Back on Track in Toronto

Okay, back on track here in Toronto. Got home yesterday afternoon around 5. Feeling good and enjoying the regular routine, but also really enjoyed my time in Europe. I kind of like that time zone...behind Asia, but ahead of EST, and almost flip-flopped from my west coast friends.

Anyways, the dog was super happy to see me, but he has an ear infection again. So we'll hit the vet tomorrow.

My training today was reduced in intensity and volume...I'm going to go one more week on this program (giving me 5 weeks instead of the regular 4):

1A) Box jumps
1B) Box squats

2A) good morning
2B) plank

3A) glute ham raise
3B) split squat.

Feel free to let me know what your training looks like today.

Also had a blender drink: strawberries, raspberries, spinach, almond milk, peanut butter, walnuts, and cacao nibs. And yes, I have no bananas.

Today's resources:

1) A good beginner workout here for new folks

=> Beginner Abs Workout

2) And advanced interview on bodyweight training

=> TACFIT interview with Scott Sonnon

Finally, 2 kick-butt mindset tips to get you fired up:

1) "Why do people do what they do? Because they can. For the most part, people will get away with whatever they can if there are no consequences. Consequences control behavior."
Larry Winget

2) "If you want to change yourself, you need to change the things you do." - Troy, a TT Member, posted this on the forum.

Powerful stuff,

Craig 

Last Workout in Poland

Today was one of those workouts...where conditions and energy levels weren't the best, but I modified the session to get the most out of it. Workout was: warmup, pistols, planks, ball rollouts, ball hamstring curls.

Travel day tomorrow and I'll ease back into my real workouts on Thursday in Toronto.

After the workout I had lunch at Vega in Krakow. Big meal. Stuffed pepper with lentils and rice, a side of potatoes, and a side of falefel.

Last night I had another great meal at Vega. Mexican goulash and rice...which I'm pretty sure was chili, but Mexican goulash is 100x's a better name.

Here are today's resources:

1) Interval training explained:

=> Interval Training Report

2) Some female before and after contestants to review for major inspiration:

=> http://www.clubfym.com/public/786.cfm

And finally...today's kick-butt mindset tip:

‎"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all."
Dale Carnegie

...so never, ever, ever give up on something that is important to you.

Stay STRONG,

Craig

Another Polish Meathead Workout

I just finished a meathead workout here in Krakow, Poland. It included shoulder presses, pullups, decline pushups, db rows, and some meathead arms. Plus stretching.

I also posted a link to this funny article on "Signs you are doing too much cardio" (feel free to add yours here)

=> Too much cardio?

And a great Facebook question came in...

Q: I'm struggling with motivation after returning from an injury. How do you get yourself going for workouts when you are weak?

Answer:
There's nothing more youcan do then get your butt in the gym and start training again consistently. Think of every pro athlete that ever had a serious injury. They start from scratch and build themselves back up. Just do it.

And let me leave you with today's kick-butt mindset tip:

The pain of discipline or the pain of regret. Which will you choose this week?

Stay STRONG,

Craig 

Hiking in Poland

Just finished an EPIC hike in the mountains where we were caught in a hail storm...my head got pounded by ice marbles for about 15 minutes.

By the way, I'm putting my entire trip (Chicago, Tampa, Lithuania, Poland) in a new travel report coming soon. It will show you how to eat and train on the road.

No excuses!

Don't let anyone stop you from doing what you want in life. Its your life, not their life.

Stay STRONG, 

Craig

Polish Workout

Arrived in Krakow, Poland yesterday after a day of planes, trains, and automobiles. Krakow looks amazing. Going to hit a short workout at hotel (which is also awesome) and then explore the city. Nice little old-world european place.

Last night did a workout at M Gym in Krakow. Pullups, db incline press, seated row, arms, shrugs. Good times.

Today's kick-butt mindset tip:
Stop what you're doing right now. Is what you're doing moving you measurably closer to your meaningful goals? Ask yourself that every hour, every day.

And another one...

"Pay your grocer or pay your doctor" - one of the best tips mentioned in Michael Pollan's "Food Rules". This weekend is a great time to get out to a farmer's market and buy a lot of real food to get you through the week. Spend a little extra money on your health, you need it and deserve it.

And today's resource:

Tips for working out while traveling (and 5 health foods to avoid)

=> Travel Workout Tips

Stay STRONG,

Craig

Lithuania Bodyweight Workout

Coming at you live from a hotel in Trakai, Lithuania. Today I did some bodyweight exercises, and towel/partner resistance exercises, then ran some sprints.

I did the workout with my friend Simon from www.SovereignMan.com and 30 university kids from Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia. Then we went swimming in a big lake - man, those kids can swim.

During the day I was teaching them about my business. And I also visited a famous castle in Trakai on Monday when I arrived.

On the flight over I re-read one of my favorite books, "Man's Search for Meaning" and I rediscovered this quote:

"Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual."
Victor Frankl

Resource:

KB Snatch video from Chris Lopez

=> How to do the kettlebell snatch

Stay STRONG,

Craig 

PS - Here's today's kick-butt mindset tip:

Never, ever, EVER give up!

Sneak Peak of Joel Marion's Wedding

A great night. Joel married his girl Lisa, John Romaniello provided the most epic wedding toast ever, and then Vince Del Monte dominated the dance floor all night.

And since I know you are curious...for dinner I had:

A giant salad of greens, artichokes, tomato, and peppers, plus lots of steamed vegetables, 2 whole wheat rolls, a nice chunck of beef tenderloin, and a mac and cheese martini from the mac and cheese martini bar (google it, I know you want to), 1 beer, and 1 glass champagne.

Later in the evening I had a slice of cake and some Cold Stone Creamery ice cream (chocolate plus 1 peanut butter cup smashed in). Good times.

But now it's time to move on...starting with a flight to Miami this afternoon followed by another to Frankfurt and then finally Lithuania. Yes, Lithuania. A few days there and then jumping over to Poland.



To start the day right at airport I had a banana, vegetables/pita bread with hummus, and almonds and raw dates. Now to hunt down my daily apple.

And finally, good news for you.

I'm documenting EVERY meal, workout, and trip to put in a big FREE report coming out next month showing you how to lose fat while traveling.

In the meantime, here's a free report for women including a female workout report & fat burning tips

=> Free Workout for Women

And today's kick-butt mindset tip:

“For anything worth having one must pay the price; and the price is always work"
John Burroughs

Stay STRONG,

Craig

Meathead Fat Loss

Okay, I'm off on some crazy traveling for the next two weeks...

...and I'm leaving you with 3 bodybuilder-meathead-TT fat loss workouts, but they are not what you think.

This isn't old-school crunches and cardio.

Instead, you'll 3 of my TT for Meatheads Fat Loss Workouts. I've posted them on the blog here:

=> http://www.ttfatloss.com/burn-fat/meatheads/

In addition to those 3 workouts, you'll also discover:

- One activity NOT to do if you want to live a long, healthy life
- How to do "foam rolling" for injury prevention (I do it everyday)
- My favorite superset (check out superset #1 in Workout C)
- A new social support for fat loss secret
- And a new change in my diet (See the Sunday nutrition tip)

As for my travels, they started last Wednesday by taking the TT Customer Service Team to Chicago.

We've been corresponding by email for over 2 years but this was the first time that everyone - Erin, Lesa, Amy, Dan, & myself - were all in the same place at once.

(And we spent all Thursday morning working on a surprise project for you!)

After the Chicago leg of my trip I headed to Tampa Bay for Joel Marion's wedding, and this morning I'm on my way to Lithuania and Poland to teach business and fitness to University kids. LONG story.

In the meantime, check out the workouts and this week's 7-day fat loss guide here:

=> http://www.ttfatloss.com/burn-fat/meatheads/

Stay STRONG,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

PS - If you like this info can you please do me a quick favor?

Please click on the "Like" button on the article on my blog OR send this email and the blog link to your friends who are into fitness.

