One of the classic chest exercises is the push up, so I created a push up workout for you that thoroughly engages your chest and abs. I also have a couple more push up workout ideas at the bottom of this article. For an intro video on push ups, check out How To Use Proper Push Up Form.

Continue Reading Best Push Up Workout Routine: Chest & Abs

Viktoria Telek is a successful commercial real estate broker in Florida who has been named to the “Top 30 Under 30″ list by Realtor Magazine. Despite her intense career, Viktoria recently won Shape Magazine’s “Hot Body” contest where she beat out thousands of applicants and was featured in the September 2010 issue with a full page spread. So how does she maintain a fitness model body with such a busy career? Check out my interview with her below to learn more!

1. Hey Viktoria, thanks so much for your willingness to share your insights into staying in shape with a busy professional lifestyle. So for starters, have you always been in such great shape? Was there a time in your life where you didn’t exactly have a fitness model body?

Continue Reading Q&A with Viktoria Telek: Real Estate Pro & Fitness Inspiration

I was featured on NY1 News (New York City’s local TV station) as a fitness expert discussing the benefits of strength training for runners (video clip is here: NY1 Segment). The segment is part of a series of videos to help runners prepare for the NYC Marathon.

As I was looking over my notes to help prepare for the segment, I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be cool if I shared these notes with everyone and made it into a special free guide?” Well, that’s exactly what I’ve done AND I even added a sample workout routine with exercise pics of me demonstrating the exercises. I hope you enjoy it!

Continue Reading Strength Training For Runners: Ultimate Guide

This interval training treadmill workout below I did with my buddy David Aaron (check out our 30 minute interview: White Collar Job, Professional Athlete Body) who was a wide receiver for the University of Texas AND on the track team. Even with an office job now, he’s still in ridiculous shape. If you’re a newbie to interval training, check out this article where I give you a primer: High Intensity Interval Training: Best Cardio to Burn Fat.

I’m sure you’re probably catching the drift that this workout is ONLY for advanced trainees, but I included some modifications at the end of this article in case you are at a more beginner level.

Continue Reading Advanced Interval Training Treadmill Workout

You only have 20 minutes to squeeze in a workout, but you want to get both strength and cardio benefits, so what do you do? The options are (1) you can tell yourself 20 minutes is not enough time for a decent workout, (2) you can lift like crazy for ten minutes, then run like crazy for 10 minutes, or (3) you can use circuit training, which can offer you strength and cardio benefits in a short period of time.

If you don’t have much time to workout, circuit training is a great way to switch up your workout. I also find this style of strength training is typically very appealing to women, because you don’t have to lift very heavy weights and the workouts don’t feel as much like traditional, bodybuilding type of strength training.

I have below a 20 minute full body circuit workout that you can give a try.

20 Minute Circuit Training Workout:

(repeat 3-4x, no rest between sets, 2-3 minutes in between each circuit)

Squat with DB Upright Row, 15 reps

Continue Reading 20 Minute Full Body Circuit Training Workout

So far, I’ve showed you How to Jump Rope and also 7 Jump Rope Tricks, but we need to tie everything together with a a few great Jump Rope Workouts.  

All these jump rope workouts I list below are considered High Intensity Interval Training workouts, so if you are out of shape, they may be too much for you.  But if you think you can handle them, these workouts can help take your fitness to the next level! 

Jump Rope Workout #1

Timed Jumping Rope

For this timed workout, which is the most advanced of the three, you will try to get as many reps as possible in 30 seconds, then rest 30-90 seconds, then repeat for 5-10 cycles.  The rest period depends on your fitness level, but I would stick with some specific amount of time, let’s say 30 seconds rest.   You want to keep your heart rate high, feel the burn in your lungs, your shoulders, and core too.  I try to shoot for 100 reps in 30 seconds, although I just miss almost every time (so frustrating!).  How many can you do? 

Continue Reading Three Jump Rope Workouts You MUST Try!

Jumping rope is an excellent exercise to improve your speed, agility, and burn a ton of calories, but sometimes it can get really, really BORING! I try to incorporate several different variations when I jump rope to make my cardio workouts much more fun and engaging.

Here’s a video demonstration of me doing some basic jump rope tricks, with more detailed descriptions below. If you need a primer on jumping rope and want to see a video of a guy doing CRAZY jump rope tricks (you have to see it to believe it), check out my article: Learn How to Jump Rope Like a Pro.

Continue Reading 7 Jump Rope Tricks To Keep It Fresh!

There are so many abs exercises to choose from, that it can seem impossible to figure out the right exercises to strengthen your abs. In my opinion, the best way to strengthen your abs is to choose harder and harder exercises to complete, not just complete more and more sets and reps.

I’ve used this progression of abs exercises too many times to count with many people very successfully. It works like a charm and before you know it, you’ll be doing some really advanced abs exercises and have a very strong midsection. In addition to the video instruction, find below more detailed explanations of each exercise with photos for you:

Continue Reading Strengthen Your Abs: 5 Great Abs Exercises

Have you ever wondered what types of workouts burn the most calories? I can save you some time by telling you “Metabolic Workouts” are among the most efficient (and challenging) workouts to help burn the greatest number of calories in the least amount of time. Metabolic Workouts combine exercises that engage different muscle groups, or use different movement patterns with very little rest between sets.

I have to the right (with a summary below) an example of a Metabolic Workout that pairs upper body and lower body movements that is guaranteed to burn a TON of calories. If you’ve read my Efficient Strength Training 101 article series, this workout will help solidify what you’ve learned.

Be warned, this workout is NOT easy. In fact, if I try to shoot for under 10 reps for each exercise during this type of workout, I feel like my life force has been stripped from my body. I just get wiped out. The goal is not to deeply engage the muscle fibers for any particular muscle group, but to engage your entire musculoskeletal system, which helps elevate your metabolism for days.

Continue Reading Metabolic Workout That Burns a TON of Calories

If you ask a smart personal trainer about what type of exercise program burns fat the fastest, it’s almost a guarantee the trainer will say “full body strength training workouts 2-3x per week combined with cardio”. That’s kind of a secret unto itself. But there’s a bigger secret that every good personal trainer holds close to the chest and forms the foundation of hundreds of exercise programs that can be created from it.

While I feel like the masked magician who gives away all those great magic tricks, I believe sharing this secret will be very beneficial for you. I’m willing to take the risk that some trainers will be very angry with me!

So here it is:

Continue Reading The Biggest Personal Training Secret is…