Good Day,
I have both of your books (7 Weeks to 100 Pushups* and 7 Weeks to 50 Pull-Ups) and was wondering your thoughts on combining both programs. I was thinking of doing a warm up, then doing the full set/rest of pull ups, and then doing the full set/rest of pushups. I would be aligning the weeks in the programs to match each other for every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  

Thanks for taking the time to review my inquiry.
Regards,
Jeremy

Hey Jeremy, congrats on your new challenge*!
Yes, I actually started doing both workouts together back on ’09, then added in additional exercises… that’s how 7 Weeks to Getting Ripped was created!

Here’s the format I used:
7 Weeks to 50 Pull-Ups – Set 1
7 Weeks to 100 Push-Ups* – Set 1
(a set or 2 of crunches, leg raises, plank or other core exercise… 20 Squats or Lunges… you see where I’m going, right?)
rest 2:00

Move on to set 2 of each, etc.

The last couple of sets will be a killer, so feel free to drop from the bar and take a :10-:30 breather and then complete your reps (if you can!)

It’s mighty tough, but it’s not about the number – it’s about the total body fitness! Speaking of total body fitness, it is really important to understand that 7 Weeks to 50 Pull-Ups & 7 Weeks to 100 Push-Up are CHALLENGES – not full-body workouts. While push-ups and pull-ups are great moves for strengthening multiple body parts, they work on a relatively singular plane of motion and need to be combined with other exercises to create a balanced workout and ripped physique.
Good luck!
~b

*Note: 7 Weeks to 100 Push-Ups was conceived & written by the incomparable Steve Spiers (aka British Bulldog) who is an amazing ultramarathoner and superb guy!

Getting Started: Running 101

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb

Running is a commitment of time, physical and mental energy, but it’s far more important than a simple pastime to pick up. A fitness and running regimen is an investment that you make in yourself, and the potential dividends are many: a healthier, happier life; a sense of accomplishment by reaching your goals; the fortitude that comes from learning from mistakes and fighting through setbacks to keep your goals in sight. There will be many ups and downs during your running career, and you’ll learn valuable lessons from each victory and many more from any failures and stumbles along the way to hit your goals. Some training sessions will feel like a trip to the dentist while others will feel like a day at the spa. To adopt a runner’s mentality means to embrace the good with the bad and keep an open mind to all the things you’ll learn along the way. I personally never envisioned becoming a runner. I cherish all the memories I’ve made “on the run” and look forward to the experiences I’ve yet to have.

So, how does one get started and become a runner? It all starts with a simple desire to reach a goal, whether it’s to run a marathon, lose weight, feel better, change your life, or even just get off the couch and do something. Harnessing that desire can be a tricky thing– just think of the millions of New Year’s resolutions that fall by the wayside mere minutes or days after they’ve been made. True aspirations still need to be combined with a plan of action in order to make them a reality, and continued repetition is required to make that action into a routine.

Here are some simple tips and recommendations in order to make a plan and stick with it, to become a runner for the first time or to develop better running habits that can lead to an even more successful and enjoyable running career.

Start small. No one becomes an athlete overnight. It takes time to build up your strength, skill and stamina. Begin by walking and jogging short distances and stick with it. You’ll soon be going farther and faster than you ever expected. Give yourself the chance to progress and your body to adapt.

Walk before you run. Walk/jog intervals are a big part of the Prep Program (in 7 Weeks to a 10k) and should absolutely be the path for new runners to build up their strength and stamina before running any continuous amount. The short walking breaks will allow you to catch your breath, hydrate and prepare to execute the next jog with a relaxed stride and proper form.

Go short before you go long. The quickest way for a new runner or one coming back after an injury to get knocked off-track is to try and log too many miles, too fast. It’s extremely common to get excited about completing an enjoyable run and immediately try to run significantly farther the next time you head out to train. Think of it like lifting weights: You don’t jump from curling 10-pound dumbbells to suddenly lifting a pair of 35s the next day. It takes time to progressively build up your mileage the same way. Failing to take your time will result in sore joints, shin splints, “dead” legs that have little energy and no spring in them, and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Any of these injuries can knock you off-track for your training, and all are easily avoidable by progressively adding to your mileage in small increments over time. The Prep Program was designed specifically for newcomers to start from scratch and get into running. For semi-experienced runners, a common rule of thumb is to add 10% to your mileage each week, but I like to use a simpler method: Pick one run per week and add a mile to it. Repeat each week until you get to your target distance. Adding mileage doesn’t go on forever!

