Build your Thighs into Super Quads

4 Ways to Super Quads

How do you think Superman is able to leap small building in a single bound or run faster than a speeding bullet He has Super quads! Growing up I was blessed with big quads. I guess it was all that running around, jumping, squatting, etc. that I did as a little boy.

But as you get older you must make sure that you hit the legs at least once a week. Leg day can be brutal because of the degree of muscle involved and this following workout is no different. We are going for a full leg blast baby, starting by pounding the quads with these 4 super-gems.

1. Squats
I like to start with this exercise. Load on the bar and hit this for 4 sets of heavy strict movement. I like to get nice and low when I perform this. I am practically sitting on the floor and then BLAST OFF! Do 4 sets of 8- 15 reps. If you really want to blow up those quads, do a set of jump squats with 45 lbs per side.

2. Lunges
Now as much as guys think this is a girly move, on the contrary my good men. These are key to great leg and glutes construction. I like to hold heavy dumbbells and will either walk back and forth in the aerobic studio or just squat in place. Do 3 sets of 10 reps per leg, or walk back and forth 3 times in your aerobic studio.

3. Leg Press
I like to use heavy weight with this exercise, especially after the first 2 sets. I have witnessed some incredible leg press feats in my day; 10 and 11 plates a side. You know who you are…simply amazing. I will do 3 sets of 10 reps with weight that I can barely get to 10 with.

4. Leg Extensions
This is my favourite leg exercise. I love to watch the teardrops in the thigh working during every lift. I consciously squeeze and hold the quad muscles at the top and slowly lower to the starting positions – don’t just drop the weight. Perform 3 sets of 10 reps.

Ensure you add an exercise for the hammies and calves and your legs will be Super-Set. If you are not ready to puke after this workout, then you need to pile on the weight. Good Luck and UP, UP and AWAY!

Funk Roberts
Don’t Rush the Beat!

Want A Home Gym? Here Are 5 Essential Equipment

Funk’s 5 Key Equipment to a Great Home Gym

We all would like to lose weight and get in shape with a minimal effort. That's how the fitness infomercial makes billions per year, promising miraculous results without breaking a sweat. If you are not fooled by their claims then you know you have to work at getting in shape and losing unwanted pounds. So where do you go for a challenging workout? Not everyone has the time, ability or money to get to the gym. That leaves us with another option: working out at home.

The major advantage of a home gym is convenience. And it is convenience that can result in a more focused exercise regimen. Home gyms are growing in popularity. Think by working at home you will save time wasted driving to the health club, waiting in line to use equipment and costly membership fees. If you decide that working out at home makes the most sense, the first consideration will be the location. Than these Five exercise equipment are key to have, for a functional home gym.

1. Free Weight - Dumbbells
Dumbbells are essential for a home gym. I’m not talking about racks upon racks like you see at your local gym, but a few weight denominations in your house and you’ll be surprised at how many quality exercises you can do.

Free weight exercise is a low tech, economical option for strength training and muscle toning. It takes proper technique and co-ordination to handle free weights properly. This makes for a more challenging workout. Proper instruction is highly recommended as improper technique can lead to injury. One of the best ways to lose weight is to build calorie-burning muscles. Free weights exercise routines add more variety. It is a good idea to change the routines regularly. Start with at least 4 or 5 pairs of dumbbells ranging in weight from 2.5 to 45 pounds. Purchase them in 5 to 10 pound increments.

2. Resistance Bands/Tubing
What I liked about the resistance bands is that they have handles – having been around for a while; okay I’m just about 40, the old style ‘bands’ didn’t have handles. This makes them so much easier and efficient to use and you can do more different types of exercises with them.

There are usually three to four levels to choose from so you can use whichever resistance/intensity is right for you. They are made from latex with soft foam handles making it easy to hold on to them, and they all tend to be about 4ft/122cm long. You can find exercises for your entire body with these and there also great if you are travelling.

