Lots of Fun in the sun for the next few weeks
So, I haven`t been posting nearly as often as I wanted to for the past couple weeks. Reason being I was finishing up a crazy round of finals at my university, but I`m also shipping out for Marine Corps Officer Candidate School tomorrow(May 21), so I`v been doing alot of prep work for that. So I`ll try to give out some cool tips on a few of my favorite exercise combos for quick workouts you can do during the summer.
1. Jump rope with Push and pull supersets. I lke doing 100-120 turns with the rope, then I immediately drop and do 25-50 push, then I go to the pullup bar and do a set of 5-10. Rest 30 sec and repeat for 3-5 sets. Full body workout in about 15 min.
2. 15min sprint workout. Go to a track/open space and sprint 60-100 meters 8-10 times with 1 min rest in between each sprint.
3. Short Pool workout. Go to your local pool/body of water, preferably one with laps that are 25 meters or less. Swim one full lap freestyle and do 10 dips on the edge of the pool. Then swim back doing breaststroke and do 10 dips on the side of the pool. These are to be done as fast as possible. try to get at least 5 lengths of each stroke. For an extra challenge try swimming without taking a breath for the entire length.
I`ll be back on July 4th, ready to whup it on and give you guys some cool fitness tips,USMC Bootcamp style:)
Semper Fi,
Charles
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A pretty good reason to shrink your waist size, don`t you think? Women are attracted to guys with slimmer, more defined abs. Bigger is definitely not better in this case
A common problem I see among men (and some women) is that they tend to have very thick and sometimes protruding waists. This is almost an epidemic among heavy powerlifters or prior athletes, especially football players. Often times the problem is not even that they have too much body fat, but that their midsections are simply so strong and muscular that they stick out. This can ruin your physique, and while useful in powerlifting, can cause muscle imbalances that will prevent you from performing activities in which you move your own bodyweight over distance(like basketball, soccer, or gymnastics).
What exercises to limit or avoid altogether to get rid of the “potbelly”
Right off the bat I need to mention squats and deadlifts. Now I`m definitely not against squats or sidebends despite the popular furor in many circles that they automatically create an ugly physique. I think that Deadlifts are awesome and will help you build insane Full body strength, great muscular coordination, and are simply fun to perform. Squats, I really don`t care for as much, but they definitely have their place in your routine. The problem I think is that people tend to get caught up in training specifically for these lifts, instead of using them sparingly as a tool to get in shape. If you`re obsessed with maxing our your deadlift or squat to insane levels, you either have awesome genetics so this won`t apply, or I`m betting your abs are way to bulky and your stomach sticks out. The key is to use these lifts in a limited fashion(ie. lift moderate to heavy 1-2 times per week and keep the volume very low), and focus the rest of your workout on cardio, cosmetic lifts, or specific sports training. Moderation is key.
Why you shouldn`t be doing weight ab exercises
Two exercises you need to stop doing right now are weighted sidebends, and weighted situps. We used to train these really hard in highschool for gymnastics, and I`m still trying to make up for the excessive hypertrophy and size in by abs. Now some people have the genetics that allow them to to whatever they want and maintain a perfect waist, but I`m betting that if you`re reading this that isn`t you. If you are having a problem with protruding abs, I will even go so far as to suggest that you drop all or most direct ab work at this point, particularly if you are an experienced lifter. Honestly, your abs need only a limited amount of direct work when you first start working out, and within a year or so should be developed enough that they will engage whenever you do any exercise or lift. I don`t do any isolated ab work at all and I can hold a perfect L, and do the Iron Cross on the Rings.
A “super secret” bodybuilding technique to shrink your waist
A cool trick that elite bodybuilders use to shrink the size of their waist is called the “stomach vaccum”. Basically you will try to make your abdominal muscles touch the back of your spine through muscle control. Yes, I`m telling you to suck in your gut, so those chubby dudes at the beach were actually on to something LOL:). This movement can take sometime to get used to, but once you have mastered it you can visibly and drastically reduce the size and appearance of your waist and abs. This is a great exercise since it can be done almost anywhere and at any time (Just not after a big meal, trust me). After a while, your abs will be “trained” to rest in this partially contracted state which will give a slimmer and more proportianal look to your waistline.
Patience and persistance are important
This technique is incredibly effective for shrinking your waistline, but it does take time to get used to. How long exactly is entirely up to you. If you only do this for a few minutes a couple times a week, then expect very slow going and minimal results. Practice every constantly and consistently, and you can see results within weeks or even days!
Posted in 6 pack abs Fitness tips by .
One of the actors from the HBO TV series "Generation Kill", which is about a Force Recon Marine Platoon in Iraq. All the actors trained like real Marines and got in outstanding shape.
