Hotel Workouts



Arm Curls with Power Band

Powerbands - Portable

 

 

Powerbands are those neat coloured rubber tubes with handles on the ends.  Very light and portable, these are perfect for air travel.  Mine scrunches up in the corner of my luggage.  Different colours have different amounts of tension.

Tricep Pressdown with Powerband

Powerbands - Versatile

 

Powerbands are a useful travelling workout tool.  They basically provide resistance like weights or machines would.  They can be used in countless ways to work various muscles.  Maybe not as effective as weights or machines but better than just laying back and doing thumb-presses on the remote all evening long.

Wall Sit

The Wall

Even the wall is an exercise tool.  Use it for wall-sits.  The longer you hold this position; the better.


Stationary Lunges

The Floor

Lunges are a great workout that you can do in a hotel room.


Crunches

The Bed

Tuck your feet under the bed and bang out some crunches.  This will keep your core strong.

Bench Dips

 

Coffee Table

 

Bench dips on the coffee table will keep your triceps in condition while you're travelling.

The Stairs 

Creepy Stairs



Most hotels have stairways.  Not often used in these lazy times.  Take the stairs man!  Excellent exercise.  Mind you; not all stairwells seem that nice.  Check them out before using them.  These ones were kind of creepy.  I don't feel that vulnerable so I used them anyway.

 

The Hotel Fitness Room



Hotel Gym

I judge a hotel by its fitness room.  I love having some free-weights and at least a few choices for cardio machines.  Pool and sauna are nice too.  If you're lucky and the hotel has a decent fitness room; take the time to get in a quick workout.  It may not be exactly what you'd do at home or in your regular gym, but look at it as a good change.

 

Tom

 

Hate Me Now - Thank Me Later



Where to Park

Fitness Parking

Do you drive around for 2 minutes looking for the closest parking space to the door?  Shame!  Go to the back of the lot and park as far away as possible.  This little trick will guarantee that you burn extra calories strolling from your car to the building and back.  It will take a few more minutes but you will feel better and look better.

Tom

Hate Me Now - Thank Me Later

Prepare for March Break Now

Start Thinking About Packing a Six Pack Now

Now's the time to start thinking about March Break.  I'm a trainer and I don't want you coming to me all fat and desperate in early February, complaining that you need to lose 25 lbs in a month.  Profitable for me but painful for you.

Six Months to Success

Summer's over.  You strolled the beaches with your tanned, tight bod.  Let's keep it that way for the next few months.  The heavy sweaters and long pants of fall and winter are not the time to hit the pizza and beer.  Students - all the fun times and beer and wings with your buddies will add up to major grief for you in Florida next spring if you're not careful now.  Career folks - Christmas calories count just like the rest.

The Plan

Weigh yourself today.  Track your weight weekly over the next six months so that you know exactly what's going on with your body.  Be very careful with your total daily caloric intake.  Stay active.  Walk, run, workout - whatever.  Plan to get serious about training in early December.  I know that's relaxed party season but trust me - it'll pay off in March.

Starting in December, we'll crank-up the training slowly so that you peak when you hit the beach in February or March.  Start thinking about this now - there's only one March Break for you each year - you don't want to blow it.

More on March Break prep training in a later post.

Tom

Hate Me Now - Thank Me Later.

Kefir

Kefir?

I first heard of kefir in a nutrition class promoted by the military.  Neither the instructor nor any of the students had ever even seen kefir.  All that was known about it was it a dairy product with vaguely middle eastern origins.  Living in the remote prairies at the time, kefir was scarce.  I finally found kefir in New Brunswick.  It was in the "exotic/foreign" food section of the grocery store, near the goats milk and yak butter.  The first product I found came in a container that was sealed with a foil lid (like the one pictured below).  The foil lid was bulged out under pressure.  I thought that it had gone bad but all of them were like that.  Closer inspection of the label revealed that this phenomenon is called "Champansky Effect" and is normal.  It is caused by fermentation gases.

The Taste

Kefir has a very unique taste.  I describe it as "yogurt-flavoured beer".  The plain version tastes the strongest but you can get raspberry and other flavoured kefir also.

Value

Its sold in smaller containers than cow's milk and is more expensive.  Its no good for adding to coffee or tea or cereal.  I use it as a beverage.  Some of my kids like it and some don't.  It seems to last in the fridge for a long time.

Nutrition

Kefir is high in protein and calcium.  Its loaded with healthy probiotic bacteria which is good for your gastrointestinal tract. 

Use

I keep kefir in the fridge and drink a small glass of it once or twice a day.  Its good mixed into a smoothy or protein shake.  Even a tablespoon of kefir taken occassionally can give you much of the probiotic benefits.  I've never tried taking kefir in my lunch and I doubt that it would be very portable.  Cooking with it will kill the healthy bacteria.

Recommendation

Get some kefir.  Start with nice flavoured stuff.  Try it.  You'll either like it or hate it.  At least when someone mentions kefir; you'll know what they're talking about.

Tom

Hate Me Now - Thank Me Later

Shoulder Workout

Training Your Shoulders

The key muscle group of the shoulder is the deltoid.  Deltoid has frontal, lateral and rear heads.  The frontal head of the deltoid gets a lot of work during normal bench press.  The lateral and rear heads of the deltoid are the ones that really require special attention.

Basic Shoulder Exercises

The musculature of the shoulder region is generally powerful but the joint itself is delicate.  Shoulder work demands a methodical approach and some light-weight sets to warm-up.

Military Press

The Military Press is a superb shoulder building exercise.  You can use dumbbells or a barbell.  Some machines do a good job of replicating this move too.  Stand with feet wide apart.  Clean the bar up to your collar-bone.  Press it straight up overhead.  Elbows should be fully extended.  Lower it back to the collar bone.  Repeat.  Engage your core when you do this exercise or you may feel discomfort in your lower back.  This exercise mostly hits lateral delts but also uses frontal delts to a lesser extent.  This should be your first deltoid exercise if doing multiple exercises, due to the remote risk of dropping the weight on your head.

