The Future of Fitness and Four Great Workouts by Josh Henkin

Here's a great article by Strength and Conditioning Coach, Josh Henkin. He's known making sandbags popular again, but clearly uses many tools to get the job done. These workouts are money. The Future of Fitness And Four Great Workouts By Josh Henkin Those that read this are already ahead of so many people trying to improve their fitness, health, and sporting performance. Why? You have already filtered through the garbage information that so many of us are fed through mainstream media. The marketing of unrealistic physiques, unsafe reality programs, and drugged up celebrities has led most people down a path of confusion to how to be fit and healthy. Before the internet, Youtube, cell phones, and mass media, the greatest exposure of fitness and health was through magazines. Yes, before they were “Flex”, “Men’s Health”, and others, there were classics such as “Strength & Health” and “Ironman”. These magazines were written by true strength athletes that were covering strength, wellness, and physique development that were never thought of separately. Our modern version of the old time was truly resurrected by the reintroduction of kettlebell training. Since then people have begun to see what was missing since the classic days of true strength training. Often I explain my form of training to be “athletic based fitness training”, that is to develop all the physical attributes of sport. Of course, some may say they don’t play a sport and just want to be fit. These principles are the same, as the most fit people are generally those that regularly participate in athletics. This is true even if you just want to be a more fit parent! My L.I.F.T. (loaded integrated functional training) system is based around four implements that are truly unique and fit the criteria that I just explained above. These four implements are kettlebells, sandbags, suspension training (typically using the Jungle Gym) and bands (most often we use the versatile TNT cables). Using these four implements in a systemized manner can deliver very powerful results in fitness and sports performance training. These implements are unique in their feel and versatility. They are perfect for individual or team training, beginner or advanced, integrated with existing programs or used as a stand alone system. These four implements can not be replicated by other tools either. I selected them just because of these reasons. Below I am going to list a few of my favorite routines that work the body from head to toe, strength to cardiovascular training, fat burning to increasing functional muscle mass. Workout 1: A1. Kettlebell Clean and Jerk x 5 A2. Sandbag Zercher Squats x 10 Repeat series 4-5 times with a 60 second rest interval between sets. B1. Band Rows for 30 seconds B2. Suspended Leg Curls x 15 Repeat series 3-4 times with 30 second rest interval. C1. Sandbag Shoulder Get-ups x 3 each side C2. Suspended Fall Outs x 10 Repeat series 2-3 times with 30 second rest intervals. Workout 2: A1. Sandbag Snatch to Overhead Lunge x 3 each leg A2. Jungle Gym Chin-ups x 5 Repeat 4-5 times with 90 second rest interval B1. Kettlebell Floor Press x 8 B2. Sandbag Half Moon Snatch x 10 each side Repeat 3-4 times with 60 second rest interval C1. Band Resisted Runs x 30 seconds C2. KB Janda Sit-ups x 6 Repeat 3-4 times with 30 second rest intervals Workout 3: A1. Kettlebell Snatch Left x 10 A2. Kettlebell Snatch Right x 10 A3. Suspended Body Rows x 12 Repeat 3-4 times with 30 second rest intervals B1. Band Push Press x 30 seconds B2. Sandbag Shoulder Lunge Left x 10 B3. Sandbag Shoulder Lunge Right x 10 Repeat 2-3 times with 45 second rest intervals C1. Suspended Side Plank Right x 15 C2. Suspended Side Plank Left x 15 Repeat 2-3 times with 30 second rest intervals Workout 4: A1. Sandbag Squat Clean x 6 A2. Kettlebell Clean and Press x 5 Repeat 3-4 times with 60 second rest interval B1. Kettlebell Single Leg Deadlift Right x 8 B2. Kettlebell Single Leg Deadlift Left x 8 B3. Suspended Push-ups x 15 Repeat 3-4 times with 45 second rest interval C1. Band Twists Right x 10 C2. Band Twists Left x 10 C3. Sandbag Around the World x 30 seconds each side Repeat 3-4 times with 30 second rest intervals As you can quickly see these workouts have great variety, training methods, and are very powerful with their effectiveness. I recommend doing the above four days a week. To see more of these workouts sign-up for our free newsletter at http://www.sandbagexercises.com/ I'm definitely drawn to these type of workouts more than I used to be. I used to have the "go heavy or go home" attitude. I know barbells are useful (depending on your goals), bit lately I've been rethinking my views on this after reading Dave Lemanczyk's work. Especially for basketball players. Something to think about.... - Max

Self Improvement-10 point plan

A simple plan from the infamous Jack Lalanne:

1.Exercise

2.Nutrition

3.Positive thinking

4.Good habits

5.Grooming

6.Smile

7.Posture

8.Help others

9.Relaxation

10.Faith

There's a few I could improve on....How about you? - Max