6 Simple Implements of Destruction for Your Home Gym

My life has been pretty crazy lately. Between being a new homeowner (way more work than I anticipated), busy work schedule, and working on a few new projects to build my online business, my proverbial cup is about to runneth over. The last month I have been lucky to make it to the gym 1-2 times per week, so I have had to train more at home.

You might be thinking "Wait, this dude is a trainer. How can getting to the gym be hard when he WORKS in a gym?" Well, I don't train where I work. There are too many distractions and I need to get away to a place where I can focus on myself.

Additionally, I enjoy training around other people. I work in a private training facility, so its not the typical gym environment where you see 50 other people working out. There is just something more motivating about being in the presence of others. That's why I believe group training is so much more powerful than one-on-one training. The energy and camaraderie developed when training around other like-minded individuals is a powerful stimulus. The one-on-one model is certainly beneficial, but I think it can foster a relationship where the client is completely dependent on their trainer. For example, maybe a client misses their regularly scheduled training session and they are unable to re-schedule that week due to work or a family obligation. Instead of doing some type of workout on their own they just skip it and do nothing. WTF? Doesn't it make sense to do SOMETHING? Looks like I found another topic to write about in a future post.

Making the commute to the gym takes time you might not have. I don't know about you, but if I am going to take the time to drive to the gym, I'm going to take the time to do work when I get there.

If I don't have the necessary time to devote to getting in the gym, I know I have the tools at home to get it in regardless.When life gets in the way you need to have a plan B. This is where having a few implements of destruction in your garage or basement comes in handy. If you only have 30 minutes to spare, you need some efficient equipment you can use to get it in quickly. Here are 6 of my essentials and a couple sample workouts you can do for starters.

1. Yourself

Your own bodyweight is a powerful tool. Things like push ups, squats, lunges, and burpees will never go out of style. There are plenty of variations of each you can use to get a great training effect.

2. Kettlebells

I've written extensively about kettlebells before, so I won't get too in depth. They take up very little space and can be used anywhere in a ton of different ways. All you need is one to get started. For more extensive info on kettlebells check out previous posts Mastering the Kettlebell parts 1 and 2.

3. Suspension Trainer

There are a few popular suspension trainers out there now. The best ones are the TRX, Jungle Gym, and Rings. All you need is an anchor point and you are ready to go. Again, tons of possibilities here.

4. Continuously Looped Resistance Bands

Dave Schmitz aka "The Band Man" has created a whole system around the use of continuously looped resistance bands. They are incredibly versatile and can also be used anywhere. Check out his website here. Go to the store and click "training packages". I would recommend purchasing the total fitness package. The package comes with a full training manual and training programs.

5. Pull Up Bar

A pull up bar is a must have for any home gym. You can make your own or buy one online. When combined with the equipment above, you have even more options.

6. Foam Roller

Soft tissue work should be an essential part of your warm up and daily recovery routine. I prefer The Grid.

All of these things together should cost you around 400 bucks total, which is not bad for a home gym set up. If you are on a budget, take your time and buy one item every month. A barbell with weights, dumbbells, and a power rack would be other great additions, but they are pretty pricey and take up a lot of space. The goal here is to keep things simple and practical.

Now for what most of you skipped to anyway, the workouts.

Workout 1

Equipment Needed - Kettlebell, Suspension Trainer, Foam Roller

Foam roll and dynamic warm up -  5-10 mins
Resistance Training: 20 minutes

As many sets as possible in 20:
10 Goblet Squats
10 Suspension Rows
10 Reverse Lunges (hold KB for resistance)
10 Feet Elevated or Resistance Band Push Ups
10 Suspension Fallouts

Workout 2

Equipment Needed - Kettlebell, Foam Roller

Foam roll and dynamic warm up -  5-10 mins
Resistance Training: 20 minutes

5 sets:
10 KB Swings
5 KB Overhead Presses each arm
KB Suitcase Carry - 40 yds each arm

Squat/Burpee Countdown: perform as quickly as possible
10 squats, 1 burpee
9 squats, 2 burpees
8 squats, 3 burpees
...all the way to 1 squat, 10 burpees


You don't always need to have access to all the equipment to achieve your goals. Get to the gym and get under the bar when you can, but when life gets crazy try to have the necessary tools available to keep making progress.

