5 Best Home Exercises for Weight Loss

If you’re like me and you want to get straight to the point below is the list of the 5 best home exercises for weight loss (in my opinion). If you want more of an explanation read the info below.

1. Squat Jump

2. Plank walk out

3. In and Outs

4. Mountain Climbers

5. Burpees

See the exercises in the video below

5 Best Home Exercises for Weight Loss

The best exercises for weight loss include jumping or explosive movements along with speed and endurance. These 3 provide the most challenge for the user and in turn help inspire weight loss.

What you’re looking for in the best home exercises for weight loss is a move that is both technical and challenging.

Technical

A technical move has more than one part that can be modified and built upon. This will allow you to use the exercise for a longer period of time and get the same benefits. As you get better you can add more to the move and make it harder.

Challenging

Challenging applies to the effort needed to execute the move. The harder it is the better the benefit. Think about walking or standing up. These are daily movements that we perform without any thought.

However, things like jumping and running require more thought and effort making them better for weight loss.

When you’re considering which is the best home exercise for weight loss you also need to account for your personal fitness level.

People who are less physically conditioned will get great results from less challenging movements where people with more endurance will have to work harder to achieve the same benefits.

No matter where you are physically this simple question will help you assess whether a movement is working or not. Is this hard?

That’s it… If the move makes you sweat and increases your heart rate chances are it’s working.

Another thing to ask is am I putting in more effort than normal? When you put in more effort than normal you will naturally challenge your body to work harder which usually ends up in weight loss.

All this being said another thing to remember is that no matter how much you sweat or how many burpees you do. You cannot out train a bad diet! If you eat too many calories no amount of exercise will do the trick.

There you go. Eat good healthy foods and utilize some HIIT workouts and hopefully shed some pounds.

What is your favorite exercise for weight loss or HIIT?

We have tons of workouts: FIND THEM HERE

If you’d like some free body weight workouts for weight loss sent to your email please sign up for my 10 Minute Fitness Week and I will send those to you! Sign up HERE

Fitness Podcast

We have been doing our fitness podcast since 2014 and have both received and given some great tips! We have produced over 175 episodes. Listen to some of the episodes below and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere you listen to Podcasts. Links on our website.

Here are some of our most popular episodes:

Get the most out of our training:

In this episode we talk about 2 main ways you can maximize your energy and time to get more out of your training. There are lots of great takeaways from this episode but here are some of the bullet points:

Pick a Goal
Focus on Efficiency
Use the Minimal Effective Load
Slow movements way down
Treat each exercise as the most important
Mobility and performance drills

“I lost over 100 pounds in two years,” said Kerstin

We met Kerstin at a local gym and quickly realized she was, not only a great person, but an amazing inspiration. She told us how she worked on her health and fitness goals and lost over 100 pounds.

Minimal Effective Load – How to Train Less and Gain More

There is a point where your training wil actually start to be too much stress on the body. Listen to this fitness podcast with Dr. Grove Higgins where we learn about the idea of the performance curve and how to find it. Basically, when do you stop exercising to perform the best.

Protandim, Shakeology and Massages Oh My

Protandim and Shakeology are 2 very popular supplements. In this episode we learn more about how they work.

Conquering Pain & Tightness – How Pain Can Impact the Whole System

What do you do when you experience pain and tightness? Well, this could be a sign from your body telling you to pay attention and approach your training in a different way.

The 60 Second Rep – How to Build Strength and Performance 60 Seconds at a Time

In this episode we talk about a new test of strength. Can you do a single rep that takes 60 seconds? It’s actually very hard! Give it a try and let us know what you think.

Protein and Caffeine Facts with Dietitian Suzanne Himka

How much protein should you eat and what effects does caffeine really have. In this episode Suzanne tells us some mind-blowing facts about caffeine.

How long does it take to get results?

After you have committed to exercising how long does it take to get results? This is a loaded question and the truth is results will vary. We answer this question in detail on the podcast.

These are just a few of our fan favorites from our fitness podcast. We would love to have your support by subscribing to our show and in exchange we will offer you a free gift. Podcast listeners get a free membership to our premium area on the website. Listen to find out how.