Dumbbell Side Laterals

This exercise is excellent for hitting the side or lateral delts.  These muscles need to be worked if you're going to add width to your shoulders.  Ladies - this exercise gives your shoulders that nice definition that looks great in a sleeveless dress.  Using light to medium weight dumbbells and a slight bend in the elbows, raise the dumbbells up to about ear-height.  Just as the model in the photo is doing - tip the front of the dumbbells down.  Just like you're pouring a bottle.  This slight move really focuses the work onto the lateral delts.  Lower slowly and repeat.  I like to start with the weights together in front of my body.  This creates a little work for some of the rotator-cuff muscles.

Bentover Dumbbell Flyes

This exercise works the often-neglected posterior or rear delts.  This muscle is vital for many sports and manual labour as well as giving you a square-shouldered appearance.  You can sit on the end of a bench or lie down prone on the bench to do this exercise.  Some people do this in a standing position.  If that's comfortable for your lower back, I'm not going to stop you (unless you're my client).  Dumbbell in each hand, slight bend in elbows...raise the dumbbells up as high as you can.  There's no risk of going too high!  Don't raise your chest up.  Keep hands well forward (you should be able to see the dumbbells in your peripheral vision).  Lower.  Repeat.

Basic Shoulder Routine

Try this after a decent warm-up:

Military Press: 3 sets of 8 reps

Dumbbell Side Laterals:  3 sets of 10 reps

Bentover Dumbbell Flyes:  3 sets of 10 reps

Tom

Hate Me Now - Thank Me Later

Mission to Uganda

 

Kathleen's Service in Uganda

 

 

 

Kathleen is a great young lady with a passion for helping people in the name of our Lord Jesus.  I have been blessed to play a small role in her preparation for a mission to Uganda.

 

 

 

 

Child Voice International

 

ChildVoice International is a non-profit organization seeking to restore the voices of children silenced by war. ChildVoice acts on the conviction that children broken by war can be restored in safe communities with loving care, spiritual and emotional counselling, and effective education and vocational training.

 



Kathleen's Work

Kathleen is a nursing student and saw an opportunity to serve God with her skills and education.  This is her second short-term mission trip to Uganda and this time she worked in a rural medical clinic, dressing wounds, testing for malaria and examining patients.  The people she served while in Uganda are those affected by the long civil warfare in that nation.  Many of her clients are former child soldiers or others victimized by the bush war.

 

 

 

 

Training for the Mission 

 

I worked with Kathleen in 2010 when she went to Africa the first time.  She knew that she would be in a rural setting and that she would be on her feet a lot.  We worked on her overall strength and she walked a brisk 6km almost every day.  This summer, Kathleen and I were only able to train for a few weeks before she left but we worked on overall muscular strength and some cardio-vascular conditioning.  She prepared herself for hard days of work living in very hot conditions and eating a diet strange to her (warthog).   She did a lot of free weight training and a lot of work on her core.

 

Success

 

Kathleen did very well.  She stayed healthy throughout her mission and was able to serve casualties rather than become one herself.  Her dedication and committment to the people of Uganda is a testament to her faith to those she served.

 

 

 

 

Tom

 

Hate Me Now - Thank Me Later









Barbarian Dining

What is Barbarian Dining?

Barbarian Dining is an attitude.  It harkens to our warrior ancestors squatting in the bush eating small, simple, nutritious meals. Barbarian dining involves as few ingredients as possible.  It uses a minimal amount of dishes and utensils.  It packs as much nutrient as possible into a meal.  It could be (maybe even should be) a little revolting.  Best of all - these are cheap meals.  No need to complain that greasy fast-food is cheaper than healthy food when you go barbaric.

Tons of Great Ideas

This is the first in a series of posts on this delicious topic.  If you're sick of over-complicated, dish-dirtying, ingredient-hunting, recipe-deciphering, time-consuming meal preparation, you'll like these barbaric ideas.

Bagels and Sardines

Heard of bagels and lox?  Yummy, but expensive and pretty salty.  Here's the barbarian alternative:

Sardines on a Bagel

The Recipe

Slice a whole grain bagel in half.  Pop it into the toaster (optional).  Crack open a can of yummy, nutritious sardines.  Pluck lightly toasted bagel from the toaster.  Dig the sardines out of the can and smash them onto the bagel.  Eat.  Throw out the empty sardine can.  Wash the fork.  Done.

The Time:  5 minutes.

The Cost:  Can of water-packed sardines:  $2.00 (max).  Bagel...maybe .50 cents.  Total cost...$2.50 (better than a small poutine and pop).

Dishes Used:  A fork.  Maybe a knife to slice the bagel but that doesn't really count if you don't have to clean it.

Revolting Factor:  High.  People will flee the room early in the preparation process.  Nobody will ask for a bite.  Your wife won't plead - "what about me?"  Your kids won't hang around licking their chops.  Your dog and/or cat might though.

Brown Bag Factor:

You can do this at work.  Easy.  Chuck a bagel and a can of sardines into your lunch-box.  Prepare just before you eat.  Don't try to tote this around pre-prepared.

Nutrition:   Superb. Tons of protein, Omega 3, calcium and minerals from the sardines. A load of complex carbs from the bagel. Fibre too, if you chose wisely with the bagel. Eat this earlier in the day so you can profit from the carbs.

Satisfaction Factor:  Oh yeah!  You won't want to eat anything again for about 4 hours.

Tom

Hate Me Now - Thank Me Later

www.facebook.com/FEATTraining