I`d like to share a cool conditioning workout that I came up with a few months ago in order to get stronger and better conditioned in a short period of time. It incorporates the concept of “Ladders” found in Pavel Tstatsouline`s book “Power to the People”. In this book Pavel shares the training secrets of the Soviet commandos and athletes he used to train with that allowed the Russians to dominate other countries in the Olympics. This is really popular in the Marines and SEALS, and we use this type of training to get really high pure strength and strength endurance levels while still keeping up our long distance running.
What are ladders?
Basically you will pick an exercise and start at the “bottom” of the ladder doing anywhere from 1-5 reps. You will rest the same number of seconds as reps per set. So if I start doing 2 pushups, I would rest 2 seconds, do 4 pushups, rest 4 seconds etc until I reached a specified number. You want to try to do as many reps as possible without going to failure. This is different from a pyramid set in that you stop at the top of ladder in this workout, but I a pyramid set you will go up AND down. This is great for building muscle, but not for strength or muscle definition. Ladders are an excellent tool that can be applied to almost any workout plan. I absolutely love them.
My “Special Forces” workout Finisher
You will need access to a pull-up bar. You will be doing 3 “ladder supersets” of push-ups and pull-ups. This means you will complete one push-up ladder and then immediately transition to pull-ups without rest. After this “superset” (performing 2 exercises back to back), you will take 30-60 sec rest and then repeat at least 2 more times. Focus on getting perfect reps at a medium pace and stop before you feel like you can`t do anymore. If I`m getting guys ready for the Marines or SEALS we will do the pushup ladders from 2 reps to 14 reps going up by 2 reps at a time, and we do pull-ups from 1 rep to 7 reps going up by 1 rep at a time, and repeat this cycle 4 times. We do this as a badass finisher to a long ruck march or run pretty regularly and a lot of guys can max out at least 100 push-ups and 20 pull-ups for our PT tests.
Marine Corps conditioning combined with strength training= hard body
Why this type of training builds a hard and “compact” physique
I love this workout because it combines a few key training principles into a single session. The ladder principle builds strength, stamina, and conditioning since a high volume of reps is accumulated in a short period of time, but your muscles don`t get “pumped” because of the rest periods. By super setting pushing with pulling exercises I took advantage of making opposing muscle groups help each other out. Basically alternating pushing with pulling gives each muscle group a rest while at the same time telling the central nervous system to start connecting the neurons that fire the individual muscle fibers. Essentially doing pull-ups will start to help doing pull-ups and vice versa. Pretty cool! The more you compress the time frame of the workout, the more you will release fat burning hormones to make it a conditioning workout as well.
How I used this training method to double my regular pull-ups and master the One arm Pull-up
After doing this workout for the past 6 months I`ve increased my pull-up max from 20 to 40 reps, and pushups from 100 to 135 in 2 min. I also think it helped me to achieve one arm pull-ups, which I just mastered about a week ago(and which I`ll do a post on soon!). Doing this type of high volume, low rep training with perfect form has similar effects to a power-lifting cycle. In fact, a ladder workout is basically an entire power lifting cycle compressed into a few minutes! The really cool thing is that I never feel sore any more from doing burnout sets, but my strength and conditioning level is still improving.
Posted in Strength Training special forces by .
Apr 10
19
How to get abs like David Beckham
David Beckham is a great example of a slim but attractive physique. If you naturally have this type of body clothes will tend to fit you alot better than heavier/more muscular guys. This type of build is really popular with the ladies too
Bend it like Beckham for sexy and functional abs
Have you ever noticed how elite soccer players tend to have incredibly defined torsos, as well as overall low bodyfat? The secret is that they are essentially doing a marathon interval workout. Soccer players are constantly moving around the field alternating between short sprints and a steady jog, and they are doing this consistently for 90 minutes! Soccer players display incredibly low bodyfat because of this crazy amount of intense cardio. They also aren`t big and bulky and the ladies love them. Guys take note; train for an athletic build with outstanding muscle definition to impress the girls:)
Why isolated ab exercises are ineffective by themselves
Simply doing targeted ab work will build “fake” abs that will look ok, but won`t display the same amount of definition and definitely won`t be as functional as the real McCoy. It is definitely noticeable when a guy(or girl) who has built his midsection doing only gym work shows up. Endless amounts of crunches and sidebends will simply build a blocky and unattractive midsection that will fail you as soon as you try to do something at a medium to high athletic level.
Girls like "Posh Spice" are attracted to guys with slim and functional physiques. I was pretty young when the Spice girls were popular but I do remember that my sisters were totally obsessed with them LOL.
Combine targeted ab exercises with strategic cardio for maximum results
Now I`m not saying you should go out right now and join a soccer team(although that`s definitely feasible:0).Instead I would mix in isolated ab work like planks and crunches with sprints and steady state cardio(jogging). By combining the two you will get evenly developed abs that display awesome muscle definition, particularly in the obliques(the muscles on either side of the “6 pack”).