What to Do About Your Sucky Breathing Strategy

Last time I discussed some anatomy and physiology of breathing, as well as some signs you might have an aberrant breathing pattern. Before I get into the meat and potatoes of this post, lets look at some benefits of proper breathing.

• Improved posture - Less pain, more efficient movement, and decreased injury risk. Win.
• Improved core function - In addition to all the benefits of improved posture, you can lift heavier things, run faster, jump higher, and save more puppies from certain death. Win.
• Decreased sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system activity - There are times you need to be able to deliver multiple round house kicks and times you need to cuddle. If your breathing sucks, you will constantly be in Chuck Norris mode. This increases stress levels, which we all know is a bad thing (increased BP, anxiety, reduced sleep quality etc). If you are in a constant state of heightened stress, performance, recovery and long term health will suffer dramatically. 
• Increased parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system activity - See above. Round house kicks and cuddling don't mix (unless you are Chuck Norris, in which case round house kicks mix with everything). You need to be able to relax at the appropriate time. Increased parasympathetic activity aids in recovery, sleep, and lowering stress levels. Cuddling is good for you. 

By now you should be convinced proper breathing is important. So what is one to do about fixing the problem? First, we need to determine if a problem exists. I find it very rare that a particular individual has a "perfect" breathing strategy, so this is something we all can work on from time to time. 

Self-Assessment

Lie on your back and place one hand over your belly button and the other on the upper part of your chest just below the collar bone. Now take a deep breath. If the hand on your chest rises any time before the hand on your stomach, you most likely have an aberrant breathing strategy. Here is a video example below:

Now an example of what a proper breath looks like:

In a proper breathing pattern, the stomach and lower ribs will expand upon inhalation and depress during exhalation. The upper chest will remain still. This ensures that the diaphragm and primary respiratory muscles are functioning properly.

So if your stomach rises and chest stays still, does this mean your breathing pattern is perfect? Probably not, but it is a start. Anyone and everyone can benefit from the strategies that I will outline next.

Lets look at a few strategies you can use to fix or improve your current breathing pattern.

Crocodile Breathing

Crocodile breathing will teach you the best way to inhale. When learning something new, the ground is always the best place to begin because one is in the most stable position. Ground work can give us valuable feedback when doing any exercise, so this is where we should start. When you achieve 20 good breaths, progress to the next step.

• Lay flat on your stomach and rest the forehead on the hands.
• From this position take a deep breath in through your nose and attempt to expand the stomach into the ground. If you feel your belly pressing into the floor when taking a breath in, you are doing it correctly. Try and expand the entire midsection.
• Pause for 3-5 seconds.
• Push all of your air out through your mouth. It should take longer to exhale than to inhale.
• Pause for 3-5 seconds, then repeat for 10-20 deep breaths.

90/90 Breathing

90/90 breathing places more emphasis on exhaling. It is a great way to improve reflexive core function, facilitate the "ribs down" position and get all the air out. This is especially important for individuals that spend time in an overextended position.

I have seen dramatic improvements in posture from just one set of this particular breathing drill. It can really work wonders when performed correctly. It works so well because when breathing is regulated, tone and tension in accessory breathing muscles and other chronically tight muscle groups begins to reduce almost instantly. Almost like pressing the reset button on your body. You must follow each and every step to a T!

• Lay on your back with the feet propped up against a wall. The knees and hips should be flexed to 90 degrees.
• Place your hands on the outside of the trunk, just above the hip bones.
• The lower back must remain flat on the ground the entire time. Place a pillow under your hips if you have trouble with this.
• From this position take a deep breath in through your nose and attempt to expand the stomach upward and outward into your hands. The chest should not rise! Try and expand the entire midsection.
• Pause for 3-5 seconds.
• Purse your lips together and actively push all of your air out through your mouth. Visualize blowing up a balloon. 
• When pushing your air out, the ribs should travel downward and you should feel the muscles in the abdomen engage. It should take roughly 1.5 to 2 times longer to exhale than inhale.
• Pause for 3-5 seconds, then repeat for 10 deep breaths.
• For best results, perform this pre-workout, post-workout, and before bed. The more trouble you have with this, the more practice you need!