Below is an example of adding mileage similar to what we’ll see in all the programs. This is also an effective and safe way for experienced runners to increase their endurance and strength (aka “base”) when stepping up to a longer race distance or coming back from off-season or injury. The Prep Program (in 7 Weeks to a 10k) starts with progressive walking and jogging intervals based on time, while the Basic and Advanced programs use progressive distance additions. (Check out “Preparing for the Programs” in 7 Weeks to a 10k for a primer on intervals and progression.)

• Week 1: Monday 3 miles, Wednesday 3 miles, Friday 3 miles = 9
• Week 2: Monday 4 miles, Wednesday 3 miles, Friday 3 miles = 10
• Week 3: Monday 4 miles, Wednesday 4 miles, Friday 3 miles = 11
• Week 4: Monday 4 miles, Wednesday 4 miles, Friday 4 miles = 12

Progressive programs with an incremental gain can work wonders over time. Just try and hold yourself back from jumping into longer distances too quickly.

Go slow before you go fast. Speed, like distance, also takes time to build up to as it’s extremely easy to damage muscle tissue that’s not yet conditioned for rapid bursts of speed, and the injuries can be quite catastrophic in nature. Severe muscle or tendon pulls and tears can happen in an instant and take weeks, months or years to heal, if they do. Sprinting only takes place in more advanced programs and for finite periods of time.

Run with a pal (two or four-legged variety). If you already have a pooch and are a beginner, then you have a training partner. The walk/jog intervals are perfect for giving both you and your dog a boost in your daily routine. The short-distance jogs are a great way to begin to build your cardio and base mileage, and probably won’t completely wear either of you out too quickly. Knowing your doggie needs you to take her out anyway makes it easier to sneak this workout into your normal day, and I’m pretty positive Fido will enjoy it. You’ll both get fitter together and mutually build up your distance between walks. I run with my pooch all the time; check out “What Shelby Taught Me about Pacing” (in  7 Weeks to a 10k).

Humans happen to make pretty darn good running partners too. They usually complain a little more than your dog does, but at least they don’t try and trip you with a leash every so often. Want to get to know someone? Go for a run with them! Running works just like truth serum; after a mile or so complete strangers will tell you just about anything about their life. It must have something to do with all the endorphins swirling around your brain, and you can’t help it. Also, by the end of a good run, you’ll end up being better friends with your running partner too. Why “The Bachelor” uses a dip in a hot tub versus a tempo run to select his rose-worthy suitors is beyond me.

The mere existence of a running partner will usually be enough to get you out of bed on a cold, dim morning to head out for a run so you don’t let them down. Optimally, one of you should be a morning person–that’s a big help! A good running partner will motivate you when you’re sluggish, slow to your pace when you’re not feeling well and stay with you when you need a rest. The key is to make sure you both support each other along the way. The “Golden Rule” applies to runners: Make sure you help out your partner as you’d like them to help you out!

As you and your partner get more experienced as runners, invariably you’ll start to push and challenge each other, but keep this in check. Each training run shouldn’t be required to end with a sprint–unless that’s what you’re both up for. When training back at ESPN with Erik and Mandy, all three of us were so close in our pace that each run we’d have a different “winner.” Head-to-head sprints to the finish are commonplace every time I run with Michael Bennett here in the desert. Two ultra-competitive guys trying to push each other on every single workout can be a fantastic thing!

