More Swings to Start The Day (plus Netflix)

Today was a day to tackle more kettlebell swings.

I've had a lot of success in the past with doing KB swings as a stand-alone workout.  I've had some momentum with my diet and exercise this week, and swings were a good decision to keep it going.

I used the 40# kettlebell and did 200 per set, switching hands every 10 reps throughout.
This takes me around 5:30 to do, so I will rest 30 seconds and hit another 200 reps in the next set, then another200  after the 12 minute mark.  It was 600 reps total.

This works out well with watching a 22 minute show on Netflix, so maybe you want kill two birds with one stone and knock out another episode as you knock out a workout.

If you want to see how a Swings challenge went for me, check out "Just Swing It!" in my Kindle guides here.

I've also started a new email newsletter to go with the blog, sign up for it here on this site at the top of the page, or go here instantly.

Tomorrow will be another strength circuit, so the rest of the day is focused on keeping the diet in check and moving forward.

Coach Rick
Home Workouts Plus!

19 Minute HWR Routine Starts Off The Day

This morning, I tackled one of the longer workouts in the HWR series, the 19 minute one.

The basic structure of the 20/10 circuits were:
Jumping exercise (box jumps): 8 rounds
TRX Row or DB Row (I did DB Rows) 4 rounds
Spider-Man Pushups: 4 rounds
BW Squats (did light DB's): 8 rounds
Planks: 8 rounds
Jumping Jacks: 6 rounds

With my tendon issue on my left leg, I opted for DB Squats for the first exercise, then did mountain climbers in place of the jumping jacks.

I should be able to start some light jumping exercises soon. Taking time off from running has helped that heal up.

I know I don't do planks enough, so that always seems to get me.

This workout was pretty tough, mainly because I did DB Squats for 2 rounds of 4 minutes each throughout the workout.

Take a look at HWR if you need some quick, simple to do workouts with minimal equipment.

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Yesterday, I ordered some stuff from Advocare and will have some catalogs to share soon.
Did you know that you can sign up as a Preferred Customer for only $19.99 a year and get 20% off the retail price?  You can even save up to 30% with the Preferred Customer program.

Consider this when you are pondering how to keep away the holiday weight gains and prepare for the New Year.

This holiday period of parties and gatherings are nothing more than just some additions to your regular hectic calendar, so don't give up on fitness and healthy choices to make on nutrition. 

You can keep things in check with a solid nutrition strategy. 

You can make Advocare a part of that strategy.

Take a look at becoming a Preferred Customer today right here.


Coach Rick
Home Workouts Plus!

Fresh Week Ahead

It's a fresh week ahead for all of us. After Friday and Saturday off, I did a workout on Sunday night, plus a KB Swings workout this morning.

Last night's workout was a nice circuit of 6 exercises from The Achievable Body  program, done in a 4 round circuit in a little over 16 minutes.

All 6 exercises were:
Box Jumps
1 Arm DB Rows
BW Sumo Squat
Push-Ups
KB Swings
Side Hops

Since I didn't have a box to jump up on, I did a substitute exercise of Total Body Extensions (a highly underrated exercise) for the time duration of the 6 box jumps on the video.

It was a great little workout to do after a 4 day holiday stretch and 2 days off from working out.

The Achievable Body's best part of their package is in their diet plan.  Take a good look at it and consider if you want a simple to follow, real-food program with minimal shakes and stuff.
See why "Vegetables on Friday's are Stupid" and plenty of more wisdom at http://tinyurl.com/wscab .

This morning was a return to KB swings, doing 200 in about 5:30, resting for 30 seconds, and doing another 200 in that fashion for 600 total in the end. I basically do 200 every 6 minutes.
I switch hands after every 10 reps.  I use a 40# KB for this and after a couple workouts, I will probably go up in weight and reduce the total reps, progressively building up again.

I've had a long history of doing swings as a stand alone workout, so don't jump right into the high volume that I did.  Everyone varies with their ability to handle the exercise as well as what size of KB you first use.  I remember starting with 20 to 25# KB's and thinking they were smoking me. Now a 40# one feels about right.

For some KB swing workouts, check out my guides at http://tinyurl.com/rkofp on Amazon Kindle.

Coach Rick
Home Workouts Plus!

16 Minute HWR Before The Big One

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, I started it off with a metabolic workout circuit from the HWR series.

I know a good strength circuit is good to do before days like today, when you have a big meal and you're probably going to eat a lot more than usual.

Strength circuits boost up your post-workout levels, making you burn more calories after a workout is complete, therefore 'digging more of a hole' for you to fill.

I might get in a couple workouts over the weekend as I head down to see my family from now through Sunday.

Simply take my laptop and pick a video to do.

Pretty simple options there. It is another awesome option of HWR, and you don't have to wait after you order it, it can all be downloaded, video by video, instantly once your purchase is made.

That means no waiting for DVD's to arrive, or books to come in that go with it, all the materials can be downloaded.

The holidays are an easy time to grab excuses out of thin air and that keeps you from working out.

"I don't have the time." is the biggest one I would hear as a trainer.  That's why I offered 30 minutes or less workouts. Well, these are 10-20 minutes in length, with 4-6 minute add-on workouts if you wish. HWR simply makes it easier for you to FIND THE TIME to workout.

Give it a look today at http://tinyurl.com/cbhwrevsale

Have a great Thanksgiving weekend!

Coach Rick
Home Workouts Plus!
http://tinyurl.com/cbhwrevsale

Cardio at Home, With A Finisher

Well, its icy/snowy out here now up in ND, and even though we were treated to some rare 50 to 60 degree days for the first half of this month, its now starting to feel more like November again.

