10 minute Yoga – Core Strength and Balance Yoga Flow

Core Strength and Balance Yoga Flow –

Start with Cat Cow then flow through:

High Plank
Downward Facing Dog
High Crescent Lunge
Airplane Torso

10 Minute Yoga – Core and Leg Stregth

A core and Leg Strengthening yoga practice. Enjoy this easy to follow flow that takes less than 10 minutes. Here is the flow:

Start in a seated position for some core circles.
Enter a boat pose to work the core.
Roll forward in to a Forward Fold.
Sit back for Chair Pose.
Inhale to a One Legged Mountain.
Step back for Warrior 2.
Inhale to a 5 Pointed Star.
Slid down into Goddess Pose.
Pulse to work the legs.
DON’T FORGET TO BREATH!
Transition through Warrior 2 into Reverse Warrior.
Use mountain pose to move through a Forward Fold.
Move through the movements again and enjoy a nice flow.

Suzanne is a certified yoga instructor who has been practicing for a many years. She loves teaching yoga to the community! We are grateful that she has helped us at Under Ten Fitness put together these 10 minute yoga videos! find out more from her here: https://www.facebook.com/suzannebisho… And as always, Stay Motivated.

Energizing Yoga Flow

Suzanne runs you through a 10 minute yoga practice. Start by warming up the spine and core then move through the following flow:
– Mountain Pose
– Warrior 1
– Warrior 2
– Extended Side Angle
– Pointed Star
– Forward Fold
– Reverse Warrior

Finish the practice with:
– Plank
– Locust Pose
– Child’s Pose
– Seated Spinal Twists

Mobility is for Girls and Tiny Dudes…

Mobility is for girls and tiny dudes…

I have been lifting for many years now and never truly utilized mobility training in my workout program for a couple reasons.

First, I didn’t really know what it was. I thought mobility training was for people who wanted to be more flexible so they could get deeper into their crouching tiger yoga pose.

Second, I thought it was for girls and yogis, yes I know this seems sexist but that was before I really knew what mobility is.

I recently took a year off of heavy/power lifting and decided to work on mobility training and the results were both beneficial and surprising.

Over my many years of lifting I developed some bad habits which has lead me down a road of pain and tightness. My pain has never been out of control or unbearable but it caused me to skip workouts and completely quit specific exercises. Sometimes it hurt during the lift or after and I would experience pain for days. I always thought the pain would go away on its own, and it would, but then it would immediately come back as soon as I started the lift again.

After becoming sick and tired of being in pain all of the time I reached out to some of the local experts and found some good mobility training. I never intended to take a take such a long break from heavy lifting but I found the mobility training to be fun and I felt great, and that was more important to me than picking up heavy things.

Despite the name “mobility,” training is actually very challenging. Being able to perform an overhead squat or get movement from each vertebrae while doing a spinal flexion exercise is harder than it sounds. Just to be clear… Mobility training is not yoga or stretching, it is getting your body to work and move correctly and that directly translates into strength. When your entire body and muscles are working together you will be at your strongest. Also, while working on mobility I still worked on high volume and hypertrophy training so I saw some great muscle gains and my chest and biceps really started to pop.

Have you ever gone to the gym and done tons of reps on a bench press but did not feel sore the next day? This could be caused by not firing the right muscles during the exercise. This means you wasted time in the gym doing an exercise incorrectly and will not get the desired effects.

I have a theory that this is what people call the dreaded “plateau.” You haven’t actually stopped growing or hit a wall but rather you’re not actually targeting the muscles that you were intending and that means no gains. There are hundreds of muscles in the body and are easily jammed up causing them to not fire properly.

This is another advantage to mobility training. When you are correctly firing the right muscles you can target your movements to work those specific muscles and maximize your movements. No more wasted time and energy! Oh yeah, and those muscle gains you are looking for.

Aren’t guys who train mobility small and weak?

No way! Mobility means that you are able to move in ways that your body was made for and with that means more strength and the ability to pack on muscle. Have you heard of a guy named Jon Call? You might know him better as “Jujimufu.” He was on season 11 of America’s Got Talent and has been making viral videos for years. I bring him up because he is a good example of size and mobility. Jon moves like a gymnast, looks like a bodybuilder and lifts like a powerlifter. Watch him jump and flip around in the video below.

