We all get them: inflammation, pain, injuries, or a mere “tweak” in a joint or muscle. These are roadblocks to our goals, motivation, and all that we’re striving for. So we don’t like to think about them.

Ironically, the choices we make about how to train around injuries can impact us as much as the actual problem. Continuing to ignore a small, chronic pain can result in a more serious, acute one, so seeing a doctor early on is always a good idea.

The upside to this potentially depressing subject is that we have choices on how to proceed when something hurts. It’s obviously not best to continue as you are; it’s time to change your workout in a fundamental way so that you can truly heal. But is rest always the answer?

Recently this issue hit me over the head, so to speak. I’ve been seeing a physical therapist for a couple of weeks about tennis elbow in my right arm and she finally recommended a temporary cease and desist to my upper-body training. I wasn’t too happy to hear this, obviously – I love making progress on my upper body. Plus my right side is already smaller and weaker due to a whiplash injury years ago, so not training it gives me a slight dread feeling. But I knew it was coming.

I tweeted this development to my online community last week and a wise Twitter friend responded with this:

We gotta be safe & smart but often find the “easy” answer is rest – but not the ONLY answer. I know you’ll be smart!”

This innocuous comment sparked something in me that was already brewing below the surface: Just because I had to stop my usual upper body routine didn’t mean I had to now only train lower body and abs. There are actually lots of options that can keep me strong.

Have you thought about how you would deal with a potential roadblock? Take a look at these options seldom mentioned by doctors or the popular media.

Bodyweight Training

Giving deconditioned clients bodyweight exercises is something I do all the time.  They provide muscle stimulation without much risk of injury, especially for someone not used to exercising. But me? Hell no. I lift heavy and that is all. Right?

But my perspective changed last week when my physical therapist gave me an upper trap exercise that would help strengthen that weak right side of mine. In fact, it’s one I give my clients:

After actually doing this exercise for reps (I demonstrate it all the time, but doing 12-15 reps is a different matter!), I found my upper trap and my elbow felt deliciously better. I need a way to challenge my upper body without picking up weights, so I was happy that this exercise really did burn!

Bodyweight exercises can help you heal while keeping you strong. They also have a lot of prehab value – strengthening the supporting muscles to prevent injury. Here are more ideas.

Cross Training

Another idea from my physical therapist is actual cross training. I say actual because I rarely think of it – besides hiking and occasional cycling, I don’t do too much other than weight lifting. The reason? I’m so active in my job and my metabolism is so high that I tend to lose weight easily (translation: lose muscle). So I avoid any type of metabolic training and even cardio. Not good for my cardiorespiratory health!

My physical therapist recommended cardio and swimming, though we’re not sure if it’ll aggravate my elbow yet. But the idea excited me – I’ve always wanted to swim because it’s arguably the best full-body conditioning exercise you can do. And if swimming doesn’t hurt my elbow, I can certainly strengthen my upper body that way!

Cross training for you might mean concentrating on cardio instead of weights, cycling instead of running, or weights instead of plyometrics. It can only serve to make you healthier and more well-rounded. Read: more injury proof.

Improvising

This idea of improvising is straight from Bret Contreras, who wrote this article about how to work around injuries. He points out that you if you can find alternative exercises that don’t hurt, you can continue to make progress in another area while allowing yourself to heal. For example:

If your knees always hurt when you squat, stop squatting and see if you can get away with reverse sled dragging for the quads. If you can’t, then avoid training the quads altogether and stick to posterior chain lifts for a few weeks. Your quads won’t shrivel up if you stick with conventional deadlifts, hip thrusts, back extensions, and glute ham raises (or even leg curls) for a few weeks. First, you’ll give the knees a chance to recuperate. And second, you’ll strengthen the hips which can positively impact mechanics toward a more knee-friendly manner which will help spare the knees over time.”

Another option is to do high reps with lighter weight. A recent study determined that this method does indeed build muscle after all.

