It’s never too late to increase your jumping ability

Yeah I said it. It’s never too late to increase your jumping ability. All you gotta do is to train yourself to jump higher. How ? Let me count the ways.

1) Train with Weights – Incorporating strength training as part of your lower body routine will not just help build muscle and burn fat, it will also develop strength and power . If you find yourself being able to back squat your own body weight, chances are you can jump higher than what you remember.

2) Incorporate Plyometrics in your Routine – Plyometrics refer to exercises that enable muscles to reach maximal force in the shortest possible time. If you don’t think you have the potential to jump higher because you’re old, you’re wrong. You can train your body to react faster. Just gotta use the proper exercises for it.

3) Include Dynamic Stretching – Dynamic stretching is a more functional way of preparing your body for activity. Recent research have shown that static stretching can lead to decreased force production…which translates into a lower jumping ability. Dynamic stretching is the wave of the future.

These are just guidelines on how you can increase your jumping ability. Like anything else, a solid training plan and discipline will definitely get you the results you want. But first , you gotta get it our of your head that you’re too old to jump higher.

YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

Tip #4: Forget about doing bodypart splits

If you’ve been working out for awhile this may come as a shock to you. But hasn’t it shocked you enough that you’ve been splitting your workouts for years now and you still haven’t gotten the results you’ve desired? Well, that’s because your body’s been used to the same motor program for years now that’s why. Another thing is you’re not causing a stimulus strong enough to elicit a sharp hormonal response. And when I say hormonal I mean testosterone, the major hormone for building muscle.

Ladies, don’t be scared as doing full body movements can help you burn more calories. Try it and see the difference!

Here’s my buddy Jamie doing different exercises utilizing full body movements.

Tip #3: Stop doing crunches

Photo courtesy of Jupiter Images

Wasn’t spot reduction disproved by experts eons ago? Then why the hell are people still doing crunches? To my understanding crunches are being performed to tone the midsection. But what if the midsection is covered with another midsection? Like a layer of fat right? Well, if that’s the case you’ve gotta prioritize. Get rid of that layer of fat first via exercise and healthy food choices then train your midsection. Use that extra 15 mins you devote to crunches towards something else like planks or rollouts… but please, not crunches.

Ever heard of a Dynamic Warm-up?

I discovered Dynamic Warm-ups in 2004 when I picked up the book Core Performance by Mark Verstegen. Through this book I was able to learn that dynamic warm-ups are much more appropriate than stretching before training. As opposed to static stretching that most people do, a dynamic warm-up not only elevates your core body temperature but it also prepares your body for certain movements. For example, instead of lying on the floor and doing 2 sets of hurdler stretches to lengthen your hamstrings for leg curls why don’t you try the inch worm?  The inch worm is an exercise where from a standing position you bend over at the hip, walk yourself out with your hands into a plank and try to inch your way back in without bending at the knee. Can’t picture it? Well, I have attached a dynamic warm-up summary to guide you.

Edwin and Jason. Have you included this in your workouts?

Floor Circuits 3

Here’s another circuit to cap off the month of August. Unlike the last 2 circuits I’ve uploaded, this one has a pull-up component that will definitely require a little bit more upper body strength. Ladies if you want to follow this circuit, replace the pull-ups with an inverse row ( Will post a video soon!) and the elevated push-ups with standard push-ups. Happy lifting!

Core Training: The Basics

By now, all of you guys must already know what the core is.

If not, scroll back a few articles to find out.

Core training is all about muscle activation. It’s one thing to activate your core while sitting on a chair and it’s another thing to keep it activated when pressing a pair of dumbbells over your head.

Yup. Multi-tasking. Multi-tasking with muscles.

Telling your brain to keep your core braced the whole time you’re doing a squat or a push-up. It’a no walk in the park. Try it.

For women who are reading this, do a push-up (kneeling) with the following things in check:

1. Core activated.
2. Inhale going down the mat/floor.
3. Exhale going up (pushing off the mat/floor) while contracting your chest muscles.

For guys, do a push-up with the following things in check:

1. One straight line — from the heel, hips and shoulders on starting position.
2. Core activated.
3. Inhale going down the mat/floor.
4. Exhale going up (pushing off the mat/floor) while contracting your chest muscles and triceps.

Now try to go for at least 5 repetitions while keeping everything in check.

How did you fare?

If you did well, then congratulations.

For those who struggled, then it’s about time for you to get to know your body more. That is… before moving to more advanced stuff like core training.

But, it doesn’t mean that what you are doing currently is NOT core training.

If your current training program involves doing exercises like squats, planks and deadlifts,  then you’re already doing core training. It probably just wasn’t explained to you clearly. I mean, how else can you maintain your working position without everything in sync?

These basic movements fall under the category of CORE EXERCISES, meaning exercises that recruit one or more large muscle areas (i.e. chest, shoulder, back, hip or thigh) involve two or more primary joints (multi-joint exercise) and receive priority when one is starting out because they are more functional (i.e. mimics real life movements).

Another great thing about these exercises is the fact that they work to integrate the body into a functional whole and core training should be no different.

Mastery of basic core exercises can help develop intermuscular coordination and muscular activation. Once this has been achieved, more advanced core training can be taken up. This can involve the same core exercises but on a more challenging surface like a stability ball or a bosu ball.

Has anyone of you ever done a push-up on a stability ball/swiss ball? Sounds cool right? But before you try it, re-acquaint yourself with your body first. It’s gonna require a lot of balance, coordination, strength, technique and breathing. On top  of that, you need every ounce of muscle to participate.

Complicated? Multi-tasking is never easy.

The Rollout

The Rollout can be done with either a stability ball or a barbell. I suggest that if you’re starting out, try a stability ball that suits your height. This is an amazing exercise that will truly challenge your core. Just make sure you don’t cheat by using your butt to help bring the ball or the barbell back to your starting position.

Level: Beginner to Advanced

Rollout, posted with vodpod

Bird Dog

Most of the videos I’ve posted so far were done 2 years ago. So before I posted this one about the bird dog, I had to watch it first to make sure that I was giving the proper instructions. The instructions were alright…the way I was explaining it wasn’t. It was almost like somebody held me hostage and wanted me to narrate the instructions with a gun pointed to my head. Anyway, the videos will improve I promise you that. The star…I’m not sure. But you guys will definitely see other people demonstrating various exercises for this website.

Moving forward, posted here is a bird dog exercise which is great for the lower back and core. If you’re unsure of whether you’re doing it properly, have your wife, son or whoever’s around check your form. Good form includes a neutral spine and abdominal bracing.

Bird dog, posted with vodpod

Floor Circuits 2

Here’s another floor circuit that is composed of a dumbbell assisted exercise and lots of core . Combine this circuit with the floor circuit I posted a few days ago, and you already have a days worth of training!

Floor Circuits

Here’s a simple circuit with me doing 4 exercises straight. It took me 2 mins and 30 seconds to complete the circuit for 1 set. After doing your first set, rest for 1 minute and repeat the circuit again twice.

Note: You don’t wanna stare at my face while I’m doing the side plank. Just scrub through the timeline and just observe how I accomplish the exercises.