I guarantee it will help them lose fat and you'll look like a hero for recommending these great workouts and insider nutrition tips.

Thanks! Talk to you soon. Hopefully I'll be able to bring you something back from Poland.

Coming later this week...3 advanced fat loss tips from my friend John Romaniello - both he and I were groomsmen in Joel's wedding and spent hours this weekend talking about how we can help you lose more fat fast.

The Big Day for Joel Marion

Started a morning walk on the beach...and then I did something I have not done in over 11 years...I swam laps in a pool. Only 10x15 meters, but it was fun. Didn't want to over-do it so I stopped there.

Finished up with stretching. Good stuff, but dang, the humidity in Tampa is intense even at 7am. Fogged up my glasses coming out of the hotel!

Went to Gold's Gym with John Romaniello. He deadlifted. I did some boring stuff:

Warmup
Stretching

1A) Planks
1B) Side Planks
1C) Ab Wheel

2A) Barbell Curls
2B) Triceps Extensions
2C) Hammer Curls.

Now it is almost time to put the tux on for Joel Marion's Big Wedding Day.

By the way, I really like training on the road and staying in hotels. AND I have NO problem staying lean. There are NO excuses, not with all the bodyweight info and nutrition tips out there - combined with your good judgement of course.

Recently, Canadian fitness expert Rob King recently asked me:

"Out of all the places you have traveled what have been some of the coolest places you have been or trained at?

Answer:
Great question.

1) Jason Ferruggia's Renegade Gym in Wachtung, New Jersey. Don't ask me where that is exactly, but the gym is great. It has heavy weights and more importantly, an awesome environment.

2) Any Gold's Gym in any city, USA. I've hit Gold's in such cities as Charleston, South Carolina, Orlando, Florida, and Los Angeles, California, and I always enjoy the environment there. Perfect for a meathead workout.

3) Powerhouse Gym in Tampa Bay. This gym is enormous, and full of jacked up meatheads. Good times will be had there, for sure.

Those are the best ones I can remember.

By the way, for folks who travel to Las Vegas, the two best "meathead" hotel gym are at the Luxor and the Monte Carlo, surprisingly. I'm not a fan of the MGM gym, because it only has a Smith machine and you are required to pay an extra $35 to train there. Not cool.

So those are the best that I can recall...hope to have many on-the-road workouts in the future.

Stay STRONG,

Craig

Pre-Wedding Workout

Just finished up the wedding rehearsal outside in the Florida heat, so I need to cool down before dinner.

Before the rehearsal I hit Gold's Gym for a workout:

1A) Military Press
1B) Chins

2) DB Rows

That's all I had time for. The workout was good, but I was disappointed to see a trainer have a client do 6-inch barbell squats standing on a BOSU. Enough already. We can do better.

But overall, I'm in a great mood. I also treated myself to a first class upgrade on the flight down and it was a darn good decision. Only the 3rd time I've done that, but my only other option was a middle seat on a packed plane.

Finally, today's kickbutt mindset tip:

‎"If things start to become complicated, stop, regroup, and start over. Success is always simple. Not easy, but simple."
- Larry Winget

That's it for today. Big wedding tomorrow!

Stay STRONG,

Craig 

Chicago-Deadlift-Tampa

Got home from Chicago at 7pm, trained at 8pm tonight, and now time to get ready for 9am flight to Tampa Bay.

It's not normal for me to train so late...still, decent workout:

1) Hang Cleans

2) Deadlifts

3A) BB Lunges
3B) Glute-ham raises.

That was all.

Now packing for 12 day trip starting with Tampa Bay tomorrow. going to try and make it to the awesome Powerhouse gym they have there.

Resources:

1) Meathead fat loss workout for you

=> Classic TT Gain Muscle-Fat Loss Workouts

2) Five unique interval training methods

=> The TT Interval Training Report

3) If you're struggling with nutrition, please read this recent interview I did that shows a simple system to get started eating better

=> Beginner Nutrition Tips

And finally, the kick-butt mindset tip of the day:

‎"The best way to break an old habit is to replace it with a new one...and reinforce it a lot." - Aubrey Daniels

Stay strong,

Craig 

Chicago Travel Update

No workout for me on Wednesday, but here's how the day went...

5am - Got up extra hour early to walk and stretch. Dreamt I was fighting a cat, so I was happy for the early wakeup.

7am - blender drink: almond milk, 1 frozen banana, blueberries, spinach, raw almond butter, pecans. 1 apple.

8am - airport and flight to chicago... water and almonds on plane

11am - Checked in at hotel and realized I forgot my acuball...better not forget it on 2nd leg of trip when I go to Europe.  

12 - Wrigley field...lunch at Harry Carey's...managed to have a big salad of greens and tomato plus a grass-fed burger plus one beer. Lunch wasn't perfect, but if you were traveling on a fat loss plan, that would be fine because the meal was still under 900 calories. Not perfect, but the grass fed burger would have passed the Isabel De Los Rios/Mike Geary nutrition
rules.

1- fell alseep at game for 5 minutes

3- Drank only water at game

4 - left cubs game.

5 - Afternoon snack of raw dates and almonds and water

7 - dinner at C-House restaurant... 

Summer vegetable soup, one slice bread, pasta with vegetables and ricotta cheese, one mashed potato donut hole and a serving of blueberries. No booze, drank lots of sparkling water. 

Fancy restaurants are good because youget small portions...much better than gorging at Morton's Steakhouse.  

11-bedtime

Deadlift workout tonight,

Craig

Turbulence Training DB Depletion Workout

Okay, last workout before I head to Chicago for 2 days...



Workout was:

1A) Med ball throw
1B) stickups

2A) rack lockout (worked up to 275x3)
2B) seated rows

3A) db incline
3B) ring pullups

4A) cable external rotations
4B) bodyweight triceps extensions with rings



Now about that DB Depletion program...

One of the most common questions I get on Facebook is "What program should I use if I can only workout twice per week?"

So due to popular demand, I've created a NEW Turbulence TrainingDepletion program that gives you a complete fat burning workout in just TWO 20-minute sessions per week.

BUT...there are two cool twists to this program.

1) I've not only created two "total body workouts" (for people who want to train with a few rest days in between), but I've also created upper-body and lower-body versions for TT members who want to train on back-to-back days (such as Saturday and Sunday).

2) Plus, you can use the upper-lower workouts to train 3 times per week (alternating between upper and lower workouts on a classic Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule). It's the perfect system.

If you are a TT member, just log into the member's area to download this awesome new program.

But if you are NOT a member...

...don't worry, I still have good news for you...

=> Get the new TT DB Depletion Workout here <== plus you'll get extra goodies

By the way, the TT DB Depletion program is NOT available anywhere else at this time. It's only for all TT Members in the member's area.

Now in case you don't know what the "depletion" workouts are all about, let me explain. This program uses dumbbell exercises (with a few bodyweight options and one kettlebell exercise) to help you deplete the muscles of glycogen (muscle carbohydrate) in an advanced workout.

By doing this, you increase the post-workout storage ofcarbohydrate in the muscle AND you cause a lot of "turbulence" onthe body that should increase post-workout calorie burning overwhat you would get with normal cardio.

These workouts are extremely popular among the busiest ofTurbulence Training readers who only have two days per week for hard exercise.

Plus, the workouts are short, but still dramaticallyeffective - all thanks to the mini-circuit method used.

And the workouts have been designed for use in even the busiest of gyms.

You'll find that with a single set of dumbbells and abench, you'll be able to complete all four versions of the DB Depletion routine.

The end result is more fat loss and a body sculpted as if it was done by Michaelangelo himself. Enjoy the results of your depletion workouts!

=> Get the new DB Depletion Workout here <=== Special offer ends soon

Perfect for summer workouts so you can spend more time outside and enjoying your results.



Train hard but safe,

Craig Ballantyne



PS - To get more results...

