This photo is from the park where I go for my morning runs and walks. I live literally two minutes from the city center and this park is exactly 55 steps away from my front door! I am very lucky. However, something darker lurks at this park. Something much more sinister… the weight loss stairs.

Sprinting stairs for faster weight loss

This a photo I took today to show you all where I do my sprinting training. It gives me chills just looking at it.

For the last few weeks I have been trying to boost my fitness and lose a little bit of weight and I have been doing this by sprinting up and down these stairs over and over, again and again.

I have a love/hate relationship with these stairs.

I love them because they give me the most intense workout I have had in a long time. If you are disciplined you can run stairs hard and fast and get a lot out of the exercise. I hate them because it hurts. It hurts during the exercise and it hurts the day after.

What are the benefits of running stairs?

There are a few amazing benefits that come from running stairs.

Firstly, you will lose fat faster than you thought possible. You might think that running stairs only works your legs but it actually works your whole body. You need your back and abs to stabilize yourself, your arms to punch for momentum and your legs, butt and calf muscles to push you upwards. Because of this you are able to get your heart rate up to a very high level. This keeps your metabolism cranking well after the session has finished so you continue to be a fat burning machine for the rest of the day.

Secondly, running stairs adds muscle. I have noticed that my legs and glutes are a lot stronger and visibly bigger after only a few short weeks of running the stairs. Sprinting is a very explosive exercise and your muscles respond really well to the punishment.

Thirdly, you develop a lot of mental toughness. Running stairs is really hard and takes a lot of discipline to turn around and run back up them again after you only just got back to the bottom!

How do I get the most out of stair sprinting?

If you want to make sure you get the most out of your stair sprints you should do a few things.

1. Warm up
The first time I did it at these stairs I didn’t warm up thinking I was fit and healthy enough to just go right into it. I threw my lower back out. For about a month my lower back was twisted and a little bit painful because I went too hard to fast on the stairs.

2. Pick a number of laps
If you don’t have a solid goal in mind you will leave as soon as it gets tough. The best idea is to write down a number of laps that you want to do and then don’t stop until you have done it. Start off with a small number like five sprints and then try to beat it everytime you go down.

3. Introduce time restraints
If you really want to push yourself you can start introducing time restraints when you become a little more expert at running the stairs. The idea is to pick a number of laps (say 10) and try and do it in a certain amount of time. Record that time and then try to beat it. If you beat it reward yourself with a break or perhaps a nice lunch.

4. Sprint up them, don’t run
There is a big difference between sprinting stairs and running them. Running stairs is easy, you could do it all day long. Sprinting stairs is a different story. Sprinting is going as fast as you can until you reach the top. Running is only going at 60%-80% of your maximum.

A word of warning

Stair sprinting is not for unfit people who are just starting out. It is for expert who are fit and have a clean bill of health from their doctor. While it can be a very rewarding exercise it can also be a really dangerous exercise especially for people with knee, heart or asthma related problems.

Does anyone have a place near their house where they do all their workouts? Love to see some photos!

It seems that losing fat fast is still the hot topic in the health and fitness world. Many people are struggling with their weight as fast foods, lazy lifestles and stress continue to increase. In this article I am going to show you how to lose fat fast the real way. No gimmicks here.

How to lose fat fast… the real way

This website has built its reputation on providing articles that are real. I have never once discussed a fad or tried to sell you a program that doesn’t work. The same goes for this article. Everything that is discussed from hereon in comes from my own exeperince, study and practice.

With that in mind, to lose fat fast the real way you must:

1. Make a total change to your eating; don’t just diet

Many people think that losing weight means a fanatical diet where you force yourself to eat nothing or eat only protein for a few weeks. This is the worst thing you can do. It harms your health and as soon as you stop this diet your fat will come straight back on.