My experience with mobility training.

I have seen some significant gains in muscle size and power since switching to mobility training and have been complimented by friends, family and co-workers who have noticed the increased muscle size.

Mobility work doesn’t take that much time and can be added to any routine. Personally I took a break from power lifting to focus on mobility to get rid of my pain once and for all.

You don’t have to follow in my footsteps and take a year off. But I believe that adding some mobility work will greatly improve your results. Try adding in some mobility, you might be amazed!

Did I lose all of my strength and gains by taking a year off?

I am currently testing my 1 rep max and have found that I am still just about as strong as I was when I started my break. I tested my bench press the other day and hit 215 lbs for 1 rep, which is 10 pounds less than my previous max. So basically over the year I took off I lost 10 lbs of strength. I say that’s worth it! If you told me I could eliminate my pain in exchange for a slightly less 1 rep max I would take you up on that offer in a heartbeat.

Here’s something else to consider.

I might have lost 10 pounds off my max bench but now I am ready to start training again and I’ll get that strength back quickly. Plus, when I was performing my max bench it felt easier than usual. I didn’t have to strain, grunt and struggle the weight up. I just moved the bar and it felt great! I am confident that I will be hitting new personal records very soon and doing so without pain is the best feeling in the world. Knowing that I will be able to do this for the rest of my life and do it pain free.

I like being different!

Mobility training is cool because I am the odd man out in the gym. While everyone else is doing the standard weight lifting (which is totally fine, I’m not judging). I am in the stretching area doing handstands, spinal flexions, arm circles, camshafts, overhead squats, shin boxes and dozens of other non-traditional movements. Some people look at me funny and others have asked questions about what I am doing and want to try it as well. I teach them what I am doing and why I am doing it and people really like it. They say it feels good and it’s a lot more challenging than it looks.

Now that I am mobile and my muscles are working together I am stronger than ever. I will continue to see amazing gains and believe that everyone needs to be doing this. I have seen many new programs and gyms offering this type of training and see is as a good thing.

So before you write of mobility as just girls and tiny dudes think about how you could benefit from being stronger!

Let’s sum it up.

Mobility training is for everyone and makes the muscles in the body work together which means more strength and less/no pain.
Mobility is challenging and easy at the same time and can be added to any routine.
Mobility should be in everyone’s program to ensure proper form and performance.
Mobility will actually make you stronger!

We have put together a mobility workout combining a fitness routine and warm up that takes 10 minutes and will get you ready for some upper body work.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @undertenfitness
Facebook: undertenfitness
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And as always remember – Stay Motivated!

Drew Smith

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Tall Kneeling Rotations and Glute Bridges.

This session flows from squats right into hip mobility and spinal flexion. This is a great session to help the hips move better and build some strength in the legs and glutes.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @undertenfitness
Facebook: undertenfitness
Instagram: undertenfitness

And as always remember – Stay Motivated!

Drew Smith

10 Minute Spinal Flexion and Developing Push-up Strength Workout

In this 10 minute video we work on the spine and developing performance and strengthening our push-ups. This is a quick and easy session that you can use to prep your body for a workout or just use to help you feel and move better.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @undertenfitness
Facebook: undertenfitness
Instagram: undertenfitness

And as always remember – Stay Motivated!

Drew Smith

Get The Most Out Of Your Training

The key to getting the most out of your training is to have a plan and execute that plan consistently.

We’ve talked to many experts in the field of health and fitness and have come away from those conversations with some great tips that are really easy and practical to add immediately into our training programs. Over the past year we have learned so many things and we would like to take this opportunity to comb back over some of those interviews and pull out some of the highlights that we will be putting to good use this year to achieve our goals.

Here are a few tips to get the most out of your training:

Obviously there are so any different aspects to training and to say that one is more important than the other would be a mistake so keep that in mind as you read these next tips.

