Bodyweight Exercises: The fast track to fat loss

For years, I've been lucky to gain access to leading experts who have coached and provided me with the information I've needed to get my body into incredible shape ... and maintain it. This "insider" information has literally cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars, not to mention years to pull it all together. Yet, even with a vast source of information, I'm amazed to learn something about nutrition, exercise and supplementation almost every day. That's why I'm truly excited to introduce you to a remarkable new product--LEAN-FIRE that I feel is probably ...

The Most Exciting Supplement Breakthrough for Losing Stubborn Bodyfat, Increasing Energy, and Attaining Your Best Body Ever!

It's not often that I come across a supplement that I want to tell everyone about, but LEANFIRE is truly that good. Let's face it, no matter how much you diet, we all hit plateaus and sticking points. I know I do! In fact, here's a couple of fat-loss problems I've recently encountered myself. First--the older you get, the harder it is to lose fat. Science has shown that as early as age 25, your body becomes more prone to gaining bodyfat--the kind that hovers around your midsection, abs, neck, hips and thighs. The reason is simple--metabolism slows down with age. I suppose you've even experienced this for yourself. So for many, it doesn't matter how well your diet is going, or how much exercise you do; the fat just doesn't seem to come off.

The other equally important problem is caused by frequent dieting. Over time, your body will stop losing fat at the same rate as it did when you first attempted to lose a few pounds. It's been explained to me that when either of these two problems kicks in, you've reached what's called your "fat loss set point." Now you may want to ask yourself if ...

Your Body Has Somehow Adapted to Everything You've Thrown At It. Every Diet and Exercise Program. Every Last Trick-Leaving You Searching for a Better, More Permanent Fat-Loss Solution.

If your answer is yes, don't worry, you're actually quite normal. But if you're anything like me, you don't want to be normal--you want to be Extraordinary--You Want to Stand Out! To gain the weight loss edge, you need a solution that is designed to overcome what nature has dealt you. The good news is that the previous information combined with exciting, new discoveries from the world of science lead me to believe we're on the verge of a whole new frontier in fat-loss and weight management technology. In fact, the word "exciting" might be an understatement! Let me explain. By focusing in on the factors associated with fat loss set-point, the INSTONE Expert Science Team began working toward a product formulation to help alter metabolism, energy systems, fat gain, and fat burning mechanisms. Looking back, it was a lofty goal. However, after 39 formulation changes and over 200 clinical studies reviewed, the INSTONE team finally came to me with a fat-loss product, LEANFIRE, that I believe goes beyond anything ever developed. I have been using LEANFIRE for over 5 months now, and to say the least I'm completely overwhelmed with the results. But don't just take my word for it ...

Here's How LEANFIRE Can Scientifically, Safely and Naturally Activate Your Metabolism ... No Matter What Your Age!

By now, you may be asking, how do I know LEANFIRE is a product that will work for me? The answer is simple, many people that can benefit the most from LEANFIRE are those who've reached "diminishing returns" or "plateaus" from their diet and/or exercise program, or feel their metabolism has slowed due to age or other factors. Here are some clues to help you determine if LEANFIRE is right for you:

[] Are you struggling to get back into top
shape, and need more energy, to exercise and
stay active?

[] Have you been exercising and watching your
diet, but your program has stalled and you're
no longer losing bodyfat?

[] Are you eating fewer and fewer calories, but
still not losing additional bodyweight or fat?

[] Are you on a Yo-Yo (lose/gain/lose/gain)
weight-loss cycle and can't break free?

[] Are you gaining weight, even when using a
diet and exercise program that once worked
so well for you?

If you checked any of the boxes, LEANFIRE may be the perfect product to kick-start your fat-loss program. Here's why:

According to Peter Miller, the VP of Product Development at my company INSTONE, "Your body is extremely complex, and has built-in mechanisms that work to keep your metabolic rate in, what it perceives to be, a 'normal range'. This normal range is "adjusted constantly reacting to various circumstances. Fat loss set points are basically your body's way of protecting itself against what it determines to be 'threats' to its otherwise, 'don't rock the boat, keep things as is' environment. In other words, your body is actually designed to work against you, unless, of course, you do the right things to alter the playing field. And needless to say, nobody's perfect, so with LEANFIRE you don't have to be.

