Spent the weekend in Orlando working with some fitness pro’s, and got back Saturday night. It was a lot of fun meeting some experts who use TT bootcamp workouts and bodyweight exercises in their programs.

Yesterday I hit the gym for an extra workout, because this week I’m taking a break from heavy barbell work to plan out a bunch of new Turbulence Training programs.

And they are AWESOME!

(Two of them will be ready in December AND two more on December 26th.)

So Sunday morning, I ended up doing a killer intense bodyweight workout – it was harder than last month’s 4-week weights program, and it included 9 bodyweight exercises (not in this order): 

1) Pull-ups (finishing with 2 added crash sets, courtesy of Vince Del Monte)
2) Vertical Jumps
3) 1 and half rep Bulgarian Split Squats (my quads are feeling these!)
4) Bodyweight Rows (with another crash set)
5) Dips (my special “easier on the shoulder” version)
6) Bodyweight Triceps Presses
7) Reverse Lunges
8] Stability Ball Rollouts
9) 1-leg Calf Raises

That was actually Workout A of Bodyweight Bodybuilding, coming out in December. The sets, reps, and rests are very detailed.

However, if you want to IMMEDIATELY incorporate more bodyweight exercises into your workouts, OR if you are a personal trainer running bootcamps, then I have great news for you.

I’m having a “Giving Thanks” holiday sale on the TT Bootcamps bodyweight system this week…

For the next 3 days, until 9pm EST on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009, you’ll save $30 by taking advantage of this “Giving Thanks for 2009 and Kick-Starting 2010″ TT Bootcamps Holiday Sale.

Click here to get the Turbulence Training Bootcamps Workout Program

Now, of course, we both know that exercise is only part of the bargain…

So here’s my GROCERY LIST to help you make better choices and get more variety in your diet.

This will get me through a few days…depending on how many apples, peppers and berries ol’ Bally the dog eats (he’s doing his “alligator” impression in this photo)…

Groceries
- 6 red apples
- 6 bananas
- blueberries
- raspberries
- 1 bunch broccoli
- 1 red pepper
- 1 orange pepper
- 1 green pepper
- 1 bag baby spinach
- 2 Portobello mushrooms
- flax bread
- 1 tomato
- 1 avocado
- 2 grapefruit
- 4 oranges
- 2 vanilla almond milk
- 2 chocolate almond milk
- raisins
- sunflower seeds
- dates
- crunchy almond butter
- jug of water

Remember, I’m sticking to a vegan program for this month…and also, my cupboards are stocked with black beans, kidney beans, high-protein pastas (Kamut and Spelt versions), and chili for veggie protein.

Plan, shop and prepare my friend – and you WILL SUCCEED!

To your success,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, TT Bootcamps Workouts

If you’ve ever wondered how many calories you can burn in an hour, you’re about to be surprised.

In the past couple of weeks I’ve grown weary of people claiming they are burning 1000 calories in their cardio workouts, so I went to an exercise physiology professor to find out the truth…

Click here to find out the answer on this week’s fat burning coaching call

And we’re going to have a lil’ fun this week…I need a theme song. More on that in a moment, but first, let’s find out the truth about those people who claim to burn 1000 calories in an hour…they seem to be popping up everywhere…

Monday – Oct 13

Transformation Tip: Can you burn 1000 calories?

I asked my good friend, Dr. Stuart Phillips, Ph.D, from McMaster University…

Q: How hard would someone have to exercise to burn 1000 calories in an hour?

His Answer:
You’d have to work pretty hard, but it’s not impossible by any means…let’s take me for example.

I weight 195 and if I ran at a 7 mph (~8:30 mile pace) for 60min then I’d burn about 1000 calories… I used to be able to do that, but I weighed 178 at the time!!

Q: How many people could possibly pull that off?

Answer:

Not too many perhaps 1-2%, mostly well trained runners and possibly well trained cyclists… (note if I did 60 min to burn a 1000 cal on a bike I’d have to ride pretty darn fast – 26 mph). And don’t get me started on how hard you’d have to work on an elliptical…

*************
So there you go…most people are overestimating the number of calories they burn in a workout, and frankly, I’ve shown you before that weight loss is not all about calories…

And more importantly, I DESPISE the mindset people have around this time of year where they think they can just go into the gym and burn off Thanksgiving dinners, Halloween candy bar binges, and alco-holiday drinks.