Set goals with a deadline & a reward/punishment for your results. So sit down, look at your calendar, and circle the date that marks when you want to reach your goal. If you do, you get a reward. If you don't, set a punishment. That will inspire you to action.

PPS - Alright, I'll try to talk to you tomorrow!

Insane travel schedule starts at 8am, with flight to chicago...2 days there then back to toronto for 12 hours, then down to tampa, then to eastern europe for 10 days.

August 1st is Good Enough

Okay, August 1st is a  good enough reason to look back at what you wanted to accomplish in 2010, and if you aren't there yet, to re-commit yourself to
success.

"Even the impossible can be broken down into possibilities."

Start with small goals. Achieve them and reward/reinforce your behavior. That will encourage you to continue with the right actions and will get you to keep
moving closer and closer to your bigger goals.

Workout:

1A) Box jumps
1B) Box squats

2A) Good mornings
2B) Plank

3A) Glute ham raise
3B) Split squat

Music included Green Day, Three Days Grace, Sum 41, and finished with Modest Mouse, which I thought was a nice touch.

Get strong,

Craig 


Sample TT workout & report on the "Dark Side of Cardio" for all folks NEW to
Turbulence Training =>
http://www.turbulencetraining.com/freereportandworkout

New recipe from Kardena Pauza

Did anyone else read that Chelsea Clinton was having "vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free dishes" at her wedding this weekend?

More and more folks are making the transition.

And while I bet the high-priced caterers created some amazing dishes, our raw-vegan-vegetarian nutrition hero, Kardena Pauza, just posted a brand new
recipe and video on her blog showing you how to make a:

Raw Vegan Mango Vanilla Parfait

Get the recipe & demonstration video from Kardena here:

=> Raw Vegan Dessert Video

So simple even a kitchen-clutz like I can make it.

Kardena also shows us how to properly cut a mango to get the fruit out easily and she has a unique way of serving her dessert.

Stay healthy,

Craig

Off Day Activity

Off day today...but with lots of light activity.

First, 2 dog walks. Then a bike ride to the St. Lawrence market. I bought corn on the cob, peaches, cherries, and spinach. Then I slipped down to the gym to do some stretching. I could have done it at home, but the dog would have been jumping all over me...

I also used the foam roller for a little soft tissue work. Here's how to use a foam roller to help you stay injury free

=> How to do foam rolling

And this is a good beginners workout to get started with

=> Beginner Abs & Fat Loss Workout

Finally, 4 out of 5 swimming dogs say, "Bodyweight Cardio Rulez"

=> Bodyweight Cardio Rulez

...(the 5th dog just barked).

Now off to the beach to take the dog swimming,

Craig

My Favorite Superset & Cool News

This news brings a tear to my eye, for so many reasons. It's a very inspirational story in a lot of ways and even talks about our beloved social support too.

=> Is Jason Ferruggia really doing this? Seriously? 100% for real?

My workout included my favorite superset...I love pairing the military press with a back exercise such as chinups and deadlifts...that one superset could be a complete workout right there...powerful stuff. I added a little more for this full session:

1A) Military Press
1B) Chins

2A) DB Press
2B) DB Row

3A) Ring Biceps Curls
3B) Ring Rear Delts

After, I hit a blender drink:

Chocolate almond milk, strawberries, 1 banana, cinnamon, and 1 scoop of Garden of Life Raw Sprout Protein blend. Seriously. I'm trying it out.

Now for today's resource.

The funny thing about this next link is that just as many women as men will use this info. You just can't keep the girls out of the "guy workouts"...and there's no need to...after all, just look how hot Jay's fiance Jen is...and she squats 145 pounds and can do 10 chinups.

So for men AND women, here's a free workout & sample meal plan for folks looking to build muscle and burn fat at the same time:

=> Workout & meal plan for men

And finally, today's kick-butt mindset tip from me:

"You wouldn't put an alcoholic in a bar if you wanted him to stop drinking...so make sure you are putting yourself in the right training environment for your goals...and that you are hanging around other achievers - no matter what aspect of your life - from fitness to financial to family. Avoid negative situations and negative people as much as possible."

Stay outta trouby,

Craig 

Bodyweight Cardio Rulez

Let me start by saying, "I'm sorry."

Earlier this week I told you that Bill Phillips - the author of BodyFor Life - had been confirmed as my next interview guest...but he had to cancel. Hopefully he will re-schedule.

So...

I went to work and finished up this week's 7-Day Fat Loss Coaching Call early and shared these secrets with you:

- The #1 Breakfast Food
- 3 Bodyweight Cardio Workouts
- 1 Mandatory Back Workout
- My New Favorite Inspirational Quote
- And the Truth About Elliptical Machines & Weight Loss

You can read all these tips and listen to the coaching call here:

=> 7-Day Bodyweight Cardio Fat Loss Guide

I hope that makes up for the delay in Bill's interview.

Also, next week is "Supplement Week", and I'll be sending you 3 surprising articles with my thoughts on supplements.

Most supplements are a joke and waste of money...but a few are helpful...and one of the most common supplements isn't necessary.

I'll explain starting Monday.

Talk to you soon.

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

PS - One more thing...

If you have back pain, there's a free book you need to get now.

It's called The 7-Day Back Pain Cure, and it's written by a trainer I know named Jesse Cannone (he's also the co-founder of The Healthy Back Institute).

Note: His book is shipped to you in the mail so there is a small shipping fee. But who wouldn't invest a couple of bucks to get rid of crippling back pain.

I know I would...heck, I've spent over $1150 in the last year to get mine fixed, and it was worth every penny.

=> Grab your free back-pain cure book here  <== Gets rid of back pain

You'll discover useful tips on how to sit to avoid back pain, specific foods that reduce back pain, and a complete 7-day guide to
curing your back pain.

Deadlift Workout & Phone Calls

Two big phone calls today...I'll be interviewing Bill Phillips tonight, and Scott Sonnon later this afternoon. Should be interesting.

My training today:

1A) Jumps
1B) Sumo Deadlift

2A) BB Lunge
2B) Glute Ham Raise

3A) Shrugs
3B) Stability Ball Plank

Now for two great resources.

First, mandatory reading from Jason Ferruggia about taking time off and "deloading":

=> The Proper Way to Take Time Off & Deload

And second, more wisdom from a TT Contest winner, including the value of social support, attitude, motivation, and getting momentum going

=> Transformation Contest Success Tips

And finally, leaving you with today's kick-butt mindset tip:

"Keep these concepts in mind: You've failed many times, although you don't remember. You fell down the first time you tried to walk. You almost drowned
the first time you tried to swim. Don't worry about failure. My suggestion to each of you: worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try."
Sherman Finesilver

Stay outta trouble,

Craig 

Dogs

Goal Setting & Change

Just finished up some sweet dog park action. It was Bally the Dog vs. a young bull mastiff in a 10 round wrestling match. Good times...followed by a bench press workout.

My training was:

1A) Med ball throw
1B) Stickup

2A) Rack lockout
2B) Seated row

3A) DB incline
3B) Ring pullup
3C) Bodyweight triceps extensions

Now for the resource of the day:

A TT Transformation Contest winner gives tips on goal setting and believing in yourself

=> Fat Loss Success Tips

Oh, and here's a cool resource for bootcamp trainers:

=> 14-day fat loss bootcamp marketing system

And the quote of the day (from me):

"Change and transformation aren't easy. But get through the rough patches and you'll ultimately get the big payoff. You can't get a rainbow (or double rainbow!) without some rain. Hang tough. Plan ahead. Be prepared. Take action. Stay strong. I KNOW you can do it."

And another...this one from Ghandi...

"Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph: a beginning, a struggle, and a victory." - Mahatma Ghandi

And finally...

"As you grow older, you'll find that the only things you regret are the things you didn't do." -Zachary Scott

Go out and do something cool today,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

PS - I'm going to the beach, a baseball game, or I'm going to knock off something else from my "summer to do list". 