Pick a goal – This is something that might take some time at first but once you know where you’re going it will be so much easier to get there. If you don’t know what your fitness goals are I suggest trying some different gyms, trainers and coaches to find something that you enjoy and that you will keep doing. There are so many different options that there is something for everyone from sport specific training to recreational sports to personal competitions that no matter what you should be able to find something. I talk to so many people who think that the only path is burpess and high intensity workouts that make you throw up but the truth is that playing basketball with friends or slowly lifting weights with a specific program would be so much more effective because you can get a great workout that doesn’t feel like a workout and have fun too. The only program that works is the one that you will do and be constant with it so take some time and try some different things and find what’s right for you.
Focus on efficiency – In this case I’ve broken it into 5 categories as follows:

No Pain.
Breathing.
Precision.
Posture.
Relax.

We have talked about these before in previous posts and if you would like to see the full breakdown please find it HERE. However for this I will give you the basic breakdown. No pain means you move without and pain and if you do feel pain you should stop and asses the problem before you continue. Breathing should be something you consider before watch movement and not an afterthought. Move with precision, meaning only moving as much or as far as you need to perform your exercise. Your posture needs to be correct to perform each movement and finally relax and let go of unnecessary tightness in muscles that are not being utilized in the current move.

Use the Minimal Effective Load – We also did a very lengthy post about what this is and again we will give you the cliff notes but this basically means only do as much as you need to achieve the desired outcome and nothing more. In practice this will relate to overtraining and doing more than you need to. The body is amazing in how it responds to exercise and you don’t need to do as much as you might think to achieve some great results. If you’re always super so to the point you can’t walk straight or you muscles hurt every time you move them then there is a good chance you’re over training and would see better results if you throttled it back a little bit to give your body a chance to recover.

Slow things way down – Slowing down a movement will help you see the movement in separate chunks and that will allow you to see if you’re weak at a specific part of the move so you can develop a training program to address those weaknesses. Say for instance while you’re doing a really slow squat you notice your knees are caving inward you can add some in some supplementary exercises to address that issue. You can slow down every single exercise from squats to bench press to bicep curls. We’ve used this in our training and have found that starting out with 10 second reps and increasing that time to 30 second reps over time seems to work well.

Treat each exercise as a whole body Movement – The entire body’s connected from your head to your toes and you should treat it as such. When doing any exercise take note of what your whole body is doing and see if your wasting performance in unnecessary areas. From example when you’re doing a bench press, though this is mostly a chest exercise, every part of your body is involved. Your feet are planted firmly on the ground to balance you on the bench. Your core is engaged. Your back is firm on the bench and though your arms and chest will fatigue there are many other muscles involved and your whole body it ultimately connected so each piece is important.

Mobility and Performance Drills – This is similar to what is known as a traditional “warm up.” In this case I’m talking about taking the time to prep your body for the workout of the day and do specific drills that will improve your performance. On leg day you should do ankle, knee and hip mobility drills to start the day. On squat day you should incorporate a whole body being sure to include some spinal flexion drills and arm circles. Also in between sets you can do some simple drills to keep things moving well and working properly. Taking 10 minutes before a workout and 30 seconds in between sets can make a huge difference in your recovery and overall soreness and performance.

These are just a few of the things we have learned to help you get the most our of your training and to get the most out of this information please listen to the show and get our full thoughts and some great tips to achieve your fitness goals this year!

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @undertenfitness
Facebook: undertenfitness
Instagram: undertenfitness

And as always remember – Stay Motivated!

Drew Smith

Minimal Effective Load – How to Train Less and Gain More!

Minimal Effective Load – This is the point where you will get the most benefit from your training without overtraining or undertraining.

This is a term that describes at which point you are getting the maximum performance and results from your training. I like to describe this as the “sweet spot” right in between not training enough and training too hard. You can think of it as a bell curve (pictured below). At the bottom of the curve is where you would have found me a few years ago when I wasn’t working out at all. There is no effort or activity and the results are non-existent. Going up a little on the curve you’ll see that the activity goes up and so do the results, but there is still room for improvement. At the peak of the curve is the “sweet spot” I spoke about! This is where you are putting in the perfect amount of effort and load to achieve the maximum return in results. If you can achieve this balance you are in a good spot and you are most likely a trained athlete, have a really good trainer or you are a magician… This “Sweet Spot” is where most athletes and pros work with their training and that’s why they are so good at what they do, of course they have many years of practice and skill but most of us aren’t professional athletes but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t train like them.

