Burpees for Fat Loss

One of the hardest workout exercises out there is burpee or the squat thrust. It is a full body exercise popularized by U.S. Armed Services used for strengthening as well as an aerobic exercise. It’s an effective way if you want to shed off those bodyfats away and at the same time will get you stronger. As this exercise works on your arms, back, chest, core, glutes, legs and cardio, it’s a total body workout you may want to try.  Burpees help you enhance your endurance, strength, agility, balance, coordination…name it.

It’s probably the favorite high-intensity interval training (HIIT) among fitness enthusiasts because you can do it anytime, anywhere, and doesn’t use any equipment.

Here's how you do a burpee (for beginners).

The downside is that there’s really no fun way to do this type of exercise. You may do it slowly or as fast as possible, but nevertheless, it will make your muscles ache and catch your breath as if you sprinted for a mile.

Now as you start to get tired, you may want to skip certain steps for a short cut which could make it easier to do.

Some common mistakes to avoid are as follows:

Skipping steps. Yes you get tired of doing burpees on your nth reps and sets, but by skipping the steps, you’re only cheating yourself and will not give you good results. By doing the correct level of intensity, it ensures you to reap the benefits of this grueling exercise. If you start to struggle, take a rest then go for that rep again.

Doing more reps just for the sake of pulling it off. You may do a lot of reps but if you’re not doing the correct technique then your workout is not fully successful. Focus on doing the correct form and technique, don’t worry if you can only do small reps, as long as you’re able to nail the right way, it will give you great benefit at same time help you in your smooth progress.

Arching the back. The plank phase of this exercise is vital to ensure your abs get the right stimulation so you need to make sure that your shoulders are parallel to your wrists, keeping your core engaged and contracted, back straight and neutrally aligned with your glutes. When you arch your back, there’s a risk of getting injured.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Hercules Workout: How to Become a Demigod?

We learned about Dwayne Johnson’s insane dietary plan that transformed him to a legendary level when he went to play the role of Hercules. Now let’s take a look at his workout training program. Taking his training to a new level, he bared how he built his frame of a demigod for eight months!

To play the role of Hercules, you have to train intensely, and The Rock has shared to us his workout regimen that would challenge even the most dedicated athletes and bodybuilders.

Here’s the workout:

Monday: Chest

Dumbbell Bench Press - 4 sets, 10-12 reps

Flat Bench Cable Flyes - 3 sets, to failure

Barbell Bench Press Medium Grip – 4 sets, 10-12 reps

Incline Dumbbell Press – 5 sets, 10-12 reps

Cable Crossover – 4 sets, 10-12 reps

Barbell Incline Bench Press Medium Grip – 3 sets 10-12 reps

Tuesday: Legs

Leg Press – 4 sets, 25 reps

Barbell Walking Lunge – 4sets, 25 reps

Leg Extensions – 3 sets, 20 reps

Seated Leg Curl – 3 sets, 20 reps

Smith Machine Calf Raise – 3 sets, to failure

Thigh Abductor – 3 sets, 15 reps

Barbell Lunge – 3 sets, 20 reps

Wednesday: Abs and Arms

Barbell Curl – 3 sets, 10-12 reps

Hammer Curls – 4 sets, 10-12 reps

Spider Curl – 4 sets, to failure

Triceps Pushdown – 3sets, 10 reps

Dips – Triceps Version – 3 sets, to failure

Hanging Leg Raise – 4 sets, 20 reps

Rope Crunch – 4 sets, 20 reps

Russian Twist – 4 sets, 20 reps

Thursday: Back

Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown – 4 sets, 10-15 reps

Barbell Deadlift – 4 sets, 10-15 reps

Barbell Shrug – 4 sets, 15 reps

Pullups – 4 sets, 15 reps

Hyperextensions (Back Extensions) – 4 sets, 15 reps

One-Arm Dumbbell Row – 4 sets, 15 reps

Inverted Row – 3 sets, to failure

Friday: Shoulders

Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 4 sets, 12 reps

Front Dumbbell Raise – 4 sets, 12 reps

Side Lateral Raise – 4 sets, 12 reps

Standing Military Press – 4 sets, 12 reps

Reverse Flyes – 3 sets, 10-15 reps

Saturday: Legs

Leg Press – 4 sets, 25 reps

Barbell Walking Lunge – 4 sets, 25 reps

Leg Extensions – 3 sets, 20 reps

Seated Leg Curl – 3 sets, 20 reps

Smith Machine Calf Raise – 3 sets, to failure

Thig Abductor – 3 sets, 15 reps

Barbell Lunge – 3 sets, 20 reps

Sunday: Rest

 Before starting on the workout, The Rock would do a 50 minute cardio session each morning.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Hercules Diet

WWE superstar turned Hollywood actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is about to star in the upcoming blockbuster film of Hercules and in this new iteration of the Roman hero and god, The Rock has embarked on an insane diet routine that has made him bigger than ever.

