During my Vancouver boot camp workouts, I often explain to my participants exactly why my outdoor workouts are superior to exercising at a traditional health club.
There are a lot of things that are wrong with traditional health clubs, but the number one problem with health clubs is that they are loaded with equipment that encourages people to sit on their butts while they workout:
- Seated row
- Seated chest press
- Seated chest fly
- Seated leg extension
- Seated leg curl
- Seated shoulder press
- The list goes on, and on, and on, and on….
Most people already sit down enough during the day. The last thing they need is to sit down for the majority of their workout. So rather than exercising at a gym using all the latest equipment that lets you sit down while you workout, you should focus on staying on your feet during your workout.
Contrast the previous list with superior total-body exercises:
- Instead of seated row, do a standing row with resistance tubing, or a squat plus a row using resistance tubing (these are called hybrid exercises, or exercise complexes), or perhaps an inverted bodyweight row using the TRX Suspension Trainer.
- Instead of seated chest press, do pushups, or take it to the next level with decline pushups (i.e. feet elevated on a bench), or a challenging TRX chest press.
- For seated chest fly, substitute standing fly using resistance tubing, do the fly standing and with only one arm at a time to remove the counterbalance and force your body to stabilize, or perhaps better yet avoid doing chest isolation exercises in favour of more effective compound exercises.
- For leg extension and leg curl, avoid those isolation exercises entirely and do standing compound leg exercises such as squats, lunges, reverse lunges, side lunges, and deadlifts.
- For shoulder press, perform the exercise standing, and do the exercise one arm at a time for increased instability and a greater core workout.
The best way to get in shape is by performing multi-joint, multi-muscle, compound exercises, and none of those exercises involve sitting on your butt while you workout.
For more examples of effective total-body exercises that don’t involve sitting on your butt while you workout, and therefore work more muscles and produce better and faster results, check out my resistance band workout program.
During my Vancouver boot camp workouts, I’m always asking my clients to think about what motivates them, and focus on that in order to push themselves to do their very best and get the most out of the workout.
I want to tell you a little story about what motivates me. This is a story about Patricia.
Patricia is a woman that I met at the park a few weeks ago after I was finished running my morning boot camp workouts. She was doing her regular morning routine of running, and stopping at various points throughout the run to perform some resistance training exercises. At Coopers Park, where I run my boot camps, Patricia stopped and did a couple of sets of triceps dips and bodyweight rows.
I have seen Patricia exercise in the park for months, but up until a few weeks ago, I had never had the opportunity to talk to her and get to know her a little bit. But a few weeks ago she stopped and asked me about my boot camp program (she said she’s hoping to join my next program starting in January), and I ended up chatting with her for a few minutes about her exercise routine, and some other details about her health and fitness.
Rain or shine, warm or cold, Patricia is outside exercising first thing in the morning every Monday through Saturday. On Sunday she doesn’t do any morning exercise, and instead goes to church.
Patricia is in amazing shape and is a perfect example of what can be achieved with solid commitment to exercise and a healthy lifestyle. Without fail, she’s up at 7AM every morning to do her workout. She doesn’t require an expensive gym membership or a bulky home gym. She maintains peak fitness simply from doing a basic exercise routine that she follows consistently without fail.
What motivates me to exercise? Lots of things, but one thing in particular is Patricia, and other people like her. She exudes energy and vigor, and is a prime example of what motivates me to continue to exercise and stay fit and healthy.
Oh yeah, one other detail about Patricia that I haven’t mentioned: she’s 73 years old.
My Vancouver boot camp program comes with an unconditional 100% money-back guarantee. Try my program risk free and if you don’t love it, you can request a complete refund, which will be promptly provided to you with no questions asked.
My exercise programs come with the most iron-clad guarantee in the industry. Most other boot camp programs in Vancouver either enforce a strict no refund policy, or they offer some kind of artificial guarantee loaded with fine print and conditions.
There is no asterisk beside my guarantee. There is no fine print anywhere on my website. My guarantee is unconditional. Join my program and if you aren’t thrilled with the program and with your results, just let me know and I will promptly refund every penny of your registration price.
Join my Vancouver boot camp program today and start burning stubborn fat.
Great article by Deborah L. Mullen:
Contrary to what many people think, strength training is as important, maybe more important to successful fat loss than aerobic exercise. The reason lies in the amount of calories that are burned when you aren’t exercising. Depending on the intensity and your weight, an aerobic workout (walking, cycling, stairstepping) will burn approximately 300 calories per hour. If the exercise is strenuous enough (which is unlikely in the beginning exerciser) the resting metabolic rate (RMR) will be elevated temporarily up to a few hours afterwards. Compare this to strength training which elevates the RMR permanently. The RMR accounts for 60 to 75 percent of your daily calorie expenditure, so even a modest increase will help burn off more fat.
Strength training for fat loss is one of the most important and effective principals of my resistance band workout program.
