Handstand Push ups!

Handstand push ups rule. Period.

Broad shoulders help that v-cut appearance, and if your shoulders are weak chances are your upper body is weak. 

The handstand push up increases your level of balance and total body control. Due to being upside down, it also helps circulation as well. When you're forced to balance upside down not only do you have to balance and overhead press your whole body weight (which most people can't do on an overhead press), but you also have CONSTANT tension on your deltoids. There is NO rest for the muscle in between reps. 

When overhead pressing a straight bar you're forced to press in an unnatural range of motion, which is no bueno for the rotator cuff muscles of the shoulder joint and eventually leads to injury. Handstand pushups however force you to work in a natural range of motion!

Handstand pushups hit EVERY head of the shoulder muscle, anterior, lateral, and posterior, as well as being a killer exercise for the abs, triceps, traps, and back. 

Work at em enough and maybe one day you'll end up jacked like you're in cirque de soleil, or maybe even master the ultimate feat of upper body strength, the one handed handstand push up, like this fellow below:

Anyway, for a how to, check out my how to do handstand push ups vid on Youtube! Link is below!

How to do Handstand Push ups!

Pistol Squats!

Squats are quite simply one of the best lower body and core exercises you can do. 

Pistol squats are possibly the greatest, and most difficult variation. They look simple, but lowering your butt all the way to the floor while balancing on one leg can be exetremely challenging for most.

It might take you a while to work your way up to doing a true pistol squat using only your own bodweight, and you can start by rolling at the bottom to use momentum to help you up while you build the strength. 

Here's a link to a how to pistol squat video I made on Youtube:

How to Pistol Squat

Better attempt at pistol squat ;)

Seriously try to start including these in your leg or total body workout. Use them in the Dark Knight or the Arkham Asylum Prison workout available below. 

Become a pistol squat beast, and not only will your legs become CRAZY strong, but you'll also burn a TON of calories in the process. Seriously. 

(And after doing them in the Arkham Asylum workout I did this morning, I could BARELY shoot this video. Serious jell-o legs now :P)

-Tom

Prison Style / Arkham Asylum Workout!

In both film and comic, batman has spent plenty of time behind bars. Whether it's in Arkham Asylum, Bane's pit where men are thrown in the Dark Knight rises, or Blackgate, he still manages to stay in shape. But how?

With bodyweight exercises of course! You too can get jacked with your own bodyweight! Most people think you can't get in crazy good shape with just push ups and pull ups, but they're just not thinking creatively enough. If you can do regular pushups, try clap or 1 arm push ups. If you can do chin ups  and pull ups, try them with 1 arm. Knock out some handstand push ups. Look at olympic gymnasts. Crazy good shape, yet they rarely lift weights. 

Here's a workout that can be done with MINIMAL equipment, and will get you in shape no matter where you're locked up, whether it's arkham, blackgate, prison, or just your own living room

The Arkham Asylum / Prison Workout:

3 circuits

High Box jumps 5 reps

1 arm/side to side push ups 5 reps each side

1 arm chin ups 5 reps each side

Handstand push ups 8 rep

Slow negative squat jumps(or pistol squats) 5 reps

Hanging leg raises 5 reps

Bodyweight inverted row 5 reps

That's it! If you can't do the harder variations like 1 arm chin ups, work your way up to it. 

Get it done!

-Tom

Mix it up!

This article was inspired by this morning's workout ;)

Variety is the spice of life folks. And that definitely applies to your workouts. Sticking to a routine is one thing, but if you do the EXACT same routine every single session, I'm talking the exact same moves, order of exercises, sets and rep schemes, a lot of no fun can happen. Besides eventual plateaus
which are discouraging, it can get boring and that kinda kills motivation.
Now I'm not saying you need to do a crazy different workout every time, that too can be bad as your body just won't adapt well.  But change SOMETHING. Maybe do 3 sets of 8 one time, 4 sets of 5 the next, maybe even 3x6 or 5x3 on some power moves. Change the setting once in a while. Try working out at a public park or playground (playground work out coming soon;)). Maybe just mix up the order of your exercises. Try a different grip on pull ups. Maybe a different variety of push ups. Your muscles will love the challenge and the variety will keep you engaged mentally in your workout too.
Here's a different variation of the DARK KNIGHT WORKOUT (available below in this very blog) that I ran this morning. (Went amazing by the way)

Box Jumps superset with Pull ups
TRX Push ups superset with Dead Kettle bell Snatch
Jump Squats superset with Handstand Push ups
TRX row superset with Hanging Knee Raises

Same basic Dark Knight Workout but just a little varied to spice it up. Give this one a shot.
Or try something different in your workout. Try it! You'll like it!
-Tom

The Cardio Myth

Yea that's right. The cardio myth. There's a reason all the people wasting time on the cardio equipment look like this:

It's because Cardio is a fad that never really died, unfortunately. And let me clarify by saying when I say cardio, I mean steady state cardio. Jogging on a treadmill or outside or on the elliptical for thirty min.  