On the podcast you will hear breakdowns of specific topics like how fat loss works. We release new episodes a few times a week and give great tips, tricks and motivation.

Email: drew@undertenfitness.com
Twitter: @undertenfitness
Facebook: undertenfitness
Instagram: undertenfitness

And as always remember – Stay Motivated!

Drew Smith

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How to Get Motivated to Workout

How to get motivated to workout?

Why do you need to be motivated to workout in the first place? Well, that’s a good question and the short answer is, motivated people get stuff done! Motivation drives you to finish what you start and often guides you through until the task is completed. All too often once the motivation is gone the goal dies along with it.

Here we will give some of our top tips on how to get motivated to workout. Also, at the end of the post we will share some easy workouts that you can do at home for a great full body workout.

One of the first things you will need to do is establish a goal. Knowing where you are going is an important part of the process, setting miles stones will be an important part of your success and will allow you to track your progress and evaluate your plan.

A simple goal for now would be just working out. Nothing more than that is a good start, can you commit to simply working out for 10 minutes a day 7 days a week? These don’t have to be hard workouts and can be as easy as you’d like. The important part is committing to exercise every day.

Here are some of our top tips on how to get motivated to workout:

Progress and improvements – You will get a big boost in confidence when you see small changes. It proves that you are making progress and this makes it easier to stay the course. Record your workouts, take body weight and measurements. Make sure you have a way to record if you’re making improvements.

Tell someone your plan – I set higher expectations for myself when I know others are watching. WARNING! There is a fine line between getting others help and opening yourself up to criticism, if you have someone else helping you with this make sure they understand their role is for support and not to tell you when you screw up!

Invite someone to join you – Some people work better in groups! Is there anyone in your life who might be in the same situation and want to join you? Having a workout buddy will be a huge motivator knowing you have another person relying on you.

A body in motion stays in motion – Try not to sit down or get settled in once you get home for the day. Instead start working out immediately so you’ll be done and guilt free. This way you don’t have to try to pry yourself off the couch and away from the TV.

Do something you enjoy – Do a workout you really enjoy when you’re feeling sluggish, this will make it easier to motivate yourself. Not every workout needs to be super hard and having an easy back up workout will be a life saver.

Positive reinforcement – Give yourself a small reward after each workout or a larger reward after you’ve done a week of consistent workouts. This will help you feel better about what you are doing and will give another smaller goal to work towards.

Want more motivation in your ear holes?

Check out our podcast where you can hear our conversation on how to get motivated to workout. Under Ten Fitness Podcasts

Get free workouts sent to your email and sign up for our mailing list!

Email: drew@undertenfitness.com
Twitter: @undertenfitness
Facebook: undertenfitness
Instagram: undertenfitness

And as always remember – Stay Motivated!

Drew Smith

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10 Minute Full Body Workouts at Home

10-minute full body workouts at home

My experience with 10-minute full body workouts at home:

I absolutely love the freedom of working out at home! As a busy business owner, husband and a new dad my priorities have shifted. Working out and going to the gym used to be the number 1 on my to-do list however, now with a beautiful wife and daughter I don’t have the time to go to the gym like I used to.

Honestly, I don’t want to be at the gym and away from my family but I also don’t want to get fat. This is where 10 minute full body workouts at home saved me!

With all of this in mind I decided to try working out at home for a month and see how it went…

After 4 weeks of home workouts, ranging between 7- 10 minutes of high intensity, little to no rest breaks and attention to strength and cardio movements I’m happy to say that I lost weight and feel great!

With these 10 minute full body workouts at home I have been able to achieve my fitness goals and be with my family at the same time.

Check out the workouts I did below and see more information on the benefits of a full body workout at home.

What are the benefits of a full body workout at home?

A doctor answering a question from the Mayo Clinic website wrote that the Department of Health and Human Services recommends healthy adults get 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week.

Now I’ve never been accused of being good at math but if I do a 10-minute workout every day I will be at 70 minutes for the week.

That’s pretty close and, some more math, tells me that 70 out of 75 is 93%. I can’t speak for you but being a C student throughout high school I would be thrilled to receive a 93% for anything!

How to decide what full body workout to do?

