Advanced Bodyweight Exercises For Busy Schedules
In Part 2 Dwood shared with us how he incorporates density training with his programs and why they work so well with his clients. Today he’ll take us through a three-minute workout round.
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Mike: Now speaking of results, let’s talk a little about some of the results that your clients have gotten using this approach. Tell us one of your best one or two success stories using these principles.
Daniel: Absolutely. Probably my biggest success story is a gentleman and he’s actually become a pretty good friend of mine. His name is Joe. Joe was struggling with his weight and his confidence like a lot of people these days. He tried virtually every type of workout program out there but nothing seemed to work. Nothing seemed to really stick with him. Of course, he would lose a few pounds here and there. He could never stay consistent with the training. He was getting bored. This program he was trying was not working for him so Joe was pretty much at the point of giving up on his fitness goals and his journey aside from the fact that he was never happy with his body, like I see a lot of my clients.
Eventually, he came in actually just to try check out our gym and I was able to convince him to try it out. Fast forward almost a year later it’s been now, he’s actually lost 68 pounds. I mean he’s improved his health in so many ways. He’s gained more confidence. He definitely decreased the stress level. He has a very stressful job. One of the biggest things that I was noticing was he was just coming in at the beginning of the time training with us, he was just miserable and he was unhappy. He found this to kind of be his therapy, you could say, and he’s decreased the stress level and improved his overall posture, which is big, too.
We’ve really worked on his posture because he’s hunched over a computer all day. A lot of people don’t realize these kickboxing moves significantly increase your posture, especially the core, enhance your back muscles, which a lot of times is a weak spot for many people. So that’s one of the biggest success stories. Actually, his wife—her name’s Jen—she’s lost close to 30 pounds as well so it’s really cool to see it benefit them and how much they’ve transformed both physically and mentally.
I would say another one is actually—I’m not trying to plug here—my girlfriend, Brittany, which you’ve met her, Mike, she was already in good shape but since she started the kickboxing workouts about a year ago, she’s completely changed her body. I think she’s lost up to 15 pounds now, just the stubborn belly fat that a lot of women struggle with. She’s gained some serious lean muscle, which in fact helped her win the TT Women’s Push up Contest last month.
Mike: You hadn’t mentioned that.
Daniel: Yeah, I think she had more push ups than me, Mike.
Mike: Oh yeah.
Daniel: Obviously, she just gained a lot more confidence now. So again, it’s not just the physical training that is very important. It’s the mental improvement that is a big part of the transformation for many people because obviously you want to see the physical results but you also want to just feel better about yourself. Those are a couple of the big success stories. I’ve had everything from people losing 3 pounds before a wedding to decreasing their back pain, strengthening their core, close to 70 pounds loss like Joe. We have a lot of different transformations and different improvements we’ve seen. That’s really what keeps me going, seeing people see the results. That’s what keeps me staying up late at night, coming up with new programs, and just trying to make my workouts in the gym the best not only Charleston but the best around the country.
Mike: That’s awesome and that’s a great story, too, about Brittany because yes, I know she smoked my numbers in the push ups but that just comes to proves that this kind of system helps with yeah, losing fat is great, looking better and that kind of thing but even better is when you’re able to carry groceries and not get tired, or play with your kids and not get tires, or go up the stairs and not get exhausted, little things like that. Of course, that translates into the fat loss and that kind of thing. To me, the fat loss then becomes just a by-product of just simply getting better, especially with this approach. It’s just such a unique way, about challenging yourself, trying to get more rounds in and things like that, so it’s really cool.
Now hopefully I don’t throw you a curve ball here but if you will, I actually have another curve ball down the road but I want to ask you something. Can you walk us through one three-minute round like what are a couple of the exercises that you would put into a circuit?
Daniel: Absolutely. We need to warm up. Let’s just say we wanted to go to the round. I can actually give you a couple of unique rounds, Mike, if you like. Let’s just say we have three exercises for the three minutes so we could do a reverse lunge to a front kick. Getting that, what I found earlier was you’re utilizing two different exercises, a normal bodyweight exercise, the reverse lunge although we’re also adding a front kick to the end of the lunge, end of the movement. You’re combining the two exercises so you’re getting more bang for your buck. Let’s say we did reverse lunge to a front kick for 12 reps per side and then let’s say we hold a side plank for 20 seconds per side so really engaging that core. Then let’s just say we do a T push up for like 6 reps per side.