The real way to eat is to make a total shift in your diet habits. You want to make changes that will last a lifetime, not just a few weeks. The important changes that are ESSENTIAL to losing fat fast include:

a) Banning refined sugar
Refined sugar is a poison that will leech nutrients from your body. All sugar does is add empty calories to your body. These are calories that carry no nutritional value. Essentially, if you eat high sugar foods you will get 100% fat and 0% healthy.

b) Eating more fruit
The human body has been designed to eat fruit. We have a digestive system that is perfect for processing it, color vision so we can find it and a myriad of similar features. Fruit contains everything we need to live; minerals, vitamins, protein and so on. And it will not make you fat. Whatever argument a nutrition “expert” might throw at this statement is irrelevant to me. I have never seen anyone who bases their diet on fruit be anything other than a lean mean fat fighting machine!

c) Eating more vegetables
Vegetables burn fat. The very act of eating a vegetable burns more calories than the substance puts in your body. Most people are not aware of this but digestion takes up more energy than anything else in the body. These foods are fat fighting pills directly from nature.

d) Drinking more water
Water is essential because it keeps you full inbetween meals as well as flushing away toxins and keeping your metabolism sped up. Science is now showing that water kick starts your metabolic processes which helps you burn calories while you walk around during the day. Swap ALL of your drinks (except for tea, milk and protein shakes) for water.

e) Banning man-made foods
Anything that has been produced or severely altered by anything man-made is not good for you. Packet food, chips, candy, TV dinners, etc. are all terrible for your health and waist line. And don’t be fooled - low fat usually means high sugar. Low fat is a marketing tool, not a health tool. If you ban all man-made foods from your life and instead eat naturally occuring foods such as fruit, vegetables, raw milk, eggs, nuts, etc. the weight will fall off your body without effort.

f) Eating seven times a day
Do not starve yourself. Do not try to cut calories by skipping meals. All this does is retard your metabolism and cause you to hold on to fat. Think about it: if you do not eat your body thinks that food supply is running out and turns your power settings down to low. Eat less and you will burn less. Eat more and you will burn much more.

However, do not make the mistake of thinking that eating more often means eating more. Instead of big meals eat seven smaller ones every two or three hours.

2. Exercise the real way; not the fat loss way

Many trainers at the gym will tell you that the best way to lose fat fast is to do an hour of low intensity exercise every morning. They tell you that this gets you into a fat burning zone and that this is the best thing you can aim for.

While this holds some truth there is a better way. A much better way. And that better way consists of doing the following:

a) Hitting the weights hard
If you are trying to lose fat fast and you are not weight training then you have a mental problem. If someone tells you that weight training does not burn fat you should spit on their shoes (only joking!). Weight training is the best thing you can do for your fat loss goals because it creates an “fat burning environment” in your body. While you may burn more calories in a single cardio session than you do in a single weights session, you will burn more total calories after a weights session than a cardio session.

The reason for this is simple. Weight training causes your body to produce muscle mass and the more muscles you have the more fat your body will burn. The two simply do not exist well together.

Furthermore, weight training can be a very explosive form of high intensity cardio if you do it well. Mimimise your breaks in between sets, use heavy weight and lift well.

b) Exercising like you are being chased by vampires
Fast fat loss cardio is not done by walking around all day. It is done by using explosive exercises like hill sprints, kickboxing, rowing, boxing and so on. The aim of a good fat loss cardio session should be to get your heart rate up again and again and use as many muscles in the body as possible. Full body is always better than half body when it comes to burning calories.

Again, this will cause your body to burn calories well after the session has finished. You are essentially still doing cardio long after the session has finished. As you gradually increase the intensity you will gradually increase your “fat burning environment”.

So next time you do some fat burning cardio choose the kickboxing over the park walk.

c) Training before breakfast or after dinner
I know all of my bodybuilding readers are going to come on here now and leave me comments saying that exercising before breakfast burns muscle mass. That’s fine. You can leave those comments but I have to tell you that your view is only half correct; you are only getting half the story.

If your goal is fast weight loss the best time to exercise is when your body is low on available fuel. It is during this time that your body taps into its fat stores to get some much needed energy.