Find Neutral

Regardless of what movement you are doing , you should always try to find neutral position. This is the position where the rib cage is centered directly over the pelvis. I give credit to Kelly Starrett for this next cue.
Picture a bowl of water in the bottom of your ribcage and another in your pelvis. Never let water spill out of those bowls. By keeping the ribs aligned over the pelvis, you create an optimal thoraco-pelvic canister (TPC), which ensures you are able to generate the appropriate amount of intra-abdominal pressure.

Breathing Ladders

After mastering the diaphragmatic breathing exercises and neutral position mentioned above, you can progress to higher level activities. Breathing ladders can be used in any training program regardless of your goals. They can be used to build endurance, strength, muscle mass, or aid in fat loss. For the purpose of this post, they will be used to build a better respiratory pattern.

A breathing ladder consists of multiple sets of a compound movement done with a fixed number of breaths in between sets. For example, a breathing ladder performed with deadlifts and a goal of 10 reps might look like this:

1 Deadlift - 1 Breath
2 Deadlifts - 2 Breaths
3 Deadlifts - 3 Breaths
4 Deadlifts - 4 Breaths...all the way to 10 Deadlifts - 10 Breaths
Feel free to tri-set a high five in between each set too.

Remember to take long, slow breaths and focus on fully inhaling and exhaling with each one. Don't let the simplicity of this fool you. Its pretty tough. With a end goal of 10 reps, you end up doing 55 reps.

There are several ways you can mix this one up too. It can be done with pull ups, squats, swings or any other compound move. You could go up to 10 and back down to 1 if you are feeling especially masochistic, or do 3 separate sets going up to 5. The total number you shoot for is up to you. Tons of possibilities.

By performing the ladder, you will be more aware of your breathing pattern , leading to better conscious and subconscious control in the long run. Honestly, how often to you pay specific attention to all that huffing and puffing in between sets?

Summary

Proper breathing is a skill we possess at birth. As with many things, we learn bad habits along the way and things get all screwed up. I implore you to take the time and assess what your breathing pattern looks like and take the necessary steps to improve it. With some practice and patience, you will notice your posture improve and feel stress melt away.

So to recap:

1. Start with crocodile breathing - Master 20 breaths.
2. Progress the the 90/90 breaths - Master 20 breaths.
3. Do some breathing ladders.

Its not just about vanity here. Your long term health can benefit too! What do you have to lose?

A Few Reasons Your Breathing Strategy Sucks

"What do you mean I'm not breathing properly? I breathe in to get air, breathe out lose air. That's all there is to it right?"

WRONG!

The breath is an element that is often overlooked in most fitness programs. When most people think of the breath as it pertains to fitness, they think about timing. Breathe in during the eccentric, breathe out during the concentric etc.. While this is not incorrect, it is a very small piece of the picture.

I have come across several individuals with shoulder, hip, knee, and low back problems over the years. In the past, I would run them through the necessary steps on intake such as movement screening and static posture evaluation. Then prescribe some correctives and design a program to address dysfunction and keep them healthy. The problem was, all this corrective intervention did not always work and it left me wondering why. Part of it was a lack of adherence on the client's part (not performing corrective homework), but the other part was that I was missing a HUGE piece of the puzzle.

Breathing.

Before I go further, let me give a brief, extremely watered down, anatomy lesson. Try not to fall asleep on me. There are two areas of the body that are responsible for respiration:

1. The Diaphragm

The diaphragm has two primary functions:

1. Respiration
2. Stability 

Let's look at respiration first:

The chief muscle responsible for respiration is the diaphragm.  Ideally, when you breathe in the diaphragm contracts and presses downward and outward on the abdominal cavity (see image left). This creates Intra-Abdominal Pressure (IAP) and provides stability through the trunk. Powerlifters and Olympic Weightlifters are experts at creating this IAP and using it to lift heavy things.