Forget that mindset. Instead, focus on doing quality workouts, such as…

Advanced Workout A – Hotel Room Workout

Repeat the circuit 2 times the first time you try it.
In future workouts, you can repeat the circuit up to 3 times.

Y-Squat – 15 reps
1-Leg RDL – 8 reps per side
Reverse Lunge – 15 reps per side
Spiderman Pushup – 8 reps per side
1-Leg Reaching Lunge – 12 reps per side
X-Body Mountain Climber – 10 reps per side
Prone Stick-up – 8 reps
T-Pushup – 10 reps per side

Intervals – Running in Place
20 seconds running, 10 seconds recovery (very slow walking in place)
Repeat 8 times

Tuesday
30 minutes of fun activity…and now let’s look at some fasting research from the Am J Clin Nutr. 2009, “Short-term modified alternate-day fasting: a novel dietary strategy for weight loss and cardioprotection in obese adults.”

In this study, 16 obese subjects (12 women, 4 men) completed a 10-week diet study.

Weeks 1-2: Subjects followed a control diet

Weeks 3-6: Subjects did alternate day fasting (ADF) consuming 25% of energy needs on the fast day and then as much food as they wanted on the following day. The food was controlled by the researchers.

Weeks 7-10: Subjects did alternate day fasting (ADF) consuming 25% of energy needs on the fast day and then as much food as they wanted on the following day. The food was chosen by the subjects.

RESULTS:
Interestingly, the subjects stuck to the diet very well (86-89% adherence) and subjects lost an average of 1.5 pounds per week during the alternate day fasting program. Overall, they lost 12.3 pounds in 8 weeks of dieting and they dropped their body fat from 45% to 42% while lowering cholesterol and triglycerides as well.

CONCLUSION:
The researchers concluded, “These findings suggest that ADF is a viable diet option to help obese individuals lose weight and decrease CAD risk.”

Fasting, which I once thought was crazy, seems to be an acceptable way for folks to lose fat and improve their health.

I recommend Brad Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat fasting program.

Wednesday

TT Hotel Room Advanced Workout B

Repeat the circuit 2 times the first time you try it.
In future workouts, you can repeat the circuit up to 5 times.

Bulgarian Split Squat – 15 reps per side
Decline Pushup – 20 reps ===>
Y’s & T’s – 10 reps each
1-Leg Squat – 10 reps per side
Spiderman Climb – 10 reps per side

Intervals – Jumping Jacks
30 seconds jumping jacks, 30 seconds recovery (very slow walking in place)
Repeat 6 times

Thursday
30 minutes of fun activity and then vote on…

The Turbulence Training Theme Song!

In the comments section below, please tell me what the Turbulence Training theme song should be (and tell me about your favorite workout tunes as well).

Whoever gives me the best suggestion for the Turbulence Training theme song will win a 1-year Platinum TT membership!

Looking forward to your rocking suggestions!

Friday

TT Hotel Room Advanced Workout C

Repeat the circuit 2 times the first time you try it.
In future workouts, you can repeat the circuit up to 3 times.

Running in Place – 20 seconds
Chops – 12 reps per side
Grasshopper Pushup – 8 reps per side (see video below)
Y-Squat – 15 reps
Mountain Climber – 12 reps per side
Bodyweight Squat – 30 reps
Diagonal Lunge – 12 reps per side
Squat Thrusts – 10 reps

Social Support Saturday!
30 minutes of activity, and then check out this site for motivation ideas…

www.Stickk.com

On that site, you’ll

1) Set your goal.
2) Set the stakes
3) Pick referee
4) And go!

Sunday – Plan, Shop & Prepare
30 minutes activity and then plan, shop, & prepare…

Here are my 5 fat loss nutrition rules to help you…

1) Have a big green salad everyday
My “Big Boy” salads consist of spinach, broccoli, peppers, mushrooms, onion, avocado, black beans and salsa, and I have a variation of that everyday – usually before or after I workout.