Run fast, think fast. Studies have shown that physical exercise helps brain cell development and neural connections; researchers are attributing this to increased oxygen and nutrient flow during cardiovascular exercise. In other words, the more you run, the more you strengthen your mind too! The thought process of most runners will fall into three categories:

• Thinking about running while running. This group is usually composed of new runners who haven’t yet learned to relax and let the training run happen. Incidentally, this also happens to be the same group that complains how much running sucks.
• Thinking about absolutely nothing–completely “out of it” while running. I happen to know a few of these types who can literally shut off their brain and just chug through the miles. From my experience, these are the runners who you need to be extremely careful when running with on a busy street as they have a tendency to completely forget about road or sidewalk conditions, car, pedestrian or bike traffic and even dog poo. Like Forrest Gump said: “It happens!”
• Thinking about anything and everything else while running, exploring the meaning of life and the existential nature of beings one minute and then contemplating who gave the paperclip its shape and why Benjamin Franklin would choose a wild turkey for the national bird of the United States. I happen to fall into this category, and find that during a run I’m in the perfect mental space to think about writing, projects, and all sorts of creative endeavors.

Lose weight while running, but don’t run to lose weight. As a coach and trainer, “I want to lose X pounds by Y date” is one of the most common phrases I’ll hear, and while it’s a lofty and admirable goal, it’s fraught with problems. Running is a great way to lose weight, but it’s not the end-all-be-all of fitness, especially for those who are overweight and can’t yet take full advantage of the cardiovascular and metabolic benefits due to the additional force placed on joints and a limited aerobic capacity. Aside from the physical conditioning, weight loss is dependent on proper nutrition and caloric intake. Running will not make you thin if your diet does not support healthy weight loss.

Setting too short of a time frame for losing weight is also snafu that can lead to depression, low self-esteem and even extremely unhealthy methods to drop pounds by using fat-burning pills, diuretics, laxatives or worse. Trying to lose too much, too fast is a sure way to miss your goal.

Now, don’t let me deter you from employing a running regimen to get in shape and lose weight. Running is one of the most efficient ways to burn calories–a whopping 100 or so per mile for a150-pound person at a 9:30-per-mile pace. There’s no doubt you can get stronger, fitter and torch the fat off your body by sticking with a running plan, but combining it with proper nutrition and a full-body exercise regimen will give you the results you’re seeking much faster. (Read all about it in “The Programs” in  7 Weeks to a 10k.) The Achilles heel to weight loss for most new runners comes from overestimating the amount of calories they burned while running and taking in too many calories as a result.

Here’s a little cheat sheet to give you an idea what your calorie burn is really like so you can think twice before “treating yourself” to a celebratory doughnut after your workout.

• Calories burned running 1 hour (10:00 pace, 150-pound male): ~700
• Calories burned walking 1 hour (19:00 pace, 150-pound male): ~230
• Calories burned while sitting on couch 1 hour (150-pound male): ~100

The last one may throw you for a loop. You would’ve burned about 100 calories by sitting on your butt and letting your body’s systems do their thing. Your BMR, or Basal Metabolic Rate, is essentially the amount of calories your body would burn if you stayed in bed all day long, and it’s probably higher than you think. I was personally astonished to learn that mine was over 1600, and then used it as a tool to calculate the number of calories I should take in per day to maintain my weight and support my bodily functions based on my physical activity.

BMR Formula:

Female:

BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)

Male:

BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years)

For example, I’m 5’9”, 155 pounds and 42 years of age; my BMR is 1622.35.

Caloric Intake (Harris Benedict Formula)

Based on your daily level of activity, multiply your BMR by the factor in the table below to get the number of calories you should consume in a day to maintain your weight and proper bodily functions.

• Sedentary, little or no exercise: BMR x 1.2
• Light exercise or sports 1-3 days per week: BMR x 1.375
• Moderate exercise or sports 3-5 days per week: BMR x 1.55
• Hard exercise or sports 6-7 days per week: BMR x 1.725
• Very hard exercise, amateur to professional athlete: BMR x 1.9

With a BMR of 1622.35 and a multiplier of 1.725 during hard training, my caloric intake should be around 2800 calories per day.

If you’re planning to use this BMR and caloric guidelines to lose weight, don’t go overboard. Reducing your intake by 500 calories a day is a substantial amount and a good guideline to go by for healthy weight loss when combined with light to moderate exercise. If you plan on upping the intensity, keep your calories right around the calculated number above and you should lose weight effectively as well. Learn more about losing weight while training on “Dropping Weight to Begin Running” in the Prep Program in  7 Weeks to a 10k.