Ingrediens in LEANFIRE have been designed to promote optimal thyroid function. Recent research suggests that by maximizing the body's natural conversion of thyroid hormone, from its inactive form (T4) to the active form (T3), metabolic rate and hence fat burning increases. This is truly the next frontier in maximizing fat loss."

I also want to mention that unlike other less effective products on the market, LEANFIRE contains two diverse, yet synergistic, ingredient stacks--one promoting lean body mass and increasing metabolism, the other, stimulating energy--in one easy-to-use formula. This makes LEANFIRE an absolute value-based supplement that can deliver serious results. And allow you to ...

Train Harder, Longer and with Maximum Intensity!

One component that is missing in many fat loss programs is workout intensity. The stress of reducing calories and maintaining a serious workout regimen can cause your training intensity to fall. When this happens, your body is more likely to lose muscle--putting the brakes on attaining your best body! LEANFIRE attacks this problem by delivering a potent blend of energy-enhancing ingredients that allow you to train at your peak--even while dieting.

The Conclusion

Keep in mind; LEANFIRE is not a miracle pill. There's no such thing. Rather, LEANFIRE carefully delivers science-backed, powerful ingredients, in precise ratios and amounts that work in concert to dramatically affect your body's metabolic function; maximizing your energy levels and working to keep your appetite in check.

Now it's your turn to put this information and LEANFIRE to work for you. Take LEANFIRE and finally build that lean, muscular body you deserve. Health and Fitness is about taking action and being consistent. So ACT NOW!

REFERENCES:

Kalman, DS, et al. A randomized double-blind placebo controlled study of 3-acetyl-7-oxo-debydroepiandrosterone in healthy overweight adults, Current Therapeutic Research, 2000; 61(7).

Bogafora R. et al. Education of the Effect of a Single Dose of a Phytoadaptogen on the Working Capacity of Human Subjects During Prolonged Isolation. 1997; 31(4):51-54.

Kao YH, Modulation of obesity by a green tea extract catechin. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000:72:1232-41.

Quinlan PT, et al. The acute physiological and mood effects of tea and coffee: the role of caffeine level. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2000 May: 66(1):19-28

Musa A. et al. Effect of Rhodiola rosea and Rhodiola crenulata root extracts on ATP content in Muscle Mitochondria. Experimental Biology and Medicine. 2003; 136 (12) 664-666.

MORE REFERENCES AVAILABLE. VISIT WWW.INSTONENUTRITION.COM

COPYRIGHT 2005 Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group

Leg Exercises, Leg Press, Quadriceps

A well defined and developed body is important for the overall health and look of a body. How many times have you seen a guy with a big upper body and tooth pick legs. This not only looks bad, it can lead to injuries and cause stress on the knees and hamstring injuries. Training legs helps with the overall development of your body. You should devote an equal amount of times training your leg as you do your upper body. To achieve a well defined and balanced legs you must incorporate several exercises. Your leg exercise workout must have different exercises from different angles to develop all the parts for your Legs. Developing strong Legs is crucial to preventing injuries to other muscles during exercises.

To get the best results you need to do 6-10 reps of each exercise. Choose a weight that you can do up to 10 for three sets. Once you can do 10 then move to a higher weight for maximal results. You can build up your Leg muscles by doing a variety of leg exercises with and without weight. Choose at least 2 exercises from The Entire Thighs and Quadriceps group.. Always do leg curls for hamstrings. Every week or so change exercises within each group.

Entire Thighs

Leg press

Sitting on a leg press machine, position your feet together against the crosspiece about should-width apart and toes pointed slightly outward. Grasp the handle grips or sides of the seat. Bend your knees and lower the weight as far as possible without changing the position of your hips. Do not lower the weight so far that your hips start to curl up off the seat! Then slowly push the weight back up using your heels, not your toes. Do not lock your knees at the top, but rather take the weight to just before lock. Then being to lower the weight again SLOWLY. You can change your foot positions to vary the angle on the muscle.