2) Have an apple per day
Red delicious or Granny Smith, I usually have my daily apple before noon…although often I’ll have a second one after my workout.

3) Drink lots of water and at least 1 cup of Green Tea
I probably drink over 3 liters of cold water per day, as well as at least 1 cup of Green Tea with breakfast.

4) Eat at least 10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.
This will help fill you up and it’s just plain healthy. You’ll feel amazing when you start eating a whole-foods nutrition plan.

5) Have at least 2 ounces of raw nuts per day.
On a given day, I’ll eat almonds, walnuts, almond butter, and even pecans, sunflower seeds, and peanut butter. Don’t be afraid of nuts, research shows they do NOT make you fat.

For more nutrition tips on eating more vegetables, get help from Kardena’s Kitchen here.

Next week!
Special gifts for men and women
New cardio & diet research

Stay strong,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

San Antonio is a great place. Riverwalk is good times, but I definitely would have ended up in the water a few times if I grew up here!

Last night our group of 28 folks rented two boats and had a Mexican feast as we toured the Riverwalk area (they even made me vegetarian quesadillas).

And this gave me another chance to talk to Holly Rigsby about her favorite bodyweight exercises. Here’s a little bodyweight exercise circuit workout she did in her hotel room on Thursday morning.

1) Y squats – 12 reps
2) Push ups – 10 reps
3) Prisoner Lunges – 10 reps per side
4) Mountain climbers – 15 reps per side

Rest as little as necessary between exercises and repeat the circuit 3 times.

Then she finished off with this cool little movement sequence of funny-looking exercises that worked her abs and flexibility.

But the good thing is, when you exercise at home – or in your hotel room – no one can see you. Here’s Holly’s Hotel Room Workout:

1) Inchworm (from standing position bend over to touch toes and walk out on hands until you are in the top of the push-up position). From that push-up position, move directly to…

2) Spiderman Climb – once on each side and then…

3) Reverse hand walk yourself back in to the stand up position (this will stretch the hamstrings)

4) Raise hands overhead

5) Step out to the side and widen arms to Y position

6) Do a Y squat

7) Step back in to complete the sequence.

Repeat this little circuit up to 6 times.

This complete workout should take less than 20 minutes and works your abs, flexibility, pushup strength, butt, and abs (double time!).

Inchworm
• This is a powerful stretch for your hamstrings, so go slow, and don’t round your back.
• Start in a modified push-up position, with your hands out in front of your shoulders.
• Keep your legs straight and walk your legs towards your hands.
• Go until you get a stretch, but don’t round your lower back.
• Once you get a stretch, walk your hands out until you are in a modified pushup.

Enjoy. And remember, you can do that anywhere, anytime because it requires NO-equipment.

Bodyweight exercises remain one of the most underused methods of changing your body. Everyone thinks its all about cardio and weights, but its not.

Thanks for that workout Holly!

Now here’s what I did this morning…

Slept in till 6:32am (7:32am EST) and then got up and hit the hotel gym, where I did 500 repetitions of hip mobility exercises, including:

- Step-overs

- Step-unders

- Leg swings

- Prisoner squats

- Prisoner lunges

Here’s a video of some of the exercises I did…

More great bodyweight workouts coming soon,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training Bodyweight Workouts

Interesting call this week…you’re about to discover the secrets to happiness, along with 3 new bodyweight exercise circuit workouts.

But first, let me tell you a little bit about my trip to the doctor…it was time for a regular check-up, and my results were good.

Click here to listen to this week’s fat loss podcast

Had some blood tests done this summer and it turns out my Vitamin B12 levels were good, my total and bad cholesterol levels were low, and my good HDL cholesterol was 55 mg/dl. That’s about 42% higher than the recommended level.

Plus, it turns out I’m an inch taller than I thought…for the last 16 years I told people I was 5′8″, but I’m actually 5′9″. So there you go…and 180 pounds.

Technically, I’m overweight according to the BMI measurement. Oh well…anyways, time for this week’s transformation tip of the week.

Monday, September 21st

Transformation Tip: “Be consistent with baby steps”.

Here are 5 transformation truths that explain that quote…

1) I’ve watched too many people do too much too fast, getting big results in a short amount of time, and then crash and burn and drop out of the process altogether.