Minimal Effective Load Bell Curve

So let’s look at the other side of the curve, as you see, there is a decline in the slope and what happens here is called diminishing returns. There is a point at which your training goes too far and there are no more results or performance to be obtained. What happens is you over work your body to a point at which you break down. The goal with achieving the minimal effective load is finding that “Sweet Spot.” The “Sweet Spot” will be different for every person depending on your current fitness level but here are a few tips and how I am finding my “sweet spot,” that sounds dirty but I swear it’s not.

1st – No Pain No Gain – This is the oldest tip I remember hearing about and being told that if I want results I have to feel the burn! When training the more advanced you get the more you realize that training doesn’t always have to be grueling to have the desired outcome. Pain is actually not a good way to judge result and performance and I have actually achieved better results with less work and less “burn.” So when I am hitting the gym and getting in my reps I focus on controlled movements and when I feel the “burn,” I only do a few more reps keeping strict to my form, when my form starts to decline I call it quits for that set. I haven’t been super sore in a very long time and again, I’m getting great results. If you’re super sore the next day, you know the sore where you walk funny and avoid stairs a all costs even if it means sleeping on the couch, that is a sign you are over training and are on the wrong side of the curve. This doesn’t mean you don’t have to work hard but when you start to fatigue and your form starts to suffer you’re probably done.

2nd – Performance – I judge this by a combination of how hard it feels and how easy the weight moves. Somedays the weights feel heavier than others and that goes back to other factors like rest, recovery and nutrition and since all of these things change constantly, so do my expectations for the gym. I don’t always shoot for lifting the same weight for the same amount of reps but I shoot for the same feeling or sensation. I always have a goal of the amount of reps I’d like to do but if it gets to challenging or my form starts to fail I call it quits and move on to the next exercise or take a break. So, the question I ask while I’m training is; “How easy are the weights to move and how do I feel doing it?” If the weights are moving easily and I feel great! Then I keep going until my form starts to fail, I hit the desired number of reps or I feel fatigued. This is something that takes practice and self-awareness but you can start by using a scale from 1-10, 1 being very easy and light. To 10 being the hardest thing you’ve ever done.

3rd – Fatigue – This is a great way to judge when I’m done and need to quit. I used to quit when I finished all of my reps but I realized that the reps where just an arbitrary number I came up with and don’t really have a rhyme or reason. Instead of counting reps and trying to win the rep war I take note on how fatigued I feel and If I think I can do another rep with good form I keep going, but when I start to lose my good form I quit and take a break.

This is something that I have been trying recently and I have found that it really works for me and I feel more motivated to work out because my body is recovering faster and I’m not always in recovery mode. I will continue to monitor my progress and hopefully give you an update in the future!

Now this hasn’t just worked for me! This has worked for a friend and official dietician of Under Ten Fitness, Suzanne Himka. Now Suzanne, as you know, is very athletic and tends to overdo it! If you don’t know, I’ll just say she loves to work out and the word intervention comes to mind. She has seen some amazing results from Minimal Effective Load training and put those results to work during her most recent race in Canada for an Obstacle Course Race. She did very well and was surprised that she trained less than she did in the past and did better because of it.

Suzanne’s daughter, Miriah, also competes in obstacle course racing and at the age of 17 she is proving to be very competitive and has won races in her age division using the minimal effective load training method. I personally believe Miriah has a great advantage in learning about this at a young age, along with having the drive to compete, that if she continues she will probably do very well for a long-time injury free. Because in the end all that matters is that you can do the sports and activities you love and do them pain free.

I would like to thank Dr. Grove Higgins, Suzanne Himka and her daughter Miriah for joining the show to share their stories and give some great tips. Please listen to the podcast if you would like to know more about Minimal Effective Load plus more great tips! We even talk a little bit about diet and lifestyle tips to maximize your efforts in the gym.

Get more diet tips from Suzanne here: http://www.suzannehimka.com/

Get more performance tips from Dr. Grove here: http://www.cshpr.com/

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @undertenfitness
Facebook: undertenfitness
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And as always remember – Stay Motivated!