This is why I bought an indoor bike a few years back, so I had a good cardio option and I could enjoy my cycling at least inside during the winter.

My regular agenda with my bike inside is to catch a 22 minute show on Netflix and cycle away.

One nice thing I can do right after my workout is to add a Workout Finisher.

Workout Finishers are small add-ons to your routine, and can be added to any strength or cardio workout.  I even used to add them to basketball practices in the form of speed/agility efforts at the end of practice.

A great resource for WF's is from Mike Whitfield, who has designed many WF's to choose from and add to the end of your workouts.  Most of these are 2, 3, or up to 6 minutes long.

A lot of times I will take this concept and add it to the end of a HWR circuit or bike ride. 

Mike used these as a trainer himself to help lose 105 pounds on his journey.  His story is really amazing and his Achievable Body plan is something to look at as well.

Check out Workout Finishers here.

The Achievable Body plan is here to view as well. 

I've been following the TAB diet plan this week and already seeing good weight loss after 3 solid days. 

Check these two programs out for an affordable solution in your fitness goals!

Coach Rick
Home Workouts Plus!

12 Minute HWR Workout

This morning, I attacked the 12 minute HWR workout with a slight modification to it.

HWR follows the 20/10 work/rest pattern for 4, 6 or 8 rounds per exercise.

Today's workout was:

Jumping Jacks: 4 rounds
Push-Ups: 4 rounds
Bodyweight Squats: 8 rounds
Mountain Climbers: 4 rounds
Bodyweight Lunges: 4 rounds

I replaced the lunges with 4 more rounds of Mountain Climbers. 

I've been a big fan of the 20/10 work/rest pattern ever since I came across it around 2000 in a fitness magazine and learned more about the "Tabata Method".

Since then, numerous fitness experts have taken 20/10 and either used it wisely or went overboard with it.

I have applied it to running workouts for speed efforts and also with strength routines.

Craig Ballantyne's system with HWR is about the best I've come across when it comes to using this format sensibly and in a concise manner, and he does it completely with bodyweight movements, meaning you don't need equipment right away to do this.

If you wanted to add weights or resistance bands later, you are free to do that. I've done it with kettlebells, dumbbells and other exercise tools like push-up handles and stability balls.

For only $47, you can get yourself over 50 videos and plenty of workout/diet downloads to go with it, and get it instantly - no shipping, like other programs you may order elsewhere for a lot more money - and start tonight with the workouts. 

Give Home Workout Revolution a try if you are looking for a great, inclusive training program that uses your time wisely. Visit http://tinyurl.com/cbhwrevsale today.

Coach Rick
Home Workouts Plus!

A Return to Home Workouts

Wow, what a crazy summer and fall it was for me.

Summer was a hard time to get through, as I experienced a major loss in my life and tried to stay active through it all. I started lifting again in the new weight room at the college, but soon fell out of the habit of it due to school starting and beginning a running club for the college.

I still kept up with cycling a lot outside and went around 200+ miles per month in July and August.
Then, I went on the road for my job and ended up doing a lot of indoor workouts with an occasional run outside.

Running was an entirely different beast this summer. I had a bothersome and flared up Achilles tendon that I dealt with all summer and even into the fall. I have been slowly returning to 3-4 runs a week now during the last weeks of October and first half of November.

My 'go-to' routines for indoor and on-the-road workouts have been the Home Workout Revolution series from Craig Ballantyne.

HWR workouts are 20 minutes or less and very focused to do a fair amount of work in those small times.

I have them on my computer and they are a quick thing to pull up in the morning when I'm on the road.  Even if I feel up for a brief, 4-6 minute workout in the evening, there are a separate series of workouts designed just for that need, or for a little extra that you have in the tank for your main workout.

My schedule usually jumps around all the time in the winter, due to basketball games I go to and take in as a fan. I love the local college games, especially since I work at a college.

This typically means that my mornings are set aside for my workout time.

Right now, I'm alternating a HWR workout for 3x/week, then a morning run or an indoor bike workout on the days in-between.

My workout setup is in my living room, with a bike off to the side, and a mix of dumbbells and a kettlebell or two. 

Even though I used to workout in gyms as a trainer, there is something I just love about at-home workouts, and its because the workout is right there for you.  No time to travel, get to the gym, wait for a spot to open on a treadmill or bike or a power rack to use.  Your weights are there, your equipment is right there, your bike is right there.  Everything is THERE and no one to bug you.  There are some key advantages to working out at home when you consider time management issues.

Part of me dislikes the guessing game though of who is going to be there or not (will it be busy, or scarce, or somewhere in between?) Your workout space is as busy as you make it to be.

Anyway, I will be able to get more into a routine without being on the road so much, and develop a solid plan of action for my workouts and my diet.

I'm going to be doing a hybrid routine of my own indoor bike, some HWR workouts, and the diet program from The Achievable Body.  With TAB's diet plan, I was able to drop a good portion of weight before my wedding and liked how I felt after it.  I feel I had a terrible diet over the course of my travel schedule for work, so now its time to get that back on track.

I also may start using some Advocare products along with this. I have some other stuff to use up before I get some new Advocare products though. 

I plan to update the blog along my journey, so feel free to follow along. 

Since I no longer do fitness training, I am now into selling those programs as an affiliate.

With the HWR and TAB programs, I sell them straight up as an affiliate.

Advocare products I also sell as a distributor. 

Links for all these programs and others can be found at the top under each tab.

This blog is my avenue to discuss my experiences with all of them, and let you be a judge as well. 

Overall, this blog is to help people who are looking for solutions. These are the ones I see as being a great fit for many!

Coach Rick Karboviak
Home Workouts Plus!