3. Swiss Balls
The Swiss Ball, Exercise Ball, Stability Ball, Yoga Ball, whatever you call it is a really excellent piece of equipment for home. It’s inexpensive and you can do lots of great exercises on them. The thing about Swiss style exercise balls is that they are unstable. Sit on one, especially for the first time, and you’ll wobble like a jelly. That’s why exercise balls are so effective when it comes to core strength.

Your body responds naturally and automatically to this instability, working to keep you from falling off. With regular Swiss ball exercise, back and abdominal muscles used to keep you balanced become stronger.
Oh and by the way, the reason it is called a Swiss Ball is that it originated from Switzerland in the 1960s and therapists used it for physical rehabilitation.


4. Skipping Rope
Skipping is no longer confined to the school playground. Boxers use skipping as training before a fight and it is now incorporated into many gym classes. An excellent way to keep fit; skipping can be done anywhere, anytime.

Skipping will help improve cardio-respiratory (heart and lungs) fitness, flexibility and co-ordination. As a high-impact exercise skipping is great for building bones and a good exercise to trim hips, thighs and backsides!


5. Kettlebell
The kettlebell is a cast iron weight looking somewhat like a cannonball with a handle. The kettlebell has become a popular exercise tool due largely to the efforts of strength and flexibility coach. Kettlebell workouts are intended to increase strength, endurance agility and balance, challenging both the muscular and cardio vascular with dynamic, total-body movements.

Arm yourself with these 5 home exercise equipment and with hard work you will reap the benefits of the body and health you are looking to achieve.

Funk Roberts
Don’t Rush the Beat!

Estella's Kettlebell Move of the Week

This is the perfect move for toning the butt and developing muscle strength in the legs.

Works: legs, quads, hamstrings, calves, hips, glutes (butt)

Instructions: Standing with feet hip width apart, holding the kettlebell with a bell grip, lift the kettlebell straight above your head. Step forward with one leg. Keeping the weight in your front heel and back straight, lower your body until both knees are 90 degrees to the ground. Make sure your front knee does not go past your toes. Return to starting position and repeat for other leg.

The further you step, the more you work the glutes.

The closer you step, the more you work the quads.

Perform 40 reps, alternating legs.

Posted by Estella Hom

http://estellahom.blogspot.com/

Check out more great information at http://estellahom.blogspot.com/

Funk's Fitness Tip of the Week

Overtraining results from long workouts with too many exercises and repetitions, not from short, intense training sessions. In general, to maximize your weight workouts in the gym, train 1 to 2 bodyparts per session with 9-12 sets per bodypart. Your weight workout should take no longer than 45 minutes.

Funk Roberts
Don’t Rush the Beat!

Melt Those Love Handles

Melt those love handles with Kettlebell Expert Estella Hom

Funk's Fitness Tip of the Week

You don’t have to change your workout every week to keep the body guessing. Do supersets and drop sets, change workout speed, vary rest times and use different apparatus for the same exercise. Such variations help to extend the effectiveness of a workout before you change it.

Stay tuned for the downloadable 8 Week Men and Women workout, diet, cardio and supplement program coming in December 2007

Funk Roberts
Don’t Rush the Beat!

The Ultimate Kettlebell Workout DVD Preview

Funk Roberts
Don't Rush the Beat!

3 Tips To Boost Exercise In The Office

Three Tips to Boost Exercise in the Office

As a career person, finding time to exercise can be a real challenge. After a long day at the office, fighting the primetime gym crowd is usually the last thing you feel like doing. But sitting at a desk all day isn’t exactly good for you health either. Making an effort to stay active is important. Taking small steps to increase your exercise level at work goes a long way. Here are 3 simple ways to get started.

1. Dress Down

You wouldn’t think it, but the type of clothing you wear to work can directly affect your daily physical activity on the job. An ACE-sponsored study used pedometres to track the exercise levels of 53 healthy men and women from 25 companies during regular workdays and “casual” days, and found an eight percent increase in physical activity and an extra 25 calories burned on days when they were permitted to wear jeans and comfortable shoes as opposed to traditional office attire.
This might not seem like much, but wearing casual clothing every workday would translate into burning an additional 125 calories per week - the equivalent of almost two pounds of fat over the course of the year. So when you get a chance, talk to your boss about changing the dress code.

