Strength Without Weights?

When body weight training is talked about it's usually in the context of high rep HIIT training for body fat loss and conditioning or other basic exercises like sit ups etc. Body weight training as I have said before is unquestionably the most versatile training modality, and the building blocks of almost any Jungle Fit program and the Jungle Fit formula. Body weight training can be done anywhere, any time, and to achieve any desired fitness goal. That's right ... any goal ... including gains in strength for even the most seasoned athlete. Body weight strength training can be done to become stronger in the most basic plains of motion or it can be tailored to become stronger movements specific to a certain sport. Now some "hard core" strength enthusiasts may say that you can only build great strength from power lifting or basic body building isolation exercises. This however is not the case ... I'm sure very few would deny the strength and explosive power of an Olympic gymnast. Gymnasts train without the use of weights and only use their body weight yet they have phenomenal strength and muscle definition! I would love to see a power lifter pump out ring dips or L-sit chin ups, it just wont happen.

Why? Because it's all about strength to body weight ratio. That power lifter can't do ring dips to save his life ... but I'm willing to bet everything I have that the Olympic gymnast could bench press well over his own body weight ... maybe even close to double his own body weight. Now, that power lifter may bench more than the gymnast .... but I bet he weighs much more. Naturally, a larger person should be able to lift much more than a person of smaller stature.

Lets say that power lifter weighs 225 lbs, and the gymnast weighs 145 lbs. The power lifter can bench press 350 lbs , and the gymnast can bench 300lbs. In terms of numbers, yes the power lifter is stronger ... but pound for pound the gymnast is by far the much more powerful athlete! The size difference between the two of them is immense, but the weight they lift does not have a huge gap. It's like how ants are pound for pound much stronger than humans. If ants were the same size as people they would be much stronger than us ... and it would be scary as hell!

So how can you test how strong you are with your body weight training? Simple! Try out these exercises and see how many you can do and go according to the numbers below!

Pistol Squat (one leg) - 0-1 Needs a lot of work

2-4 Pretty good for a beginner

5-7 Nice range for an intermediate

8-10 Excellent

10+ Spider Man Strength!

L-Sit Pull Ups - 0-1 Needs lots of work

2-4 Nice show of beginning strength

5-7 Excellent

8+ You're doing great!

Hand Stand Push Ups- 0-3 Needs lots of work

3-5 Beginner strength

6-9 Doing well keep training

10-12 Excellent

13+ HSP champ!

Scorpion Push Ups - 0-4 Needs lots of work

5-7 Alright, but keep training

7-10 Pretty good

10-15 Looking good, nice strength

16+ Awesome!

... there are a lot more test of strength exercises to push your body weight training to the limit but these are just a few! So try them out and keep pushing! Remember that if you want to get to your goals you need to push hard, and get a great trainer to help you along the way if you need it!

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Pushing Your Limits!

Results! It's what we're all after, it's what most of you dream about. Heck, some of you want it so bad you can taste it! You show up to all your workouts and get them done, and you try to watch everything you eat ... so why are you having such trouble getting to your fitness goals? If this sounds a little like you, then it might be time to take a good look at what you're doing ... or rather what you're NOT doing!

It's great that you have made that commitment to workout, I don't care if it's in a group, with a trainer, or at home. Whatever it takes to get you moving ... but just doing something is not enough! You must pour every ounce you have into your workouts! I mean push your self to the limit each and every time that you workout ... it's not called a workout for nothing! If you're not at least a little nervous before you workout, then it might not be hard enough!

All I can tell you is push, push, and push some more! Challenge yourself and come out on top, it's always a great feeling to finish a workout with a faster time then before or to lift a heavier weight. Remember that this applies to your diet as well guys!

Training is only one half of the equation, actually even less than half! Diet is whats going to get you those results that you are really looking for. If you're putting crap into your body, then you're just going to get crap for results! Eat clean, eat paleo and workout REALLY HARD! The results will come in time and your body will work better than ever before. Cut the grains, cut the dairy, cut the junk food, and watch your body change!

So the next time you walk into your gym, training studio, outdoor park, basement gym, or where ever you choose to workout make sure you leave it all on the line! Push yourself until you feel like you have nothing left, and you know what you will find? You'll find that little bit more that you didn't know you had ... and that's where excellence lives. That's where results are found!

