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Get Fit With Foursquare

March 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment (Edit)

For those of you who know me well, I am a foursquare machine. I check-in just about wherever I go. In fact, I’ll be the first to admit that I often volunteer to run to the store or restaurant to pick up things for others because it will allow me to gain an extra check-in or two. So, call me crazy! But, one thing is for sure; foursquare can help you get fit, so I recommend that you give it a try.

Here’s my reasoning…

The Gym Rat Badge!

Foursquare has something called badges, and these badges are available for users to earn. Often, it is exciting to gain a new badge, especially when they are not easy to earn. Foursquare offers a badge called the Gym Rat Badge, and it is given to a person when he or she checks in at one gym at least 10 times in any 30 day period. Of course, only one check-in per day will count, so that means that you have to get to the gym more often to earn this coveted fitness-focused badge. I have heard that they will be converting the gym rat badge into an expertise badge, wherein people who’ve already earned the badge can level up when they continue to check-in at different gyms. Also, from time to time, foursquare’s partners will offer a badge that is fitness-focused.

I earned the Gym Rat Badge... so can you!

Mayorship Motivates You To Check-in At Gym

For the person who checks into a venue the most over a revolving 60 day period, he or she is declared the mayor of that venue. For more popular venues with many check-ins, this becomes quite a challenge… a competition between fellow foursquare users! If you check-in at the gym, there is that pride involved in your results. Of course, you have to put the time in, even on those days when you lack the motivation. With foursquare, I find that I can peel myself off of the couch much easier because I know that I am either aiming to regain the mayorship at my gym or sustain the title of mayorship. My goal is to be the mayor, but I can only honestly do that if I keep going to the gym.

Check-in Today!

So, what are you waiting for? Give foursquare a try, and use it to help motivate you to get your gym workouts in more frequently! Before long, you’ll be reaching your fitness goals!

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Blast The Legs With Mike O’Hearn

June 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment (Edit)

For some off reason, many people hate to train their legs. If you are like me, you have friends and family members who just do some cardio and then ignore the legs the rest of the time; many of them love to train upper body, but that is it. For me, I crave leg day; while my legs do not appear to be enormously big and overly chiseled, they are [by most accounts] pretty strong. One thing that I have done in the past is focus on body parts / muscle groups that people hate to train and become the best I can be at it. Back when I was in the United States Marine Corps Reserves and was training at Camp Johnson in North Carolina, many of the physical fitness trainers (who were Marine NCOs and above) would lead PT with some killer exercises, mainly core abdominal routines [like flutter kicks for minutes long], that were designed to break Marines or at least push the Marines to the limits. For me, it was an opportunity to get really good at those so I could basically do those [flutter kick] exercises in my sleep! The same type of thing happened in boot camp a few years prior (2000) wherein many drill instructors would burn out a ton of diamond pushups or the infamous mountain climbers. I took these lessons and attitude and further applied it to my workout routine. As a result, I pride myself on going strong on leg days; sure, these days might be dreaded by many, but we must not shy away from and ignore our leg routines. On numerous occasions as a young adult, I was reminded that our legs are our foundation; if you want to get bigger in the upper body, you need to start hitting the legs.

Legs are the building blocks and foundation

Changing up the routines from time to time is a great habit to get into. For me, I need to add some lunges into the mix in the very near future. So, what exercise have you been ignoring or putting off until another day? If you want a great leg routine to add into the mix, I highly recommend Mike O’Hearn’s power leg routine. He puts together some great routines, and he is highly active in and throughout social media channels, always answering questions from fans and avid fitness folks! You can find him and his great tutorials on Twitter and Facebook, among other places online. So, take it from me, and check out his routines and tips. Below is his leg routine (7 sets of squats for 3 reps each, 5 sets of leg press for 10 reps each, and 5 sets of leg extension that I have found great results with; give it a try the next time you are in the gym!

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Succeed By Getting in a Routine

November 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment (Edit)

When it comes to fitness [and anything else worthwhile for that matter], we have a lot of goals that we would like to achieve, but the journey seems exhaustive. With health and fitness being a lifelong endeavor, we tend to find ourselves struggling to take the first, life-changing step. At times, we feel lost, uncertain, or just plan lonely. This is where you have to get yourself into a routine. Creating a routine that works for you is not a technique unfamiliar to us; we do it in the morning when we want to get ready for work, and we get in a routine at work to get the job done. Hence, we need to follow those examples and build a routine for your healthy living and workout.

Believe, Achieve, Succeed

Once you are in a routine, reaching your milestones and overall goals will become much easier, and seeing your progress and results along the way will only increase your motivation to get the job done! I have a pre-workout routine that I do each day (shown below) and a routine that I follow at the gym (each day)! Step by step, we can accomplish our fitness goals!

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Bodybuilding Routine: Changing Things Up!