I switch it up everyday and do a variety of exercises ranging between yoga, HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), strength, cardio and mobility.

I don’t decide what workout I am going to do until right before I work out. Depending how I feel will dictate which kind of workout I choose.

If I feel good and mobile, I will do a HIIT workout, if I feel slow and sluggish, I will do a yoga or strength workout, something that is a little slower paced.

Finally, I know that I need to challenge myself sometimes even if I’m not feeling super excited about doing a hard workout.

I will give it a try and often once I get started it’s easy to get through it because I know I only have 10 minutes!

Now that I have made the case for 10 minute full body workouts below are some of the workouts that I do.

I cycle through these on a regular basis and try to find new ones on YouTube!

Workout 1 – Yoga

Workout 2 – Cardio

Workout 3 – Strength

Workout 4 – Explosive Cardio

Workout 5 – Yoga

Workout 6 – Full Body

Workout 7 – HIIT

We have tons of workouts: FIND THEM HERE

If you’d like some free body weight workouts sent to your email! Sign up HERE

Premium Membership Area

Check out our podcast! Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher

Email: drew@undertenfitness.com
Twitter: @undertenfitness
Facebook: undertenfitness
Instagram: undertenfitness

And as always remember – Stay Motivated!

Drew Smith

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How to Stay Consistent with Fitness

How to stay consistent with fitness.

The New Year brings a fresh start and a good feeling that you can achieve your new goals and get ripped or at least lose some weight and get in shape. This good feeling is great but how do you turn that feeling into reality and achieve those lofty goals you set for yourself?

The key to fitness, no matter the goal, is to stay consistent. The dirty secret to every successful athlete, fitness model, body builder and your super fit neighbor is consistency. Doing the exercise day in and day out with the results to follow. This is actually very easy but the end goal might seem to lofty or unattainable and the truth is it might take years for you to reach your goals and this can be very discouraging.

Rather than set your sights on the end goal focus on what you can do right now in this moment that will lead you to that goal. Here are some ideas and exercises that you can think about and use if your goals include: weight loss, better mobility, reducing pain, feeling better, more energy, better mood, better sex life(ooh you’re naughty) and a healthy body.

“Success is many good decisions made over a period of time.” This is something I say to my clients, family and friends all the time. Someone doesn’t just wake up good at accounting or pole vaulting. They stay consistent with it and work on it every day. With this idea in mind approach this year’s fitness goals knowing that there will be ups and downs but stay consistent and make good decisions and success will follow.

Here are some tips for how to stay consistent with fitness:

Get a gym membership – This will be your main workout area and having the membership will be a constant reminder that you need to take care of yourself and hit the weights. Remember that not every workout has to be super long or super hard. We believe at Under Ten Fitness that just a few minutes of exercise goes a long way and having a gym membership gives you a dedicated place to exercise and a way to get out of the house and away from the distractions.
Find a place to exercise at home – Going to the gym will not always be an option and in some cases, might be impossible, so having a few items at home and a place where you can get in a quick workout will come in very handy. You don’t need a lot of space or equipment but go around your house and see where you can do some exercises. I personally have many spots around the house like the guest bedroom has a pull-up bar in the doorway. The laundry room has a kettle bell where I can hit a few reps in between folding some clothes or going in and out of the garage. I also have a free wall where I can practice my handstands.
Get creative – Not every workout has to be a regiment of squats, lunges and burpees. Find ways to just do a few minutes of exercise throughout the day. Here are a few examples of how I incorporate exercise without going to the gym:
1. I do body weight squats in the morning while I am waiting for my coffee to brew. Body weight squats open up my hips after I’ve been sleeping all night and make me feel great!
2. Do some yoga poses while watching TV. Inevitably I end up watching TV more than I think I should so I take advantage of the time and do quick exercises while I am watching and this ranges from push-ups to squats to kettle bell swings. I like to do a lot of corrective type exercises here and work on my mobility.
3. Find ways to get in a few reps at work or around the house. Rather than walk up the stairs try crawling up them or do frog hops around the house rather than walk (Bear Crawls are a great way to get around). It might not be practical for you crawl around the office like a “bear” but think about how you can move differently to get in a little extra movement.
Find hobbies or activities that get you moving – Many hobbies can get you out of the house and raise your heartrate. Here are a few activities and hobbies that can help:
1. Hiking, walking, running and exploring. Have some fun with the kids and family and go on adventures to local parks, bluffs and local attractions. Become a tourist in your own city and get out of the house.
2. A boutique style fitness studio. There are many different fitness classes you can sign up for like; yoga, cycling, kick boxing and trampoline parks. Find activities that make you move.
3. Gardening can get you outdoors for at least the spring and summer months and will require you to work hard to prepare the soil and harvest your fresh foods.
4. Sports – You can join a club sport of your choice to keep you active and have fun.
Have a backup fitness routine – When life gets busy its hard to think about working out and sometimes just deciding what to do at the gym or home can be a challenge. Have a “go-to” workout plan that you can mindlessly run through when times are busy. This doesn’t have to be anything special but a simple program that will keep you in the groove and help you maintain your mobility and strength. Find a plan that hits a variety of movements and muscles.

