7 Best All-Around Exercises
About a year ago I posted an article called “The 7 Worst Exercises”. It shocked a few people because the list contained a few beloved exercises like the “Thigh Master 2000” and elliptical trainers, exercises a lot of people thought were great exercises (read the post here and learn which others made the list and why). After posting the article I had numerous people ask me, “Mat, what are the 7 best exercises?” I just figured I had written and spoke enough about all the good exercises that I didn’t need to make such a list. So let me reiterate my criteria for a “good...
read moreFunctional Warm-up for Boot Camp or Training
Warming up has changed throughout the years. Back when I was in high school athletics we did a series of static stretches. You know the kind…the whole team spreads out in lines on the field and you bend over and reach for your toes while trying to keep your knees straight at the same time you count to 10 as a team then clap and move onto the next stretch. Most the time nobody was real serious about getting a good stretch, half the time someone would break wind and then the whole stretching session was blown because we would be laughing so hard. I’ll be honest we were...
read morePush Yourself Results and Eat Fat to Lose Fat
We just wrapped up another EXL Fitness Boot Camp phase called “Push Yourself”. The contest this phase was a push-up contest. We maxed out on pushups at the beginning of the phase and then retest after a 1 week break 6 weeks later. Campers were given a home program to supplement the pushup work already included in boot camp. The results were amazing! Every camper improved, including campers that did not do the home program. Prizes were awarded for the most overall pushups and the most improved. The biggest difference, however, was in technique. The pushups at the...
read morePush Up Boot Camp
The Push-up. It is probably the most popular exercise of all time. But being popular doesn’t necessarily mean being well liked! In fact, I think it is safe to say that the majority of people really HATE push-ups. More specifically, the push-up tends to be the undying nemesis for people who carry extra body weight and for most females who feel they do not have the upper body strength to do anything but “wuss-ups,” or modified push-ups on the knees. The goal of this post is to address everything you need to know about performing the push-up with proper form in addition to learning...
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