Those that prioritize their fitness tend to
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live longer
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make more money
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attract more people
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live with less stress
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perform their best at all times(or at least more than most)
These are all the things that most people associate with success. As humans we are always attracted to things that scream "better".
The main problem that stops people from ever achieving this good life is their ability to prioritize their fitness.
Too many times have I heard clients say "Im too busy", "I work too much", "I got kids", or "I dont have the energy".
The irony of it all is the last two excuses should be more than enough to make you prioritize your fitness, but then you have the ones that think going to the gym is too expensive or just cant make the commute to train at a gym 3 times a week.
After you read this letter, you'll have no more excuse on why you cant prioritize your fitness because you're going to learn how you can transform your body without even having to step foot in a gym.
Let's begin.
Basics of Body Weight Training
I love body weight training.
It's the most easiest and most efficient ways to train without a gym.
When I first started my fitness journey 11 years ago, it began with good old push ups and sit ups.
I was never the strongest guy in high school nor did I try to be, but I did want to eventually build some type pf muscle and improve my strength overtime.
Bodyweight training, or calisthenics, gave me exactly what I was looking for without ever having to leave my room to improve.
What makes bodyweight training so effective is that most exercise are going to be full body exercise or they'll attack more than one muscle group at a time.
Push ups target chest, back, & triceps.
Body weight Squats target quads, hamstrings, glutes, and even calves if you're doing Hindu squats.
Triceps, chest, and core can all be worked when using dips.
By being able to target more muscle groups in a single exercise, your body gets the benefit of a full body workout.
Bodyweight training also makes your muscle a lot more functional because it requires you to master moving your bodyweight as a whole.
Weight training is usually going to target one muscle group in a isolated range of motion.
So even though you can become stronger in lets say a bench press, you can still be weak at push ups because your body is only used to pressing weight in an isolated range of motion.
Transforming the Body with Boxing & Kickboxing
I've done martial arts for 18 years & the two best forms of martial arts I've ever done to get in shape has always been boxing and kickboxing.
Fighters spend a lot of time doing different types of training to get into shape because as a fighter your main focuses are building:
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Cardiovascular endurance
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Muscular endurance
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Overall speed
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Core strength
It's very common for a boxer to do weight training, bodyweight training, and cardio all in one training session.
When you break it down, fighters will typically have 3 days out the week where its a full body training day mixing weights, calisthenics, and cardio together. Then have 2-3 days dedicated to either technique, sparring, or even more bodyweight training(bodyweight training biggest benefit is that you can train everyday)
When I hosted group fitness classes, I always made fight training the staple of my class because I wanted my clients to be able to get a full body workout within 45 minutes to an hour while still teaching them how to defend themselves.
I would break it up into different sets, or rounds, and it would look something like:
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Round 1- Boxing
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Round 2 - Lower body
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Round 3 - Upper body
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Round 4 - Cardio & Core
Then we would repeat this cycle for as many rounds as possible, each round lasting 2 minutes in length with a 45 second break in between each round.
This type of training proved to be most effective because it allowed my clients to train their entire body but they were also able to last longer on their workouts because each muscle group has about 6 minutes to rest before having to work again.
When training in this circuit fashion, you can continue to burn more calories while also being able to train longer periods of time without exhausting a specific muscle group so quickly like you would with weight lifting.
Best Cardio under 15 minutes?
This age old question has been around for years and to this day people still ask "what's the best form of cardio?"
The best for m of cardio is whatever you're willing to put the time into doing(I know that answer was cliche as hell but hear me out).
Most martial artist spend their time running for long distances.
Most bodybuilders spend their cardio walking on the treadmill or stair master.
Crossfit athletes do a mixture of running and High Intensity Interval Training(HIIT), which is also a form of cardio that can be done in 15 minutes.
I personally, do a mixture of everything too but it's really not about the type of cardio you do, it's about actually doing it.
If you hate running long distances then dont run long distance. You can easily supplement with short distance sprints like hill sprints.
If running isn't your thing at all, you can always jump rope for 15 to 20 minutes. You can even apply the HIIT training style and switch between jumping rope and body weight exercises every 45 seconds for a full 15 minutes. (I'll go in detail about HIIT training in a future letter)
The worst type of cardio you can ever do is not train cardio at all.
Cardio training isn't about burning body fat so you can post your gym thirst traps on your close friends on Instagram.
It's about having a strong heart and lungs so if you're ever in a situation where you have to defend your own life or save another's, like an innocent child, you can have the stamina to do so.
The greatest failure a person can ever experience is not having the ability to save someone they love because they spent all their life neglecting their cardiovascular health.
So what's the word Rasta Man?
By now, you should have a better understanding of how you can take back control of your health and get into shape without having to go to the gym.
Training alone can be daunting at first simply because you don't have a coach beside you but if you would like someone to guide you as you train, click here and I'll gladly help you along your journey.
Until the next one.
From,
Rasta Riek aka "The Rasta Man"
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