Posts Tagged ‘abs’


2 Awesome Ab Exercises

Tuesday, November 29th, 2011

Deep down inside everyone that works out would love to see their abs or what is known as a “6 pack”.  Yea some say they workout to stay healthy or to prevent injury or for various other reason but you can’t tell me that if given a choice they wouldn’t want a chiseled mid-section under that t-shirt just waiting to show it off.

Now if you don’t know this yet you are about to know that achieving that ripped midsection has more to do with what you stuff in your mouth than what exercises you select.  Getting lean enough to see your abs is nutrition based and you simply cannot out exercised poor eating.  Performing core work everyday for hours on end will not give you the abs your looking for if your stuffing calzones down your throat.

With that being said, today’s blog will be about choosing the best exercises for your core so that when you do shed those layers of body-fat your abs will look even that much better.  It is also about keeping your body healthy and a good core training routine should teach you how to use your abdominal while performing other tasks.

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10 Minutes to a Strong Core and Explosive Hips Using Only a Kettlebell

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011

Every athlete whether you are an NFL running back or a weekend warrior runner could use a stronger body. The most important area of the body that an athlete needs is the core and posterior chain. The posterior chain is responsible for any and every explosive movement known in the sports world whether it be running, jumping, hitting, grappling, swinging a bat, pitching a ball. They all have to do with how explosive one can be by using the calves, hamstrings, glutes, and spinal erectors which are known as the posterior chain.

The workout below is something I have been doing 2-3 times per week and it takes all of 10 minutes to do. It will improve your hip drive and protect your back all at the same time with very little time invested in it.

Men should use a 24kg or 32kg bell for both exercises and woman should use a 20kg or 24kg bell.

The two exercises are the kettlebell swing and the single arm farmers walk. It is a great coupling of exercises. What you want to do is pick a number of swings to complete whether that is 50 or 150 and do them in the least amount of sets possible until you can do all reps consecutively. So beginners pick 50 reps and perform as many reps as you can resting when needed until you reach 50 reps. If you can reach 50 reps no problem than go to 75 reps. Once you can get 75 reps in a row than go to 100 reps and so on and so forth. Make sure each kettlebell swing is clean, sharp and your hips snap making it an explosive hip thrust. Many people I see doing swings are using too much arm, too much back and not snapping their hips to perform the movement.

Once you have done all reps to complete the swings pick up your bell used in the swing and perform a farmers walk which is basically a walk holding the kettlebell at your side. Normal farmers walks are done with a weight in each hand. To unevenly load the core we are going to hold only one kettlebell and walk. Walk 25-50 yards and switch hands and repeat 2-4 times.

This simple workout is a quick and effective way to improve you hip drive which as mentioned earlier is a key component to every athlete as well as to a everday person looking to keep their hips healthy. It is also a great way to learn how to stabilize your core while moving.

Give this workout a try for a couple weeks and see how strong your back, core and hips feel!


5 Reasons to Start Doing the Kettlebell Windmill

Monday, April 25th, 2011

Today I want to go over an exercise I think is a great one for many many reasons. The kettlebell windmill is an exercise that I think everyone that works out should be incorporating in some way into their workouts routines. I have used this movement with great success in a number of different situation with clients. The other reason I thought of this exercise to post is after doing my deadlifts the other day I finished my workout with some windmills which I think is a great thing to do after deadlifts. I remember talking with Pavel years ago and he suggested it to me to do after deadlifting. If you missed the the 4 Tips to a Stronger Deadlift Video & Blog I suggest you go and check it out.

Here is a list of the reason the kettlebell windmill is such a great exercise.

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4 Tips to a Stronger Deadlift

Thursday, April 21st, 2011

Over the years I have been fortunate to visit various gyms and coaches and learn an immense amount of valuable information regarding strength & conditioning. The deadlift has been one of my better lifts and I love training it. Sooner or later you find yourself getting stuck and not progressing in your lifts and you have to figure out what is the cause. Is it that I am training too much? Is it that I have some sort of injury? What is the weak link? So what I have done is when I have reached certain standstills I have reach out for help and asked other coaches. Guys like Dave Tate, John Bott, and Louie Simmons are just a few who have helped me continue to progress in this ion game.

Here is a few tips that I think can help anyone out with their conventional deadlift.