Perform lateral movements for “Abdomination”:)
Athletes need to be able to move in all directions quickly, not just forward and backward. If you only train in this plane of movement, you will develop muscle imbalances that will make you more prone to injury as well as make your torso less attractive. Examples of lateral movements are sideways shuffles/sprints, zig-zag sprints(think running away froma crocodile LOL), and weaving drills(sprinting in and out of cones a`la driver`s ed). These movements will help force your ab muscles to start working as a team rather than in isolated segments, and the increased oblique development will “frame” your 6 pack.
Posted in 6 pack abs Perfect Abs by .
Rudy Reyes is a great example of the ideal physique. He was a Force Recon Marine and veteran of the Iraq war. Now he is a personal trainer and is starting a new career as an actor. He is definately an awesome role model, and I`ll be doing a separate post on him in the future
In my experience a lot of people think that you have to spend hours in the weight room doing burnout sets to failure in order to get stronger. While this can work over a short period of time, you will plateau very fast and in my opinion create a physique that is incapable of performing any kind of athletic activity at a high level. This is something that I see a lot of people messing up in the gym. I repeatedly hear young guys discussing how they`ve hit a plateau in their lifts and they decide to try to simply increase the number of sets/reps, total volume, or simply keep doing the same old thing, hoping that they`ll magically get stronger. This is a HUGE mistake, especially if you don`t want to get bigger/more muscular.
Reduce your sets and reps to increase strength and muscle tone
To get really strong you need to lift the heaviest weights you can manage with perfect form, for very few reps. I recommend 3-5 reps. 1-3 reps for pure strength, 5 reps for a little muscle as well. A good rule of thumb is to get out of the gym feeling stronger than when you came in. If you feel fatigued or sore, you did too much. I like keeping the total number of sets under 14 total. Keep rest between sets to about 1-2 minutes. I know it sounds crazy but trust me, you will bust through your current plateau and build strength steadily like this. This is an awesome way to gain strength without size for a lean Special Forces body.
Why more is NOT always better
Most people think that simply doing more work= better results, and I was definitely stuck in that category until a couple of years ago. Basically, increasing the total number of sets, or just trying to do more work will mean that you`ll build strength endurance and muscle mass, but you`re pure strength gains will stagnate quickly. Remember those muscle bound dudes in high-school and college with “inflata-lats” and ridiculous cut-off t-shirts who seemed to subsist on a diet of protein shakes and chicken breasts (Think like half the cast of “Jersey Shore” lol)? This is the look you will create with high volume lifting and it is simply not functional or attractive. If you combine this lifting method with a high carb, high calorie diet and you`re just asking for a puffy and bloated look.
Train like a Recon Marine to get a Hollywood body
This is a really popular method of lifting in military units that have to be ready to go at a moment`s notice. They can`t afford to be tired or sore from a 2 hour lifting session, but they still need to be really strong and conditioned. Recon Marines and Navy SEALS are 2 Special Forces units that are a great example of the body type and level of conditioning this training produces. They are generally of average size, but with outstanding muscle tone and strength-to-bodyweight ratio. I`ve been training like this for about 3 years now, and I have nearly doubled my strength levels. I used to have trouble lifting 50lb dumbbells for a single armed row, and now I can easily pull a hundred with each arm at a bodyweight of 160lbs. Whenever I start to train guys for the military the first thing we do is limit our time in the weight room as much as possible. After a few weeks you will feel like a badass lifting heavier weights than half the people around you and then leaving while everyone else is still slogging through their burnout sets.
Posted in Fitness tips Strength Training by .
The Warrior Diet: fatloss for busy people.
In today`s society, most of us lead extraordinarily busy and hectic lives, so the idea of trying to remember what to eat or not eat at exactly what time is a prospect that often turns off people to dieting. I am definitely in the same boat, with classes at odd times during the school year, and a full and part time job on my breaks so I hate having to worry about what my next meal is going to be.
Enter the Warrior diet!
The basic premise of this diet is that you only eat one big meal per day and nothing else, except maybe a piece of fruit in the morning. This is an incredibly flexible diet that almost anyone can fit into their schedule. Most people end up eating their large meal at either lunch or dinner, but you can eat whenever you want to. I love eating like this during especially busy days since I actually feel more energetic during the day without food in my stomach, and then I`m ready for a big meal
Don`t worry about your metabolism slowing down
I think many people tend to get caught up in the idea of eating multiple meals per day as “healthy”. This is a mainstream media and bodybuilding myth perpetuated by supplement companies who want nothing more than you eating protein shakes and popping pills six times a day. Now I`m not saying that eating 6 meals per day is not effective, I just think most people tend to eat too much at these smaller meals, and it requires a lot of discipline and planning to be effective. If anything, your body will go into overdrive to maintain your lean body mass, while living off of your fat stores during the period you aren`t eating. You lose more fat, your body works better: a win-win situation!