When you breathe out, the diaphragm expands and the rib cage should depress, allowing you to expel all of your air (image right).

Now let's look at stability:

The diaphragm has several attachment points around the abdomen, which imply its role in stabilization of the trunk.

As mentioned above, the role the diaphragm plays in stability is creating inter-abdominal pressure. Picture blowing up a balloon. Now press down on both sides of the balloon. What happens? The pressure inside the balloon is increased dramatically. This is what occurs when you take a proper breath. The pressure created by you pressing down with your hands (diaphragm) creates more stability through the abdominal cavity (balloon). When the trunk is stable, the rest of your body will be too.

In an ideal breathing pattern, the diaphragm performs both respiration and stabilization simultaneously. Given the choice between the two, your body will always choose respiration over stabilization because you need to breathe to live. If the diaphragm does not function properly, stability will become compromised because the body will look elsewhere to get it, which brings me to the next area.

2. Accessory Muscles

Accessory muscles for respiration reside in the shoulder complex, neck, hip flexors, and around the spine. If the diaphragm does not function properly, these muscles will do the bulk of the work. Notice how pronounced these muscles are on the individual in the image above. A telltale sign of a poor breathing strategy. Some people look like this every time they take a breath! Shoulder problems and neck pain a common in individuals with the above breathing strategy.

When these accessory muscles are overactive, they get short and stiff, wreaking havoc on your posture and movement. Considering the average human being takes around 22,000 breaths every day, you might begin to see why an accessory breathing strategy can lead to problems.

When one relies on a hip flexor and paraspinal accessory breathing strategy, their posture might look something like this:

Notice how high this individual's ribs are and how much his butt sticks out. There is a pretty good chance he is hanging on his hip flexors and low back muscles, relying on them to breathe. Individuals like this are also in a constant state of inhalation. Their diaphragm is constantly stretched and they are unable to expel all of their air. If you can't get a good breath out, you sure as hell aren't going to get a good breath in. Low back and knee pain are pretty common in individuals like this. If you look like this during standing and most movements (deadlifts and push ups for example), no amount of stretching will help you. You must correct your breathing strategy first.

Here are a few other signs you might have a sucky breathing pattern:

1. Poor Posture
2. Shoulder Pain
3. Low Back Pain
4. Knee Pain
5. Headaches
6. Neck Pain
7. Poor Trunk Stability
8. Increased Respiratory Rate
9. Anxiety
10. High Blood Pressure
11. Frequent Dizziness (especially during exercise)
12. Red Face During Exercise
13. Facial Numbness or Tingling During Exercise
14. Frequent Yawning or Heavy Sighing During Exercise

Next time I'll go into what a good breathing strategy looks like, as well as what you can do to improve your breathing pattern.

Poop

5 Ways to Keep Making Progress

On my way to and from work I often listen to  The Strength Coach Podcast  (great resource for fitness pros by the way). It is a great resource for me to continue expanding my knowledge base on the go instead of listening to the same crap on the radio every day. The other day I heard the example of a client that belongs in the "Now What?" club. Which got me thinking about progress, the goal of any good fitness program.

So let's say you have made some progress. Maybe you have been training for a year or two. Maybe you are like myself and have been training since the Spice Girls were popular. God I hated them. Unfortunately I probably know the lyrics to the majority of their songs because my little sister would listen to them OVER and OVER again until my ears started bleeding. Anyway, consistent training and nutrition can lead to some good progress in terms of strength and body composition, but what happens when things start to stall? Usually this is around the time when you are trying to lose that last few pounds or your squat has been stuck at the same weight for over a year. You have accomplished your initial goals, but are looking for something new to keep you motivated.

If you fit the above description, you might a member of the "Now What?" club. So what do you do to break through that plateau?

Here are a few ways for you to keep the train rolling forward.

1. Keep a Training Log

A log is a self-assessment tool. You constantly need to be setting goals and evaluating yourself to make continued progress.