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Full Body Metobolic Training Phase

Sunday, April 11th, 2010

New Jersey Powerlifter and Strength Coach Mike Hanley is adjusting his exercise routine and making more metabolic to increase his fat burning results

This week I start a new phase of training which is much more metabolic as opposed to more strength based.  I have switched from a 2 day upper body and 2 day lower body split to a full body routine.  I have been feeling the need for a change in my workouts for a few reasons.  First reason is to create more oxygen debt in my workout.  I want to add more conditioning into my training and performing full body workouts will do the trick. Second is that I have been feeling beat up from the long term powerlifting program and  I feel the need to add more unilateral work into my routine.  Unilateral work will do two things for me.  It will help me correct any imbalances I have going on in my hips, core, and shoulders and it will also will increase the amount of time under tension my body will get.  Instead of doing 10 reps of squats which will take anywhere from 20-60 seconds,  I will do lunges which will double that amount of time since I have to do both sides.  This requires more work from the body metabolically and will cause a better environment to burn fat during my workouts.

I will be performing a rotation with my full body workouts which will look something like this:

Week 1: 5 Full Body Workouts in 7 Days
Week 2: 4 Full Body Workouts in 7 Days
Week 3: 3 Full Body Workouts in 7 Days
Repeat 3 times

This will give me a 9 week plan which will bring me about 3 weeks from my wedding.  I will add sprint training into this phase as the weeks go on.

My Sprint Training will consist of a few different variations.  They will be performed on the beach, up hills, and with the prowler as my body gets capable of handling more work.  I will also do sprints in the form of yards.  The 2 sprint workouts I like are 6x40yd sprints followed by 4x20yd on one day and the other day will consist of 4-8x100yd sprints.  I will vary the rest interval but for the first day it will be kept to 2-4 minutes between each sprint and around 8 minutes between the 100yd sprints.

My calories are pretty steady at 2250 with a 40-30-30 split.  This has been working well for me since I have been back from my vacation.  So I will keep my calories the same as I increase my workouts during the next few weeks.  I will adjust according to my results.

Stay Tuned for Updated Photos as well as my Training Log!

Mike


Improve Shoulder Stability & Core Strength

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Today I have a little exercise video for you that I think is a great core strengthener as well as a shoulder stabilizer. The video you will see below is of a Blast Strap Push Up. You can purchase Blast Straps at www.elitefts.com here.

I love to use this exercise as one of my assistance exercises in an upper body day. I also use it on a recovery day to increase blood flow to the chest and shoulder region. I will perform blast strap push ups after my bench workout or after a military press workout to add much needed volume to my workout. What I like to do is combine it with a pulling movement and perform each back to back for 3 to 4 sets.

This exercise puts a great amount of added stress to your stabilizers in your shoulder since the straps are not stationary and they move freely causing your shoulders to create the stability in order to perform the exercise. By doing so the body also recruits the abdominal region to help the shoulder stabilizers to hold still. This puts much needed added stress to the core muscles which in turn will create a healthier mid-section. This is a great variation to the push up and should be included in any advanced training program.

Tip of the Day: Instead of doing the normal dumbbell bench press or incline bench press after your bench press training, try throwing the blast strap push up into the routine for a few weeks. It will get you off your back and in a position that stresses your abs as well as pumps some volume into your chest region.

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Setting Your Caloric Intake

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

Okay so this past week many of you know I started my “Summer Shred” in which I plan on taking the next 20 weeks to get myself nice and lean for my wedding.  What I did last week was basically what I call a clean up week in which I cleaned up my foods that I was eating. This wasn’t too different from what I was doing however the main things was to start cooking my own foods and limit what I ate at the deli up front and from other places around the gym.  The deli actually can make us egg whites and I usually get chicken breast on rye bread so it really isn’t bad.  I just know that when I make my own food at home it is real clean and I also save a boatload of money.

So what I get out of the clean up week is a average daily intake of calories that I am eating.  I started using fitday again which I haven’t done in years.  So after logging my food into fitday last week I came up with my daily caloric intake.  My average caloric intake was 2600 calories on average for 5 days of logging. With that number my first step is to maintain that amount of food for 1-2 weeks.  I do not want to drop my calories from the start because I want to give my metabolism a chance to get adjusted to maintaining a set number of calories for a small period of time before I create a deficit.  This caloric average can actually be maintain for 6-10 weeks before creating deficits from it.

At this point my goal for the next 2 weeks is to log 2600 calories EVERYDAY and keep my workouts exactly as is which I will get to later or in another blog.  I will follow this for 2 weeks in which point I will make a small adjustment to either my caloric intake or my exercise volume.  Notice I said I will make a change to one OR the other and not both.  This is key to determining what method actually works best at that time for you.  If I decrease my calories and add more exercise all at the same time I will never truly know what is causing the change in my physique.  So in two weeks I will make an adjustment to my plan.  For now the goal at hand is to get my workouts in 4 times per week with intensity,  and break my daily caloric intake down into how much is needed in each meal in regards to protein, carbs and fats and stay on a steady path for 2 weeks.