Drew Smith

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Superfoods – What Is A Superfood & How Super Are They?

Superfood is a term we hear and see often, but what is a superfood and where does the term come from? I sought out to answer this question after seeing this term used over and over again to describe things that I would call food… Not “Superfood,” just food. Foods like Blueberries, Almonds, Brussel Sprouts, Apples, Avocado’s and Pumpkin. All of these foods I ate growing up and we called them things like; nuts, fruits and vegetables. While it’s not as glamorous as “Superfood,” these foods I ate as a kid had the same health benefits. So back to the question what is a “Superfood?”

I tried to find out exactly when the term Superfood was first used and found conflicting results, some of the online resources stated that the term might have been used as early as the 1800’s but after a few minutes of looking (20 to be precise) I gave up and decided it wasn’t necessarily important to know when the term was first used but more importantly how it is being used today. The term “Superfood” is used to describe a nutrient-rich food considered to be especially beneficial for health and well-being. That definition is rather the opposite of what I would think a super food is. I would say a “Super Food’ would clean your room or give you the ability to fly after eating it but that’s just me, a fitness blogger desperately trying to find a way to make this blog post more interesting… How am I doing by the way? Are you enjoying this so far?

I wanted to take a look at these “Superfoods” a little closer and see what makes them so super. The first thing I did was search online blogs and websites to find which foods are most commonly being called “Super.” I found that a lot of the same foods were appearing in these blogs and websites and when I looked at their individual nutritional values I found that they all had a mixture of vitamins, minerals, fiber and healthy fats. These are things that I refer to and consider essential, as they are essential to living. We need all of these things to live a healthy life and our body depends on them to perform. These essentials are found in different concentrations in these foods, some had more than others, and others had all or just some. However, these foods all have something to offer in the way of essential nutrition.

I found that the term “Superfood” is somewhat misleading and has been banned in some countries, “The new EU legislation will ban the use of the term superfood unless it is accompanied by a specific authorized health claim that explains to consumers why the product is good for their health.”

Furthermore, the term “Superfood” is not used by dieticians and nutritionists but as term used by marketers to help sell and promote certain foods and products.

Ultimately I think the term “Superfood” is synonyms with “Nutrient Dense,” meaning that the food has essentials to a healthy lifestyle and body. Food is good and the best foods are ones are organic whole fruits, vegetables, legumes, beans and meats.

Below is a list of the most common “Superfoods” I found and what they contain in the way of essential nutrition.

Almonds – Healthy Fats, Protein, calcium and Iron.

Apples – Vitamins A, C, Calcium and Iron.

Avocado – Healthy Fats, Vitamin C & Fiber, Minerals.

Bananas – Potassium & other Minerals.

Beets – Vitamins A, B & C and Potassium.

Blueberries – Vitamin C, K and Fiber.

Cabbage – Vitamin A, C, Calcium and Iron.

Cauliflower – Vitamin C.

Chia – fiber Omega 3 & 6 Fatty Acids.

Dates – Carbs & Fiber.

Edamame – Protein & fiber.

Eggs – Protein, Vitamin A, Calcium, Iron and Cholesterol.

Black Beans – Fiber & Protein.

Jalapenos – Vitamin A & C.

Lemon – Vitamin C.

Pumpkin – Vitamin A, Potassium.

Quinoa – Protein, Fiber & Iron.

Salmon – Protein Omega 3 & 6.

Resources:

http://www.livescience.com/34693-superfoods.html

http://greatist.com/health/superfoods-a-to-z

http://nutritiondata.self.com/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6252390.stm

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @undertenfitness
Facebook: undertenfitness
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And as always remember – Stay Motivated!