Secondly, you need to exercise after your last meal. Why? Because all of your dinner calories go straight onto your abs because you have no immediate use for the energy. Training after dinner combats this.

Back to the crying bodybuilders. Here is why I argue that intense training before breakfast is good. It burns more fat and it doesn’t burn a lot of muscle. When you are lean your muscles look twice as big. This leaves you with a much fitter, healthier and better looking body.

In my experience the best my body ever looked is when I was doing intense martial arts training before breakfast every day. I didn’t lose any muscle but I lost a lot of fat. Before you knock this approach you should try it.

NOTE - Some people get light headed when they train before breakfast. I do not. But if you do you should stop straight away. Never try extreme training unless your doctor has given you the “all clear”.

d) Doing something ever single day
Do not be fooled into thinking that fat loss will come easily if you train three times a week. It is important to keep your momentum going because even one day off will get some people back into bad habits. And if you are looking to lose weight fast you can almost guarantee that you have some bad habits - I know I do.

Try to have a few intense sessions every week and then on your “days off” do some light work like walking, abdominal training, stretching, etc. Do something to keep yourself in the training flow. This way it will become a real habit that lasts a lifetime.

3. Realizing that fast fat loss is in the mind

It is important to realize that if you want to lose fat fast you need to master your mind. In particular you need to master:

a) Your cravings
Cravings may feel like they are in your body but in actual fact it is a trick of the mind. You need to realize that you are in control of your mind. Beat it.

b) Your discipline
Your training is up to you. Your well thought out meals are up to you. Do not rely on anyone else to do anything for you - take control of your discipline and work hard. This is how results come.

Conclusion on Losing Fat Fast

This is all you need to lose fat fast. You do not need some fancy program or special diet drink. It is about getting healthy, not getting thin.

When it comes to losing weight women are always after something new. It is understandable. Women are under pressure from so many different areas of their life to lose weight and there is only so much time you can spend on the damn treadmill! In this post we will take a look at why every woman should do kickboxing.

What is kickboxing?

Kickboxing is a martial art that originated in Thailand. It is traditionally called Muay Thai but once it made its way to America it took on many new names and changed the way it operated. We now have kickboxing that is based on cardio workouts instead of being centered on fighting. However, it is important to remember that kickboxing is a traditional Thai martial art. Heritage is important.

Why should women do kickboxing?

The reason all women should do kickboxing is twofold:

1. It is one of the best weight loss exercises on the planet; and
2. You get a really good grounding in self defense.

Lets take a look at both of these aspects.

Kickboxing for weight loss

As I mentioned, kickboxing is one of the best weight loss exercises on the planet. The workouts are brutal and they make you work every muscle in your body.

For example, a typical kickboxing session might involve some light stretches and then a bit of a warm up. You will then head over to the heavy bag and work on your round house kicks and punches. After that you might do some abdominal work or some other form of stregth training. Then you might get into the ring and have a spar (practice fight) with another student.

Each movement in kickboxing uses your entire body. You might think that a kick only uses the legs but you would be wrong. A kick, when done correctly, uses your entire body to swing that kick into your opponent as hard as possible. And this makes it an excellent weight loss exercise as it takes so much energy to perform.

Kickboxing for self defense

The second great thing about kickboxing is that you learn how to defend yourself while you are getting fit and burning calories. This is important as many women live in fear of some sort of attack.

Kickboxing is a very practical method of defending yourself. After only a few weeks you will feel much more able to fight off your attacker. And the excellent thing about kickboxing is that you are practicing your moves right from the beginning. Many martial arts will make you practice kata or forms for years before you ever actually get to hit a bag or a person but in kickboxing you will be practice fighting from day one. This means that you will not be as afraid to get hit in a fight and you will know exactly how to land a hit yourself!

Conclusion on women’s kickboxing

At my local kickboxing gym there is at least one woman for every man that trains. Do not feel out of place. Kickboxing is as much for women as it is for men. Go down for a free trial lesson and see how you feel afterwards. It might be the best thing you have ever done for your waistline.