Tip of the Day: Remember to make yourself small attainable goals in order to not overwhelm yourself with the bigger picture.  I will prepare each days meals and have my workouts written out for the week in order to stay focused.


Hump Day Wednesday

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Ok so today I had plans to go to the gym,  do some clean-up and workout before my tattoo appointment.  Well my plans didn’t go as I would have liked them too.  I had to do some office work after the cleaning and there was not enough time to train before my appointment.  So I got back to the gym at 5, trained clients til 9 and came home.  I thought to train at 9pm however it just wasn’t happening.

Training clients last night made for some good conversation about meal planning and fat loss.  When your goal is fat loss and getting leaner you have to remember that it is a process that requires some planning.   From my experience, if my meals are not planned out accordingly prior to the day starting than I am not as successful in getting leaner than if I do have all meals planned out.

So what if your day is filled with meetings, car rides to clients, or super busy with the kids?

Well it still has to be planned out.  I get asked quite often what do I do if I am on the road or get stuck out and don’t have a meal with me , what do I eat and from where?  This is a very common situation and I will answer this shortly but first I must give you the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear this.  If you had planned all your meals the night before and packed them up in a cooler this would not be an issue.  I know, I know you weren’t expecting this situation to happen right?  Ok but if you plan your meals prior EVERY night and bring your foods with you ALL the time than it still doesn’t cause a problem.  And even if you just pack a meal replacement in your car with a shaker than all you really need is a bottled water and you are good to go.

You see in order to lose bodyfat and get leaner you must have a plan of attack and if you have a plan of attack than you shouldn’t get caught out there with no meals ready because any sound plan of attack in regards to nutrition is going to tell you to plan your meals ahead of time.

Okay Mike I get it but what if you are in a jam and have to stop to get something to eat out?  It really isn’t as hard as some may seem to get a healthy meal out whether it be chinese food, sandwich, salad bar at a food store, etc.  There are so many healthy options today that it is almost too easy.  Here are a few quick meals for on the road:

1.  Steamed Chicken, Brown Rice and Borccoli (Chinese Restaurant) – can’t have carbs in this meal?  Swap out the brown rice for some almonds or fish oils you should have stashed in your car.
2. Chicken Breast, 2 slices of Rye Bread, Tomato, Onions, Mustard, Apple – Carbless would be over salad no bread,  fruit or no fruit, add olive oil.
3.  Cottage Cheese, Fruit, Almonds – all can be bought at a grocery store which is located at every other street corner.
4. Protein Shake with fruit and/or almonds
5. Pouch of Tuna, Apple, Nuts

So you see you can stop at a subway and get a calorie packed junk meal or you can swing into a grocery store and jam out in 5 minutes with a healthy meal,  it really comes down to your choice and what you want out of your results.  It can be difficult and sometimes it is not easy however if you work for your goals than are worth more to you.

Wednesday Meals for Mike:

Protein:
1. 9 Egg Whites, 1 Whole Egg
2. 5 oz. Chx Breast
3. 5 oz. Chx Breast
4. 40 grams in Full Strength
5. 5 oz. Chx Breast
6. 4 oz. Steak

Carbs:
1. 1 cup Oats
2. 6 oz. Sweet Potato/Broccoli
3. 2 Slices Rye, Apple
4. 25 Grams in Full Strength
5. 6 oz. Sweet Potato/Broccoli
6. Broccoli

Fat:
1. 1 Yolk
2. Fish Oils
3. None
4. 5 grams in Full Strength
5. None
6. 1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Total Calories: 2600(290P, 175C, 79C)

So far my daily average intake for the past 3 days has been as follows:

Calories: 2615, Protein: 285, Carb: 195, Fat: 75


Summer Shred Starts NOW!

Monday, February 15th, 2010

Ok guys here we go.

Do you want to get ready for the summer!

Have you ever looked beach ready before?

Do you want to?

Are you ready to get SHREDDED?

Well than follow me on my journey to my wedding date in June and join me in the Summer Shred Program!

I will be posting my training log as well as my food log on my blog regularly. You will leave your logs in the comment section and we will Get Shredded TOGETHER!

Tomorrow I will start posting my food intake and my training along with tons of videos on metabolic conditioning, intervals, meal prepping tips, among various motivation tools to keep us on the path of victory.

Here is your first motivational video to get you ready for the ride, you must have a sense of humor for this one. It is a great abdominal bracing exercise that will make you laugh.

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Come on,  you have to laugh……life is short:)

Stayed tuned,  tomorrow it will be rocking over here at Hanley Strength.