Gymnastics Paid Off!

As you all are aware of, sometimes life gets in the way. So after a busy day yesterday I finally can share with you the secret behind the muscles of a gymnast.

Very simple.

Bodyweight training!

These young men and women have since a very young age learned to control their bodyweight. This has provided their muscles with the amount of resistance required to build such lean and muscular physiques.

Of course those who may seem larger than others are just consuming a higher caloric intake. But they all remain so lean, due to the increased demand they place on their bodies with the highly demanding exercises they perform in their routines.

The result. An increased metabolic rate!

Bodyweight training is a great tool to use in your fat loss program, while still building muscle and burning fat! I still to this day include bodyweight training in my own personal program.

Give this workout a try.

Push-ups (10 reps) (kneeling is ok)

Single Leg Floor Bridge (8 per side)(lie on your back, place your foot with the heel under your knee and about 10 inches from your but. Extend the other leg out. Pushing through your heel, lift your hips off the ground. Lower slowly until your butt is 2 inched from the ground.)

Jumping Jacks (50-100) Repeat 3x

Dedicated to your fitness success,

Tyler English, NASM-PES, CPT

World's Fastest Man

By now many of you have been submerged in the Summer Olympics. You saw Michael Phelps' win a record 8 gold medals. You have watched sports you never knew existed. (I mean Trampoline? Isn't that a backyard toy for the kids.) The Beijing Games have truly been a spectacle. But there are a few events I have paid more attention to.

My personal favorite events are the 100 and 200 meter races in Track and Field as well as The Rings in Men's Gymnastics. We can learn a few things by watching the athletes participating in each of these.

Jamaica's Usain Bolt became the World's Fastest Man by winning both the 100 and 200 meter races. Bolt did not only win both events, something done only twice before, he did so in World Record time. Breaking not only his own 100 meter mark, but breaking Micheal Johnson's 12 year old 200 meter record.

Sprints are a great metabolic workout. Many of the female athletes who compete in these type of events have very lean athletic physiques. Not the lanky body type you see with many marathoners, instead a physique consisting of more muscle tone. The physique many of you strive for.

Short intense sprints bring about an increase in your metabolic rate long after the end of your workout. No wonder these athletes remain SO lean and muscular! Their bodies are metabolic machines!

You can a boost to your metabolic rate by adding sprints into your workout program.

Try this...

5 100 meter sprints (rest 2 minutes between sprints.)

5 200 meter sprints (rest 2 minutes between sprints.)

Get out to the track and get moving!

Dedicated to your fitness success,

Tyler English, NASM-PES, CPT

P.S. Tomorrow I will tell you how bodyweight training has sculpted the physiques of our gymnastics team.