Run for someone else. Running for a charity or in honor of someone who can no longer run for themselves is a way to tap into a whole other well of strength in order to keep going. If your mantra becomes “I won’t quit on Pat Tillman,” then it may be much easier to train for Pat’s Run while also raising money for the Tillman Foundation. I’m proud to be a member of Team Tillman, and the process of raising funds while training for one of Arizona’s biggest marathons kept me motivated. During my training for Ironman in 2009, I covered my bike with names of friends and family who had fought cancer and enlisted the help of others to help me reach my financial goal to donate to The Prostate Cancer Foundation. During any low times during training or the race when I thought about quitting or even dropping out due to a flat tire (it happens!), I remembered each one of those courageous individuals and it was a no-brainer to tough it out till the end.

Through progressive training, the incremental improvements you make over time will add up to very significant gains. My first race was 3.1 miles, my last race was over 50, but it doesn’t happen overnight. I’ll show you in “The Programs” in  7 Weeks to a 10k how to make every workout count and build on the last effort to make you faster, fitter and stronger. Through repetition over time, you’ll continue to build your endurance and progress even farther as a runner. The sky’s the limit, but you’ll need to put in some time and hard work before you can go “swinging on a star.”

Come back alive–run safely. Running isn’t all that dangerous. Compared to any other physical sport, the incidents that result in serious injury are minimal, but unless you’re confined to running only on a treadmill, there are dangerous environmental and situational factors that need to be kept in mind.  Most importantly, use common sense when running and avoid potentially unsafe conditions and situations; whenever possible, run with a friend and always carry a cell phone when you’re out alone.

(from 7 Weeks to a 10k by Brett Stewart)

Ripped was created with the following mindset: If we were to ask trainers all over the globe what their clients hire them for, the answers fall into what we’d like to call our top 3 categories:

• Get off your ass-ivation: Using a trainer for motivation, supervision, and to provide some accountability to keep the individual on-track for general fitness, health and longevity. “I paid my trainer for 12 sessions, so I need to show up” can be the deciding factor for individuals to continue showing up – whatever it takes, right?
• Get rid of my ass-ivation: Weight loss and toning – usually for a life event like a wedding, beach vacation, class reunion or new-found single status forcing you to look somewhat presentable to the opposite sex. “Boot Camps” are really popular with this group as they are usually looking for immediate results.
• Move your ass-ivation: Athletic improvement or sport-specific training for an upcoming season or events. Speed, core strength, endurance, and flexibility are a common focus for most sports that involve getting from point A to point B as rapidly as possible; especially athletic endeavours where you repeat that over and over (soccer, football, baseball, paintball…)

Usually a specific target of putting on ‘X pounds of muscle in X amount of time’ isn’t on the tip of client’s tongues when they are asked what their training goals are, although it appears to be on their minds. Just Google “putting on muscle” and sift through the 69 million results and you’ll realize how important packing on solid, lean muscle is to athletes worldwide.

Now, those top 3 “ass-ivation” goals above aren’t mutually exclusive; you can lose weight, get healthy, improve your athletic ability and develop a fantastic physique all at the same time – heck, that’s what 7 Weeks to Getting Ripped was created for – but when it comes to packing on pounds of muscle, that requires a different approach to workouts, rest and nutrition that almost fly directly in the face of the Ripped protocols; in 7 Weeks to 10 Pounds of Muscle you’ll be working out for shorter periods of time with heavier weights, eating more and resting a lot more to reach your goals of packing on lean, solid muscle.

7 Weeks to 10 Pounds of Muscle: The Complete Day-by-Day Program to Pack on Lean, Healthy Muscle Mass (Available now for pre-order)
Getting fit is tough, but taking off fat while packing on 10 pounds of muscle? That can be the ultimate challenge. And the truth is, getting a full, ripped physique is a lot more than just hitting the gym once in awhile. Putting on and maintaining muscle mass is all about eating right, working out right and putting your body into the best fitness cycle possible. 7 Weeks to 10 Pounds of Muscle shows readers of all fitness levels how a few simple life changes can turn into a dramatic body overhaul. The book serves as nutritional coach, personal trainer, and source of inspiration with day-by-day routines and menus to transform the body on the outside as well as from within. From Brett Stewart & Jason Warner, available through Ulysses Press

Relax, we’ve all been there. Do you remember hitting a plateau at math in Algebra 1? No? That was just me? Well, no matter who you are, what you do or how well you are living your life, plateaus happen. Enzyte and Viagra would be out of business if everything kept working the same or getting better. Get over yourself and change something up or you’re in danger of becoming one of the millions who choose the other option: quitting.

