Posts Tagged ‘Alwyn Cosgrove’
Here’s a quick interview that I just did with the creator of Bodyweight Bodybuilding - Zach Even-Esh
1) Why did you start doing bodyweight training ?
The BIGGEST changes came from recurring pains and injuries that I eventually couldn’t even work around anymore. I had to address those injuries, they were f**ing up my life and negatively affecting my family. I SERIOUS had flash backs of our earliest conversations when you were coaching me in business and you asked me what the value of my day is when I am with family or if someone wants to take me out for lunch to talk business.Your answer was, ‘There is NO price tag anyone can put on your time with family”, in essence, while I was gung-ho and you told me that I had to realize that the MOST valuable things in life are family and health.
It REALLY hit me when I started having trouble being able to do everything I wanted with my kids, due to my health. Without my health, everything else went to shit. It PISSED me off, and left me with a knot in my stomach.
The last injury that was the straw that broke the camel’s back was my shoulder. The shoulder was sooooo f**ed up it caused pain and injury to the pec and I couldn’t even do a push up without massive pain.
It’s amazing that NO matter what area in life you look at, pain and love are the 2 most powerful driving forces that will push people to take massive action. I was used to managing and dealing with aches and pains since I was 14 and started wrestling. We were taught to deal with it, head down, keep charging, no complaining.
But once it affected my family, I began aggressively seeking the help of a few of our close friends and colleagues to help me get better. I also had to to do what I do best, which is use myself as a guinea pig, so I began implementing my own experiments with regards to getting healthier and looking back I seriously wonder if this time in my life with all these injuries was a blessing in disguise.
Hells to the YEA! I always tell people, “lifting heavy objects MUST be in my DNA”. When I don’t go heavy it bothers me emotionally. This is why I created an added program inside of ‘Bodyweight Bodybuilding‘ called 5 x 5 + Bodyweight Bodybuilding. For me, it’s the program I “graduated” to after slightly over 3 months of strict Bodyweight Bodybuilding.I like starting with a heavy main lift then following up with predominantly bodyweight exercises, some of these bodyweight exercises might be loaded as well, using things like:
- weight vests
- ankle weights
- weight belt
- powerlifting chains
I don’t think bodyweight training should be limited to the typical methods where the focus is mainly endurance, conditioning and fat loss. I like using Bodyweight for strength, hypertrophy and speed work as well, just like the guys manipulate their barbell ex ercises at Westside Barbell, I wanted to do the same with Bodyweight.
Traditional cardio is old, boring and much less effective compared to using metabolic bodyweight circuits. I love adding sprints or aggressive, short distanced runs to these circuits. The running ALWAYS changes the game and I started using these many years ago when I trained wrestlers from my garage and the local playgrounds.For a metabolic workout we’ll use movements that involve the same movements from your New Rules of Lifting:
- squats
- lunges
- upper body push and pull
- rotational motions
We add sprints / runs / jumps to the mix as well which intensifies the workout. We go for prescribed time on each exercise, or prescribes reps, sets and / or a time frame.
Yep, check this one out, it’s what I call a Hybrid Bodyweight Bodybuilding workout where we blend strength, speed, muscle building and conditioning together.After a thorough warm up involving soft tissue work, you are ready:
1) Run 400 meter AFAP
2A) Handstand Push Ups (or holds) 4 x submax reps (1 – 2 reps in tank, last set = max reps)
2B) Mixed Grip Pull Ups 4 x submax reps (1 – 2 reps in tank, last set = max reps)
3) Bulgarian Split Squats x 20 each leg, 15 each, 10 each (advanced lifters would perform all 3 sets back to back, no rest)
4A) Squat Jumps 3 x 10
4B) Single Leg Glute Bridges 3 x 10 ea. leg
5) Run 400 meter AFAP OR finish with ab circuit
The above workout is challenging and can be modified as necessary for your ability.
If you’re a beginner you can reduce sets, advanced can use a suspension trainer for hamstring curls instead of bridges. Advanced lift ers can also perform the pull ups with added weight.
The variations are endless and I’m a BIG believer in using bodyweight to pack on muscle, NOT just for circuits or conditioning. It’s common for me and my athletes to perform our pull ups with added weight, or squats and lunges using weight vests, etc.
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5) Your gym is for athletes only. Can these methods be applied to athletes & have you tested them on your athletes?
Years ago, when I first began train Football players a light bulb went off. The majority of these guys were big AND strong. But they sucked at our warm up: squats, lunges, push ups, etc.
They could bench 315, squat 405 and trap DL 495….. easily. But their ability to maneuver their own body was horrible at best. They skipped the necessary commitment to bodyweight training and were injured on a regular basis.
I decided to FORCE these guys to spend their first 4 weeks without touching a barbell. It was all bodyweight with sleds, sledge hammers and medicine ball training mixed in.
It forced them to tighten up their nutrition and get rid of the fat that was doing NOTHING for them.
For our wrestlers and leaner athletes, we were able to take bodyweight training to a whole new level.
We used bodyweight training for speed and power, added resistance for strength and muscle building and perform density work with push + pull or upper + lower body exercises for strength & power endurance.
We know have athletes who weight over 200 lbs climbing ropes, performing handstand hold & push ups, able to jump, sprint and move like animals. I got rid of the excuses of “I’m too heavy” or “I’m too Big” and began focusing on the fact that we ALL need to be athletic and that means being committed and getting rid of excuses.