Playing a demigod is no easy task, as Hercules is known to have a huge well-chiseled physique, so to achieve that look, The Rock made a special dietary plan he called “12 Labors of Diet” which consists of 7 meals everyday and would do it for 22 weeks!

Johnson has shared this routine with his followers via his Twitter page. Below is the list of The Rock’s Hercules diet program.

Meal 1:

10 oz. filet with 4 egg whites

5 oz. oatmeal or cream of what (measured dry)

Meal 2:

8 oz. chicken, 2 cups white rice, 1 cup broccoli

Meal 3:

8 oz. halibut, 2 cups white rice, 1 cup asparagus

Meal 4:

8 oz. chicken, 12 oz. baked potato, 1 cup broccoli

Meal 5:

8 oz. halibut, 1.5 cups white rice, 1 cup asparagus

Meal 6:

8 oz. fillet, 9 oz. baked potato w/ salad

Meal 7:

30 grams casein protein, 10 egg whites scrambled with onions, peppers and mushrooms

1 cup Nemean Lion blood upon rising (served fresh and warm)

How to Achieve Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine Physique

Hugh Jackman is back as the Wolverine and he’s gotten bigger compared to his looks at his previous films. Wonder how he did it? The multi-talented actor revealed that you need to have an extra diet and most of all, getting fitness tips from other Hollywood actors like Dwayne Johnson. Bulking up requires hard work and The Rock’s advice inspired Jackman and took it to heart.

Jackman added up 25 pounds of lean muscle for at least six months with a diet containing 6,000 calories per day. The result was superb and very evident.

Here’s the killer workout to achieve that Wolverine physique.

Station A

(perform 8-12 reps of each exercise then move on to the next; complete 4 circuits of this station)

Squat

Dumbbell Step Ups (or Calf Raise Machine)

Medicine Ball Chops

Dumbbell Single-Arm Row (or Rear Deltoid Machine)

Crunches - 20

Step Ups – 15 steps per leg

Active Recovery – 2 minutes on Airdyne bike

Station B

(perform 8-12 reps of each exercise then move on to the next; complete 3 circuits of this station)

Gorilla Pullups

Standing Jump and Reach (or if possible, Vertimax jumps)

Fat Bar Curls

Jump Rope – 1 min

Active Recovery – 2 minutes on treadmill – incline at 2%, speed at 3-4 mph

Station C

(perform 8-12 reps of each exercise then move on to the next; complete 3 circuits of this station)

Standing Cable Fly

Standing Cable Press

Standing Triceps Extension

Wood Chops

Push Press

Active Recovery – 2 minutes heavy punching bag

Triceps Shock Workout

Talking about big arms for majority of people engaged in weight training, it’s all about biceps. But little did they know that what makes your arms stand out and get noticed by the watchful public eye when you’re wearing a shirt is by having a big triceps. Triceps or what they call triceps brachil in technical terms, is a three-headed muscle on the back of your arm responsible for elbow joint extension. 

Building triceps is the secret of getting big arms. Biceps only constitute small size in your arm than bigger triceps so focus in training your back-arm muscle to gain more definition.

If you’re already working out your triceps, you may include this killer workout program in your regimen. It will shock your muscles and help them grow bigger.

For this shocking triceps workout, you need to do it once a month. This is a nonstop workout (superset), doing one exercise after the other without rest, so if you’re just a beginner, better not to do this yet and focus first in building your strength and stamina.

Comprising the exercises are regular cable pressdowns, seated overhead cambered-bar extensions and overhead cable extensions.

Here’s the full breakdown.

Exercises:

Pressdowns – 4 sets; 12-15 reps

Seated overhead cambered-bar extensions – 4 sets; 12-15 reps

Overhead cable extensions – 4 sets; 12-15 reps