Yet another way to improve is unilateral training for the uninjured side. This is a temporary solution, as having one side a lot stronger than the other can cause new problems (symmetry would be affected as well!). Unilateral training utilizes your core to the max while your body tries to stabilize itself, so it can be a very practice to integrate regularly on both sides. My friend and biomechanics expert Scott Dueball recommends using isolation exercises when training one side only to prevent injury.

All these ideas give me renewed energy and help me stay strong. What are your ideas?

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Pull-ups are one of those exercises that everyone wants to do but few can. Why? Because pull-ups require a lot of upper-body strength and are best worked up to using small steps. So I was excited when my friend and fellow fitoholic Lean Muscle Matt created this how-to video on how to rock them. Check out his tips – and let me know how you’re doing!

Matt is a Certified Public Accountant and blogging fitness freak. After starting his fitness journey on September 1, 2010, he lost 4% body fat and gained 15 pounds of muscle in the first year. He believes that small constant changes and strength training are keys to achieving fitness goals. You can read more at FitDeskJockey.com or find him on Twitter @leanmusclematt.

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Abs training might be one of the most misunderstood of all muscle groups. The myths are rampant, so today I do my best to dispel a few of them. It’s not hard to fall for these myths; popular media reinforces them steadfastly. My experience and education have shown me, however, that you can’t always believe what you hear, even if it’s repeated over and over.

Myth #1 “Abs are made in the kitchen alone.”

When pontificating about the best way to train abs, some will say to ignore abdominal-specific exercises and rely on compound exercises only. You can certainly get a strong core by doing compound exercises (which is good), but those exercises don’t target your abs.

I include specific core exercises for my clients (and do them myself) for two reasons: One, most people have very weak cores that could use extra stimulus; and two, training your abs specifically lends definition once the fat is reduced. Yes, you already know you need a commitment to eating lean to reveal the abdominal muscles. But great-looking abs are really a product of low body fat in the abdominal area, cardio, and training your abs.

If your ab muscles aren’t well developed, they’re still not going to pop much even if you reach ultra-low body fat levels. You have to train them as diligently as any other muscle.” ~ Tom Venuto

Myth #2 “I should work up to holding a plank as long as humanly possible.”

This myth is deeply etched into our beast mentality. It’s truly admirable if you have crazy abs endurance, but to quote Jonathon Ross, author of Abs Revealed, holding a plank for increasing lengths of time is like repeating the first grade over and over.

There’s limited benefit in holding a plank longer than 30 seconds, according to Jonathon. Instead, make your body more unstable. Alternate lifting elbows or feet, do moving planks, planks with elbows or feet on a ball… you get the idea. Instead of increasing the length of the hold, make the plank more difficult. For more ideas, see this.

Myth #3 “I should train my abs more frequently than other muscles.”

This is a common myth, along with utilizing high repetitions for abs training. However, you should train the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominus, and internal and external obliques as often as any other muscle group – not necessarily every day.

Two or three times a week is sufficient in my opinion, and often you can train your abs in as little as 10 minutes (see final tip below). Your abs need to rest just as other muscles do in order to grow. However, read my interview with Brad Gouthro to see how often he trains his ripped abs.

Myth #4 “I shouldn’t train heavy with my abs.”

It’s true that you should not use heavy resistance with your obliques. It stands to reason that big muscles at the sides of your waist will make your waist look bigger. You want your obliques to pop but not grow, necessarily, so body weight or low weight is fine. But regarding your rectus abdominis, Tom Venuto says it best:

… Remember that muscle hypertrophy is achieved in the 8-12 rep range and even if abs are a more high-rep responsive muscle, 15-20 reps with some weight ought to do it.

Add some weight, drop the reps, go for a nice squeeze and contraction instead of those sloppy “speed reps” and see for yourself how much more it makes your abs pop.”

Myth #5 “A six pack is the holy grail.”

Your genetics play a large part in how your abs look, once revealed. You may be like me, in that you’d need a disturbingly low body fat percentage to see your lower abs. Every ounce of fat in my body is deposited right above my C-section scar, and I’ve accepted this. I never expect to have a six pack.