So again, you’ve got reverse lunge to a front kick, 12 reps per side, the side plank hold anywhere from 15 to 25 seconds per side, and then a T push up for 6 reps per side. You’re going to go through those exercises as many times as you can for the three minutes and then of course you’re going to rest. Say if this is an advanced workout, you’ll rest 45 seconds and then you’ll repeat that circuit one more time or even two more times possibly and try to outwork your capacity from the previous round. That’s one way of doing an exercise round.
Another can even be like a ladder drill, which I know, Mike, you’d be using in some of your finishers, which I really like. Let’s just say we could do a squat punch. Let’s say we start with 10 reps on all three exercises. So let’s go into a squat punch, a close grip push up, and then we’ll say high knees or run in place. So you start with 10 reps and then all three exercises, we’re going 9 reps, then 8 reps, then 7 reps, and then 6 reps, and then you get them all the way down into 1 rep. Of course, that could be a round. Either we do that again or that could be a standalone round and you can go into another round.
So those are a couple of rounds that would be sort of what you could see. It’s like the scene in this type of program so three exercises. Each round of the week has one exercise that incorporates a kickboxing move. A lot of times you might have two or three exercises that incorporate some type of kickboxing move with these advanced bodyweight exercises.
Mike: Fantastic. Now correct me if I’m wrong but that kind of workout I would say constitutes, I’m guessing, a stack of pancakes?
Daniel: Absolutely. Absolutely. That’s it right there.
Mike: That’s awesome. I’m glad to hear that. Now I have a reason to do this. That’s fantastic, especially that ladder and that’s something very unique and a lot of fun, especially when you’re doing that combo of doing the squat and the punch. Not only are you working your core like crazy with the punch but because you’re holding that squat position, you’re going to engage your glutes, your hips, and your quads. It’s just a fantastic combination there so thanks for walking us through that. Definitely give that a try. Hopefully you’ve had a chance to write those down and you can knock that out in your living room. That’s really cool.
Well, I do have another question and that is for people that are extremely busy, let’s say for instance—there are so many reasons but let’s just take the holidays for example, over thanksgiving, Christmas, and things like that, people are so busy. This is when a lot of people typically give up working up for a couple of months and unfortunately everything they’ve worked hard for all during the year, they gain it all back just within an eight-week period. Not only are they indulging in holiday food but on top of that they’re not working out. So how does this program help people that are really, really busy?
Daniel: That’s the thing. Like I said earlier, you don’t need any equipment. You don’t need any space. There’s really no excuse. Everybody can find 30 minutes during the day, or even 20 minutes during the day to work out. Stop checking Facebook. Stop going through emails. Stop watching TV tonight. Literally just turn off your computer, shut it down, close the boiler room, and just knock out a 15 to 20-minute workout. I get so tired of people just saying that they don’t have time. You can make time. If it’s important to you, you’ll make time. I guarantee you make time to check out Facebook and I guarantee you take time to watch your favourite TV show at night. So take time to do these 10 to 15 or 20-minute workouts, even if you can’t get in all three rounds. Just do one or two rounds. Anything is better than nothing. You’ve got to make time. If it’s important to you, you’ll make time. That’s the bottom line. That’s the way I look at it. It’s kind of the harsh truth but it’s what you have to do. If it’s important to you, you’ll get it done.
Mike: That’s how we roll here at TT though, is we give the politically incorrect truth and of course the science behind it so there’s nothing wrong with telling it like it is. I’m glad you spoke up and opened up some eyes. What’s really cool though about your system and your approach is that including the warm up, the entire workout plus the warm up, you’re done in 30 minutes or less, right?
Daniel: Absolutely. Honestly, some of these workouts are going to be a little different. They’re not all the exact same time but for the most part, they all run between 20 to 25 minutes and I actually even have at the end of the program a couple of bonus workouts. I believe there’s five—don’t quote me—ten-minute workouts that’s just literally if you only had ten minutes to do, let’s just say you’re getting off work and it’s 5:00 and you’ve got to go pick up your kid at the park at say 5:30 and you don’t have time to go to the gym, take your workout clothes with you when you go to work. Park your car at the park while you’re getting down to a little soccer game and you go and bang out a ten-minute workout. I mean it can be done anywhere for ten minutes. You can get it done so quickly and yet you’re going to get more work done than most people get in an hour in a gym. That’s the beauty behind everything, behind these kickboxing workouts.