Squat

Hack squat

Step up with dumbbells

Place a barbell on your shoulders like you would if you were doing Barbell Squats. Step up onto a flat bench with your left leg. Then step up with your right leg so you are now standing on the bench. Step down with your left leg, then your right leg. Repeat, starting with your right leg this time. Be careful not to fall! Use lighter weights. Can also be done with two dumbbells in your hands instead of a barbell

Quadriceps

Dumbbell lunges

Place a barbell on your shoulders like you would if you were doing Barbell Squats. Step up onto a flat bench with your left leg. Then step up with your right leg so you are now standing on the bench. Step down with your left leg, then your right leg. Repeat, starting with your right leg this time. Be careful not to fall! Use lighter weights. Can also be done with two dumbbells in your hands instead of a barbell

Leg extension

Using a leg extension machine, sit in the seat and hook your feet under the padded bar. Adjust the pad and/or the seat so that your knees hang off the end of the seat and the footpad rest on the lowest part of the shins. Grasp the handles on the machine or the edges of the seat to keep your hips from lifting up as you perform the exercise. Extend your legs until knees are straight, making sure you remain seated flat on the machine. Raise the weight all the way, lock and hold briefly, then slowly lower the weight back to the starting position. Get the full range of motion and feel the muscle being worked during the entire movement. Do not SWING the weight up!

Lateral Squat

Double leg power jump

Cross your arms over your chest. With your head up and your back straight, position your feet at shoulder width. Squat down until your upper thighs are parallel, or lower, to the floor. Jump straight up in the air as high as possible, using thighs like springs. Immediately squat down and jump again. Can also be done with a barbell on your upper back or with dumbbells hanging at your sides.

Hamstrings

Leg Curl

Lie face down on a leg-curl machine and hook your heels under the roller pad. Your legs should be stretched out straight so that the pads rest on the back of your ankles. Grasp the handles under the bench for support. Remaining flat on the bench, curl your legs up until your hamstrings are fully contracted. Release and lower the weight slowly back to the starting position. Concentrate on using a full range of motion and do not SWING the weight up. You can point your toes to intensify the burn in your hamstrings.

Clinton Walker III is a 32 year-old personal trainer from Birmingham, AL. His experience includes over 7 years of Personal Training. He has studied diet techniques, weightlifting, and nutrition for over 10 years. This includes the study of kinesiology at the University of Alabama. Through extensive research, experience, and testing, he decided to put the knowledge that he has gained in writing. Clinton Walker III believes in not only training, but educating his clients to maintain their results throughout life. If you would like a personalized workout check out http://www.makeoverfitness.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Clinton_Walker

How Much Weight Can I Lose In A Week?

Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could lose 5 pounds or 10 pounds of weight the week before that important function? Well, that is definitely not going to happen. Let us take a look at how much weight you can lose in a week.

The following guidelines are subject to you doing the following.

You need to increase your metabolism by eating smaller and more regular meals throughout the day. In addition, you need to perform specific fat burn exercises for between 30 to 60 minutes per day.

Your body will never burn fat only. It always burns a combination of fat and carbohydrates (glucose). During periods of elevated exercise your body just happens to prefer burning fat cells, but at the same time it still burns carbohydrates as well.

For your body to lose 1 pound of fat it needs to burn around 3500 calories.

Given this information we can now calculate how much weight you can expect to lose doing certain fat burn exercises.

When you go to the gym and do moderate cycling for one hour on a stationary bike you burn around 600 calories. If you did this for six consecutive days you would have lost around 1 pound of fat.

If you do vigorous calisthenics for one hour you burn around 700 calories. Hence, if you did vigorous calisthenics for five consecutive days you would have lost 1 pound of fat.

Going for a brisk walk for one hour in the neighborhood burns around 350 calories. You will need to go for your one-hour brisk walks for 10 consecutive days before you would've lost 1 pound of fat.

I think you're beginning to get the picture. Despite all the hype that is thrown at you by many product manufacturers, healthy weight loss is a relatively slow process that requires patience and endurance.

Provided that you control your diet and that you perform a moderate to vigorous level of exercise for one hour every day you can expect to lose around 1 pound of fat per week.