You have the power!

Contact me (Timothy Bell) now to book you or your small group for the most natural/organic training you will ever try! The new and improved Jungle Fit Studio is open for business so try it out. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

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Natural Training & Equipment?

As a lot of you know, I am a big advocate of body weight training. It's incredibly versatile and can be designed to drop your body fat or boost your strength. Body weight training also has the added benefit of being able to give you one heck of a workout no matter where you are on earth! It's also the most natural form of exercise possible, what's more natural than the ability to move your own body with control and ease? Those reasons alone are enough to tell you why Jungle Fit training (natural training) is rooted in body weight exercises. However, body weight is not the end all be all of fitness, but it is a great place to start and use as the glue to build your fitness program. In my experience it is best to blend a mix of body weight training with some of the many functional fitness tools available on the market today! These tools will not only challenge your body weight routine, but also throw your body for a loop and keep it guessing. I'm sure some of you are wondering what kind of equipment is functional and not just another crazy "globo gym" apparatus? That's why I have created a little list of just some of the many products you might decide to use in your own fitness routine...

1. Resistance Bands: I would suggest Rubberbanditz bands. These bands are an excellent tool to challenge your body through limitless ranges of motion and countless exercises. Use them to assist your chin ups, put pressure on your squats, make push ups even more challenging, even for stretching and re-hab! The bands are guaranteed not to snap, and if they ever do then you will be sent brand new bands free of charge! They're a green company as well and the bands are small and portable, what more can you ask! Visit them at http://www.rubberbanditz.com/.

2. Suspension Trainers: Gym Rings, Lifeline Jungle Gym, TRX these are some of the best tools for taking your body weight training to the next level. They come in many names and colours but really, they all do the same thing! Throw them over your chin up bar (another MUST HAVE), soccer net or even a tree branch! Aiding with progressions in multiple areas such as chin ups, push ups, rows, squats etc. it's the perfect tool for anyone of any fitness level. Find one for a good price, shop around and you will not be disappointed. For some exercises such as push ups I have even combined the use or resistance bands and the suspension trainer to make the exercise even more challenging!

3. Kettlebells: No surprise here people! We all know my love for kettlebell training being that I am a kettlebell trainer myself. A very primal design and so many options. Blast yourself with explosive movements such as the swing and snatch, or focus on strength with high tension exercises like the double front squat or renegade row! Kettlebells work so well with body weight training that I think of them as the yin to the others yang! Do yourself a favour and learn from a qualified instructor how to use kettlebells. You will not be sorry!

4. Stability Balls: What I think I love so much about stability balls is the fact that I feel like a little kid again! It's a giant colourful ball that you get to roll around on and can add unique challenges to a workout, who wouldn't love that?! They're great for stretching, crunches, push ups, internal abdominal work and much more. It's even useful as a chair when it's not being used for exercise! Find a good anti-burst ball (not burst resistant) and get rolling.

... so there you have it guys! It's nowhere near all of them, but that's a great place to start and if you shop around you can find all of these products for a great price. Body weight training will cost you nothing at all, but if you want to spice things up a bit then you don't have to break the bank! Until next time, take care!

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Two Feet & A Heart Beat!

When anyone starts their on their journey towards optimal health and fitness with Jungle Fit, there are a few questions and forms for everyone to answer and fill out. One of those questions (which is rather obvious) is,"What is your current activity level, and what are you doing for exercise.". The most common answer is "I walk about 3-4 times per week". I'm going to make this pretty clear ... I have a problem with this answer!

Please don't get me wrong, I have nothing against walking. I love it, I love going out for walks down town or just getting outside and enjoying my surroundings. Walking can be great for maintaining foot health (when wearing minimal foot wear ex. flip flops), it's a great stress reliever and a chance to leave your house and move around or spend time with your dog! What I have a problem with is the popular belief that walking is a legitimate form of exercise!