Around 1968 I believe, some jackass named Curtis Mayfield published a book entitled,"The Joy of jogging", and thus the belief that we needed cardio was born. 

I know what you're going to say. Our hearts need it! It's important for heart health!

WRONG.

Before the whole cardio craze, workout fanatics and body builders alike did very little cardio. We as a people didn't go jogging. And guess what? Before the whole cardio craze caught on, the rates of heart disease related death were actually pretty low. So what caused the spike? Our shitty, shitty, horrible diets and reduced physical activity. 

You don't need cardio to burn fat, or stay in shape if that's your concern. If you're getting a total body workout with short rest periods, that alone will keep your heart rate up. Total body workouts are excellent for blood flow and your heart. Jog all you want, but if you're living on soda and fast food and energy drinks and cigarettes your heart WILL suffer the consequences.

Look at the cardio area at a commercial gym. Mostly overweight folks. See any fatties cranking out wide grip pull ups? Nope. Here's a challenge. Find someone who does 30 min on the treadmill every few days and rarely does a push up or touches the free weights, and someone like myself who avoids cardio and cranks out pull ups and handstand push ups and let them race for a mile. Then let the doctor give them a physical. Bet myself and all the other pull up beasts win on the mile, and on blood pressure and body fat.

Look I'm not going to keep repeating myself, but seriously folks if you live an active lifestyle and stick to full body workouts every other day or so then you're just wasting your time on that treadmill and getting discouraged. If you don't believe me then try it my way for a month. Get it a full body workout with weights or bodyweight every other day or monday weds fri for a month.(Women you WILL NOT GET BULKY! You don't have the genes but I'll cover that later). Workout and eat healthy and at the end of the month if eating shit and the treadmill was a better option then fine go back to it. Waste your time. Your loss. 

Hit the Weights Workout!

Here's a workout for those of you who have access to a gym and a looking to hit the weights!

This a semi old school workout(classic's are classic for a reason) that'll hit all of your major muscle groups! 

Here ya go! Remember, form and good quality reps over everything else! Leave your ego at the door!

Warmup: Jump rope, jumping jacks, something to get the blood flowing, maybe some dynamic stretches(NOT STATIC! Google the difference PLEASE:))

Workout:

Barbell Back Squat 4 sets of 5 reps. (make sure you go till your thighs are low enough;))

Dumbbell Floor Press 4 sets of 5 superset with 

Wide Grip Pull ups 4 sets of 5

Standing Barbell Military Press 4 sets of 5 superset with

Low Cable Row 4 sets of 5

Cool down, rest, refuel, recover. This is a workout meant to be done with HEAVY weights and reps in the 5 rep range. Beast it out! Any exercises you're not familiar with (IE what's a floor press?) please look up on YouTube for how to's until I post videos of my own.

Have Fun!

-Tom

Abs like Batman! Want em?

People try to make six pack abs sound like a complicated science. It's not.
The simplest way to put it is this....if you want your abs to show, you need low body fat. Most would say under 10-12% for males and a little higher for females.
So for the most part, when they say "abs are built in the kitchen", they're mostly right. Diet is I would say about 80% of the ab battle. You can do all the goofy ab exercises you want and do thousands of crunches or planks (crunches burn like ZERO calories btw, and doing only ab exercises is a waste of time.), but if you eat like crap or like a depressed fat girl, no abs for you. Sorry.