One pound of fat does not sound like a lot. Put 1 pound of margarine in a plastic bag and look at just how much it really is. Once you understand how much 1 pound of fat really is, you will know how much you've accomplished by losing it.

Your individual results might vary from this guideline. Your rate of fat burn and your weight loss depend on so many different factors including your physiology and state of health, amongst other things.



Tisha Diaz recommends this fat loss and weight control program that will help you get rid of those excess pounds and help you reach and maintain a healthy body weight.

Bodyweight Exercises:10 Tips For Rapid Fat Loss!

Copyright 2006 The Fitness Consulting Group

Are you looking for that “jump start” to rev your metabolism and get you bathing suit ready? The following ten tips will improve your workouts and ignite your metabolism. Try some or all of these tips, but beware, the result may be a number of admiring second glances and stares when you don that bikini or pair of trunks.

1. The majority of your workouts should be composed of free-weight or cable exercises.

Compared to machines, free-weight and cable movements often require more skill, create muscular balance, and have a greater metabolic cost. For example, it is more difficult to balance the weights, and to coordinate muscles when performing free-weight exercises. Although this may sound like a disadvantage, it is actually a benefit. By balancing and stabilizing free-weights or cables you are working more muscles through a greater range of motion resulting in more muscles developed and more calories burned.

2. Use mostly compound (multi-joint and multi-muscle) exercises.

When focusing on improving body composition, you can't worry about “detail” exercises, so you should use exercises that'll get you the biggest bang for your buck. Isolation exercises can be used at the end of a workout to work on a specific weakness, but only do the bare minimum.

Virtually every savvy fitness professional is privy to the fact that compound exercises recruit the most muscle groups for any given body part.

If you seek lean muscle and the increase in metabolism that comes with it, you must choose exercises that allow for the greatest load. One of the main reasons why squats are superior to leg extensions for quadriceps development relates to the fact that the load you can expose the quadriceps to is much greater with squats. That’s why presses and dips will give you great triceps development, while triceps kickbacks will do little for triceps development and even less for the metabolism.

A good rule of thumb is to use lifts that will allow you to use the most weight. These will have a systemic effect on your body that'll help maintain or increase your muscle mass, and in turn ignite your metabolism.

3. Super-set or group exercises.

Perform either non-competing muscle group training or antagonist training. Non-competing muscle group training would involve doing a set of a lower body exercise, and following it up with an upper body exercise Antagonist training is executed by alternating exercises that target opposing muscle groups (e.g. chest and back). The list of benefits includes: quicker recovery, greater strength levels and shorter workout times.

This design can be a huge advantage in your mission to burn fat. If you alternate exercises for opposing or non-competing muscle groups, you’ll be able to keep your heart rate elevated and burn calories like a blast furnace!

4. Keep rep ranges, in general, between 8 and 12.

Through research, it has been determined that the best range for hypertrophy (muscle gain) is roughly between 8-12 reps. Since the main focus of your resistance training efforts is to gain lean body mass and stimulate your metabolism, this rep range fills the bill perfectly. “High reps for tone and fat loss” is the “big kahuna” of all training myths! Somehow the aerobics, yoga and Pilate’s community have convinced us that when we perform bodyweight exercises or light resistance training for high reps, our muscles magically take on a beautiful shape without growing or bulging. On the other hand, if you challenge yourself with moderately heavy weights, your body will take on a bulky, unflattering appearance. If you believe this, you probably still believe in the Tooth Fairy!

5. Rest only 30 to 60 seconds between sets.

When you keep the rest periods under one minute, it’s easier to stay focused on the task at hand and keeps your heart rate elevated. In addition, it forces your muscles to recover more quickly between sets, along with keeping your nervous system revved up.

If your first movement in an upper/lower body superset is squats, you might want to rest 60 seconds before attempting your second movement. However, if your first exercise is a fairly "easy" exercise, like lat pull downs, you might only wish to wait 30 seconds before doing the second part of the superset.

6. Every session should consist of approximately six to eight exercises. Why? Because empirical evidence has shown that normal trainees can consistently maintain six to eight exercises per session without burning out.