2. Exercise on Your Lunch Break

Rather than spending the majority of your lunch hour waiting in line for food, pack a lunch and use your lunch break to squeeze in some exercise. Eat quickly in the office or outside, then head to the gym for a workout or simply go for a walk. Make it a team event and encourage your co-workers to join you, so you can still engage in that necessary work-related conversations that typically occupies your midday meetings. If nothing else you’ll save money and probably eat healthier by preparing and bringing your own lunch, so you might as well give it a shot.

3. Be Aware

Whenever you are forced to plant yourself behind a desk, stay conscious of things like posture. Try to sit up tall as much as possible, keeping your abs contracted and your shoulders pulled back. If you feel yourself slouching, get up and stretch for a minute or two, or take a walk around the office. If you’re really ambitious, do some wall squats, lunges and a few push ups at your desk, and then back to work. The more you do during the workday, the less time you’ll need to spend training after hours at the gym – and the better you’ll feel about going to work.

Funk Roberts -Don't Rush the Beat!

Kettlebell Move of the Week

As you may or may not know...I LOVE MY KETTLEBELL! I suggest that you should get one and learn to love it too. The ballistic movements allow you to use so many muscles with each exercise and in turn you to gain strength, muscle and burn fat.

Each week Estella Hom will take us through different kettlebell exercises for those of us who are lucky to have them or a gym that stocks them. You can also get more fitness and general information at Estella's great blog - http://estellahom.blogspot.com/

The classic push up gets reworked. This move will work your upper body and challenge your balance.

Strengthens:chest, shoulders, triceps

Instructions: Placing your hands on the handle of your kettlebell, keeping arms straight, elbows unlocked. Straighten your legs behind you, keeping your feet together so that your toes are touching the ground. Your body should form a straight line. Make sure your head is facing down. Without moving your head, slowly lower yourself to the kettlebell. Pause, then slowly push yourself back up and repeat for as many repetitions as possible

* For added challenge, perform this move slow, focusing on good form. The slower you move, the more effort you'll place on the muscles you're looking to strengthen and shape.

Estella Hom

http://estellahom.blogspot.com/

http://www.estellahom.com/

Funk's Fitness Tip of the Week

When determining the order of bodyparts in a workout schedule throughout the week, always do legs before back. Have you ever tried to squat with a sore back? Impossible.

Funk Roberts
Don't Rush the Beat!

Estella's Amazing Body Transformation

This is Estella Hom. We met at Sgt Shanahan's Bootcamp where she has been coming since July and has become one of our senior trainees. She is a huge inspiration to me. I love to see people transform their bodies and lifestyles with hard work and dedication. You will read that this was not done overnight - there was No Rushing the Beat here. And look at the results...

Estella will be contributing to the Funk Roberts Fitness Blog and Newsletter on an on-going basis. You can also check out her blog for great fitness, diet tips and inspiration - http://estellahom.blogspot.com/

Here is her story as told by Estella.

I used to be fat. After 4 years of university and having spent endless, soul-sucking hours in front of a computer, combined with poor eating habits, I earned my Bachelor of Design Degree...and gained 20lbs in the process. Definitely not your ideal combination.

That before picture was me back in September 2004 at 175lbs, size 12-13 and probably 25% body fat - YIKES! I knew I had to make a change and so began the journey. I joined a gym, hired a personal trainer, who i trained with for about a year and lost 10lbs. Most of my workouts consisted of using weight machines in the gym and not much cardio. Then i met Ryan Shanahan, creator of the Energy Flow Workout and trainer to the stars. He gave me one of my first major design gigs, became my new trainer, and we've been working out ever since. With innovative, forward thinking workout moves involving exercise balls, kettlebells, resistance bands, and body weight (plyometrics), his workouts are fun, challenging and guaranteed to burn the fat and keep it off. I lost 30lbs, gained muscle tone, have reached elite athlete status and feel like I'm in the best shape of my life!