2) The better approach is to build your life on one positive step at a time.

3) Don’t get me wrong, I love the 12-week Transformation Contests, but I want your transformation to last 12000 days, not just 12 weeks.

4) Everyday you should take baby steps to improvement. Today, just be a little better than yesterday.

5) It’s the small handfuls of food that can slow down your fat loss faster than anything…every day you must find ways to overcome the snacking habit.

Alright, now let’s move on to the…

Turbulence Training Mini-Bodyweight Circuits

Workout A
1) Chinup or Pushup (Max reps)
2) Prisoner Squat (25 reps)
3) Reverse Lunge (15 per side)

Optional Stability Ball Circuit (You can do this 2x’s per week)
1) Leg Curl (8-20 reps)
2) Jackknife (5-20 reps)
3) Back Extension (5-15 reps)
4) Rollout (5-15 reps)
5) Hip Extension (8-20 reps)
6) WYLIT (5-12 reps each)

You’ll be moving like an athlete after this one!

Tuesday

Get 30 minutes of fun activity, and then review your goals.

It’s essential to set goals and upon reaching them, reward your performance. But ONLY if you reach your goal.

Wednesday

Turbulence Training Mini-Bodyweight Circuits

Workout B
1) Underhand Bodyweight Row (Max reps)
2) Bulgarian Split Squat (15 per side)
3) Close-Grip Pushup (Max reps)

Your arms will get a good pump from that!

Thursday

30 minutes of fun activity…plus…

Remember, if you fall “off the wagon”, cut your losses and don’t worry about it. Get right back on track – immediately. It’s minor damage that can be dealt with. Sometimes the most important thing is to stay out of harms way. Rather than focusing on being a perfect eater and trying to diet, just make sure you don’t put yourself in any situations where you overdo it.

Friday

Turbulence Training Mini-Bodyweight Circuits

Workout C
1) Pullup or Overhand Bodyweight Row (Max reps)
2) Split Squat (15 per side)
3) Mountain Climber (15 reps per side)

Social Support Saturday

Get 30 minutes of fun activity that makes YOU happy…and then take a look at these 4 secrets to happiness…if you aren’t happy, can these help you change?

According to research reviewed by Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh, happiness is…

1. Having perceived control over your life…
2. Feeling that progress is being made…
3. Having relatedness/supportive connection to other people…
4. Having a vision/meaning (being part of something bigger)…

All of those can make you happier…and you know what, ALL of those can be achieved through participating in the Turbulence Training Transformation Contests and by being a fat loss success story.

Plan, Shop, and Prepare Sunday

Get 30 minutes of fun activity and then go shopping for foods that will help you create healthy afternoon snacks such as…

- Vegetables and hummus
- Banana and raw almonds
- Apple and raw almond butter

Let me know your favorite afternoon snacks.

Next week:

A return to the gym where I invented TT2K3 – the program hated by bodybuilders…

And more diet tips and videos.

Stay strong,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

PS – Oh, and I have more bodyweight exercises for you…

Only this stuff is “different”.

Click here for bodyweight exercises like you’ve never seen before.

Today’s post is going to be an interview with Rusty Moore of Fitness Black Book. In case you have never heard of Fitness Black Book, it is a site aimed at helping men and women achieve the slim Hollywood physique.

Rusty just finished a 56 page free report called the Vacation Body Blueprint which is an ebook on getting “event ready”…when you want to look exceptionally good for a vacation or special event.

Rusty advocates a mix of intervals and body weight training along with lifting weights to get a “complete” look. This past year Turbulence Training has been a big part of his personal workout as well as what he recommends to the readers of his site. In this interview I want to discuss with Rusty why training with weights alone isn’t the way to get a detailed physique.

CB: Rusty, there seems to be “two different types of good looking bodies”. You have folks that look good in the gym with the inflated muscles, and then folks that look good on the beach with tight torsos. What are your thoughts on how these are different and what type of workouts are required to look good on the beach?

Rusty:
The traditional “gym body” is one which displays a lot of mass and gets a big pump when working out. The way to accomplish this is to follow the typical mainstream fitness advice of doing multiple sets of 6-12 reps with a medium amount of rest. The goal is to push the muscles to failure (or past that point) and aim to break the target muscle down.