Free Meal Plans

If you are struggling with your nutrition, here is a great free meal plan resource to help you start off the week right

=> Free Meal Plans

After all, it doesn't matter how hard your workouts are, if your nutrition is not right, then you won't get results.

My training today went well:

1A) Box Jumps
1B) Box Squats

2A) Good Morning
2B) Plank

3A) Glute-ham raise
3B) Split squat

And today's kick-butt mindset tip for you:

"To get something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done."

Simple but effective,

Craig 

CB vs the Famous Philly CheeseSteak

I got home from my Atlantic City weekend at 8:30pm last night and I still had a full belly after eating a classic Philly cheesesteak sandwich at famous Tony Luke's restaurant in Philadelphia.

It was as good as Joel Marion promised me it would be.

But was it a diet mistake?

Kind of...but thanks to the Turbulence Training Lifestyle, I can afford to make one or two of these mistakes each week. In fact, they count as my reward meals.

They are the reward for staying on track every week with my short TT workouts and Simple Nutrition eating (that I do 90% of the time).

There's also another HUGE REWARD to the TT lifestyle...and I received that reward on Saturday afternoon while walking down the boardwalk in Atlantic City with my shirt off...

There I was, walking with Joel Marion and a few of his high school buddies (we were in Atlantic City for Joel's bachelor party) when all of the sudden I heard a few whistles in our direction.

I looked over my shoulder and there was a group of girls waving at me from a patio.

Why?

Because - and I'm not bashful to say it - my abs were looking pretty darn good. Almost John Romaniello-good.

As soon as that happened, one of Joel Marion's buddies, a busy New Jersey corrections officer named Joe (it was also his bachelor party this weekend) asked me if I could help him and his wife get in shape for their wedding.

Joel immediately told Joe about how awesome Turbulence Training was, and how simple it would be for Joe and his fiance to do in the comfort of their own home.

In fact, based on this conversation I made a little free presentation for you to check out.

Just click on the link below for the special presentation (that also includes a funny cartoon of me and Bally the Dog):

=> Special Presentation for You  <== The only place you'll find the presentation

 

But as I told Joe, if you want to lose the last 10 pounds of fat before the end of summer (his wedding is on Labor Day weekend), then you need to get started immediately.

Let me know about your success story.

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

PS - Fortunately, this week's flight landed on time without delay...

...and I was able to get home with enough time to do a sweet bike ride around Toronto just as the sun was setting. Perfect off-day activity. With Turbulence Training, we don't need to be in the gym more than 3 days per week to stay lean and keep our abs looking sexy.

Fitness Resources to Start Your Week

Finally, a smooth Sunday travel day. Flight wasn't delayed, and got home on time. Was even able to hit an awesome 45 minute bike ride around the city - just got in from that ride. Good times. Beautiful night.

Here are a few resources

14 day fast track guide to fat loss

=> http://www.ttfatloss.com/turbulence-training/14-days/

Fun bodyweight circuit that needs NO equipment

=> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qXxpWOow3s

Beginner TT "total torso training" workout

=> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTBstyahlwI

Truth about meat for fat loss

In this week's 7-day fat loss coaching guide, I review a recent controversial study about the role of meat in fat loss.

You can check out my thoughts on the the truth about meat for fat loss here:

=> http://www.ttfatloss.com/workouts/meat/ <== (to meat or not to meat?)

I also review 3 hard-core fat burning workouts, give you a new TT workout video, and give you the weekend rundown of everything I planned to do in Atlantic City this weekend at Joel Marion's bachelor party.

By the way, the weekend has been a lot of fun. I just finished a TT Meathead workout with Joel Marion (John Romaniello skipped it to play poker): Rear Delt Raises, Lateral Raises supersetted with DB Rows, Biceps tri-set supersetted with triceps tri-set.

Joel could barely hold his phone to his ear after because his arms were so pumped. Good times. Then we hit the AC Boardwalk for a while.

More on the weekend tomorrow, but for now, just click on this link and you'll get those awesome workouts and my review of a very controversial nutrition topic:

=> http://www.ttfatloss.com/workouts/meat/

If you like this 7-day fat burning guide, please share it with your friends and workout partners. Thanks!

By the way, here is today's kick-butt mind-set quote:

"Everything you do takes you closer to or further away from your goals. Even on weekends. Make the right choices...and if you fall off track, get back on
track and don't feel guilty. Just focus on what you can control. Stay strong!"

Talk to you soon.

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

PS - If you don't have the free TT Gauntlet Bodyweight workout...

...you can get it here (and tell a few of your workout friends while you are at it)

=> Free TT Bodyweight Workout

Sumo Deadlift Workout

I'm changing things up for the next 4 weeks and seeing how the sumo deadlift treats me.

So today's training went like this:

1A) Jumps
1B) Sumo Deadlift

2A) Glute Ham Raise
2B) Barbell Lunge

3A) Stability Ball Plank
3B) Standing Ring Body Extension (it was like an ab wheel rollout movement)

Good session.

Today's kick-butt mind-set tip:

Kekich Credo #73. Nothing wins more often than superior preparation.

Once you understand how important preparation is, and once you accept how hard it is to lose fat, then fat loss becomes a simple "connect the dots" process. Once you understand and accept that fat loss requires effort and planning, only then you ...will be psychologically prepared to make that effort and do that planning.

Today's resource:

New interview with me here - including the "3 reasons why people fail":

=> Fat Loss Secrets Interview

And finally...I just set up an interview with Bill Phillips for next week...also bought his new book, "Transformation". You'll get the interview next Friday.

Keep pushing,

craig 

My #1 Strength Training Book

Nice new workout today...by doing Rack Lockouts instead of Bench Presses, I had more strength left for DB Incline Presses. Nice combination of exercises.

My workout was:

1A) Med ball throw
1B) Stickups

2A) Rack Lockout
2B) Seated Row

3A) DB Incline
3B) Ring Pullup
3C) Ring Bodyweight Triceps Extensions

Before I hit the gym, someone asked me on Facebook what my #1 strength training book was?

My answer:
Good question. It would be either my University exercise physiology notes or Vladimir Zatsiorsky's "Science and Practice of Strength Training".

Don't miss the next fitness qna here: www.TurbulenceTrainingFanpage.com

Now for 3 kick-butt mindset tips:

1) Know what you want to achieve/where you want to go. Write out a plan to get there. Implement & review the plan everyday.

2) "Do you have an opportunistic mindset, focused on the possibilities in your life? Or do you always focus on the obstacles? Start to pay attention and change your mindset to set yourself up for success." - Rachel Cosgrove

3) "Each problem has hidden in it an opportunity so powerful that it literally dwarfs the problem. The greatest success stories were created by people who recognized a problem a turned it into an opportunity." Joseph Sugarman

At the very least, every problem teaches you valuable lessons so that you will make the right decision next time you are in a similar situation.

Learn from everything and take action,

Craig

 

Interval Training for Fitness

Excited to release my new 31 Interval Training Workouts manual tomorrow...I have an interval training for fitness excerpt below. But first, I've started a new 4 week program today:

1A) Box jumps
1B) Low box squats

2A) Good morning
2B) Planks

3A) Glute ham raise
3B) Pistol Squat

After my workout I did a wwwFacebook Fitness QnA session and received this question twice:

Q: What are the best oblique exercises?

Answer:
I have a blog post here:

=> 5 Best Oblique Exercises

Also from Facebook, here's today's kickbutt mindset tip:

"Do what is right. It's not common sense. Common sense is wrong. You need good judgement. You need to observe and associate consequences to your every action. And then you need to decide whether or not you should make the same choice the next time you are in that situation. Remember - Everything you do takes you closer to OR further away from your goals. The choice is yours."

And finally, an excerpt from my new manual, "31 Interval Training Workouts".