Not only that, but everyone’s abs are shaped differently. Some people have only a “four pack” – the third row is under flat sheet of tendinous tissue. The point is that no matter what your genetics, if you develop your abs and get lean, they will look ripped, even if they’re not a perfect six pack.

A Final Tip

And finally, here’s my quick tip for a fast, effective abs workout. I always do two or three abs exercises back to back without rest. This really burns the muscle effectively and saves time. As you build strength in your abs and core you won’t need to rest very long between exercises. One superset I particularly like is the hanging leg raise and a steep incline reverse crunch (pictured above). It’s incline because your head is at the top of the bench, not the bottom.

For more core training tips, see these posts:

• Crunches No More! Effective Core Training
• For Bad Ass Abs, Get Strong and Lean
• My Favorite Exercises for Hot, Muscular Abs

References

•  How to make your abs POP… More Dieting or More Training? by Tom Venuto
• Top Tips and Never-Before Seen Exercises for Training the Abs, by Jonathon Ross

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Personal trainers have a lot of goals that aren’t focused on aesthetics. We want you to activate your glutes and fix muscle imbalances. Increase your V0₂ max and improve your neuromuscular control.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in aesthetics; I’m very interested in aesthetics and get a lot of gratification from enlarging my muscle fibers, so to speak. Add in a low-fat diet and you’ve got a supremely cut, lean physique. What’s not to love about that? It’s surely a worthy goal whether the experts agree or not.

There’s an aesthetic ideal you want to reach – be it looking lean and tight, seeing muscle definition in your shoulders, shaping your butt, or winning a competition. With aesthetics, the basic goal is always to gain muscle (and many times to lose fat as well). Losing fat will come from diet, but I’m going to talk about gaining bigger muscles – hypertrophy – here.

I’m of the opinion that muscle definition on men and women is highly attractive, and if you don’t grow your muscles you surely can’t change the composition of your body and gain that definition.

Time under tension

By definition, hypertrophy is the enlargement of skeletal muscle fibers in response to overcoming force from high volumes of tension. It stands to reason that if the time under tension (TUT) is longer, the muscle must work harder.

I’ve talked before about the importance of knowing how long to rest and how many reps to do, but changing how long your muscles are under tension is another important technique. Incidentally, TUT is also referred to as “tempo” (which is written as x/x/x – eccentric/isometric/concentric).

There are optimal times for time under tension, depending on your goals. According to the National Academy of Sports Medicine, the optimal TUT for hypertrophy is 20-70 seconds per set (8-10 reps in a range between 4/2/1 and 2/0/2 tempos). So for a goal of 40 seconds TUT, a set of 10 reps would need to consist of four-second reps. One very effective way to stimulate muscle growth is a longer eccentric phase, when the muscle is lengthening and resisting gravity. For example, when doing a bicep curl, you would curl the weight up for one count and down for three. If you do eccentric training, you should cycle it in your training and not use it every workout to avoid overtraining.

Even if you don’t want to worry about TUT, I promise you that slowing down your reps will encourage more muscle growth than rushing through. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people in the gym doing quick reps and even quick partial reps. Partial reps have a place in training, but when done quickly, they are a supreme waste of time. Just remember to vary the times under tension weekly and don’t fall into the habit of always using a 4/0/1 temp, for example. Varying tempo is one of the fundamental principals in creating changes in your body.

For more information about TUT, check out this article. But before you do, please leave me a comment about whether you’ve thought about or used this technique before and what you think of it!

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Congrats to April Sorrow (@AprilS_2010), the winner of the giveaway! Thanks to everyone who entered. Now that you’re thinking about intervals, let’s see how you can use them to achieve your goals!

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For people wanting to lose weight and/or increase stamina while retaining muscle, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) really does live up to its promises. It’s a proven way to (1) increase your metabolic rate, (2) torch the same number of calories in much less time than conventional cardio, and (3) break through plateaus.

