Guest post by Elaine Hirsch

Working out can be overwhelming for many people. Stepping into a weight room, you'll find a plethora of weights, machines, and contraptions which can cause more confusion than the training they provide. Today, a shift towards working out with less equipment and free-flowing techniques, such as Zumba are becoming prominent. Another source of inspiration comes from the workouts used by prisoners, where according to Criminology Degree, the number of prisoners continues to increase year-over-year.

MIND
With little to do yet many spare hours to occupy oneself, a mental rigidity towards the training of your physical body is a natural outcome of this harsh environment. The best inspiration for creating a rock-hard body is staying alive. Borrow this mindset from the inmate and you will begin to sculpt a healthy body.

BODY
The best part of the prison inspired exercises is that they are all weight bearing. Meaning, one does not need barbells, dumbbells or big costly machines to create a solid steel body. These exercises use one’s own body weight and a space range of no more than 3' by 5.'

Pull-Ups
Find a sturdy bar that is higher than your own head and grasp tightly. Let your arms straighten as you hang. Then, slowly pull your chin up to meet the bar. Be sure to keep your elbows close to your body when you bring your chin up to the bar.

Seated Triceps
Sit on the floor with your legs in front, knees bent and feet on ground. Place each hand on floor alongside your buttocks with fingers pointed straight ahead. Situate yourself so you can lift your body up so only your hands and feet are touching the ground. With arms slightly bent, dip your body down and then up as you straighten arms.

Squat Jumps
Standing, bend knees and place hands on ground as if you are in a crouching position. Jump straight up and upon landing immediately resume the starting position. Attempt to touch the ceiling on your jump. Attempt to become as small and tiny as possible on your crouching position.

Push-Ups
The classic push-up must be a part of the prison inspired workout. If you ignore all other upper body exercises, do this one every day. Push-ups work all the muscles in the back, chest and arms so daily sets of about 15 reps will work wonders for one’s state of rip-ness.

Plank
Yoga has given the exercise world some pretty great things but the Plank may be the ultimate exercise of all times. Begin the Plank as though you were attempting to do a push-up but do not dip down. Alignment is everything with the Plank so aim for a totally straight body in which your buttocks are not higher than your back or dipping towards the floor.

SOUL
When one’s body is tended to, one’s soul becomes calmer and more at peace. The prisoner knows all too well the soul searching that is undertaken during those long periods of isolation. Carve out time every day to experience this soul work. Isolate yourself from the world around you, if only for 20 minutes. Finally, take time to give thanks for the freedoms you do have to do these workouts in your own space.
 

One of my boyhood idols growing up was none other than Jack LaLanne. I remember watching Jack's TV show with my grandmother. She followed right along with him and so did I!

Jack LaLanne died yesterday from complications from pneumonia. It's a wicked death. Same way my grandfather died.

But let's not be sad. Let's celebrate LaLanne and all he stood for!

In that light, here's a great video from the old Jack LaLanne television show about always being tired. This one is timeless; the 3 causes of being "pooped out" are laid out by the immortal one, simply and perfectly.

This question was asked on Yahoo Answers and my answer was chosen as the best. By the way, the Stair Step Training System virtually eliminates any chance of a prolonged plateau, simply by forcing periodic short plateaus!

Muscle Building Plateau?

Best Answer – Chosen by Asker

Source(s):

Over the past year, I've done a lot of experimentation with different split routines. I've tried:

• 5-days-a-week, training one major bodypart per workout (not enough frequency)
• 4-day 2-way split, using the Push-Pull concept (workouts were too long)
• 3 full body workouts per week (I was pooped before I got to the end)
• 6-day 2-way split (too much frequency)
• 4-day 3-way split (this one was pretty cool but didn't offer the frequency I needed, but it's great if you have a weak bodypart and are trying to build strength)

Now I'm back to my old standard, working out 3 days a week on a 2-way split. I train Torso one day, Legs & Arms the other, alternating between the two every other day (like Monday-Wednesday-Friday). On weeks where I'm only training a bodypart once, I train HARD & HEAVY. Or maybe just HARD.

On weeks where I train a bodypart 2 times in the week, I may choose one day to train HEAVY, the other day with high reps.

There's a lot of flexibility built in to the system. During bulking phases, I just train with weights. During cutting phases, I add in cardio on off-days and/or after my weight workouts. It's pretty cool.

It's funny to me that I keep coming back to this split. Not so funny is that I make my best gains with this system. This is the system I used to pack on 60 pounds of rock-solid muscle in less than a year. I talk more about that at Hardgainer's Manifesto.

Guest post by Alana D. Richardson

One great way to lower one’s cholesterol is through a reliable exercise routine. If you want to get really good results, you need to engage in daily exercise. Daily exercise, however, can be difficult for people who juggle a lot of roles in life. Then again, regular exercise is still possible if you have tried and tested tips to get you to fit it in your life.

Starting the Routine
It is best to take it slow if you have not exercised in a long time. Succumbing to a very intense schedule is not an advisable thing to do. Ideally, you should exercise five days a week. Usually, people get burned out if they plunge into a strenuous routine at once. One good thing to do is to get in touch with your doctor regarding health problems, as well as the kind of exercise necessary to improve one’s personal condition. It is best to view exercise as something that you really need to do. Always put it in your schedule in the same way you make time for your dentist or your doctor. It also helps to add a mix of varied exercises and activities spread out through your week so you do not get bored of doing the same thing over and over again.

Other Important Factors
To vary your exercise regimen, you can even add active daily chore routines to it. Vacuuming, washing the car, cutting and raking leaves and grass are all household chores that count as exercise. Strive to look for many opportunities to perform exercises in various ways. For example, you can take the stairs as opposed to riding the elevator for an exercise routine. This exercise can strengthen your heart and build up your leg muscles. Also, try taking the longer route as you go about life’s many activities. Bust out those running shoes when walking distances instead of riding your car on your way there. Walking is a great way to lower cholesterol levels while losing weight. When you park at the store, make sure you park it further away to rack up some walking distance.

Having Time 
Some people just can't seem to find the time to fit 30-60 minutes of solid exercise into their daily schedule. You could, on the other hand, break up the workout into ten to fifteen minute chunks of time and you will still achieve results. This method of exercising is proven to be quite effective. Engaging in regular exercise is a great way to lower your cholesterol and strengthen your heart in many fun ways. Throw in the extra benefits you can get from strengthening, weight loss and a stable sense of emotional well-being to discover the great results of it.

About the Author – Alana D. Richardson is the author of the low cholesterol diet sheet blog focused on the preservation of the Italian healthy eating traditions to inform people on heart diseases and unhealthy eating habits.