...interval training isn't just superior for fat loss, but it might even replace cardio for general fitness as well. You see, I completed my Master's Degree in Exercise Physiology at a school called McMaster University, and researchers there (such as Dr. Martin Gibala) are making world-wide headlines with their interval training studies.

"We have shown that interval training does not have to be 'all out' in order to be effective," says Professor Martin Gibala. "Doing 10 one-minute sprints on a standard stationary bike with about one minute of rest in between, three times a week, works as well in improving muscle as many hours of conventional long-term biking less strenuously."

Reference:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100311123639.htm

The short, intense workouts aided in weight loss, too, although Gibala hadn't been studying that effect. "The rate of energy expenditure remains higher longer into recovery" after brief, high-intensity exercise than after longer, easier workouts, Gibala says. That means you might be able to ramp up your fat burning AFTER exercise by using interval training…possibly
giving you the MAGICAL boost in metabolism.

Other researchers have found that similar, intense, brief sessions of exercise improve cardiac health, even among people with heart disease. For more information, check out:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/can-you-get-fit-in-six-minutes-a-week/

Intervals beat slow boring cardio again,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

Making the best of a bad situation

And thus ends the 16 hour travel day from Austin to Toronto, with a 6 hour delay in Houston. Definitely not as smooth as the flight down through Chicago...I can only hope that the streak of crazy Sunday airplane stories doesn't continue next weekend.

But you have to make the best of a bad situation.

And it helps when you are prepared. I had plenty to do. I had the right snacks (2 apples and trail mix).

And I had the right attitude.

So make sure, that no matter how bad things get this week, that you...

1) Make the best of a bad situation - so that you still make progress no matter who conspires against you
2) That you are prepared for the worst - so identify the obstacles in your life and come up with 2 solutions for each
3) That you always keep the right attitude...and never, ever, EVER give up.

By the way...my in flight entertainment was:

a) the latest Wired magazine (okay, nothing special)
b) The movie,  Date Night - I lasted 5 minutes
c) The movie, Green Zone - I lasted 10 minutes
d) The movie, Lost in Translation - I watched it all. It was okay.
e) A lightening storm. On both sides of the plane. While we landed. But surprisingly, it wasn't at all bumpy on the way down. But still impressive to watch.

Alright, stay strong, and have a great day,

Craig

Just Another Airplane Sunday

Another Sunday...another epic fail with airplane transportation...this time, a 5 hour delay on my flight home...but of course, you gotta work with what you're given...so let's review the weekend.

EDIT: Flight now canceled. Staying in Houston overnight. Going to do bodyweight workout in the hotel gym.

DOUBLE EDIT!: The flight is back on...hope to be home by 1am

Started weird...on Thursday I had an US customs officer who just wasn't "getting" what I do and why I would possibly travel to a seminar to go to a meeting. He said...

"If you've been in business for 9 years, why would you need to learn anything else?"

I told him, "I always want to be improving." Just like you, right?

And here's an article that will help you improve your interval workouts with "adrenaline interval training for fat loss"

=> Fat Loss Interval Training

Travel went smooth and I had a great first night at the Lakeway Resort near Austin, Texas.

Friday

Spent the day on the lake in Austin. Hanging out with Joel Marion, John Romaniello, Mike Geary, Tim Ferriss, and others. Had an epic tubing battle
with Jeff Siegel, from http://www.thedietsolutionprogram.com/. Got a lot of sun.


Saturday

I tried out a shakeweight today for the first time. Seriously. I actually thought the Shake Weight was motorized, so i spent 5 minutes looking for the
on/off switch. Turns out YOU do the shaking. Weird. Now off to a real workout with Joelle Marionz, John Romaniello, and Jon Benson.

***********
Update...flight has been cancelled. Uh-oh!

Will update you soon,

Craig

PS - Let me know what kind of Turbulence Training workout you'd like to see next...

Workout And Airport Again

Off to the airport and heading to Lake Travis near Austin, TX for a seminar this weekend. Still hoping to do a meathead workout tomorrow. I have one more nutrition myth that I'll be covering in tomorrow's TT email as well...its a controversial one for sure. Check out  for the 4 myths I've covered so far...

=> Fat Loss Nutrition Myths

Today's workout was okay...but should have been better. My back feels awesome, but I should have been stronger...next week will be a lower intensity training week as I switch programs.

1A) Jumps - At least these were good
1B) Deadlifts

2A) Glute Ham Raise
2B) 1 leg Squat

3A) Shrugs
3B) Stability Ball Plank

One little piece of equipment that is really helping my back and glutes is this thing. I use the lil' mini sucker on my glutes...because foam rolling doesn't cut it

=> http://www.acuball.com/acuball.php

A tennis ball doesn't work and a lacrosse ball is okay, but this is the best I've found.

One more resource for you:

If you don't have this FREE interval training report, grab it here for interval ideas

=> Interval Training Report

‎"Success is the process of elimination. You must eliminate the nonsuccessful behavior in your life in order to make room for the successful behavior."
Larry Winget

So what can you change today?

Change the right things,

Craig 

Workout, Behavior, & Goals

Another good workout today...

1A) Medicine Ball Throws
1B) Prone Stickups

2A) Bench Press
2B) Seated Row

3A) Incline Press
3B) DB Row

While I did Prone Stick-ups, the regular Stick-up is another good shoulder mobility exercise, and you can find it in this video:

=> Shoulder Mobility Exercises

And now for today's mindset tips:

1) "Are your behaviors matching your goals?" - Dr. John Berardi

2) "How is what I am doing today getting me closer to my goal" George Allen.

You must get these right if you want to succeed,

Craig

Breaking News: Dog Attacks Bootcamp

As usual, I started off this morning with a big long dog walk on the East Side of Toronto. Here's how it goes:

- We first hit a small fenced in dog park
- Then make our way up to a bigger sports park (with off-leash area)
- Next up is a walk past the restaurants in the Greek neighborhood
- Then its down to the scenic Riverside Park to climb a giant hill
- And then we finally finish off with a quick stroll through the trendy area of Leslieville

But something happened today that wasn't part of a normal walk...as there was a dog attack at a bootcamp in the sports park.

It turns out that some folks let their dogs off the leash a little too freely, and this one dog started chasing another dog around the circle of bootcamp clients, and then suddenly turned on the bootcamp and started licking one poor woman's face as she was holding a plank.

Oh wait, that was MY dog. My bad. I apologize.

Seriously, I promise I won't let it happen again. That's not cool. Funny now, yes, but not cool at 7 in the morning.

Back to the Gym

I really wanted to get to the gym on Sunday, but the delayed flight put a stop to that. Maybe for the best to get an extra day of rest.

Went in today and felt great...held back a little, compared to what I used to do, and I left feeling strong and I know my back won't hurt. I feel as good as I've felt in over a year.

My workout today:

1A) 1-leg box jumps
1B) Box squats

2A) RDL
2B) Glute-ham raise
2C) Planks

Today's resource:

Kettlebell workouts, 3 minute chinup test, and warning about deadly trans fats - all in this week's TT fat burning coaching call here

=> Kettlebell Exercises & Chinup Tests

And today's tough question for you...

I trust that today you're not going to a job you hate just so you can make money to buy things you don't need or so that you can retire to do nothing all day?

Keep fighting,

Craig 

It was almost perfect

It started off so well… 


99.5% of the flight went as schedule.

Despite getting to bed at 1:30am after celebrating Bedros Keuilian's birthday on Saturday night, I still managed to get up at 5:30am - feeling good - and got to the airport early for my 8am flight.

The 4hour flight started smoothly and I relaxed into watching Fight Club for the first time (yeah, first time, I know). After that I read 50 pages of "Bringing Out the Best in People", and by then it was time to land back in Toronto.

So there we were, literally 3 minutes from landing, when all of the sudden the pilot starts going the WRONG way. By that, I mean he started going up. Wrong way when you are trying to land.

