MRT Exercises/Complexes

As promised I wanted to share some good MRT complexes with you, so you can start creating your own work outs. Play with these exercises, and notice what effects your work outs have on your body, the results you are looking to achieve, and your appetite (I can almost guarantee that your appetite will increase because your metabolism is going to go through the roof with these!). It is important to know these effects going in so that you can plan your diet accordingly so that you do not gain the wrong kind of weight. I will explain more about how to fine tune your work outs for strength, tone, mass, fat burning, etc. later on. Without further ado, here are a list of exercises and complexes:

 (if you do not know how to perform the exercise I recommend searching youtube, if you cannot find anything on there leave a comment or message me directly. I am working on putting together a video exercise library, hopefully by next month, on my website www.zenphitness.com)

Complex A:
Perform 8-12 reps of each exercise, resting no more than 10-15 seconds between exercises, do 1 set of each exercise in succession, resting 45-60 seconds in between circuits. Perform at a swift pace, but moderate enough to maintain good form

1. Bodyweight squats
2. Bench dips
3. Rebel rows (push-ups with dumbells in hand, push-up rep then single arm row in the push up position)
4. Chest press

Complex B:

1. Dumb bell lunges
2. Elevated push-ups
3. Skull-crushers (a.k.a. French press, tricep extensions)
4. Preacher curls

Complex C:

1. 45 second plank
2. Pull-ups (can substitute lat pull down)
3. Bent over lateral raises
4. Step-ups

This work out can be done in less than 45 minutes, keeps your heart rate up, and can be customized with any kind of resistance you are comfortable with. For general strength and conditioning, the optimum rep range is 8-12, which seems to be the magical range that brings about the best metabolic results.

Keys to success in developing your own workouts:

- Work the whole body, if you are used to focusing on one muscle group you can add emphasis on that muscle group for a particular work out.

- Work the legs: a lot of lifters neglect working their legs, which are the foundation for a solid frame, and higher metabolism. Your legs have the biggest muscles in your body, they also consume the most calories, lead the body in healthy hormone production, and simply need to feed.

- Change it up. Don't do the same work out 2 training days in a row. Develop a minimum of 4 workouts (24 is better, or more) and do a different one each time.

In later posts I will further discuss how you can fine tune your workouts to meet your goals, whatever they are. I will discuss how to alter your rep pace, rests, and resistance to achieve different results, regulate your hormones, and blast through plateaus. Have fun with it!

WWW.ZENPHITNESS.COM

Hyperactivity in brain may explain multiple symptoms of depression

Hyperactivity in brain may explain multiple symptoms of depression

Depression is an issue that has always been close to me since there are a number of people that are close to me that suffer from it. This linked article is a new explanation of the physiology of depression and helps us paint a clearer picture of the culprit that causes this debilitating disease. If you or someone you know suffers from depression, and they feel like they have tried everything from psychotherapy to dozens of different drugs, there are other options for treatment. I would encourage anyone with depression to explore how to take control of their treatment themselves, and with the support of people they trust, they can beat it. There are a number of meditation programs that will rapidly change the mind from a depressed state to one of peace and well-being. I have experienced this for myself. Meditation changes the connection in the brain and allows the regulation of brain connections, thereby naturally curing this attribute of depression. Meditation is the best holistic means of healing depression because it enables changes in the brain, the lifestyle, and emotional state of being. There is always hope.

www.zenphitness.com

Tips, Toys, and Links

Tips, Toys, and Links

Fitness should always be fun, I like to think of it as play time rather than work time. And isn't that what most of us do when we run, or lift, or play sports? We generate a release that let's us forget about the world, our responsibilities, even if just for a few moments, we are completely free. Free from the shackles of limitation that we struggle through every day, and free to choose our path. I am building a collection and creating informational entries in order to explore that freedom and expand my awareness of every possibility, because if we do not know, then we are not free.

My Favorite Way to Work Out: MRT Made Simple

I will admit, I have been slacking lately when it comes to really doing some comprehensive fitness work outs. That is because I only have 22 days left until I am running a marathon in DC, and have been focusing on keeping my legs healthy and doing a LOT of running. I do like to remind myself that it is not all running and that my favorite way to do cardio is actually with weights. Ever heard of metabolic resistance training? I had not until last year, and now I love it, and unless science drops a bomb on us, I think we have found the perfect way to work out.

MRT involves a few components that currently make it the best overall and targeted fitness routine available.period. The components are complex muscle exercises, circuits, and moderate cardio pace. You can really do it with or without weights, but resistance is good and should be used occasionally.

Muscle complexes, mentioned above as one of the components, are compound exercises that involve a couple of different muscle groups. You can divide muscle groups into upper and lower body, push or pull, fine control or course control, or any way you like. There is a lot of science behind how you should group your muscles for complexes but that is not the point of this post. Group a couple of muscles together, come up with an exercise, and add it to your routine.

Circuits are another component used in MRT. Once you have 2-3 muscle complexes and exercises you are well on your way to creating a circuit. Put 3-4 of your exercises together, doing 2-4 sets of each exercise, 8-15 reps per set and you have it. So one circuit = exercise 1--> exercise 2 --> exercise 3 --> rest --> exercise 1 --> exercise 2... you get the idea. The next step is to put together a couple more circuits and then do 2 or 3 circuits in a workout. The whole workout should take between 30-45 minutes. Yes, that is right, you are going to be totally smoked in just 30-45 minutes. No more spending 2 + hours at the gym, and you will get better results.

All of the exercises should be done at a moderate cardio pace, fast enough to challenge yourself and get your heart rate up, but slow enough so that you keep good form and are not reckless with weights.

MRT is so variable, customizable, that you will never get bored with it, and you will always have a challenge. I would encourage anyone who works out (or doesn't) to learn more about MRT. There are a lot of things I did not cover, however, like: how long should you rest in between sets? How much weight resistance should you use? How should I warm up? How should I cool down? Can I use the exercises I currently do in this? What are some good complexes? And many more. I will definitely be exploring this more, and admittedly have so much to learn about it, but will continue to post more pertinent information...later.

Don't forget to do some meditation when you are done with your workout to decrease stress hormones and free radical production (they cause FAT and AGING, yuck). WWW.ZENPHITNESS.COM

New Online Community for Fitness Gurus!

Join the community to start talking about fitness, mind and body, comprehensive fitness, sports, elite fitness training, yoga, and much much more.
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Stress Management Research, Science of Coherence, IHM Research Center

Stress Management Research, Science of Coherence, IHM Research Center

Heart Math has some very revolutionary and solid ideas about how to enjoy life, be resilient, and use the resources that we all have and simply ignore, or do not know exist. Knowledge is power, and the implications are infinite. How can Heart Math help with your fitness? Using Heart Math techniques not only help with breathing and cardiovascular fitness, but can enhance meditation, visualization, and ramp up performance exponentially. There is still so much to be learned about the effects of our very own electromagnetic fields, and how they are tied into our physiology. There are a lot of benefits through meditation with Heart Math techniques, like positive neurotransmitter production and hormone production and regulation. It has been said that stress is the number one killer and age accelerator, and why not moderate stress and banish negativity from our lives in a healthy way?

Comprehensive Physical Fitness is My Passion

I look forward to learning new things about mind and body fitness and writing about them here. I think it is important to always examine our lives and constantly strive to improve them. We are all in this life together, it might as well be a team effort. I also have a website, www.zenphitness.com and would appreciate all of the traffic possible so that I can continue to write about topics that are important to everyone.