Remember that if you stay consistent with fitness the results will follow and you will benefit in many different ways. Its easy to get bogged down thinking that exercise has to result in weight loss or a six pack but being able to enjoy your life with a healthy body that moves well and doesn’t hurt is also very important.

If you have any tips of your own on how to stay consistent with fitness we would love to hear them! Please comment below of find us on social media!

Email: drew@undertenfitness.com
Twitter: @undertenfitness
Facebook: undertenfitness
Instagram: undertenfitness

And as always remember – Stay Motivated!

Drew Smith

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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: drew@undertenfitness.com
Twitter: @undertenfitness
Facebook: undertenfitness
Instagram: undertenfitness

And as always remember – Stay Motivated!

Drew Smith

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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: drew@undertenfitness.com
Twitter: @undertenfitness
Facebook: undertenfitness
Instagram: undertenfitness

And as always remember – Stay Motivated!

Drew Smith

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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: drew@undertenfitness.com
Twitter: @undertenfitness
Facebook: undertenfitness
Instagram: undertenfitness

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: drew@undertenfitness.com
Twitter: @undertenfitness
Facebook: undertenfitness
Instagram: undertenfitness

And as always remember – Stay Motivated!

Drew Smith

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Veterans Yoga Project and the United States Association of Blind Athletes

Today we talk about a few events and non-profit organizations that are helping people live a healthier happier life fueled by fitness.

Yoga is used by many people as a way to lose weight, get strong and achieve flexibility but there is an organization out there that has realized how powerful yoga is in helping people reduce stress and deal with traumatic and difficult situations. We talk with two Veterans who have used yoga when dealing with the stress and hardships a military lifestyle brings. Imagine being able to use yoga to deal with PTSD and learn how to deal with the symptoms of PTSD in a way that puts the veteran in a position to focus their energy on being mindful and not to mention yoga is a great way to build strength!

Veterans Yoga Project offers free yoga to veterans in an effort to help them deal with the unique stress they are enduring. Veterans Yoga Project is an educational and advocacy organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of military veterans. Working in partnership with veterans, active-duty military personnel, student veteran’s organizations, and other non-profit organizations, Veterans Yoga Project supports recovery and promotes resilience among veterans, their families, and their communities. They have many special events and ongoing yoga classes; you can find them here: http://www.veteransyogaproject.org/find-a-class.html

The Paralympics takes place one week after the Olympics and features some of the best athletes who have overcome a major physical disability. These athletes train harder and competition is fierce! On the show we talk with Kevin who is a Paralympic hopeful and learn just how hard he’s training and what he will be looking to achieve in training for the upcoming Paralympics.

The United States Association of Blind Athletes is hosting “Breakfast with Champions.” During this event you will hear from 3 Paralympians who all won medals in the 2016 Rio Paralympics and have brought those medals for you to see up close in person. You will be able to meet these athletes and ask them questions if you’d like! The breakfast is Friday November 4th at the Olympic Training Center from 7:30-9:00 A.M. You can purchase tickets here: http://usaba.org/index.php/sports/calendar-details/breakfast_with_champions_fundraiser/