Walking is NOT exercise ... it's just what we do! It's what we were born to do, it's what we're designed to do, and it's something all of us (for the most part) here in North America aren't doing enough! The obvious reasons for this would be that most people have cars and drive everywhere, even down the road 1block to go to work. We can order anything we would like on the Internet/phone (including food) and have it brought to our homes without ever having to walk anywhere. The list goes on and on, but the fact is all of our technology has made us ... for lack of a better word, lazy. So now that we never really walk anywhere anymore, it makes walking down the road seem like a hard thing to do, most people view exercise as something hard ... so now the general public views walking as a form of exercise.

If you're one of the many who look at walking as exercise than you need to shift that view because you're mistaken. Walking is just our form of natural transportation, it's how we're designed to get from place to place. Walking will burn calories, but heck even your brain burns calories just to function each day, and the majority of people don't walk anywhere near enough to burn any significant amount of calories to lose body fat. Real exercise involves moving/lifting heavy things sometimes, moving really fast other times, and their are ways to accomplish real exercise with little to no impact on your joints. Kettlebell swings will not hurt your knees or feet (like jogging) and will boost your metabolism, drop your body fat, and improve your range of motion. That one exercise alone has the low impact benefit of walking, but is actually exercise! Walking should just be something that you do, exercise should be something completely separate! Make time to walk or make a decision to only take your car if it's absolutely necessary, hell you could even walk to the gym or to your personal trainer!

What it all comes down to people is that cavemen didn't own cars (unless you take your history from the Flinstones) they just walked everywhere. So it's time to put the keys away and begin walking as your form of transportation whenever you can, but please for your own health know that walking is not exercise, it's just what we we're born to do.

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Push Ups ... Ask Your Doctor If They're Right For You!

Flick on your T.V. right now! Okay, are you watching it? Good, skip through a few channels ... did you see it? I'm willing to bet you did!

I'm talking about drug commercials ... you know the ones that show a bunch of happy people running in fields of flowers or playing catch with their kids while they tell you about some new prescription drug. Then right before the commercial ends it rambles off on the laundry list of side effects that seem WAY worse than the "condition" they are designed to treat!

And doesn't it seem that every day there's a new pill to "treat" your specific "symptom". I know that we all make fun of these commercials, but have you ever really wondered why there are so many of them? Why there are new ones every day, or why they have that crazy list of side effects attached to them?

Well the answer is simple ... MONEY! That's right people its all about the money. And any smart business knows that the money comes from repeat customers. People who come back for more of the product they are selling. As we know, the drug companies sell pills.

So lets take a look at how they make their money. If they make pills that treat a certain symptom and when you stop taking that pill your symptoms come back, then you'll continue to take that pill until the day you die. This is what I like to call masking a problem ... it doesn't actually cure your or solve your problem , it just hides the problem enough to live with. So now that you're hooked on this medication you start having side effects. Now not only do you have to take a pill for one condition, you have a whole other problem that needs to be addressed! So you head to your doctor and they prescribe you another pill to treat the side effect.

As you can see its one heck of a vicious circle! However, the drug companies don't view it that way, they see it as money. Money to pay their bills, buy their food, drive their cars etc. Simply put, if everyone was healthy all the time ... then the drug companies would be out of business.

What they don't want you to know is that most health problems can be solved and prevented with correct diet and exercise alone! But their is no money for them if they tell you how a paleo diet can solve type 2 diabetes in 2-3 weeks. There is no money in letting people who are hooked on anti depressants know that exercise alone is more effective for fighting depression then the pill they are on. Most anti depressants do nothing for the average person, and in fact can heighten mood swings and suicidal thoughts! Their is no money in them telling you how nutrition and exercise can solve/prevent conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, colitis, obesity, osteoporosis etc.

Look, I could go on and on about this all day, but lets get to the point shall we! Health is all about preventing decease and health complications. If we all eat a paleo diet (full of fresh real fruits/veggies, meats, nuts/seeds/ and water), worked out hard, took our vitamins, and got some good sleep ... then we wouldn't be so sick. Also, there would be a hell of a lot less commercials on T.V. asking me to call my doctor and ask if this pill is right for me!

Long story short, push ups and broccoli are the new Prozac!

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The Gift Of Health!