Working your abs is a lot easier than you think. If you stick to mostly compound exercises like squats, kb swings, push ups, pull ups, rows, the snatch, jumps, STANDING military presses (not seated), handstand pushups, you really have to do VERY LITTLE direct ab work. Don't do sets of fifty crunches or use one of those stupid ab machines at the gym. You're wasting a lot of time and energy. The same goes for cardio but I'll get into the cardio MYTH at a later date ;)
The reason your abs get worked in those amazing compound exercises is that the main function of your abs is to keep your spine from collapsing over like a jenga tower. PLUS total body movements like those burn WAY more calories than sitting your ass on the thigh machine at the gym, and if your sitting on your ass with your back on a back rest to press dumbbells overhead, guess what? You're pretty much neglecting your abs. Stop it!
Here's a secret: I have pretty decent abs judging by the pictures below and BF that hovers around five and guess what? I do almost no cardio, and here's my abs routine: 3 sets of 8 crunches one day, 3 sets of 6-8 hanging knee raises the next. THAT'S it! Your abs DO NOT need their own routine!
Seriously folks, if you stick to total body work outs with plenty of squats, jumps, push ups, pull ups, you really have to do very little ab work.
But remember, even if you have a very strong core and amazing abs, body fat WILL hide them. Exercise is amazing but I DON'T CARE HOW HARD YOU WORK OUT! EVEN IF YOU WORKOUT LIKE A MONSTER THAT DOES NOT GIVE YOU THE LICENSE TO EAT LIKE KIRSTY ALLEY WHEN SHE FALLS OFF THE WAGON, PERIOD!
In closing , stick to those compound exercises, don't overwork your abs , and remember , it's mostly about diet ......
So work hard! And eat clean! Get bat abs!
-Tom

The 5 Minute Workout! No excuses!

That's right. Five minute Workout. This is not a joke

3 moves. 5 minutes. All you need is yourself and a resistance band as well as a bedpost or something to anchor it to.

Here's a video link to the 5 min workout on Youtube!

It's a simple tabata style workout. 20 seconds of work, then 10 seconds of rest, 20 on, 10 off, repeat for 5 min! 10 min if you're feeling spunky!

There's a hand full of different Tabata timers available on the App Store, some labeled KB swing timer, that make this workout much easier than trying to watch the clock yourself.

 The Basic workout is this:

     Bodyweight Squats for 20 sec rest for 10 sec

     Push ups for 20 sec rest for 10 sec

     Band Rows for 20 sec rest for 10 sec

     Repeat for five min!

This is a great simple bare bones workout that is very easy for beginners to learn and enjoy!

Upper body push, upper body pull, and a lower body exercise.

Give it a shot! I'm sure you'll be surprised at the workout you can get in five min!

Enjoy! 

-Tom

15 min at home beginner workout!

Here's a nice little 15 min at home circuit workout. All you need is yourself, a resistance band and a bedpost!
Enjoy my horrible camera work! It's my first video give me a break! Damn....

Youtube link to 15 min at home beginner workout

3 rounds Circuit as Follows

Bodyweight Squats

Pushups

Resistance Band Triceps Kickback

Resistance Band Seated Row

Resistance Band lying down band curl

Planks

Should only take about 15 min and it's a great workout for beginners to do at home if you lack equipment and time! Try it!

I'll eventually be posting videos of playground workouts, advanced workouts, and the Dark Knight workout!

Until then, enjoy! and Check out my own person progress photos below! 

A few Progress Photos of my own

Here's a couple progress photos so you know I'm not a fat guy ;)

The Dark Knight Workout!

Have you ever read the Batman's workout routine in the Batman Files? If you never have, Google it now. 

It's ridiculous. Even that filthy pillow biter from Metropolis would struggle. It's HOURS of "conditioning" everyday. And by "conditioning", I mean lifting EXTREMELY heavy loads for high reps, for many sets, for hours everyday. Running marathon and swimming marathon distance several times a week, even on off days. Plus hours of heavy bag work and martial arts training which is a workout in itself. This workout could cripple any elite athlete with ease. 

This is a workout for the Dark Knight, should he exist in the real world. What would Batman require from his workout? What would his goals be? Mostly functional strength for one. Sorry meatheads, but the chances of the Dark Knight wasting any time or energy on isolation exercises like biceps curls or triceps kickbacks are slim to none.

The Batman's workout needs to be a hybrid combination of many different styles of working out, because he has many different goals. Bruce Wayne has very little free time being that he's out fighting crime and patrolling the streets at night, and napping through board meetings and ribbon cuttings during the day. So hours a day at the gym are out of the question. Most of his workouts HAVE to be under 1 hour. Probably even shorter.

He needs functional strength to clean the streets of Gotham with an Iron Fist. He needs to be agile to chase thugs across rooftops, leap from fire escapes, and move with Ninja silence and agility. His workouts need to give him the best results of many worlds, from plyometrics and olympic total body lifts, to gymnast-esque body weight training. He needs max strength AND endurance. AND agility. And yes, looking like a beast is a byproduct, but not his goal. Works well for his Bruce Wayne Playboy image though doesn't it?