Studies show the claims are true – quick workouts in which you vary the intensity and pace are just as effective as hours on a cardio machine or endurance activity. And research shows that you don’t always need to make it an “all-out” effort as previously believed (see my article on HIIT).

A good example of timed intervals is Tabata, an eight-minute workout that involves 20 seconds of intense effort with 10-second rests. Tabata can include plyometrics, body weight exercises, resistance exercises, cardio machines, or any other exercise you can do fast and with good form. Tabata is just one example, however; intervals can consist of many different combos of paces and exercises.

When you consider the benefits, it’s not surprising that the interval timer was born. Using a stopwatch or cardio machine to time intervals can be frustrating and counterproductive. Trying to watch the clock while resetting it after every interval can reduce the actual work you’re doing.

I bought a Gymboss interval timer recently for that very reason. I wanted to get my weight-loss clients doing Tabata and timed intervals so that we could strength train and burn mega calories. The Gymboss timer lets me do this seamlessly, without delays between intervals, and has saved me from staring at my watch instead of watching my clients. The timer automatically cycles through intervals you preset so that you can get a more intense, effective workout. I will definitely be using the Gymboss myself for weight lifting, Tabata, and kettle bell circuits.

My prediction is that once you start doing intervals using a structured, easy tool, you’ll become addicted to this effective exercise method. That’s why I want to give away a brand-new Gymboss, thanks to Jake at Gymboss.

Here’s how to enter:

1. Like Workout Nirvana on Facebook.
2. Like Gymboss on Facebook.
3. Comment on Gymboss’ Facebook page – you must tag Workout Nirvana in the post – and tell them what inspires you to stay in shape or get in better shape.
4. Leave a comment back here letting me know you did it .

The winner will be chosen by random drawing this week. Good luck!!

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I hear it when you say it can be a struggle getting the results you want. An online friend even pointed out to me the other day that knowing the theory and science behind building muscle and losing fat doesn’t always translate into results - getting buff, that is – that  holy grail of looking exactly like you want to look.

So I started thinking about the ingredients of attaining a buff state and how much of it is a series of questions asked throughout my workout. I realized I follow an internal check list - a little voice that guides me and is ultimately responsible for getting me to my goals. As I’ve become more aware of it, I’m truly impressed with how effective it is.

You have a little voice following you around during your workouts too, and if you’re not seeing the results you want, it’s time to tune in and listen to what that voice is saying – or not saying.

If there’s negative talk going on – “I can’t lift that much… that will make me look stupid… what if I hurt myself” – it’s affecting your results. Negative thoughts only serve to distract you from your goals.

You also need to realize that weight lifting requires reasoning and comprehension to be effective. Just double-checking your form alone involves an ongoing thought process throughout your workout.  Add the questions I list below and you can see why you need to have a laser-like focus every time you lift weights. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does need to be focused.

Take a look at my check list to see if there’s something your internal guide is missing. If you don’t have a check list, you may be cheating yourself out of the results you deserve.

How many reps should I do?

This question automatically pops up when I approach a machine or bench. It is crucial because the number of reps you do directly impacts your results. The answer will depend on these things:

• If I haven’t increased the weight in long time, I’ll keep the reps low/resistance high to increase strength. I’ll also think about using an advanced technique to surprise my muscles.

• If I like my current results and the weight is still challenging, I’ll do 8-12 reps to stimulate muscle growth.

As you can see, I vary the number of reps according to my current goal. It’s not random, and in order for me to see a difference in either my strength or size, I need to ask myself this question every time I start an exercise. Another question you need to ask, perhaps less frequently, is how long do I rest.

Can I go heavier?

As alluded to above, I must continually lift heavier to get bigger and/or stronger. Please don’t let that scare you; women cannot get big and bulky without steroids. And if you’re lean, strong, and muscular, you will be what’s referred to as “buff.” Isn’t that desirable?

As I discussed on my wall, “toning” is a myth. Muscles cannot be “shaped” with light weights and high reps; they can be enlarged or atrophied. If you want definition (that buff look), you’ll need to work on enlarging your muscles while eating lean. You won’t see muscle definition until you lower your body fat.