Elite military units do it: You can too
A good example is the US Army Ranger School. These guys are forced to go days at a time eating little to nothing, then come back and essentially “make up” their calorie deficit. Now I admit this isn`t the greatest example since they actually lose muscle mass during their training, but that is because they aren`t doing any heavy resistance training (i.e. weights), and they are in an extreme survival scenario eating foods with low protein and vitamin content. You and I don`t have that problem, so don`t worry about it.
Why eating all your calories in one meal is actually healthy
Think about it. Our caveman ancestors almost certainly didn`t have access to food 24/7, eating snacks every couple of hours “To keep their metabolism up”. I really don`t think it`s healthy to have food constantly in your stomach. If your gut, liver and stomach are constantly working to process food, when are they going to rest? It seems very natural to have one big meal after a period of fasting. Now I wouldn`t recommend eating like this every single day, but maybe 3-5 times a week is definitely doable.
A caveat before you try this
Be careful not to overeat while on the Warrior diet. Eating all your calories in one meal can be a lot of fun and you can be a little less strict on the types of foods you eat. However, I would definitely try to fill up on veggies and lean meats as the base of the meal first, and then move on to starches or high carb foods like bread or potatoes. This will help you keep calories in check and insure you get an adequate amount of protein.
Hi there,
So for my first real post I`d like to talk about the benefits of dieting down extra hard for specific goals. In the military this would be for PT tests and certain competitive events. For everyone else dieting down strategically is a great way to look your best for a party, vacation, wedding etc.
Now the whole point of this blog is to bring you as much real info free of hype as possible, so I`ll keep it simple. In reality there are many diets which will work. The basic premise of dieting for fatloss is simply to eat less than you are now. Do that and you`ll lose weight, period. Obviously there are many other factors that go into just how much weight and how fast you lose it but always remember the basics of eating less.
I`ve used a few different types of dieting methods before including the typical 6 meal per day athletic diet, the Warrior diet, and IF(Intermittent Fasting). If you don`t know what those are don`t worry, I`ll be covering each in detail in future posts. Each works well, but you must remember that the specific diet you choose must be catered to your lifestyle and needs.
Lately I`ve really come to enjoy Intermittent fasting which essentially involves not eating for about 24 hours at a time. Obviously this isn`t for everyone, so I`m not going to say that it is the only way to lose fat. What works for you might not work for me, the important thing is that we are both following the same principle of eating less.
Ok, so the benefits of eating less. Well the first is obviously better health. I feel much more athletic and healthy during and after a period of dieting down than my usual eating habits. Now I`m not saying you should go on a hardcore 800 cal diet all the time, but it can definately help your body detox and get back into good working order, like an oil change for cars:) Another benefit is lower body fat which also means increased muscle definition, something that is very desirable in today`s society. I try to keep a fairly low bodyfat level year round(about8-12%), but I can diet down to about 4-6% for special occasions. You`ll want to limit the time spent at extremely low bodyfat levels, since health problems can occur below 6% bodyfat for extended periods of time.
Finally, how are you going to decide how many calories you need to lose weight. A basic formula is to take your target weight and multiply it by 10, and you get your daily calories. It`s simple but effective and gives you a rogh estimate of what you need to cut out to reach your ideal weight. Now start dieting!
Posted in Diet Fatloss Fitness tips by .
Apr 10
2
Welcome to EnduringHealthManual!
Hi,
My name is Charles Malina and I`ve started Enduringhealthmanual.com to help you achieve and exceed your health and fitness goals. I`m just a regular college student who happens to be laser focused on getting and maintaining ideal health, fitness, and longevity, and now I want to share my ideas and findings with you. I`ve helped several individuals in the civilian and military worlds achieve their physical and aesthetic goals, including varsity athletes and prospective infantry and special warfare officers. Recently I`ve had enough requests for me to provide personalized training and diet plans that I decided to start this website so anyone can access the information I`ve accumulated.
This site is focused on combining diet and fitness tips that mainstream actors and models use to achieve great looking bodies with training methods and secrets used by elite athletes and military units. Essentially I want to help you achieve the ideal body; perfectly functional and capable of extreme power output and endurance, but at the same time aesthetically pleasing and attractive to the opposite sex.
All the best,
Charles Malina
Picture of me on vacation summer 2009 just to show I practice what I preach. I have fairly average genetics, but I am able to get into outstanding shape and can reach very low bodyfat levels using advanced training and diet techniques.
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