It’s imperative to base your exercise selection around compound, multi-joint exercises. Seventy-five percent (75%) of your exercises for each session must be compound exercises. Six single-joint isolation exercises are not going do the trick. Sure, you can perform a few isolation exercises, but the majority of your exercise choices should be multi-joint.

7. Perform Total Body Workouts

First and foremost, you must drop the notion that a muscle group can only be trained once or twice a week. Fitness enthusiasts from the past didn't train that way and you shouldn't either. The more frequent muscle producing / fat burning sessions you can have, the better.

8. Cardio is not the cure-all for Obesity

Cardiovascular exercise aids in the creation of a caloric deficit, but the caloric expenditure during cardio is temporary. Strength training addresses the core of the problem by permanently increasing the rate at which the body burns calories by adding muscle. The best programs will include both strength training and cardiovascular training, but the core or the programs effectiveness is resistance training.

9. When you do cardio, do it first thing in the morning.

Do your cardiovascular training first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. You’ve gone 8 or more hours without eating, so your blood sugar levels are at their lowest when you first wake up. After about 10-15 minutes of cardio training on an empty stomach, you’ll have burned up all your remaining blood sugar.

Once your blood sugar is used up, the only remaining source of fuel your body has to continue with your cardio exercise is your stored body fat.

10. Vary your pace during your cardio training sessions.

Don’t maintain a constant steady pace while you’re on the treadmill or elliptical machine. Numerous studies have shown you’ll burn more calories and more fat if you train in intervals.

Start out by going for 1 minute at your normal walking pace. Then, for the next 30 seconds, speed it up to a run. After the 30 seconds at an increased pace, slow back down to your original pace for 1 more minute. This is known as an interval. Repeat this interval style cardio for 10-20 minutes.

Performing your cardio in this “interval” fashion will allow you to burn more fat and calories in less time than just keeping a nice steady pace. This will increase the results you see while reducing your time on the treadmill, stationary bike, or whatever form of cardiovascular training you do.

Learn 10 tips that will shave time off your workouts and unwanted pounds from your body.

Pat Rigsby is the owner of Fit Systems Personal Training and Wellness. He is also a published author of several fitness related books and articles. You can learn even more about how to accomplish your fitness and weight loss goals in less time at his website http://www.full-schedule-fitness.com , where he explains several highly effective workout routines that can help you reshape your body in as little as 4 minutes per day.

Fast Bodyweight Exercises Secrets

Now today I want to talk about bodyweight Exercises. About what it can and can't do for you. And show you a few Bodyweight exercises as well.

On the weekend, I worked out with an ol' buddy of mine. Now Joe, my buddy, is a lawyer in the big city. He's chained to a desk, a big change from his University days of varsity sports, or his high school days working on the farm.

Now for a guy like Joe, who wasn't meant to be stuck behind a desk for 10 hours per day, bodyweight training was a real godsend.

The athletic movements were just what he needed. The challenges of mastering his bodyweight in both upper and lower body exercises was exhilarating, and liberating compared to the days he spends behind the desk.

Not surprisingly, Joe also liked my favorite exercise (the Y-squat or Overhead squat) because it opened up his chest, stretching his tight pecs, and strengthened the muscles of his upper back.

Why just tonite I did 10 reps of the Y-squat because my upper back was starting to tighten, and 4 hours later, my upper back still feels as relaxed as it does after a good night's sleep. (Just do your bodyweight squats with your arms up in a Y-position, keeping your shoulder blades back - feel the tension back there during the exercise and it will help release the stress!)

And with each new exercise, Joe would challenge his body to increase his range of motion, to "unstick himself" if you will, from the deskbound posture that he ends up with after another 50-60 hour work week (he doesn't work that much, for a lawyer).

And as I said to Joe, it is really important to get working on stuff like the Y-squats and stick-ups when he's young, so that his shoulders aren't all tied up like some of the older executives I see in the gym...that can't even lift their arms overhead...so that's why we use the Stick-up exercise with these guys.

But don't worry, it's never too late to make improvements - just be consistent with your bodyweight training. If you are in really bad shape and all twisted up, you'll have to master basic postural exercises like the Bird Dog and the Plank. Those can help take away your back pain.