October 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment (Edit)

It is that time yet again; it’s time for me to change up my routine a little bit. I still plan to hit the gym each and every day, and I still plan to alternate the number of sets (between 3 sets and 4 sets) that I will do per exercise every time I go to the gym, but I need to switch up which muscles I am working out together. It is merely that time again. Looking back, you will see why!

Here is a little history:

Pre-2009

A long time ago, I was just getting started with workouts, so I did not know everything about which muscles to work out together. Let me note that there is no specific magic formula to guarantee certain results (or at least I am unaware of it) outside of hard work, dedication, attention to detail, and listening to those who have great knowledge about the topic. Basically, there are no shortcuts. So, back to the quick story! I eventually started working out more and more and using different routines. Over time, I found that it was a solid start.

2009 to early 2011

Later, in 2009, I started working out with my cousin, Zach. Before this, I was doing more cardio than lifting, so my lifting regimen was a bit rusty; as a result, I sought out my cousin’s insight and expertise. At that time, he was following the push-pull theory, so I started following his workout program. That program meant that I would hit my chest and triceps together on one day, my back and biceps together on the next day, and my legs and shoulders (since those were all that was left) on the last day in the workout rotation!

Spring 2011 until fall 2011

As I moved down to Georgia and throughout my first year living here (in the Atlanta area), I stuck with this program, not tweaking it much at all. So, in April of this year, it was recommended that I switch things up, so I did. I took all of the primary muscle groups (chest, biceps, and legs) and labeled them A, B, and C; I took those secondary muscles (triceps, biceps, and shoulders) and labeled them 1, 2, and 3. I messaged Elaine and asked her to pick one of those letters and one of those numbers (she did not know what I was using that information for). Since I was not going to allow her to pick the same muscle combinations, I just needed the first letter and number. Thus, she indirectly created my new workout for me. Since early April of this year, I have been working out chest with biceps and forearms, back with shoulders, and legs with triceps, but April was 6 months ago, so I figured that it was time to change things up yet again.

Bench Press Bodybuilding Routine

New Routine Starting October 24, 2011

Since I want to try something slightly new, I am going to mix up those primary and secondary muscle groups one more time. Since I worked out my chest and biceps under the old routine on the 23rd, I will start with my back on the 24th! Here is how it is going to go: back with triceps, legs with biceps/forearms, and chest with shoulders. I will still rotate 3 set days and 4 set days so I give my various muscles a break.

Importance of Changing Things Up

When it comes to working out at the gym (or even at home), it is important to understand that muscle memory is a reality. When we do the same routine day-in and day-out, our muscles tend to plateau after a little while. So, what do we need to do? Well, we need to periodically shock the body. I recommend that you change up which muscles you work out together just as I recommend switching up the various exercises you use to train the different parts of your body. This helps to keep your body sharp and stronger! So, I encourage you to change up your routine from time to time and keep your workouts fresh, new, and exciting! See you in the gym!

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Fitness on the Fly

August 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment (Edit)

Everybody likes to take a little vacation every once in a while, right? I certainly do! That means, however, that you are probably going to be away from your favorite gym, and it also means that you probably are going to be busy having a lot of fun, thereby limiting the amount of time you have to get a run in or hit the weights. In many cases, you might be going to a vacation destination with few gym equipment options that are readily available and handy. So, what do you do? Well, I recommend that you get creative where and whenever possible! In a recent summer trip to Orlando, I found myself away from my full-size gym for one week, and I found myself on the go a lot too. What did I do? Well, I ended up doing the basics like pushups and crunches. Also, the resort we were staying at had a lazy river, and we went to the east coast (to Port Canaveral) to hang out at the beach. During both occasions, I found myself turning the swim and walking in the water into a workout! Guess what? It was fun… have you ever tried to run out into the ocean as fast and as far as your body would allow? Have you tried to fend off the waves by driving through the legs? I found this really refreshing; it was a nice little workout! However, I will admit that I really did not get as creative as I could and should have! Recently, I ran across a fitness fanatic (kind of like me) named Ross Yeager, the founder and creator of J&R Maximum Performance! He and his colleagues put together a simple YouTube video about this very topic (see quick video below)! It reminded me that, even when we do not have the gym available to workout in, we can still get a workout in. I recommend that you take a few minutes of each day of your vacation and come up with a little workout! Just make sure you have fun with it because fitness is supposed to be a fun (yet challenging) thing to embrace!

Great tips, guys! Also, I must quickly mention that your nutrition is just as (and probably even moreso) important. I know your (eating) options are a bit more limited at times on vacation, and you might want to just kick back and enjoy the tasty food that you might otherwise skip. I say… enjoy the delicious foods on your trip, but use some common sense along the way too. Picking your times to eat, when possible, can be a great way to keep the “damage” under control. Also, when possible, make sure that you are still eating smaller-portioned meals while on your getaway! Lastly, do NOT forget to drink plenty of water!! Okay, now that we have talked about vacations, I think it is time for me to figure out where and when I might want to vacation next!

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