How do we know where we are going if we don't know where we are or where we have been?

I have been keeping logs consistently for about 5 years. It is a great feeling to look back to a few years ago and see how far I have come. I am the type of person that is always trying to achieve the next big thing. My mind is always focused on the future. Admittedly, this can get you into trouble. When we are too focused on the future we don't see what is happening right in front of us. When we fail to reflect on the past, we forget about what it took to get where we are today. A log can provide some much needed perspective when we need it most. If you want to break through that plateau, its time to start writing things down and breaking some personal records.

2. Re-Evaluate Your Eating Habits

Solid nutrition should be the foundation for any fitness program. If you have made some solid progress thus far, chances are your nutrition has already played a big part in your success. That being said, there is always room for improvement. Are you getting at least 20-30g of protein every time you eat? What does your vegetable intake look like? You might want to look into some advanced nutrition protocols like intermittent fasting, or a more Paleo-based eating approach. Whatever the case, keep a food log for three days of typical nutrition habits. After those three days, look things over and see where you can improve. Use this checkllist:

• At least 20-30g protein with every feeding?
• Fiber with every feeding? (Fruit, vegetable, brown rice etc.)
• Three meals with healthy fat each day? (Nuts and nut butters, avocado, egg yolks etc.)
• 3-5 feedings every day?

 3. Pick Your Battles

You can't serve two masters. So many people try and accomplish multiple things at the same time. This might work for the first few years of your training, but as you become more advanced you need to narrow your focus. Much like children playing multiple sports at a young age, the early stages of fitness are an opportunity for one to determine what they are good at. Using myself as an example, I found through my early years of training that my body does not respond well to a high volume approach used in most bodybuilding routines. A high intensity and low volume approach seen in most powerlifting routines served me very well, so I narrowed my focus toward building absolute strength. I hope to compete in my first meet this year.

If you have an amazing work capacity (and are a little sadistic), Crossfit might be for you. If you love lifting heavy things, try Olympic lifting or powerlifting. If your body holds up and you love to run, go right ahead and start training for a marathon. Find out what you are good at and what your body responds well to. Then narrow your focus.

4. Metal Toughness

After you have narrowed your focus, you must stay true to the course. Don't be a Roody-Poo, Candy-Assed, program jumping Jabroni.

Find a routine and stick to it. as Woody Allen once said: "90% of success is just showing up." The other 10% comes from pushing your limits in your training and holding true to your nutrition plan. That weight on the bar is going to look and feel pretty f*ing heavy sometimes, but you have to believe in yourself and grind it out.

5. Become Part of a Community

The value of building relationships cannot be overstated. I believe that is why group training is so popular. Working with others to accomplish a common goal can ignite your competitive fire and help you to dig down deep to find that little bit extra something. Find others that have similar goals and join forces. Get to know the other people at your gym. Create a lifting club or running club with other members and friends (and log your training together!). A good training partner will keep you motivated and help you push your limits. Believe me, a reliable spotter can make a world of difference when you are squatting a PR.


Making progress isn't rocket science, but its not easy either. Assess yourself, find out what you like doing, and find others that share your passion. I'm not saying you have to approach your training like an Olympic athlete (quite the opposite actually), but you have to dig deep once in awhile and find what you are made of.

Remember to share with all your friends!

Stuff You Should Read Because I Said So - 6/3/13

Happy Monday! This month's stuff you should read includes a little bit of something for everyone. Also, what might be my favorite commercial ever:

I hope that gives you a great start to your week!

Metcon - The Greatest Weight Loss Exercise In the History of Gravity

The Lean and Lovely Recipe

How to Make Crossfit a Safer Sport

5 Factors for Success

15 Lessons From Deadlifting 500 Pounds

Design Yourself: A Beginner's Guide To Program Design

Should You Use Scale Weight As a Measure of Success? Hint: No


UPDATE:
Dr. John Berardi and the Precision Nutrition crew just released a FREE 5 day fat loss course for men and women. Precision Nutrition is probably the most respected nutrition program in the industry, so I would check this one out if I were you.

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