Each muscle is trained hard with a high volume of sets and total reps. The reason why bodybuilders need to do 3 day or 4 day splits is that they need a lot of time in between training body parts for full recovery. The mentality is to push each muscle as hard as possible, then get adequate rest and nutrition to rebuild that muscle. So it is based around blitzing and damaging a muscle and then allowing for adequate nutrition and recovery.

Contrast that with someone who aims to stay lean and trains for strength and performance. The men in the Navy Seals are a good example of this. They are strong and lift weights, but focusing on strength-to-weight ratio insures that they keep their body weight down.

Traditional strength and performance training is not based around blitzing a muscle with massive amounts of sets and reps and then resting…it is about perfecting a lift or movement multiple times per week.

Since the muscles in the body are going to be trained many times each week, workouts have to be brief and lower volume. Training to failure and doing forced reps is to be avoided. Again…think of elite military units…they are doing things like pushups and chinups several times per week. They can’t really afford to break the muscles down with too much volume of sets and reps done at any one time.

CB: You’re a big fan of my body weight workouts. Why do you choose to use that when trying to attain a a more balanced and natural look? You don’t feel you can get that with weights alone?

Rusty:
Using you own body as resistance is superior to lifting weights in a lot of ways. When doing body weight workouts, many muscles have to work in unison…so it exposes “weak links”.

In order to get stronger at a body weight lift, the weak link has to improve and get stronger. Because of this, someone who uses a lot of body weight work has less weak links, than someone who just lifts weights. I’ve seen a lot of guys who are impressive with weights, but with serious imbalances on their body. Body weight exercises almost insure that the body remains balanced and this creates a natural, and complete look.

Also…the most impressive physiques are people who maintain a high strength-to-weight ratio…and body weight training is the way to accomplish this. I think people can instinctively tell that a massive bodybuilder isn’t as agile and functionally fit as a person who has that slim elite “special forces” type of physique.

I like to use the analogy of a high end sports car -vs- a pickup truck. Which is more impressive, a Ford F250 Truck or a Porsche 911 Turbo? Both have similar amounts of horsepower, but the Porsche is more agile and “athletic”. The towing capacity of the Ford is like the guy who can bench a lot. It really depends upon what you are after, but I prefer the Porsche 911 Turbo.

CB: Interesting analogy. Going back to those folks that think they look good in the gym…a lot of them find out the hard way that they don’t look that good on the beach. Why is that?

Rusty:
So lets talk about the concept of the “beach body”. Surfers are a great example of men and women with outstanding beach bodies. The big reason for this is that it takes almost every muscle in their body to paddle to catch a wave and then stand up to ride that wave. None of their muscles work in isolation.

The result is balanced muscle development over the entire body…no particular muscle stands out from the rest. As long as they stay lean through following a good diet, they almost always look outstanding.

Here is a common problem with the traditional “gym body” approach…when training for the pump the muscles display “temporary” muscle tone. What happens is that when the muscles are pumped up, it masks the appearance of body fat to a certain extent (since the size of the muscles increase when pumped and the body fat remains the same).

The person is given a false sense of looking better than they actually do. They look great in the mirror in the gym, but once those muscles are deflated down to normal size, they look much less defined. Also, when someone follows a typical bodybuilder approach, their muscles tend to have a soft “puffy” appearance when not pumped up. Many of these men and women are in for a rude awakening a few days into a vacation or away from the gym.

One reason I’m a big fan of Turbulence Training workouts, especially the body weight circuits…is because they don’t blitz any particular muscle group. These workouts mimic what a surfer or member of an elite special forces unit would do to get in shape.

Also…training the muscles with compressed rest intervals boosts the metabolism and increases the HGH response…creating a balanced look to all of the muscles of the body, while helping the body burn body fat at the same time. Hard to beat that!

CB: I agree with that!

Rusty:
Thanks for the interview. If people want to find out how I incorporate Turbulence Training to get “event ready” they can download my free 56 page report. I even included a case study of two guys that I helped get as lean as Cam Gigandet…the guy from “Never Back Down”. Hopefully they will get a lot out of this Vacation Body Blueprint