Here’s an email I got today from my good friend Luke: (ok, I’ve never met him, but I bet we’d be friends, based mainly that he italicized the name of Steve’s book in his original email!)

Hey, I was wondering if you could give me some advice regarding the 7 weeks to 100 pushups book. I am having a very hard time getting through Week 4 of the Advanced Level 1. This is the second week I’m trying to get through just week 4, because last week I couldn’t complete it’s Friday workout, so I thought I’d just do it again this week. Still no go. It takes extreme will power for me to get through the Wednesday workout, and I know for the last few pushups I’m not using the correct position I’m so shot. I warm up and use the stretches after the workout though sometimes my arms almost feel almost too shot for that. Is there something I’m doing wrong? Should I move back to somewhere in the Intermediate Level 2?

Hey Luke, looks like you hit a plateau like we all do, don’t fret as it’s really common.

There are a dozen things that can affect your push-up rep performance (rest, nutrition, hand position, weak supporting muscles, a deadline at work, the economy…) here a couple common things that are probably in-play:

- plateauing: strength

To fix, you need to strengthen your pecs, arms and core. Keep up with the program, redo as needed and vary hand position. I’ll also use exercise bands across my back to make each push-up harder and do less. Raise your feet, raise your arms on a bench after 1/2 of the reps… shake it up. (more in “mental” below)

[NOTE: for pull-ups & dips, I'll hold a medicine ball between my feet, wear a weight vest or will use an exercise band or assisted pull-up/dip machine to do as many reps as I possibly can... anything to change the way my body has to react to a greater or lesser stimulus. To get through a distance plateau while running I think about bunnies and monster trucks... or bunnies driving monster trucks.]

- plateauing: endurance

This may be the way you’re breathing, how much energy you put out in the early reps (bouncing, excess movement, etc.). Perform the exercise rhythmically; don’t waste energy in the movement – “fal”l to your chest and push-up. If you’re worried about the # of reps, don’t waste arm strength lowering yourself very slowly. (of course, this builds more muscle from greater time under tension and is better long-run, but I digress)

- plateauing: mental - it’s more common than you think

If you’re hitting a road block, sometimes it’s counting the reps that does you in, you’re worried about hitting #20, so 17, 18 & 19 become increasingly more difficult. If you were worried about 25, it’d be the 3 reps leading up to it. This happens across the board, I was talking with athletes about this at an event on monday – why mile 5 is so hard if you’re running 5, but if you’re running 8 it seems easy… it’s all about perception of what you *think* can/can’t do and you’re letting your mind defeat you before you get there. That last mile or last few reps is absolutely NOT the end-all-be-all challenge, so get that out of your head. You CAN go farther, faster and longer when you’re not screwing your synapses up to short-circuit your possibilites (or something like that).

How to fix it: Take 2 days off from push-ups [NOTE: Insert exercise]; so if you haven’t done the program today take tomorrow off. Saturday, pop in some earphones, warm up and rhythmically do as many as you can without thinking about counting. at all. it doesn’t matter how many you do, just keep your form and do as many as you can. Rest for 2:00 and do another of your max without counting; it should be far less but who cares. When your back starts to sag and you lose your form just put all your effort into ONE good form push-up to end with. No matter how tired you are, you should be able to pull it all together to accomplish that last one. That’s when you know you’re in control of your body, not the other way around.

I also bet if you’re losing form at the end that your core may need some work; I suggest you add some planks to your off-days, then check out the 300 Sit-Ups program when you’re done with 100 Push-Ups.

Monster trucks & bunnies

- Brett

Personally, noting was more surprising to me than when I spent $11 at the local sporting goods store and took home a new jump rope. The one I had at the house wouldn’t work, no matter how cute the little Santa Claus characters on the handle are. In my mind, my daughter’s toy jump rope was a sweet little reminder that jumping rope was a kid’s activity and nothing to be taken seriously. Boy, was I wrong.