I peaked out the window and realized why. We were heading directly into a storm cloud, and I doubt "Fly into a lightening storm" was on the pilot's bucket list, so he aborted. We circled around for an hour and then landed at another airport 65 miles away.

We waited. And waited.

By this time, I had started watching "Clash of the Titans" (cheesy, but good enough). And I had just finished that movie by the time we started our second attempt at landing in Toronto.

We were minuted from landing when it happened again. The pilot started going the wrong way. Up.

This time, a problem with the landing gear. So we circled again, fixed the issue, and finally, 3 hours late, landed.

Now it was time to sit for an hour on the runway waiting for a gate for the plane.

Finally, almost 9 hours after boarding the flight, we deplaned.

**********************

Now to everyone's credit on that plane, no one got upset. It was impressive how everyone dealt with it.

Maybe because it was the weekend, I don't know.

But in life, you're going to have days like this, and the only thing you can do is deal with it, and try to stick to your plan as closely as possible.

Fortunately, by being prepared, I had the right food to hold off hunger. I stuck with my plan, and I feel great now.

So you need to be prepared for the obstacles you are sure to face this week. And when you make a mistake, learn from the lesson so you don't get off track again.

Stay strong and stay prepared,

Craig

Friday Meathead Workout

So I ended up training yesterday with Joel Marion, and we did a great upper body workout: DB chest press, seated row, pushups, lat pulldowns, db incline
(with 4s eccentric), db row, and then incline curls and db ez bar extensions. Very meatheadish.

Today's resources:

1) Rapid fire nutrition QnA session with Isabel De Los Rios (we cover protein, post-workout, wheat, and cheesecake)

=> Nutrition with Isabel De Los Rios

2) Congrats to the Winners of the 5-Week Turbulence Training Transformation Contest...check them out here:

=> http://www.transformationcontest.com/

And finally, today's kick-butt mindset tip:

"Everything you do either takes you closer to or further from your goals......even on weekends."

Stay strong,

craig 

5-Week TT Contest Winners!

Congrats to the Winners of the 5-Week Turbulence Training Transformation Contest. Check them out here.

=> http://www.transformationcontest.com/

No workout for this morning...but I went for a 40 minute dog walk (sans dog) and then some stretching.

While walking, I almost stepped on a few snails, and thought:

People can learn a lot of from snails. Nice steady progress. Very focused. Polite. No whining. A real "can do" attitude. Never giving up.

But it is also nice to not be a snail. In fact, we have it pretty easy.

Realize that no matter how "hard" we think things are, most of us really have the easiest life in the world! In fact, the irony is that in today's world, we actually need to make an effort to make our lives HARD by challenging ourselves.

So challenge yourself with this:

5 rounds of 5 minutes TT Bodyweight Cardio workout.

Enjoy! => Click here for the BW Cardio video

craig 

Football Field & Upper Body Workouts

Just added the "TT Football Field 444" program to www.TTMembers.com today...it is a Platinum Members-only program. Pretty cool stuff.

My training today included several of the exercises that you'll see in the program, that you can do by attaching Blast Straps or TRX straps to soccer or football posts.

1A) Overhead squats
1B) Ring rear delt raises

2A) Rack lockouts
2B) Ring inverted row

3A) Ring dips
3B) Ring bodyweight triceps extensions

And today's kickbutt mindset tip:

"If you have a problem with _____, do something about it. It doesn't matter how big the ____ problem is, you can take action on fixing it today. Send an email to a friend asking for help with ___. Search the internet for solutions to _____. Or get off Facebook, and go fix your ____ problem in the real world. No matter what, there is no excuse to not work on fixing your ____ problem today."

Alright, now I'm off to the airport...heading to California for the weekend. Today's in flight reading material will be: "Viral Loop", "Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs", and "Bringing out the best in people".

I also just got a kindle, but I can't figure out how to get the book inside it.

Oh well,

Craig

PS - I wrote two books this morning:

First, my fat loss book:

"Don’t be lazy. Don’t overeat. Don’t make excuses. The end."

And second, my time management book:

"Chapter 1 - Stop looking for tips on time management. Chapter 2 - Do something."

As you can see, they are very short books.

So I stuck a bag of ice down my pants

My right glute (aka "butt cheek") felt a little weird after my workout, so I decided to put some ice on it.

The Workout:

1A) Jumps
1B) Deadlifts

2A) 1-leg squats
2B) Glute ham raise

3A) Shrugs
3B) Stability Ball Plank

Hopefully the glute is fine...but I'll be following these tips for a speedy recovery

=> How to recover faster from muscle injury

Speaking of recovery, I get a lot of post-workout nutrition questions, so I did an interview with Isabel De Los Rios about it here:

=> Isabel's post workout nutrition tips

And finally, I held a really cool contest on the Turbulence Training Fanpage asking to hear your top inspirational quotes, and we received over 300 entries! Very cool. However, I had to pick only 3 as our winners, and here they are:  

(NOTE: We run contests every week on the Fanpage and give away cool prizes, including 1-year Platinum TT Memberships.)
Winner #1 - Matt Rinaldi
"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength."

Winner #2 - Conred Rodrigues
"It is never too late to be what you might have been." - George Eliot

Winner #3 - Elizabeth Hicks
"Why are you going to choose failure, when success is an option?" - Jillian Michaels

Thanks so much to everyone!!!

Stay strong,

Craig

5-Week Mini Transformation Voting

Hey everyone, here are the voting pages for the male and female categories of the 5-week mini contest.

You'll even discover proof that guys can lose 11, 16, and even up to 25 pounds in just 5 weeks. For women, the results seem to top out at 7 pounds in 5 weeks, but they are losing up to 9 inches as well.

Check out the dramatic results here:

=> Transformation Contest Voting

Voting continues until Thursday, July 8th at 11:59pm EST.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

And so...

If you want to maximize your chances of having amazing results just like these, I recommend you follow this simple 3 step formula.

Step #1 - Use the Turbulence Training for Fat Loss System.

Try it for 21 days for just $1 here:

=> $1 Turbulence Training for 21 Days

Step #2 - Combine TT with Joel Marion's 25-day Fat Loss Diet

Listen to an interview with Joel here that explains his fat loss system:

=> Joel Marion Xtreme Fat Loss Diet 

Step #3 - The fun part!

Take amazing after photos, enjoy the summer showing off your new body on the beach, have more energy, and feel and look totally amazing!

Looking forward to your success,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

Upper Body Workout in the Heat

Got off to an odd start today...internet was down. So I went to the gym early.

My workout was:

1A) Prone Stickups
1B) Bench Press

2A) Seated Row
2B) Incline Press

3A) DB Row
3B) DB Triceps Extension

The gym doesn't have AC so I was beat after that workout...but it was fun.

Went to the park with the dog and some lady from the Toronto Star took our photograph for a piece she is doing on how Torontonians are beating the heat...so we might be in the paper tomorrow if we make the cut. We'll see...

This heat reminds me of my trip to France last year...and I kind of wish I was back in Paris...working out at the Louvre, like I was in this video from last August:

=> Paris Bodyweight Workout

Finally, today's kick-butt mindset tip:

"There will be times you mess up...and that's cool, as long as you learn from it."

Don't be hard on yourself...just learn from your mistakes and avoid making the same ones in the future.

Get strong,

Craig

Get Out There And Do Something

I had a great rest yesterday and was ready to train today.

Today's workout:

1A) 1-leg box jumps
1B) Box squats

2) RDL

3A) Glute-ham raise
3B) Plank.

120 more years of workouts like that and I'll be ready for Brock Lesnar.

And now today's mind-set tip from Buddha:

"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly." - Buddha........

So forget about any diet mistakes, and just focus on what you are doing now and what you can  get out there and do right now.

Today's resource:
This week's TT podcast features a discussion on caffeine and strength training results - plus my personal experience with a caffeine fueled workout from last week...it helped me smash a personal best in a surprising exercise

=> Caffeine and Exercise

No caffeine today,

Craig

Blast Straps Workout

Today I played around with the blast straps...did a bunch of triceps extensions, biceps curls, ab extensions, rear delt flys, etc. I know i'm a meathead b/c i prefer the blast straps over the tmz ones.