So when I ask myself if I can go heavier, I again look at my current goals:

• If I’m doing a special technique to shock my muscles into growing (like a reverse pyramid), I think about the weight I need for that. For a reverse pyramid, that’ll start with the heaviest weight I can lift for three to five reps. I’ll want to do about two more reps each set after that. But can I go heavier than last time? If I don’t ask myself this question, I’m not progressing.

• If I look at my training log and see that I did 12 reps easily the last few times, I know it’s time to try a heavier weight. I’m almost always pleasantly surprised by how much stronger I’ve become when I do this.

Can I do one more?

As I approach my target rep range, positive thoughts kick in such as, “I’m strong,” and “I can do this.” If I’m doing it right, the last few reps are hard. I have to push it. I’m breathing hard and grimacing. All the stuff you see bodybuilders doing during their sets? It’s not (always) just for show. It’s because they’re serious about getting results and they’re pushing it. They know the power of positive self talk, too.

If you really want to see results and feel strong, you need to push it. Among other things, that means asking yourself every set whether you can do one more rep.

• If you’re within your prescribed rep range and cannot, then you’ve pushed it. You may even need to lower the weight to get back in the right range.
• If you can do one more, then you need to ask whether it’s possible to lift more the next time or if it’s just right. Being able to lift the weight once or twice more is ok – you don’t want to go to failure every time. But again, that’s fairly individual.

So you see, weight lifting is really a series of questions asked over and over during your workout. As you can see, keeping a training log can be truly beneficial for more than keeping track of your workouts. It can tell you what to do next. So listen carefully while you work out… and watch for the results.

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If there’s something big you want to accomplish – losing weight, getting stronger, training for an event – does it feel overwhelming? Unless you’re seasoned at tackling big fitness goals, of course it does. That’s why breaking a big goal down into small pieces is one of the best ways to not only get started, but meet your goal.

One day a few years ago I realized I was weak. My neck had been injured in a car accident and I became afraid of hurting myself. Although I had lifted for years before the accident, I no longer trusted weight lifting because I had flare ups after lifting. But feeling weak grated on me. I complained. I worried. And I wasn’t sure I could ever really be strong again.

It was serendipity when one day I saw a sign at the gym for a one-time class on core training. For some reason I became determined to do it, and little did I know how that decision was to change the course of my life dramatically. After that one class, I decided to join another ongoing class lifting weights. And slowly I began rebuilding my confidence – and my strength – starting with two-pound weights.

It was months before I was confident enough to move up to 5-pound weights. But after awhile my neck began to feel better. I knew I didn’t have to baby it anymore, that working up slowly had built enough strength to protect it. Eventually I quit the class and started lifting on my own again. And all of these small steps led to starting my blog, which led to becoming a personal trainer.

Everything I have accomplished with my body – and my life – has been the result of a series of small steps. Every gain in my muscle, body fat, balance, strength has been the result of decisions. Do I go heavier and push it or continue the same way? Do I keep eating out or cut back? I’ll always be a work in progress of course – everyone can improve. So I continue to take small steps and decisions every single day and for every goal, be it to do more pull ups or sit ups, hold my plank longer, or squat more weight. Even learning new things, which I’m constantly doing, involves small steps.

Last year I attended the Fitness and Health Bloggers Conference in Boulder, being held again this year June 22-24 at the Colorado Center for Health and Wellness. This relatively small step led to meeting other bloggers and fitness professionals, expanding my knowledge, and giving me a valuable experience I’ll never forget. I’m attending again this year courtesy of MeYouHealth and really can’t wait to see how this small step will impact my life positively.

If you’ve benefited from taking small steps to reach a goal – or if you’re struggling and need inspiration and ideas – join myself, MeYouHealth, and the Fitness and Health Bloggers Conference for a Twitter chat this Wednesday, March 28th at 9 pm Eastern time (#FHBC12). We’ll talk about how to think and act small in order to achieve big results.