My co-author Jason spends a lot of time jumping rope, he likes it – I like to run. My endorphines  get all jacked up when I run trails or hills or loops around the block; but I never figured jump rope could do the same. Here’s a little tip we should have put in the book Ultimate Jump Rope Workouts:

A treadmill costs several hundred dollars and takes up a bunch of space (not to mention really hard to move to the third floor of a walk-up). A jump rope is ten to fifteen bucks and fits in your gym bag… and is more effective and efficient at burning calories – and can be used as a dog leash in a pinch.

Over the past year I’ve incorporated jumping rope more into my workouts. Why? Because I had to. When I write fitness books, I live them out before they ever go to print: I’ve done pull-ups out my wazoo during 50 Pull-Ups, spent 50 days transforming my body for Getting Ripped and rocked my core like I was preparing for a MMA bout in order to perfect the 300 Sit-Ups routine. (I’m currently living in the world of Obstacle Races; training, racing, and even helping build courses! More on that to come). The first thing I realized about jumping rope? It’s even hard for a 3:40 marathoner and Ironman to jump for one minute straight – let alone 3:00! Combine the floor exercises to strengthen your total core (yes – your hips and lower back are JUST as important as your abs!) and it’s a helluva good workout.

So, before you dismiss jumping rope as a kid’s pastime you should grab the rope and try for thirty seconds… you will be amazed!

Step 1: Warm Up No, not stretching; warm-ups. You wouldn’t pull frozen taffy, don’t yank on cold muscles unless you desire the same outcome. 3-5 minutes of light activity from jogging in place (or treadmill, elliptical, etc) or jumping jacks, arm, neck & waist circles or very easy jumping rope will do just fine.

Step 2: Flip the Switch Short, intense intervals will not only leave you breathless in a hurry, they increase your metabolism, fat oxidation and endurance more effectively than any other type of workout. Find a stretch of road, sidewalk, sports field or treadmill where you can run all-out for :30 to 1:00 and then rest for the same interval before sprinting back to the start. On a treadmill, carefully step off the belt onto the side rails – I repeat – do this very carefully. Perform 5-10 repetitions for a total of 10 to 20 minutes. Each workout add one more :30 rep and keep pushing the tempo.

Want to take it to the next level? Find some stairs or a hill to climb; :30 up at full speed, :30 walk slowly down & repeat.

Congratulations, your workout is half over and your brain should be awash in magical happy-feeling endorphins. Take 2:00 to breathe, hydrate and prepare for some body work.

Step 3: No Weights Needed Total body fitness does not come from pushing weights in a pre-defined motion while sitting on a bench and anyone who tells you differently is full of it. Full-body workouts use  multiple joints, a full compliment of stabilizer muscles and two or more prime movers (big muscles) working together to complete. Not only are body weight exercises more beneficial to your overall fitness and athletic prowess, they continue the fat oxidation and revved up metabolism that you started with the intervals. Repeat each of the following exercises in a circuit – one exercise after the other with little to no rest in between. After each round, take a 1:00 break to breathe, hydrate and wipe off the sweat. If this short & intense circuit doesn’t make you good & sweaty, you’re not pushing the tempo enough.

(pick the number of reps that you can complete in set 1, exercise descriptions & photos can be found at http://7weekstofitness.com/exercises)

Round 1

• 12 push-ups
• 12 bodyweight squats
• 12 mountain climbers
• 12 bicycle crunches
• 12 hip raises
• 1:00 rest

Reduce each exercise by 2 reps, continue to zero
Round 2

• 10 push-ups
• 10 bodyweight squats
• etc.

Round 3

• 8 push-ups
• 8 bodyweight squats
• etc.

Yup, that’s it! It should take 12-18 minutes to complete the bodyweight portion of your workout. If you’re keeping track of time, you’re probably at around 45 minutes depending on the intervals and reps… and you should be totally spent! Take a light jog to cool down and stretch for 3-5 minutes to start the recovery process. Check out http://www.7weekstofitness.com/warm-up-cardio-games/ for examples of cardio for warm-up & cool down, stretches and even fitness games!)