If you are a desk jockey, you need to use as many different exercises and movements as possible. And the bodyweight manual, with almost 100 exercises, will challenge your strength and mobility, endurance and agility.

It will make you feel alive.

You want a quick burst of energy? Forget about Starbucks, and their drinks so loaded with caffeine that they make Red Bull look like kid's stuff. In the same amount of time (or less) that it takes you to walk to Starbucks, and order one of their ridiculously-named beverages, you could do a circuit of bodyweight exercise that will:

• invigorate you
  
• 
  
• loosen you up
  
• 
  
• increase the blood flow to your brain
  
• 
  
• burn more calories and fat than any caffeine-loaded beverage ever will
  
• 
  
• improve your health
  
• 
  
• give you sustained energy boost, not a massive artificial increase in alertness followed by a crash
  
• in your motivation that you get from caffeine
  
• 
  
• You want stress relief in less than 30 seconds? One set of 10 Y-squats or Stick-ups will give you that.
  
• 
  
• Now I do get asked a lot, "Can you build muscle with bodyweight exercises"?
  
• 
  
• And the truth is yes, but...
  

For some guys, they can literally build a cover model body with bodyweight exercises (I was just at a magazine photoshoot with a fitness model that does only bodyweight training and boxing and he was leaner, buffer, and better than some weight-trained fitness models)...

It all depends on where you are in your physical development...but certain exercises like Chins, Dips, Single-leg Squats, Shoulder-press Pushups, Glute-Ham Raises, and Pullups, will help you gain muscle. And you can do these at home, while on the road for business, or when you have to workout an inadequate fitness facility.

But for many other people - and I should say the majority of people, they will need some weight exercises to build muscle. (If you have the option, just start using dumbbells for as many of the bodyweight exercises as you can - you'll find you won't need much weight to gain muscle when using the 1-leg deadlifts, Bulgarian split squats, and the like).

Another popular question, "Can I use bodyweight training in place of regular interval training".

And the answer of course, is yes. If you are looking for a new form of interval training, then I recommend a 6-exercise bodyweight circuit alternating between lower and upper body exercises. Those are some kick-butt, fat-burning, get-leanin' workouts. And all can be done at home, in less time than it would take you to drive to the gym and back, let alone do your workout.

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men's Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines and all over the Internet, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Unique Bodyweight Exercises for Time-Crunched Individuals

Warning: this style of workout is WAY different than anything you've ever tried before and may result in a dramatically leaner, stronger body so that your friends no longer recognize you in a matter of weeks!

Alright, I exaggerated about your friends recognizing you, but this workout is still great for busy people that always use the excuse that they don't have time to go to the gym, or even for the normal gym rat to try out for a few weeks to break out of a plateau.

Please keep an open-mind and don't worry so much about what other people think, because this is quite different and you may get some funny looks, but you'll get the last laugh with your new rock hard body! To be honest, most people are too self conscious to try something like this. If that's the case for you, then that's your loss.

Here's how it works:

Instead of doing your traditional workouts of going to the gym 3-4 times a week and doing your normal weight training and cardio routines for an hour at a shot, with this program, you will be working out for just a couple minutes at a time, several times throughout each day, 5 days/week.

The program will consist of only bodyweight exercises done for about 2-3 minutes, 6-8 times per day, throughout each day. Now obviously if you work a normal office job, you are going to have to not be shy about doing a few exercises in your office and having your cube-mates watch you. Actually, I've found that some people that have tried this have actually gotten their co-workers to join them! If you have a private office, then you don't have to worry about anybody watching you. If you work from home, or are a stay at home mom, there's no reason you can't fit these in throughout the day while at home. If you end up having a busy day with meetings and so forth, and can only fit a couple of these 2-minute workouts in, then so be it, but try to get as many done each day as you can.

If you're on a normal 9-5 office schedule, I recommend doing your 2-minute workouts every hour, on the hour, with the exception of lunch. For example, you could try 9 am, 10 am, 11 am, 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm, and 4 pm.