How have you taken small steps to reach a goal? Is there a goal that seems overwhelming to you? Drop me a comment, join our chat, or send me an email to connect.

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When I think about what creates my gains in strength and fitness, hard work in the gym isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. That might come as a surprise since crushing it with weights is a core component of success (along with a healthy eating lifestyle).

But an equally important factor in consistent gains is the mental work – having a mindset that prevents failure and knowing what works and what doesn’t. In this post I lay out a few truths  that keep me on track to building muscle, strength, and a lean, cut body.

No F*cking Excuses

Recently I posted on my wall that it was a beautiful, late-winter day… but that I was still going to the gym. Predictably, a few of my dear friends pointed out that I was nuts. They scolded me  to train outside… use a playground… or go for a bike ride or walk/run. Get creative and don’t waste time indoors!

I love my Facebook peeps, but I had to disagree. If a nice day is going to keep you from your weights workout, then you’re letting another excuse get in the way of your goals. This might seem like a rigid position to some, but I didn’t get in the best condition of my life by skipping workouts due to weather.

The excuses will always be there – there’s a family obligation, the house needs cleaning, you didn’t sleep well. But here’s the bottom line: Is your workout non-negotiable or is it the first thing to go? If it’s an “only-if-nothing-else-gets-in-the-way” proposition, then I’m sorry – you won’t achieve that killer body or strength that you want.

I also didn’t get this way by doing bodyweight exercises. I’ve spent a lot of time at playgrounds and know that chin ups, planks, and pushups obviously can be done there. But in order for muscles to grow and strength to increase you need progressive resistance. If I don’t have access to barbells and dumbbells then I’m simply maintaining my current state.

Life happens, as they say. It happens EVERY DAY. Yes, you have to gauge each distraction individually to see if it’s worth missing or modifying your workout. But it’s only when making you’re your workouts becomes a mindset that you’ll get results that come from a long-term commitment. It’s also called consistency.

Holy High Reps!

You see it everywhere: Challenges that require very high repetitions on a single day, sometimes every day – 100 pushups, or 50 burpees, mountain climbers, box jumps, etc. When you take on a challenge like this, ask yourself why you’re doing it: to be a bad ass and say you did it? To burn calories? To become stronger?

Metabolic resistance training can torch calories better than standard weight lifting, and that’s all good. But it shouldn’t consist of the same exercises over and over; they should be varied so that not one pair of joints is being pummeled. If you’re consumed with doing a challenge to build strength or get in shape, think about this: Increases in strength, conditioning, and mass require constant change and progressive resistance, which you’re not getting with any of these challenges.

Plyometrics especially can cause injury in the unconditioned, and doing a high volume can cause injury in anyone. Some experts recommend only doing plyometrics a few times a week due to the stress it causes on the joints.

If you’re doing 50 reps of kettle bell swings every day (or any other strength training exercise), why? Even the 20-25-rep range should be used sparingly and can set you up for overuse injuries. As I discuss here, the number of reps you do affects your results. Do you really need or want hamstrings that can handle a large volume of repetitive work or do you want stronger hamstrings? Which brings me to another truth…

Question the Class

I went to a weight-lifting class at my gym for about a year and a half – the kind where you use barbells, dumbbells, and a step to get a strength-training workout. It was a great way for me to get back in the swing of lifting and held me accountable, since other people knew I was coming.

But after about awhile my elbow and knee started to ache and I had to actually decrease the resistance. The ultra-high repetitions done in the class weren’t increasing my strength or mass, but they were causing overuse injuries.

If going to classes makes you happy and doesn’t affect you adversely, then by all means do it. But rethink your workout if (1) you’re achy because of doing the same exercise throughout a three-minute song, or (2) you’re not able to increase the resistance week after week. Chances are your gains are going to plateau pretty quickly if the reps are always high or the routine doesn’t change frequently. And with high repetitions, it’s almost impossible to increase the resistance appreciably.

These are just a few of my mantras that create success. Feel free to weigh in here or on Facebook and add your own. I love hearing from you.