The Workout, followed by descriptions and explanations why:

Warm up: HIGH box jumps. 3 sets of 5

The Workout:

Superset #1: 1 arm dead KB snatch. 3 sets of 5 each arm

                     Plyo-Push up. 3 sets of max reps with good form. Emphasis on 4 second negative.

Superset #2: Jump squats (or pistol squats). 3 sets of 5 with emphasis on pause at bottom and 4 second negative.

                  Wide Grip Pull up 3 sets of max reps with good form. Emphasis on slow negative

Superset #3: Handstand pushup with feet on wall 3 sets.Max reps with good form. Slow negative

                    TRX or cable Row.   3 sets of 6 reps. Again, slow negative.

Cooldown: 3 sets of hanging knee raises. Max reps with good form.

Rest. Refuel. Recover. Take one day off in between workouts.

How and why?
In the near future I'll be uploading exercise how to videos. In the meantime for proper exercise form simply google/youtube search for exercise demonstration videos for anything you are unfamiliar with.

Box Jumps: A GREAT warm up for the CNS(central nervous system), as well as great for explosive leg strength. Batman's gotta jump!
Supersets for those who are unaware is two exercises paired together and performed as alternating sets without rest. Ex. push ups, then pull ups, then push ups, then pull ups, etc.
Negatives are the descending portion of the lift, go slow on these! Great for muscle building and endurance. Batman needs both.
Dead one arm KB snatch: A great total body explosive exercise.Period. Hits SO many muscle groups.
Plyo pushups: Amazing push strength and core exercises. With the negative it's a beast. Chest Shoulders Tris
Jump Squats: Lower body explosive movement. More endurance with the negative.
Pistol Squats: If you can do em, best lower body exercise ever. ASS TO FLOOR!
Wide Grip Pull ups: One of the best upper body strength movements period. Do em! Back and Bi's. Batman's got a lot of climbing to do!
Handstand pushups: More upper body push. In my opinion the push equal to the pull up, and with the core element and constant tension on the shoulders, superior to the military press.
TRX or Cable Row: More upper body pull for back and bi's. If you're not rowing you're missing out.
Hanging Knee Raises: Straight core to finish out. Core strength affects EVERYTHING and helps prevent injury. So don't skip em! Batman can't pull a muscle lifting Robin's bony ass off that ledge!

You might think there's no cardio element to this. You're wrong. First of all, supersetting total body compound movements like the snatch and plyo push ups will crush steady state cardio any day of the week.
And second, Batman gets PLENTY of cardio chasing down Blackgate and Arkham escapees on a nightly business.
Give this a shot, and let me know how it goes for you. Send progress photos! Maybe you'll be featured in a future article!

In closing, get it done!

-Tom

Keeping it Simple Stupid...

Most people make proper diet and exercise WAY too complicated and as a result usually fail, fall off the wagon, have little success and get discouraged that they can't do it or nothing works, or quit.

Fitness and diet is NOT complicated. People make it that way. Why? I don't know.

But you can really simplify it down to a few basic points:

1. Be active. Try to get in some sort of workout every other day.

2. Recovery (I'll get more into this one later as it took me by far the longest to learn.)

3. Eat fairly clean. Or, more bluntly, stop eating crap.

It's really this easy. And it's fun when it's this easy. 

Let's start with being active and working out.. #1

Working out should not be a two hour overly complicated session at the gym that has you dreading your next session and leaves you feeling crippled the next day.  Most studies will show workouts lasting over an hour will actually lead to increased cortisol production (the body's stress reducing hormone) and can be counter productive. And keep your workouts simple too! For the most part, if you stick to total body muscle building workouts that include compound exercises like squats, pushups, pull ups, rows, jumps, and the many variations, you can't go wrong. Just always focus on good form and work hard!

(and for the love of god avoid machines and steady state cardio equipment like treadmills and ellipticals like the plague....I'll write about those evils later but if they're always full of overweight people chatting and reading magazines do you really think they do anything other than waste time and energy?)

#2 Recovery

For now I'll keep this one short. When you workout you're basically tearing your muscles so they can rebuild stronger. Will busting your ass at the gym everyday burn a ton of calories? Sure. And you might even see some great results, but only for a short while. Then lack of recovery and rest will lead to plateaus, injury, general frustration, and leave you sapped for strength for your next session. So try to get AT LEAST one day of rest in between workouts, refuel with real foods, and recover! (This however is NOT a license to sit on your ass on off days. Go for a walk. Maybe some dynamic stretching. It'll get your blood flowing and aid recovery. Trust me. It's good for you!)