Once the mindset is taken care of the results are powerful. Most importantly, our athletes are MUCH healthier and better prepared to compete at a higher level rather than feeling beat up from an overabundance of heavy lifting.
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AC
PS – You can check out an entire bodyweight program Zach has written – HERE
Tags: This commercial gave me chills when it first came out. I now have a framed picture with this quote on it in my office…
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AC
PS – make sure you are keeping up with me on Facebook — > Alwyn Cosgrove Facebook Page
“What is Metabolic Resistance Training”
By Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS, CTT
What the heck are these metabolic resistance training workouts that everyone keeps talking about for fat loss? Well, you’ve probably heard the term because the internet is buzzing about this type of training for fat burning.
After all, gone are the days of slow cardio for weight loss. Heck, even interval training is starting to get passed over. All in favor of this specific type of workout called metabolic resistance training.
It’s really exciting though, to know that we can build muscle and lose fat at the same time, while getting lean and even having ripped six-pack abs thanks to these short, burst workouts. And you don’t need fancy, expensive equipment. Instead, you can focus on using bodyweight exercises, dumbbells, kettlebell exercises, or even TRX exercises.
Anytime you use supersets or circuits and train with an elevated heart rate and insufficient recovery. You are doing metabolic resistance training. But the metabolic resistance training used by Turbulence Training readers is different.
Thanks to a conversation I had with Alwyn Cosgrove, I’ve modified the heavy metabolic resistance training and also incorporated metabolic resistance conditioning using lighter resistance, and less rest.
In this new Turbulence Training metabolic resistance training workout program, you’ll get 4 workouts, broken down into these two components. Two workouts of heavy metabolic resistance training and two workouts of metabolic conditioning. The heavy workouts are done first, and are followed immediately the next day by the conditioning workouts.
I’ll be writing a lot more about metabolic resistance and conditioning workouts in the future to help you lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. That’s the beauty of the system; not only do the fast-paced, short burst workouts help you burn a ton of calories, but if your goal is muscle building, you can do that too.
Until then, get ready to use a few new exercises and a few training methods we haven’t used before to elevate ” in-workout and after-workout” calorie burning.
It’s all about working your metabolic systems for maximum calorie burning, while only permitting yourself to have incomplete recovery. These are the intense workouts you’ve been looking for. No more slow, boring, monotonous cardio workouts that take forever.
Those days are over.
So be prepared to hear a lot more about MRT and metabolic lifting and conditioning workouts. And again, you aren’t limited to machines or weights. You can do these workouts with almost any equipment, and even with bodyweight exercises only, as my bodyweight cardio circuits have proven.
You’ll have a total blast even doing these types of programs at the park with your TRX and kettlebells and bodyweight. You’ll be so much better off than being stuck in stuffy gym with machines. And make sure to watch my video to find out why MRT might even be better than traditional interval training.
Times are a-changing.
The entire fitness industry is going through a revolution where we move away from bodybuilder and cardio bunny workouts. And that’s a good thing. Doing less cardio and eliminating little isolation exercises, such as crunches, from your routines will help you get results fast.
Get started with the Turbulence Training Metabolic Resistance Training workouts here.
You now have a fun, four-day program that will get you ripped and
give you the body that you deserve.
Train hard but safe with new MRT workouts.
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
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AC
PS – you can take Craig’s newest Metabolic Resistance Training workouts for a test drive HERE
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AC
Ps – for another great motivational video click here
As promised here is the workout we did at the Long Beach Perform Better Summit
Here’s a breakdown of what we did with a small amount of equipment, a couple hundred attendees and a LOT of heart and effort:
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The entire workout took just over one hour to complete (including instruction time).
First exercise in place, the second exercise performed walking for 20m or so
5) split jacks x 10 paired with lateral lunge w/ cross behind step
(As many sets of 10 reps as possible in 2 minutes)
1: Lying glute bridge
2: Figure 4 hip extension
3: Mini band square walks (5 steps right, 5 steps forward, 5 left, and 5 back)
Core
Plank: 2 mins (alternating arm and leg support)
Side Plank: 60s (30s feet together, 15s top foot up, 15s bottom foot up)
Dynamic Core (in pairs)
As many sets of ten reps per person as possible in 2 minutes
Plank and pulldown
Side Plank and Row
Resistance Training
As many sets of ten reps as possible in 4 minutes
1: Sandbag rotational reverse lunge paired with rebound push up
2: KB swing, Goblet Squat and one point KB row
3: Trx Suspended lunge with knee drive paired with mountain climber-push up combination
Metabolic
and of course what has become a Perform Better tradition – the finisher!!!
Leg Matrix 24 reps
Seriously, these PB events are amazing. If you’re a fitness pro and you don’t take time to attend a PB summit, then I’m not sure you belong in our field.
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AC
PS – Special thanks to the Results Fitness team for helping me out at this event. Our entire training team were at PB this weekend. None of our supposed “competition” were there. The best fitness presenters in the World were in Long Beach and my team were learning from them — our ‘competition’ weren’t. There’s a reason why our team are the best there is …. and the gap is widening.
Isolated aerobic exercise and weight loss: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Thorogood et al
The average weight loss after 6 months was 1.6kg (3.5lbs) and after one year was 1.7kg (3.74lbs)
although it “may still be an effective weight loss therapy in conjunction with diets”
My take: It doesn’t work on it’s own, but it might work with diets? Huh? Nice way to be ambiguous….
These researchers found that aerobic exercise doesn’t work at all — the weight loss after six months to a year is less than 4lbs. I’d say that it still does
That takes us 2 weeks at Results Fitness.