Today i weighed in, got my measurements taken and was amazed by the results.

weight: 140lbs (from 135lbs) - gained 5 lbs
arms: 10.8" (from 10.5") - gained muscle here *woohoo!*
legs: 20.5" (from 21.5) - yay, smaller thighs!

The most surprising change was that my body fat went from 14% to 11.5%!

Next goals:1. ripped abs
2. smaller thighs - 18"
3. 10% body fat

All to be done by AUGUST 1st.

How am i going to achieve this feat? I'm going to continue doing my usual cardio & resistance training routine, go to Sgt Shanahan's Boot Camp and make some changes with my eating.

Watch for updates on healthy meal ideas and progress reports...

Healthy Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner

Herb-Rubbed Turkey With Roasted-Garlic Gravy

With this being Canadian Thanksgiving I thought I would share with you, a great, healthy turkey dinner that I will be preparing on Sunday. Now contrary to popular opinion, Thanksgiving turkey, when not butter-basted, can be a healthful centerpiece to the meal. It's a superb source of lean protein, B vitamins, magnesium, and potassium. To add flavor without adding fat, this recipe uses a garlic-herb rub and a small amount of grapeseed oil, which raises good cholesterol. Another calorie-saving trick: In the gravy, roasted garlic replaces most of the fat from the drippings.



Servings: Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Turkey
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/2 cup fresh sage leaves
1/2 cup fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 cup fresh thyme leaves
22 medium garlic cloves (about 3 heads)
1 (10- to 12-pound) turkey, preferably organic or free-range
1 large or 2 medium onions, sliced into thin rings
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon grapeseed oil

Roasted-garlic gravy
1 head garlic, end cut off, brushed with olive oil and wrapped in aluminum foil
3 1/2 cups (28 ounces) low-sodium chicken broth, preferably organic
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

One day ahead:
Process herbs and garlic in food processor until finely minced. Set aside.

Rinse turkey inside and out with cold water; pat dry with paper towels. Trim excess fat. Place turkey in large nonreactive bowl. Starting at neck cavity, loosen skin from breast and drumsticks by gently inserting fingers between skin and meat. Sprinkle kosher salt and pepper under and over skin. Then spread garlic-herb rub under skin and gently press skin to adhere. Lift wing tips up and over back; tuck into turkey. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.

To roast:
Let turkey stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving. Set oven rack at lowest position and preheat oven to 350°F. Spread sliced onions on bottom of heavy-bottomed roasting pan and place fitted rack over top. (Or place the turkey directly on bed of onions. They will prevent sticking and flavor drippings.) Brush turkey with grapeseed oil and carefully transfer to rack. Brush one side of double-folded sheet of aluminum foil with grapeseed oil and tent, greased side down, over turkey breast. Place turkey in oven so legs face back of oven and bird, breast side up, faces door. Place wrapped garlic on oven rack.

Roast 45 minutes, Remove garlic from oven. Remove foil from turkey and turn pan around. Roast until thermometer inserted in thickest part of thigh registers 170°F and juices run clear when thigh is pierced with fork (see note below), about 1 hour 15 minutes. Transfer turkey to platter and reserve pan drippings. Let turkey stand 20 minutes before carving.

Prepare gravy while turkey rests:
Pour drippings into 4-cup glass measure, and skim off fat that rises to surface, reserving 1 tablespoon fat (see tip below). Add enough broth to drippings to measure 3 cups.

Separate roasted garlic cloves. Squeeze pulp into small bowl and mash well with fork. In medium saucepan over medium heat, heat reserved fat. Add garlic and flour, and cook, whisking constantly, until lightly browned, about 30 seconds. Gradually whisk in broth mixture. Bring to boil over high heat, whisking constantly, and remove from heat. Carve turkey and serve with gravy.