With all the great abs exercises out there, the leg lift usually gets overlooked; yet nothing is as effective at strengthening and shredding your entire core than the humble leg-lift and the kick-butt variations.

Basic Leg Lift: Laying flat on your back with your arms fully extended and palms down next to your hips, straighten your knees to fully extend your legs and rest your head back on the floor. Point your toes and raise both heels off the floor 6 to 8 inches by contracting your abdominal muscles. Keep your left foot in position and raise your right foot an additional 6 inches, hold that position for 5 seconds, then raise your left foot 6 inches while lowering your right foot to 6 inches from the floor. Breathe in a slow and controlled manner and work your way up to 10 reps with each foot before attempting the Advanced Leg Lift.

Advanced Leg Lift: Laying face-up on an incline exercise bench with your feet closest to the floor and your head at the apex, reach behind your head and securely grab on to the bench to stabilize your body. Straighten both knees and fully extend your legs. Keeping your butt on the bench, contract your abs and raise both feet up until they are parallel with the ground with toes pointed. Keeping your right leg in that position, raise your left leg 12 inches while focusing on keeping your knee straight. Hold for 3 seconds and switch legs by lowering your left leg back to parallel with the floor and raising your right leg. Breathe in a slow and controlled manner throughout the exercise and work your way up to 10 reps on each leg before even thinking about trying the extreme leg lifts.

Extreme Leg Lift: Any time you can say “Bruce Lee used to do this exercise all the time” then you know it’s pretty darn advanced. The Extreme Leg Lifts are also called “The Dragon Flag”, or “that exercise that makes me wimper after one set” – you choose what you want to call it! Caution, this is an extremely difficult exercise to master and the nature of the move can cause injury if you flip over backwards or slip off the bench. Perform this exercise with a spotter until you are comfortable and secure in trying it yourself. Lying on your back on an exercise bench, reach behind your head and grasp the bench for balance. Extend your legs straight out by straightening your knees and pointing your toes. In one swift motion, swing your toes up towards your head and use the momentum to raise your butt off the bench. When your feet are perpendicular to the floor, press your hips forward so that your entire body is 90 degrees in relation to the floor and only your shoulders and back of your head are on the bench, and your hands still gripping the bench tightly. Keeping your body extended and flat from sternum to toes, slowly lower your body as one piece as low as you possibly can before dropping your hips and lowering your back to the bench. As you progress, try and hold your body at 45 degrees in relation to the bench as long as possible, it’s a doozy. For most people, 1-3 reps is all they can handle, but this move strengthens your entire core (abs, obliques, lower back and hips) like no other! Just to keep it in perspective how amazingly strong Mr. Lee was; he used to do sets of raises and lowers with perfectly flat body position and we’re only focusing on the descent!

1. The site is constantly updated with new exercises, programs and even contests and I send updates about once a month; in order to do that I need your email.
2. For insurance & liability reasons, I need to have each user consent to the terms of use for this website. Your sign-up is proof of acceptance of this site’s terms and conditions:
   This website is provided for informational purposes only, the materials contained herein should not be used as a replacement for consultation with healthcare, nutrition or fitness professionals. As with any exercise regimen, it is highly recommended that you consult your physician before beginning. When doing pull-ups or any exercise where your weight is being supported, make sure object is strong enough support your full body weight. Please be safe when exercising and do not take any unnecessary risks. By registering for this site I am solely accepting the risk of injury or death associated with performing any exercises, stretches, cardio, warm-ups or any physical activity listed anywhere on this site.
3. We are putting hundreds of hours into developing some new & cool tools to add to this site as well as the companion Workout Analysis site and we want to keep you up to date. Your early registration will get you in the exclusive first round of invites.
4. The material contained in each program is copyright of their respective authors and where applicable, publisher. In order to procure these rights to bring these programs to you for FREE, the log in became necessary.
5. It really makes me feel special to see the thousands of new registrations we get every week. And after all, who doesn’t want to feel special? (Actually, I’m just geeked to be helping folks get fit)

So, that’s it. All I’m asking for is you to register. I’m not here to sell your email, SPAM you or be a nuisance. Cool?