Today's Kick-butt mindset tip:
Kekich Credo #2 - "Cherish time, your most valuable resource...To waste time is to waste your life. The most important choices you'll ever make are how you use your time."......

By the way, you can get all 100 Kekich Credos here

=> www.askdavekekich.com/replay.php  

And finally...

A Weekend 3-Minute Chinup Challenge from Martin Rooney

From the latest Men's Health magazine...

Do as many chinups as you can in 3 minutes.
Don't go to failure in any set...that will decrease your score.
Do a few reps, rest 15-20. repeat.

Rooney's Score Levels for Men (I don't have any levels for women, sorry)

<19 = below average
20-29 = average
30-39 = good
40-49 = excellent
50+ = extraordinary

I must admit, I'm only in the good range.

Let me know how you do! Something fun you can do this weekend...maybe bet your trash-talking relatives/friends that you can do more than them.

Train safe though, of course.

Have fun,

Craig

Take Control of Your Life

Halfway through the year, so this is timely.

Kekich Credo #84. "Nobody gets old by surprise."

I say, "If you want to lose fat, get ready to make a commitment. For the next 12 weeks, buckle down, plan and prepare, and TAKE ACTION. Did you know that 12 weeks is LESS than 0.3% of the average lifespan. Surely you can commit to 0.3% of your life, can't you? Time to take control of your life while you are still young!"

My workout today:

Extra long warm-up.

1A) Deadlifts
1B) Jumps

2A) 1-leg squats
2B) glute ham raise
2C) shrugs

Taking next 2 days off. It's holiday time and here are some tips:

=> Holiday Fat Loss Diet Tips

I'll leave you with this:

"To live an extraordinary life, you must resist an ordinary approach." - Frank McKinney

I say, "This applies to fat loss too. You can't eat a "normal" diet that consists of junk and soda and live a "normal" life of 6
hours of TV per day if you want the body of your dreams. You have to change, get out of your comfort zone, and be who you really want and deserve to be."

Stay strong and have a wicked holiday weekend,

Craig 

Workout With Sore Muscles?

One of the most common questions I get is, "Can I still workout if I have sore muscles?"

I answered  that question in depth in this article:

=> Should you workout if you have sore muscles?

In the end, it will be a judgement call. After all, there are varying degress of soreness.

For example, my legs are still too sore from Sunday's squat session to do deadlifts today. I would have ended up altering my form and messing up my lift, so I changed todays' workout to upper body because there was no soreness from Monday's workout.

1A) Overhead squat (3x5)
1B) Chinups (3 sets)

2A) 3-board bench press (3x5)
2B) bodyweight row (3x17)

3A) Ring dips (3 sets)
3B) Ball plank (3 sets)
3C) Ring Rear Delts (3 sets)

Lower body stretching.

Train smart and safe!

Now for today's kick-butt mindset tip:

Look at every new day as an opportunity to do better than yesterday. And a chance to learn something new that will make you better and get you more results. Don't look back with regret about mistakes that were made yesterday, there's nothing you can do about a workout you skipped or a bad meal decision. Just focus on what you can do today.

Stay tough,

Craig 

Meathead Monday Workout

Monday = bench press

Right?

It certainly does for all meatheads, including me. Of course, my workout week started with squats yesterday.

My full workout was:

1A) Prone Stickups
1B) Bench Press (245lbsx3x3)

2A) db incline
2B) db row

3A) db triceps
3B) seated row


Followed by blender drink (strawberries, banana, almond milk, peanut butter, spinach), and a toasted peanut butter sandwich. Now a dog walk and then I'll come back and eat again.

Also just added this new TT Meatheads V program to the TT library...according to users, this is the BEST TT Meatheads program ever. And goofiest cover.

=> Click here to get TT for Meatheads 5




And now for today's kick-butt mindset tip:

"To get something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done".

So what are YOU going to do this week to accomplish your goals and dreams?

I am going to sacrifice half of my Canada July 1st holiday in order to get a new program done for TT Members. It is a small sacrifice I have to make for their needs and for my success.

What about you?

Get strong,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

Vince Del Monte Wedding Lessons

2 important lessons from Vince Del Monte's wedding:

1) One of the biggest factors for success in life is in the inner belief in yourself and the determination that you will succeed no matter what. Giving up is not even an option.

2) You will be a better person and have more success in life if you make an effort to build strong relationships with others who always challenge you to reach your peak potential. Wonderful wedding!

More details about the wedding celebration - including more life and transformation lessons - to come later this week after I let things sink in. Vince and his beautiful wife Flavia are surrounded by incredible families. Very strong relationships. Powerful stuff!

My night ended around 1:30. Out of habit, I woke up at 6am, and got my butt on the road to Hamilton, Ontario, to watch the England-Germany game with one of my boys. And boy oh boy, they will be talking about this one for years...

Coulda-beens, shoulda-beens. Was it karma for 1966?  

I'm fascinated by the game of football and the drama it brings.

After the match, I drove back to Stratford for a big dog walk, and then went to the gym for a bigger workout. But before that, I have a damaging admission to make.

Once every couple of months I'll make a questionable decision to drink a can of Monster Energy (the blue flavor). And I did that before my workout....and I had a really good workout.

1) Regular Squats (3x5)

2) Front squats (3x8)

3A) Back extensions
3B) Reverse lunges
3C) Planks

I don't know if it was the day of rest or the Monster drink, but I added an extra 40 seconds on to my regular plank time. And I could have gone longer if someone put a gun to my head. Interesting...

That's it for today...until tomorrow, here's a cool little test you might want to try this week:

=> 3-Minute Pushup Test

Stay strong and get around the right people,

Craig 

Blast Straps, TRX, & Power Wheel

I have two days off coming up, since I'm going to Vince Del Monte's wedding in Niagara Falls. All the cool fitness kids will be there, including Joel Marion, John Romaniello, Isabel De Los Rios, Adam Steer, and lil' ol me.

So today I did the "Football Field 444" workout...it turned out 10x's funner (yes, "funner") that I had hoped. Probably the best outdoor challenge workout I've written. It willl be available in july. now its time to celebrate "the summer of fruit" with more fruit. strawberries, pineapple, and blueberries.

Today's kick-butt mindset question & tip:

"What do you want in life and what are you doing NOT to get it? Are you your own worst enemy? "
Nido Qubein

So spend some time today or this weekend and make a list of your actions that are getting in your way of success. Identify them and come up with a plan to stop those actions and implement the right action that will get you what you want AND deserve in life.

Time to shine up the dancing shoes for Saturday night,

craig 

Protein Bar Recipe

Great workout today:

1A) Overhead Squat
1B) Chinups

2A) Medium Grip Board Press
Bodyweight Row

3A) Dips on Rings
3B) Plank on Ball
3C) Rear Delt Raises with Rings

Also got talking about protein bar recipes on www.turbulencetrainingfanpage.com and someone sent in this:

Homemade protein bar recipe courtesy of Brendan Brazier's website:

From Brendan Brazier's site. I make these often and they rock.

Chocolate bluberry energy bars

1 cup dates. 360cal... See More
1/4 cup blueberries. 15cal
1/4 cup hemp protein
1/4 cup flax meal. 160cal
1/4 cup cocoa powder. 60cal
1tspn lemon juice
1tspn lemon zest
1/4 cup walnuts 200
1/4 cup unhulled sesame seeds. 150cal
1/4 cup almonds. 100ca

Throw everything in food processor and grind up for about 10-15 sec.

Add additional 1/4 cup whole blueberries to a cookie sheet and dump the mixture on top of the blueberries.

Form the mixture into biscotti like bars and let stand for 1-2 hours. Wrap individually and freeze.