Drew Smith

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Personal Trainers & The Fitness Industry – A Few Things to Think About

Here we are in mid-October and I’m thinking about Halloween, it’s on a Monday this year, which means bars and clubs downtown will have all weekend to celebrate scantily clad women who are claiming to be a “kitten” while wearing a bra and mini skirt, I’ve owned a few cats and they don’t wear bra’s but who am I to judge a cats clothing choices. Also we can’t forget the shirtless men who dress up as a cop, I’ve never run into a cop wearing an open faced vest with his rock hard abs and tight booty shorts however, if that’s what our law officers really had to wear I imagine I would get in trouble a lot more often…

I bring up Halloween because from here on out it’s holiday after holiday, family gatherings and office parties. All this leads up to the biggest day of the year for personal trainers, gyms, supplement companies and those involved in the fitness industry, New Year’s Eve! Well, New Year’s Eve isn’t the actual day that the fitness industry is looking forward to but what it brings, New Year’s resolutions. Along with the holidays and office parties usually comes a few extra pounds and people will be looking for a fresh start.

I was hoping that as I write this some very clever, and witty, collection of words would come to me so I could finally introduce my point, but alas… I have nothing… So here it is. Here are a few things you need to know about the fitness industry and trainers:

The fitness industry is seasonal and January is one of the busiest months for new members. They’re betting you make a New Year’s Resolution to lose weight or get in shape. Right now as we speak there are trainers out there developing their plans and to target you in 2017, it happens every year and this year will be no different. Somewhere there is a trainer or gym owner trying to come up with a super clever name for their “New Year New You” resolution program. A program that was designed specifically for you to get you “Bikini ready,” or “High School Skinny.” I personally was chubby in High school so that gimmick doesn’t work on me, and honestly, the reason I’m writing this is because I’m tired of seeing the same gimmicks year after year and I am hoping that the fitness industry will step up its game this year.
There are companies and trainers out there that develop specialized fitness programs just for this purpose, they then sell those programs to other gym owners and trainers. What that means is some of these workouts are standardized cookie cutter programs that haven’t been personalized to fit your specific needs. Now sometimes they work and honestly most programs do but I wanted to point out that these programs are available to you without going through a gym or trainer and can be purchased for a significant discount. Trainers and gyms mark up the price and sell them to many individuals at a time. I’m not trashing gyms, this is how most business works, and in all honesty you pay for a gym or trainer not for the actual workouts. You pay for the accountability.
The barrier for entry is very low. There are multiple nationally recognized personal training certification available and all one needs to do is purchase the at home, self-study materials which usually consist of a large text book, a study guide and some DVD’s. Once the person believes they are ready they then go to a secure testing facility and complete a written exam and “voila,” The industry has another trainer. All this costs less than a $1000 and can be completed in a few months depending on how fast the person can study the materials.

None of these are necessarily good or bad they just are and it’s important to know these things when signing up for a gym and purchasing personal training. Here are a few more things to consider when signing up.

Experience – How long has the trainer been in business and what type of training do they specialize in? When looking for a trainer see how many years they have been practicing along with how many happy customers they have. If you’re comfortable I would suggest asking to speak with some of their current clients to get some honest feedback.
Specialization – There are different types of trainers that have specialized services and depending on your current physical state you may need someone with a very specific tool set. If you have any current health problems, you might want to seek a niche specific trainer. Others might want to achieve specific goals such as powerlifting or bodybuilding so you would need a trainer that specializes in those areas.
Sincerity – Does the trainer have a true passion for what they’re doing or is this just a job to them. It’s not a bad thing to have a job that you don’t necessarily care about but when it comes to something like personal training it’s nice to know that the person working with you actually cares. This is something that is a little harder to judge but if you trust your gut you’ll probably be OK.
Listening skills – This means that when you tell your trainer what your goals are and what you want to achieve out of training they take what you’re saying and put it into a specific exercise program for you. It’s easy for trainers to develop a “one size fits all program” and give it to everyone regardless of the specific goals for each person. You want a program that fits your needs and personality, if you hate burpees and don’t want to do them your trainer should respect that and give you exercise that are enjoyable and make sense for your goals.
Safe – There are certain movements and exercises that might not be good for you and your trainer should create a safe environment for you. Many clients have had surgery or injuries which will affect certain moves and the trainer needs to be aware of any injuries and should adjust the programming appropriately.
Teacher – Anytime your trainer tells you to do something they should also tell you why and more specifically why it will help you achieve your specific goals. This will ensure that you are getting the most out of your training and you will also be able to develop a philosophy about different aspects of training and how it pertains to you.