Mike: Very cool. Fantastic stuff. Well Daniel, you’ve shared some really cool insight on how your system works and of course some things that people can take and utilize right now and go to work out My last question for you—I always asking this kind of a curve ball question—what would you say is the number one thing about success that you know that perhaps somebody on the call does not know?
Daniel: That’s a good curve ball, Mike. I don’t want to swing and miss on this one. For me, I got this from Craig, it could be a simple thing that people know but Craig calls the magic time. The magic time is basically finding the time of day that you’re most productive. For me, that’s in the morning. I usually get up around 5:00 in the morning. I usually head to the gym and start training clients around 7:00 to 7:30 in the morning. So I get up about 5:00 in the morning before anyone’s up. I’m a morning person anyway so that’s when I’m most productive during my day. At night time after work, after I’ve been training all day, I’m exhausted so I’m pretty much worthless when I get home at ay 8:00 or 8:30. I’ll eat supper, I’ll read a little bit, and then I’m off to bed.
So my productive time in the morning is my magic time, from say 5:00 to 7:00. Basically, your magic time is where you get the most productive stuff done. Say I have content or I have programs to write, I try not to get on the internet so I try not to get on Facebook or emails. I try to just do Word documents, trying to write down thoughts or things that I need to get done for the day unless it’s my magic time where I can all the important tasks done. That way I know it’s over with. I don’t have any other distractions for the rest of the day and I know I’ve got it done. I don’t have that cloud over my head the rest of the day that oh man, I’ve got to do this. I’ve got to get this done before anybody else is up, before my dogs are barking at me to let them out. It’s the beginning of the morning.
Some people might be productive in the afternoon, after lunch, in the evening, or late at night before bed but most importantly you should find that magic time, where you can get all your most important tasks done. Like I said, it has helped me out tremendously. I probably started doing this the last six months and I’ll tell you I get more done and those two hours, the magic time, I would drop the entire day say six months ago. So it’s been a huge, huge part of my success so far.
Mike: Very cool. Great advice and I totally agree. Everybody has their different magic times. For a lot of people, it’s in the morning. Sometimes it is late at night and so whether it’s just wanting to be more productive on your business or obviously wanting to get in your workouts. Since we’re talking about fat loss, find that time that you feel the best, when you know that you can go and do your workout, whether that’s in the morning.
Sometimes way back when I worked at Corporate America, I would do my workout in the middle of the day. It broke up my day. It gave me energy for the rest of the afternoon instead of drinking caffeine in a drink or whatever. So great advice there and we appreciate you sharing that with us. Now do you have a YouTube channel going yet?
Daniel: I don’t. I’m actually getting it up and running. Everything is still getting worked out. I’m setting up my Facebook right now. I’ve got the YouTube channel getting set up as we speak so I will get that up hopefully in the next three or four days, that it will be up and running. But as of right now, it’s not up yet.
Mike: That’s cool. We can’t wait to see what you’re up to. Let’s definitely be on the lookout for Daniel Woodrum. He’s going to be coming out to the world with his awesome kickboxing revolution program which, like I said, is just totally different, I’m really excited for you and I’m sure you’re excited about sharing this with the world as well.
Daniel: Absolutely, Mike. I have to send you a special shout out for really helping me launch this process. You’ve been a big help so far so I owe a lot to you, buddy.
Mike: You’re very welcome. I’m happy to help and of course everybody listening in on the call, definitely take these little bodyweight experiments and put them into your workout. Give it a shot. That is just a sampling of what’s coming down the pipeline here so definitely keep your eye out for Daniel’s awesome program. Of course, we’ll be back next time with another amazing call to help you with your fat loss goals. Again if you want to go to the iTunes store and do a quick search for Turbulence Training, that way you can keep tabs on future podcasts as well. Again, this is Mike Whitfield with TurbulenceTraining.com and we’ll talk to you soon. Bye bye.
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Till Then,
Mike Whitfield, CTT
Creator, Workout Finishers
www.WorkoutFinishers.com
www.TrainwithFinishers.com
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