11 Exercise Substitutions for Fat Loss Workouts

Hey-o! Ol’ Bally the Dog here. My pet human, Craig Ballantyne, is stuck at the Toronto Airport today trying to get to some place called ‘Florida’. Sounds too hot for me, I’d rather be out in the snow. Anyways, he left me in charge of today’s advicez. (If you’ll take advice from a trainer that looks like this…)

bally-056I see that ol’ guy doing some pretty weird exercises in the garage with all types of equipment, and he even taught me a bunch I want to share with you today to make your workouts better.

No Bench? No Excuses…
 
If you have dumbbells (DB’s), but no bench, you can still do presses, rows, and leg exercises, you just need to be creative.

First, for DB chest press, you’ll do lying Floor Presses. Everyone’s gotz a floor, I know that!

Use 20% less weight, lie flat on the ground, and do 5 repetitions more than normal to make up for the lighter weight. In addition, pause for one second where your upper arms contact the floor. It will make this exercise harder on your triceps. Brace your abs and keep your legs flat to eliminate leg drive.

Second, for DB Rows, you will use 20% less weight again, and have to brace your abs even harder – as if someone was going to punch you in the gut.

Place your non-working hand on a sturdy support, step forward with the leg on the opposite side of the working arm, and step slightly back with the leg on the working side. Brace your abs, keep your low back slightly arched (the opposite of rounding your low back), and row the dumbbell slowly up to your side, then slowly return. Go slower and do a few more reps because of the lighter weight you are using.

Finally, to replace step-ups, use DB Split Squats or Reverse Lunges.
 
No dumbbells for presses? No stress, pick a pushup you can do 8 times:

– pushups
– close-grip pushups
– decline pushup
– elevated pushups
– off-set pushups
– pushups with your feet on the ball
– pushups with your hands on the ball
– spiderman pushups
– pike pushups
– or possibly the hardest two hand pushup of them all, decline close-grip spiderman pushups

Knees Hurt? Let me help…
 
But first, see a vet (or a doctor?) and have them diagnose the problem. Second, see a therapist and have them treat the issue. Third, see a trainer and have them assess where you need to work on flexibility and how you can include some “knee-friendly” exercises in your workout program.

These exercises include:

Lying Hip Extensions (also known as Lying Hip Bridges)
Single-leg Hip Extensions (great sub for all single-leg standing exercises) Lying Hip Extensions with your feet on the ball
Lying Stability Ball Leg Curls
 
Can’t Squat? Neither can I because of my stupid 4 legs, so try this…

You can do 1-leg squats, 1-leg bench squats, bulgarian split squats, split squats, forward lunges, reverse lunges, step-ups, reaching lunges, 1-leg deadlifts, or 1-leg hip extensions

[ALERT!} Cool Exercise Tip!

For many exercises, including pushing and pulling too, you can play around with the 1&1/2 rep style – lowering to the bottom position, coming halfway back up, and then lowering again, and then coming all the way back up.)

No Stability Ball? No problem…
 
Instead of Jackknives, do Mountain Climbers.
Instead of Rollouts, do X-body Mountain Climbers or a Plank with your Elbows on the couch or a bed.

No Bar for Rows or Pullups? That’s a tough one…

You need some type of equipment to train your back…either a bar, a TRX, or dumbbells. If you have dumbbells (or kettlebells or powerblocks), you can do DB Row, DB Chest-Supported Rows, DB Renegade Rows, DB Rear Deltoid Raise

Whew. Is that 11? I have no idea. I’m just a dog. I can’t count above 3.

See?

Bark. Woof. Ruff! 1-2-3. Dogs don’t have numbers higher than that. That’s all we know!

But I hope those ideas help you out and make your workouts better.

Time to go eat, sleep, or poop. And repeat. All day.

That’s my idea of circuit training. LOLz.

Bark Woof Ruff,

Bally the Dog, CD
Certified Dog
“The Only Chocolate Lab with 6-Pack Abs”, according to Dr. Paula Fisher of Queen West Vets in Toronto

PS – I heard some TT readers were struggling with fat loss…

…but they haven’t heard about the WHOOOOSH effect.

You’ll learn all about it later this week. It will give you HOPE. Trust me!

Stay strong and silly, and get stronger and sillyerz.

Bark for now – Bally.

PPS – I also babysit. Sometimes literally. Contact me if you need a sitterz! Will sit for foodz.