With the Holidays fast approaching I thought it would only be fitting to post a few gift ideas. Maybe you have a health/fitness enthusiast on your list, or someone looking to get back into shape, heck you could even use these as gift ideas for yourself! Enjoy, and happy Holidays everyone!

1. Personal Training Sessions: An excellent idea for anyone who already trains or for that person looking to get back into shape. Just make sure to find yourself a qualified trainer!

2. "How To Eat Move And Be Healthy"-By Paul Chek: An excellent book for everyone looking to change their life, how they look at food and exercise!

3. Lifeline USA Jungle Gym: An excellent suspension trainer. It offers body weight progressions for beginners to athletes and is one of my favorite pieces of equipment. It does everything the TRX can do for less than half the price! It can be found at www.lifelinusa.com

4. Everlast Speed Jump Rope: The best $8.00 you will ever spend! Jumping rope boosts your metabolism, helps you lose body fat, and improves your balance/coordination. It can be found at Wal-Mart and would make an excellent stocking stuffer or addition to a gift.

5. Kitchen Supplies: A blender, some good non stick frying pans, a mixing bowl with measuring cups, roasting pans etc. It's never a bad idea and new things always come in handy when you're looking to create some new meals that fit into a paleo/natural diet.

6. Yoga/Martial Arts/ Group Classes: Gives people a chance to try something new or spice things up with their routine. Also great to do in between your personal training days! Their are tons of options for you to choose from for anyone on your list.

7. Athletic Clothing: Almost everyone likes to look great, even while their working out! So why not get some new athletic clothing or a gift certificate from one of the many athletic apparel stores.

... These are just a few ideas to help you get rolling. Remember that health/fitness is the most important gift you can give yourself and the ones you love! Until next time, take care and enjoy your holidays!

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Surviving The Holidays!

It's that time of year again! Christmas cheer is in the air, we're all out getting our shopping for family and friends finished up, and everyone is counting down the days until December 25th. It's a very exciting time, for some of us it's the one time of the year where the whole family comes together! But where there's family and holidays, get togethers and parties are there too! So for those of you who have just started or have adopted a fitness/nutrition program it can be very hard to stay on track when all that food/alcohol is put in front of you daily. The last thing you want is to gain 5, 10, or 15lbs over the course of the holidays and set your health and fitness program back after all those weeks/months of hard work!

But fear not! I am here to provide you with some helpful tips on how to avoid destroying your results over the holidays.

Bring your own snacks: If you bring your own veggie plates/fruit bowls to the party then you have no excuse to not eat well. Every holiday get together always has plenty of chips and dip or deep fried snack plates, and when you haven't eaten all day then you are just asking to cheat on your nutrition plan! Provide your own healthy options and you will never have any reason to stray.

Avoid Excess Alcohol: Alcohol, ohhhhhh boy! This one has to be the hardest one for almost everyone. During the holidays there is always wine flowing, beers in every fridge, and plenty of rum or what ever else you like. I am not saying don't enjoy a drink with the family, but you need to know that alcohol (especially when mixed with juices/soda) is exceptionally high in calories. It is the easiest way to destroy your diet and gain extra pounds. We also tend to make very poor food choices when intoxicated, making alcohol the "gateway" to poor food choices.

Keep Up Your Workout Program: Yes your holidays are a break, a break from work and daily stress. However, it is not and should never be a break from your workout! Take your workout with you, body weight exercise can be done anywhere at any time. If you can workout 3 days a week for 20 mins, that's all you need to maintain your fitness! If you are unsure of what to do then ask your trainer for a home program you can follow for a week. Push ups, lunges, squats, dips, planks, chin ups and burpees are a great base to start with and you can even get creative with them.

Don't Over Eat: I know Christmas dinner only happens once a year, but that doesn't give you a reason to eat until you feel like you'll burst! Be sensible people, eat until you are satisfied and not stuffed!

Avoid Desert: Oh desert, the meal we eat after we have already eaten! Such a gluttonous thing to do! Avoid this sugary lump of junk, or limit yourself to one small portion.

... Now, these are just a few simple tips. If you use common sense, avoid junk food, and continue to workout then you should be fine for a week or two. As soon as the holidays are over make sure to get right back into your regular fitness/nutrition routine and work hard!

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