Some of the exercises that are the best to focus on are:

-bodyweight squats (and variations)

-pushups (and variations)

-forward, reverse, or walking lunges

-up & down a staircase if one is available

-floor planks (holding plank position from forearms and feet)

-floor abs exercises such as lying leg thrusts, ab bicycles, etc.

-one-legged bodyweight Romanian deadlifts

This list is not fully comprehensive, but I wanted to keep it relatively simple. If you know other good bodyweight exercises, you can add those to your routine also. If you want to keep it real simple and don't want to get down on the floor for anything, you can stick to squats, lunges, and pushups and still get great results.

The good thing about these workouts is that you do enough in 2-3 minutes to get your blood pumping, heart rate up a bit, a large portion of your body's muscles worked, and your body temperature raised. However, it's usually not enough to break a sweat in only 2 or 3 minutes, so you don't have to worry about sweating or getting smelly in the office or where ever you may be. At most, you might just get a little moist on the skin.

Here's an example routine (adjust the reps up or down based on your capabilities):

Mon/Wed/Fri
9 am - 10 pushups/15 bodyweight squats, repeat 1X for 2 sets
10 am - plank holds (hold the planks as long as you can taking short rest breaks for a total of 3 minutes)
11 am - 5 pushups/10 bodyweight squats, repeat for 4 sets
1 pm - plank holds (hold as long as possible in 3 minutes)
2 pm - 8 pushups/12 bodyweight squats, repeat for 3 sets
3 pm - plank holds (hold as long as possible in 3 minutes)
4 pm - max pushups/max bodyweight squats in one set (no repeat)

Tues/Thurs
9 am - 6 fwd lunges each leg/6 rev lunges, repeat 1X for 2 sets
10 am - one legged bw Romanian deadlifts (RDL) 6 each leg/floor abs for 20 sec, repeat 1X for 2 sets
11 am - 3 fwd lunges each leg/3 rev lunges, repeat for 4 sets
1 pm - one legged bw RDL 3 each leg/floor abs for 20 sec, repeat for 4 sets
2 pm - 5 fwd lunges each leg/5 rev lunges, repeat for 3 sets
3 pm - one legged bw RDL 10 each leg/floor abs for 30 sec (no repeat)
4 pm - max fwd lunges each leg/max rev lunges in one set (no repeat)

In order to progress on these workouts, you could either add 1 or 2 reps to each set per week, or you could progress to more difficult versions of each exercise each week (for example, close grip pushups, one leg raised pushups, squats with arms raised straight over head, etc.).

The above routines are just a couple examples of how you can use this very unique style of training. Use your creativity and come up with your own. Think about what you've accomplished with these "mini" workouts completed throughout each day... You've increased your heart rate and pumped up your muscles 6-8 different times throughout each day, burning a lot of extra calories and stimulating your metabolism. Even though each "mini" workout was a very short duration, you've accumulated lots of repetitions for almost every muscle throughout your entire body, and you didn't even have to break a sweat during any of the "mini" workouts. And there's hardly any excuse for not being able to take a 2-minute break once per hour and do a couple of exercises. Another benefit of this style of training is that now you don't have to devote any time before or after work to going to the gym because you already got your workout done little by little throughout the day. You've now got some extra free time on your hands!

Try this type of routine out for 3-4 weeks and then go back to your normal gym routines. I think you'll find that it was a great way to break out of a plateau and stimulate new results in your body. You can try mixing in a cycle of these "mini" workouts every couple of months to keep things fresh.

Keep in mind that this is only one method of training and doesn't mean that you should only stick to this method for eternity. You will hit a plateau on any given training method, so I'd recommend just rotating it into your arsenal of various training methods. And by all means, don't worry about what other people think so much...have the courage to try something a little different. In the end, you'll be the one laughing back at all of the "blubber-bellies" that are giving you funny looks while they eat their donuts!

Visit http://truthaboutabs.com/freenewsletter.html to receive a free copy of the ebook "Training & Nutrition Insider Secrets for a Lean-body", as well as your own free personalized metabolic rate calculator.
Michael Geary is a nationally dual certified personal trainer (NCSF-CPT, AFAA-CPT), and author of the internationally-selling The Truth about Six Pack Abs ©2004-2006.