3. Eat clean and avoid crap.

I once heard the advice, "If your grandparents or great grandparents wouldn't something as food, you probably shouldn't eat it. Your body won't either." So true. A great rule to live by.

Dieting isn't hard. In fact, I would avoid saying "I'm dieting" or "I'm on a diet." All diet really is is what you eat. Period. 

Later I'll get into how truly HORRIBLE sodas and artificial sweeteners are for your body and metabolism (Did you know over time you can dissolve a mouse in Mountain Dew, or use Coke to get oil off a driveway? True) and the nightmare that is energy drinks like red bull and monster, which are serious threats to metabolism and heart health.

But for the most part, just try to avoid garbage. You don't have to overdo it and become some organic hippie nutball (completely unnecessary and usually unhealthy ) but just try to avoid what YOU KNOW DAMN WELL is bad for you and your body cannot process. Fried foods. (ever have a job where you had to clean a frier and see what you're eating? Yuck) Soda. Chips. The sugary bean bag chairs that are cinnabons. Etc. (But if it'll help you stay on track, eat a little crap once in awhile, or learn to enjoy healthy treats like dark chocolate. Yum)

A quick word on fad diets, which I plan to tear apart at a later date, avoid them. They're fads for a reason. They work well initially and then they fail. Take low carb diets for example. First of all, you absolutely NEED carbs. Low carb diets are popular because fitness models and bodybuilders use them to cut off some fat a couple weeks before competing. But cutting carbs long term is no bueno. 

Realistically, your diet should be about 60% carbs, you need them for energy, for muscle building, for a lot. People who try low carb usually fail because they plateau quickly, and fall off the wagon when they're starving and sapped for energy. Did you ever notice how overweight people are always trying  low carb diets, yet the most cut guys and gals you know eat plenty of them? Hell I eat plenty of them and my BF hovers around 5%! So eat them! (The same goes for the crowds doing steady rate cardio which those of us who are in shape and know better avoid!) 

Also, eat healthy fats. Please. You need fat I promise. Fats from animal sources, avocados, nuts, etc.

Not synthetic crap fat though like ranch dressing (AKA Fat Girl Gravy) Research sometime all the crap they put in low fat food to make it taste better. Lots of crap that'll wreck you. Whole milk rules and I'll write an article on it's benefits later, but listen to Parks and Recs' Ron Swanson. Avoid Skim. It's just water pretending to be milk;)

So that's it for today's post! Keep it simple!

Be active, recover , and don't eat crap! It's so easy!

-Tom

Something to hold you over ...

Here's a basic but solid workout routine to hold you over while I get this up and running....plenty of articles on diet, strength training, exercise form, tempo, body weight training, fad diets, the waste of time that is cardio , etc, to come soon!!

Warmup:
Box jumps- 36" 3sets x 5reps

Tri set one :
Bodyweight squats 10 reps
TRX push ups 8 reps
Wide Grip Pull ups 6-8 reps

Tri Set two:
KB Swings 10 reps
Handstand push ups(feet on wall for balance) 6 reps
TRX Row 6 reps

Hanging knee raise- 3 sets x 6 reps

Ill get more into the importance of proper form and tempo later, but for now remember proper form is crucial, and on most exercises try for a tempo of 4 seconds or even 5 on the negative and 1-2 seconds on the positive. IE 4 seconds to bottom of squat, 1 second to rise. And squat low! No partials!


Get it done! :)

What is Batman Fitness?

What is Batman Fitness?

Batman Fitness will basically be a blog mostly dedicated to helping average and skinny guys get in amazing shape, and look good doing it. Most of the content will be fitness and workout related, but I'm sure I'll occasionally ramble on some other subjects(comics, old video games, nerd culture, comedy,etc.)

Am I a personal trainer ? Nope. A doctor? Nope. Batman? Nope.(maybe....)
I'm someone whose sick and tired of seeing your average guys like myself waste their time and money on fitness mags geared towards Bodybuilders who can afford THOUSANDS in supplements.
Batman wasn't handed his incredible physique like many other heroes.... He earned it through hard work, and determination.

I'm no expert. but I know what's worked for me and maybe it'll work for you too.
So check back here, follow me on twitter for updates @theTomChristian, and there'll be plenty of amazing workouts and fitness advice to come.

Want to look good and be in great shape and you're tired of the BS? Check back!



(ps i know this blog is basic as fuck right now but give me a chance dude, this is a first for me! )

Coming soon!

Fitness blog for average and skinny guys coming soon! Find me on twitter @thetomchristian