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So why would I want to share my precious gym time with kettle bells? I’ll never give up traditional lifting, but with all the fun and advantages kettle bells offer I’d be hiding my head in the sand if I didn’t use them. And since I have access to kettle bell experts (see video demonstration below), I want to share this killer fitness tool with you.

So how is kettle bell training beneficial, and what are some of the differences between kettle bells and free weights?

• When using a kettle bell single-handed, holding the weight outside your hand makes your center of mass unstable and forces you to counterbalance and stabilize your body. When your body is unbalanced, your secondary muscles are forced to work harder and become stronger. And conditioned secondary muscles mean a more solid, injury-free body.That’s the very definition of functional training – mimicking real-world movements in your training routine so that your body is conditioned to handle all kinds of scenarios. For example, if you become off-balance one day when you step off a curb, strong stabilizer muscles will kick in and keep you upright instead of your low back or ankle… which may fail or become injured. Functional training also increases athletic performance.That’s not to say you don’t use stabilizer muscles in traditional weight lifting. Compound movements such as the dumbbell chest press and deadlift recruit plenty of stabilizer muscles (the rotator cuff and abdominals, respectively), as do unilateral movements. But kettle bells almost always require you to use your body as a whole (and many times unilaterally), which translates into more functional training opportunities.
• When done in an interval format, kettle bell exercises (such as the snatch) can burn up to 20.2 calories per minute, according to one study. In this way you can save time by doing 20 minutes of kettle bells instead of 30 minutes of weight lifting and 30 minutes of cardio.

• If increased muscle mass or max strength is your goal, traditional barbells have the advantage since you can load the bar with very heavy weight. You can also isolate muscles more effectively with dumbbells/barbells due to hand position.

• If you adapt a dumbbell move for a kettle bell move, you need to adjust your grip or hand position, which can also obviously affect the training result. Kettle bell exercises give a single arm more range of motion than a dumbbell. This requires more functional strength than the fixed path/hand position of a barbell and dumbbell.

Mastering the Kettle Bell Swing

The swing is the foundational kettle bell move and is highly effective for training the entire posterior chain and core, including your back and shoulders. The swing burns calories and conditions your body in a functional manner, contributing to back strength that can help prevent injuries. The swing can be used to train for power, endurance, and both aerobic and anaerobic capacity.

John, having become certified in kettle bell training, agreed to demonstrate the swing for this post, and I must say he did a crazy good job. You can do the swing either two-handed or single-handed; here John does it two-handed. A side note… This is my first attempt at an exercise video and I was holding my phone in the wrong orientation. So please excuse the rather strange appearance it left me with!

There are many bad examples on YouTube of the swing, and learning from written instructions is basically impossible. Ideally you should have someone knowledgeable watching your form.

I’ve been doing the kettle bell swing wrong for a long time myself. First I was using my knees too much. Then I was raising my arms at the wrong time. It was only when my friend and fellow trainer John Sager watched my form that I learned the correct method, and I’m still working on it. The power of a swing comes from driving your hips forward and flexing your glutes as the bell swings upward. This also helps to prevent the quads from taking over.

Once you’ve mastered the swing, try the snatch, Turkish getup, cleans, clean and jerks, rows, and presses! Many thanks to John for doing this video for me!

A special thank you to Anda over at Leaving Fatville for my new web site banner! If you’re looking for a patient, accommodating, flexible graphic designer, be sure to give her a holler.

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I know people who hate crunches and sit ups, maybe as much as I hate overrated military-style exercises that make me struggle awkwardly (like burpees). The fact that some disciplines use them as a test of fitness certainly doesn’t help their reputation, so let’s look at how useful they really are.

I don’t mind crunches myself. Once I get into a rhythm, staring at the ceiling in a trance, I actually kind of enjoy them. Crunches aren’t necessarily bad for you, unless you have a back issue and have been told to avoid them. But they’re not the most effective exercise – crunches target primarily the rectus abdominis to the exclusion of other core muscles that need attention as well. Sit ups recruit your hips and abdominal muscles but not the rest of your core (glutes, hamstrings, latissimus dorsi).