NOTE:
To gauge turkey doneness, an instant thermometer should be inserted into the thickest part of the thigh. Cooking experts believe that the bird can safely be removed from the oven at 170°F, because the internal temperature will rise an additional 10 degrees as the turkey rests.

TIP:
To easily separate fat from pan drippings, place zip-top plastic bag inside 4-cup glass measure. Let drippings cool slightly, so they will not melt bag, pour in, and let stand 10 minutes (fat will rise to top). Seal bag and carefully snip off one bottom corner. Drain drippings into measuring cup, stopping before fat reaches opening.

I hope all of you have a healthy and safe Thanksgiving, from Funk Roberts and Family.

Thanks to Epicurious for this great recipe
Funk Roberts
Don't Rush the Beat!

Funk Roberts Fitness Tip of the Week

Tip of the Week

Between sets flex and stretch muscles you're working (if you not supersetting) to gain additional hardness and separation. Stretch afterward to clear the muscle of lactic acid.

Funk Roberts

Don't Rush the Beat!

Supplement Source - WICKED WEDNESDAY

Check out great discounts at Supplement Source - http://www.supplementsource.ca

Bicep Curl Blahs? Get Results - With Kettlebells

Kettlebells 101

Kettlebells are a weighted cannon ball with a handle that delivers an all in one strength and cardio workout. Kettlebells work the entire body with each movement. Exercise converts use them as the latest fitness tool to achieve the core, functional strength and fat burning that has eluded them in other workout programs. A typical 45 minute kettlebell workout can burn up to 1200 calories.

Kettlebell workouts strengthen the body as a whole unit by using multiple muscle groups in each exercise. Foundation kettlebell exercises like the swing, clean, and press, engage the legs, butt, hips, abdominals, back and arms.

Most people who use the kettlebell are sick of the traditional gym's same old boring workouts that don't produce results. Others use kettlebell program because of prior injuries that prevent them from participating in traditional weight-lifting. Those who prefer to workout at home can benefit from kettlebells and have a complete home gym.

Using cast iron weights ranging from nine to 88 pounds, kettlebells workouts deliver fast results - in about half the time of a traditional weight-lifting regimen while using about a quarter of the weight requirements. A 45- minute session can burn up to 1200 calories. Kettlebell exercise routines are for males and females of all ages, focusing on building functional strength by conditioning muscles that are used in everyday activities while delivering a complete cardio workout. The result is increased stamina and strength without the bulky muscles typical of traditional weight lifting.

Women typically begin with a 10 pound kettlebell and men start with a 20 pound kettlebell. Movements use your whole body to move the weight, so in relation to your body weight the beginning weights are not as heavy as they sound.Most people who try the workout get addicted to it. I know I have. Nothing you do in the gym even comes close to the high-octane cardio and strength workouts kettlebells deliver.

If you are looking for a great Workout try Ryan Shanahan's Kettlebell Workout DVD at http://www.energyflow.tv/store/index.html#anchor

Funk Roberts
Don’t Rush the Beat!

WE HAVE A WINNER! - LORI BELANGER IS $50 RICHER

Funk Roberts Fitness would like to congratulate Lori Belanger, of Winnipeg MB as our first Monthly $50.00 Prize Winner. Lori was randomly selected and is now the proud winner of $50 CASH MONEY!

Not to worry, those of you that have subscribed to Funk Roberts Fitness still have 3 months to win. For all others, it's aseasy as putting your email address in the subscription box, confirming and Lickety Split - you are entered for a chance to win $50.00

Good Luck to all and Thanks for your support

Funk Roberts
Don't Rush the Beat!

Hockey Season is Here!

It's hockey season and here is a little preview of my friend MOJO's amazing Backyard Ice Rink from last year. This year looks to be bigger and better. If you watch hockey, you may see the Rink showcased on this year's Hockey Day in Canada.

Chuck will be offering hockey to kids in the area as well as running a weekly Backyard League. What a fantastic way to stay in shape over the winter.

Check out this sweet video by BK.

See you on the ice baby!
Funk Roberts
Don't Rush the Beat!