Workout Resource of the Day:

Free quick 10-minute workouts for you

=> Free 10-Minute Workout

Now it's time to get out of Toronto for the weekend,

Craig

PS - Was talking about the keys to success and came up with these:

Planning. Organization. Action. Belief. Support.

---- Am I missing any other components of success?  

1st Deadlift Workout

First deadlift workout of the new program, but first a funny story from last night.

Went for a bike ride to watch the sun set over Riverside Park around 8:30pm. Left half of a loaf of bread on kitchen table. Came back, it was gone. Bally the Dog was also acting "a little too excited" to see me and Dog also had unusually full belly for this time of night. So...anyone know where my bread went? I still can't find it.

Today's workout:

1A) Jumps
1B) Deadlifts

2A) Glute-ham raise
2B) 1-leg squat

3A) Shrugs
3B) Side plank

Today's resource:

More workout & nutrition advice from the mad scientist, Nick Nilsson

=> Nick "The Mad Scientist" Nilsson's Workout & Nutrition Advice

"Why you want to accomplish something is more important than how you are going to accomplish something. There are as many ways to do something as there are people who have done it. Focus on the WHY. With a strong enough why, you can endure any how."
Larry Winget (from his great daily reading book, "No Time for Tact")

Stay focused,

craig 

Interval Training Contest Winners

Recovery day for me today...I'll do some stretching and I have an easy TT exercise photoshoot this afternoon, but no hard training.

Every Monday on the Turbulence Training Fanpage we have a contest. Yesterday we asked readers, "What is your interval training success story?" and here are the 3 winning replies. (Each winner received a 3-month free TT Membership.)

1) From Charles Hiller Jr
"Interval training, has opened my mind up to a better way of getting in shape and loosing weight. I am spending much less time in the gym, and obtaining results that I never thought possible. over 30 pounds in 6 weeks with the TT principles. I have more energy, feel better, and no longer suffer bouts of depression. TT and intervals gave me back my life..."

2) From Annette Hall
"As an aerobics teacher since the age of 16, it has been extremely hard for me to accept that Intervals are the most effective fat burning method of training. However, I realised after reading on the TT site that if aerobics were effective I should have been as thin as a stick and I wasn't! Since switching to intervals and TT workouts I have not only lost over 2 stone, I am fitter than I have ever been and am wondering why people bother with aerobics for fat loss!"

3) From Joanna Taunton
"I went to classes at the gym for years and years and after my second baby really struggled to get the weight off the classes gave me no succes and I looked at the ladies who i had seen doing the same classes for years hadnt changed either so i started researching and found out about HIIT and thought it sounded great as it was proved effective and I could workout in nearly quarter of the time and it worked I very quickly lost 6 dress sizes and am now have a better body than before my kids I have gone on and helped some friends get the same results and am now finishing study to become a PT so i can show all the other mums how simple it can be to get a great body with HIIT clean eating and resistance training."

Congrats to our winners!

I hope you are using fat loss interval training to get results.

Today's resource:

Unique exercise ideas for building muscle (Nick Nillson interview)

=> Muscle building exercises

And finally, today's kick-butt mindset tip:

"Always be asking, "Is this moving me towards my goals?". If its not, why are you doing it?"

To your success,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Click here for your free guide to interval training  

Meathead Monday

My meathead workout today:

Lower body stretching

1A) Stickups
1B) Bench Press

2A) DB Row
2B) Incline Bench Press

3A) BB Row
3B) DB Triceps Extension

I did 2 rowing exercises because pullups are still tough because of the small injury to my left latissimus from last week. One more trip to the chiro for "Active Release" should fix it. For tips on how to recover faster from muscle injuries, check out this article:

=> How to recover faster from injuries

And today's 2nd resource is a very intense workout (featuring a very intense beard)

=> Depletion Workout

Make sure you take a look at those resources, and all the resources I post.

Harness the power of "compound learning". The more you learn and apply now, the easier it will be to maintain your weight and body fat for the rest of your life.

Learn something new everyday,

Craig Ballantyne

New Workout Program

Started a new workout program today...4 days per week (lower, upper, off, lower, upper, off, off)

1) 1-leg box jumps

2) box squats

3A) reverse lunges
3B) glute-ham raises
3C) planks

Followed that with a big dog walk down to St. Lawrence Market. Very nice day here in Toronto. Make sure you do something fun today.

Craig

Toronto Weekend

This is the first weekend I've spent in Toronto since before I moved, so I'm trying to get all over the city.

Last night, I went to the jays game on a last minute decision with some friends. Sat in the upper, upper deck behind home plate. Surprisingly decent view. Paid 10 bucks to a scalper. Face value on the ticket is $1.23. Seriously!

Right now I'm recovering from 3 hours of dog walks (2x90minutes) over to Riverside park and the beaches...having new favorite blender drink:

"Banana Bread Blender Drink"

- Pecans, blueberries, 1.5 frozen bananas, peanut butter, spinach, almond milk, small amount of sweetened chocolate almond milk.

Speaking of nutrition...here's a video I made over a year ago...an interesting little nutrition challenge

=> Diet Depletion Challenge

Plus, here's this week's TT fat loss podcast...A 7-day fat burning call with new exercise ideas for the TT Buff Dudes-Hot Chicks program:

=> Making the best fat loss workout better?

And finally, today's kick-butt mindset tip:

"All talk is just that: talk. All the words written on these pages are just that: words. If you want things to get better, take action. Don't just talk about it. Don't just read and think about it. Do it."
Larry Winget

Stay strong and enjoy the day wherever you are,

craig 

Off Workout Week

No real workouts for me this week since Tuesday. Starting a new program on
the weekend or on Monday.

Wednesday evening I started reading Randy Pausch's, "The Last Lecture". It
was worth reading.

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."
Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

Have a great weekend,

Craig

Tanning Helps You Look Leaner?

On Sunday I wrote a big long 14-day fat loss guide and one of the tips I included was that you should get a tan to help you look leaner.

I tried to prove that by comparing these photos. The first one was taken in July of 2008, and I am much more tanned. The 2nd was taken this weekend (June 12, 2010) and I haven't got a lot of color.

The "tan" photo shows off the abs a little better...it is not as dramatic as I had hoped, but still proves the point. I think?

The dog also seems to have gotten lazier in the past 2 years.

My tan won't be getting any better today as I sit inside and watch World Cup games (it is cloudy out anyways). Here's the workout I did:

1A) Deadlift
1B) Jumps

(Jumps were good but I pulled my teres major I think in my last rep of deadlifts...I should have known better...fortunately a little ART - Active Release Technique - from my chiropractor should have me fixed up.)

2A) Barbell split squats

2B) Ball plank

3A) Glute ham raise

3B) Power shrug

And here's today's simple yet powerful kick-butt mindset tip:

"To change ones life: Start immediately."
William James

So be better than yesterday. Take baby steps everyday. Do at least one thing better, one thing different. And get a tan?

Stay strong,

Craig

Athletic Fat Loss

Just put a friend through my new "Football Field Workouts" (using blast straps, power wheel, kettlebells, and more).

Here are a couple of links that will give you more info on athletic fat loss

1) Ferruggia vs Ballantyne interview: Athletic fat loss and 3 days per week training vs four:

=> Jason Ferruggia Athletic Fat Loss Interview

2) This week's 7-day TT fat loss podcast

=> Jersey Shore Renegade Training & Nutrition

This weekend I've been reading "Delivering Happiness" by Tony Hsieh from @zappos...and so I finally called Zappos for the first time to order shoes. Unfortunately, i need to go to the special canadian site to order...however, the customer service was excellent. The book is great too...and I've quoted Tony on my blog about 4 factors of happiness (scroll down)

=> Bodyweight Exercises & Happiness

Enjoy,

Craig

PS - Today's quote isn't really kick-butt...

...but hopefully it gets you to do something:

"The deepest hunger in all humans is the desire to be appreciated."
William James

So who can you appreciate today?