Sit ups and crunches also require spinal flexion, a movement that is not commonly used in daily movements. Engaging the core when the spine is in a neutral position is more helpful in training for injury prevention and athletic performance than when the spine is in a flexed position.

So I’m writing this post not only for those of you who hate crunches/sit ups, but for anyone wishing to improve their core strength. If you just relied only on crunches you’d miss out on isometric holds and dynamic movements that increase core stability and pillar strength (shoulders, torso, and hips working together). When your deep stabilizer muscles aren’t strong, you’re setting yourself up for injury, as the kinetic forces may be transferred or used improperly.

I’m not promising you’ll love these exercises any more than crunches; when you feel the burn, it can be uncomfortable! But if you never do another crunch, your core will not suffer. So let’s get started.

The Goods

When selecting core exercises, look for those that target numerous muscles of the core, not just one or two. Also look for exercises that target your pillar – the shoulders, torso, and hips.

A good habit is to draw in your naval. Always, you say? Almost! Do it when you’re exercising, when you’re sitting, when you’re standing, or when you’re lying down. Drawing in your naval activates deep stabilizer muscles that help prevent spinal compression and pelvic instability. It improves your posture and balance as well! So do it.

Hint: Exercises that require you to balance and stabilize yourself (such as lying on a ball or standing on one leg) recruit your core more. Using free weights also recruits your core more than weight machines, which put you in a fixed plane of motion.

Here are a few exercises to give you an idea of what a good core exercise looks like.

• Farmer’s walk. Walk with a dumbbell in each hand for time, speed, or distance. Use any implement you like – dumbbells, a sandbag, bucket of water, suitcases – and carry them by your sides or over your head. Keep your core engaged and slowly walk forward.
• Leg raises on a stability ball. Lie with your head/upper back on the ball and lift one leg at a time.
• Medicine ball chest pass or overhead slam.
• Sea turtle. Lying face down, move your straight, lifted arms and legs in arcs, together, and apart.
• Stability ball rollout.
• Floor bridge. An especially good core exercise for beginners, it also works your hamstrings and glutes. Variations make it much harder: one leg raised, both feet on a ball, one foot on a foam roller, etc.
• Stability ball knee tuck.
• Stability ball pike. An advanced core move.
• Back extension. Try this as a dumbbell row, too.
• Plank. The good ole plank is boring, but effective. To mix it up, see all these ideas or try elbows on a stability ball, plank with leg lifts, feet elevated, clockwise planks on a ball (with elbows on ball, move elbows up, down, right, and left without lifting them).
• Plank with dumbbells: Position your body in the upward phase of a pushup, with your hands directly under your shoulders – one holding a light dumbbell with fingers pointing forward. Look at the floor and slowly swing the arm holding the dumbbell out to the side at shoulder height and then back down. Keep your elbows straight and move nothing except your arm. Repeat on the other side. (Source: Livestrong.com)
  Hip roll. Lying on your back, bend your knees to 90 degrees on one side. Using your core, move your bent legs together to the other side. Repeat for reps. Try these also with your bent legs on a stability ball.
• Russian twist. Try this also lying on a stability ball holding a medicine ball.
• Cable wood choppers. Do these side to side, high to low, or low to high.
• Side plank. Try it with a knee tuck (bend knee lower leg towards chest and hold), threading your non-weight-bearing arm through your weight-bearing arm, or raising and lowering your hips. Also try lying perpendicular to a low cable pulley and performing one-arm rows.
• Side bends. Hold dumbbells in each hand, stand on a resistance band, or hold a plate overhead. With a slight bend in your knees, slowly bend to the side, aiming your shoulder towards your hip. Return to the center. Repeat for both sides.

There seems to be an infinite number of core exercises that don’t require crunching! Have questions? Hit me up on Twitter, Facebook, or email  (workoutnirvanayahoocom)  . Feel free to leave your own favorites here as well!

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