 10 minute Snatch test with a 45# kettlebell.
Let's say you did 200 reps total, like a mutant would, in the total of 10 minutes. 200 x 45 = 9000 pounds of work, which would be 900 pounds/minute for your per-minute rate of work.
One of the simplest measurements of endurance is seeing if you can do more work in the same amount of time. In the previous example, 9000 pounds of total work could be improved upon to 9900, or 220 reps with your"... read entire tip
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created by
kettlebell27
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saved on 4/12/2008
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2
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22.5
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100 %
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Why Stretching & Warm-Up should NOT be Next-Door Neighbors
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General/Other
"Okay folks, I need to 'go off' a little here.
It seems every so often, I get questions on AllExperts.com, a Q&A site to get questions answered by experts in the field of your subject matter you want answers. These questions on AllExperts.com generally can go like this:
"I run about 3-5 times a week, I stretch for my warm-up, and for the last 2-3 weeks, I've been getting a nagging pain in (insert random area on the lower leg or foot here). What am I doing wrong?"
Well, my friends, the answer is stretching for your warm-up.
"OMG! Did he just say not to stretch during your warm-up? That's absurd!"
Well, yes, it is a rather 'unorthodox' thing to say. But here's why.
When you stretch out a cold muscle before physical activity, you are essentially ripping apart your muscle tissue & its fascia, and then pounding it to hell with strenuous bouts of exercise. There is very little 'warming up' of the muscles here.
And if you follow the goofy logic of 'jogging for a warm-up, then stretch', you are adding more stress to the body before you start to tear into another set of hardly-warmed-up muscles.
You can't just go into a jogging mode, or even a walking mode, and expect to get 'warmed up' in that small amount of time.
I used to do this quite a bit, as it was 'gospel truth' back in the day to do a 5 minute jog, followed by another 5-10 minutes of tearing-up-my-sore-legs-kind of stretching. I never really got loose in basketball practice until after our first 10 minute drill of actually moving in multiple directions.
Then, in about 2001, I discovered The Stick, a small stick-like massaging tool, that you could roll across your muscles to help stimulate blood flow & the nerve endings, as a major part of your warm-up routine.
Once I started doing this, I could not believe how quickly my muscles got ready for action, all without doing any sort of static-hold-&-stretch type of stretching. I didn't have to struggle through 5-10 minutes of running with stiff muscles until they 'got loose'...They simply got loose from The Stick.
Later on, I'd even try a wooden rolling pin out in the same fashion, and that even did wonders, a heck of a lot better than the 'old standard' of Sit-N-Hold Stretching.
When you logically think about it, does sitting down or standing stationary and literally pulling a muscle to a point of pain, is THAT really considered warming up anything? Does it feel good when doing it? Do you feel any better after it?
Stick before, Stretch after.
Keep it simple, folks, and keep your muscles feeling happy, too."
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stretching, the stick
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created by
kettlebell27
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saved on 3/12/2008
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2
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27
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100 %
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