May 2007 - Posts
I have a rule of thumb regarding fitness purchases. Live your goal, then invest. I try not to indulge in new equipment, fancy memberships or expensive supplements unless I first earn them with a proven track record of commitment. Once I am living my goal, then I can purchase upgrades, better tools and improved resources that will he me further my pursuits.
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Sit-Ups are the quintessential abdominal exercise. Doing a few sets in the morning or evening is fast and relatively painless :) Ab muscles heal quickly so you can work them almost every day or at the end of each prison workout. However, do not to rely on sit-ups alone. Keep your abdominal muscles guessing by including a mixture of crunches, reverse crunches and bicycle crunches as part of your ab routines.
Disclaimer: While ab exercises can help you build up your stomach muscles, they burn very little (if any) fat. Moreover, you will need to loose enough fat over your tummy region in order to see a washboard stomach or "six pack" effect. Doing will require eating a healthy diet and taking frequent aerobic exercise (such as walking, biking or swimming).
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Reverse chin-ups are optional (my opinion). Their supinated hand position does not allow for as wide a grip as standard chin-ups. A wider grip on standard chin-ups is better for widening the lats. I also do not care for the the extent to which reverse chin-ups involve the biceps. However, involving the biceps does seem to make the exercise easier so you may want to include some of these in your prison workout if you are unable to do more than a few chin-ups.
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Love these! Funny thing, my wrists can really hurt when I am typing and mousing but I can do wrist curls with no pain whatsoever. This is a must do exercise for any skill level, no matter what shape you are in. We can all use some extra strength in our wrists. One-arm wrist curls can be done anywhere with virtually any object so there is no excuse to not include them in your prison workout.
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My triceps respond really well to behind-the-back dips. This exercise never fails to get my arm muscles pumped. I usually do four or five sets to exhaustion. To include these in your prison workout all you need are two stable platforms of approximately equal height. (This exercise is sometimes referred to as Bench Dips or Reverse Push-Ups.)
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OK these are really just the standard abdominal crunches we have all seen or done (once upon a time) in gym class. I often use my couch instead of a bench, hence the name "couch crunches". If you want to include these in your prison workout (and your cell does not have a couch) rest your feet on the edge of your bed, a chair...almost any raised base. Or be hardcore and just hold your thighs vertical in the air!
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It is time for the second installment of Name That Riff. Home gamers play along by listening to this guitar solo and then naming the band. For bonus points name the song as well.
Hint: The singer of this band drove a cement truck before their 1986 debut album went multi platinum. They garnered critical acclaim for their melodic guitar riffs and bluesy vocals. In an age of hair metal, this band had a no frills presence. NO hairspray or fog machines. They were simply blue jeans and t-shirts, guitars and amps.
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I'll be honest, I rarely do these. I have difficulty getting a good pump. I prefer to do bent over rows with a barbell but they do not lend themselves as well to a prison workout. One-arm rows though cannot be ignored. By using one arm you can lift the weight higher and get a fuller range of motion and better contraction of your latissimus dorsi.
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I have been doing a lot of lateral raises lately. They are a great way to put a nice "cap" on my shoulders (or so I hope). They really isolate the middle deltoid. As part of your prison workout, you can do lateral arm raises with any two equally weighted objects.
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Chin-Ups (also known as "pull-ups" outside the gym) are another classic exercise. The wide-grip version especially uses a large portion of the back muscles. If you want to develop your lats, include chin-ups in your routine. Although they requires a bar I still think chin-ups qualify as a prison workout...because, well prisons have lots of bars :)
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I am really taking a liking to tennis and so I have been playing often this year. Recently my elbow had been hurting me after an hour of playing tennis. The grip is too small. I wanted something new. So after much online research and casual looking around, I went tennis racquet shopping with Lynda last Friday at All About Tennis. I settled on a Prince O3 Speedport Red.
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Squats are an excellent exercise for strengthening the front of the upper legs and tightening the buttocks muscles. There are quite a few variations of the squat. In the following video I am demonstrating how to do a "dumbbell squat".
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Push-Ups are the classic exercise. If I could do only one routine that would keep my chest, shoulders and arms in shape (and even help tone my stomach) it would be push-ups. Anyone can do them no matter strength or skill level. What is more, no special equipment needed. Is it any wonder that push-ups are an integral part of every prison workout...or any workout for that matter?
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This is my very favorite abdomen workout. Bicycle crunches have helped me start to define my six pack abs. I love doing bicycles. Try 'em as part of your prison workout or just do a few sets when you wake up in the morning to help build a strong, fit tummy.
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I invented Beam-Ups because I do not have a chin-up in my home. Someone else probably already thought of it but I like to think it qualifies as a classic exercise in and prison workout. In this video clip I am griping two sides of an I-Beam with my fingers. I won't lie, it hurt like heck the first few weeks I tried these.
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Stand with feet shoulder width apart. Lift one weight out and up in a wide arc to a height just above your forehead. Lower the weight back down while simultaneously starting to raise the other arm. The two weights should pass each other when your arm are parallel to the floor. Breathe in before you start and then exhale as you raise a weight. Inhale again when the weight is at the top of the arc. Use slow, precise movement to be sure the weights pass in front of your face and not off to the sides.
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The good news is doing the work, exercising our bodies, takes just minutes per day and requires little or no special equipment. Treadmills, rowing machines and fancy gym memberships are luxuries (and often hindrances) in any fitness routine. In my opinion if someone is serious about getting into shape then the effort needs to start at grass roots. And there is no more basic way to start shaping up than a good prison workout three times per week, combined with walking or some other aerobic exercise. It will build strength, tone muscle and burn fat.
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This evening I almost choked on my gin and tonic when I read that Roger Clemens announced he is coming out of retirement to pitch again. 44-year-old Roger has agreed to a one-year $28 million contract to pitch with the New York Yankees.
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Yahoo! Pulse today illustrates how clueless I am about who is beautiful and hot. I have only heard of two of these actresses±, and I know absolutely nothing about any of them.
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