Hiking seems like a very obscure weight loss exercise. But I have an idea. In this article I will share with you how you can use hiking as an effective way to burn fat and build up your own fitness levels.

How I discovered hiking for weight loss and fitness

The photo above is of my best mate and our friend hiking in the foothills of the Himalayas. We went on a trip to Dharamsala (India) and our friend took us on a day long hike to a local mountain which has a very popular “base camp”. This base camp takes about six hours to get to and has an amazing view of the next valley which is completely isolated and untouched. It is one of the most serene places I have ever been.

The View
You can see that the difficult hike was worth it. The crisp mountain air and the view from the roof of the world is second to none.

As I said the hike up to the top took about six hours. It was hard. It was rocky. And it was very steep. After all, it is the base of the Himalayas.

Coming back down
In my excitement, however, I forgot to bring to mind the fact that once I reached the top I would have to come back down again. And unless we wanted to be walking in the bandit infested hills of India we would have to get back before it got dark. That means we would have to move fast.

And if you think going up is hard, wait til you have to go down!

I distinctly remember making it back down to town and the three of us flopping into the nearest internet cafe to upload photos of the hike for our family back home in Australia. I have spent years doing martial arts, boxing, fighting, soccer and bodybuilding but I have never felt as sore as I did in that cafe. My legs were aching and stinging, my back was pulsating and my arms were dead from carrying the pack. I was exhausted.

And this was when I discovered that hiking would be excellent for all my overweight friends back home!

How to use hiking to lose weight

The little idea I mentioned at the start of this article is to go hiking once a week for a month. Pick a spot near your town and drive out there on your day off. Take a friend, take some supplies and take a map so you don’t get lost. Plan to hike so that you get at least 4 to 6 hours of solid walking. This is hard but it is important.

Once you have experimented with a month of weekly hiking you will start to see the benefits. Your legs and back will be stronger and the added muscle will have helped you burn some extra fat. Being out in the sun and the fresh air also has many health benefits including:

• Increased levels of Vitamin D
• Combat depression
• Increased levels of energy
• Better circulation of blood and internal energy
• Etc.

Your body will also become more toned. This is a by-product of burning fat and adding small amounts of muscle.

Once you have been doing this type of hiking for a while you should increase the length of your hike or start going to a more difficult track. You could also start to carry heavier loads on your back or find some other way to make the workout more intense.

Conclusion on hiking

Hiking may not sound like your cup of tea but I can guarantee that you will get some benefit from it. All athletes, whatever sport or fitness level, will gain some mental, physical or spiritual benefit from going on a nice day long hike. Try it out!

Has anyone else had any experiences hiking?

Eating at work is often where a lot of weight gain happens. It is a stressful environment and people cope by eating food. If you follow these simple workplace weight loss hacks then you will be better able to manage your long term weight.

14 Workplace Weight Loss Hacks

These hacks are some things you can do at your work to make sure you are sabotaging your weight loss goals. They are simple techniques that everyone can learn.

1. Bring your lunch to work
You don’t have to eat out everyday. It is expensive and the foods you buy are usually pretty bad for your waist line. If you bring lunch to work it is normally more healthy - a salad or sandwhich.

2. Keep water at your desk
Keep a bottle of water on your desk at all times. Sip it often. This cleanses your organs and keeps you feeling fuller during the day.

3. Keep nuts at your desk
Snacking on some mixed, unsalted nuts is good for weight loss. The proteins and vitamins in nuts are very important and will help you on your weight loss journey.

4. Use the stairs - no, really.
We all know this tip but we never use it. You should start using the stairs whenever you can. You don’t have to walk all the way from the bottom to the top but walking a few levels would be really beneficial. It builds leg muscles and works out those lungs. It will help you keep that lunch from converting into fat stores.

5. Cut the sugar at tea time
People at my office have anywhere from two to ten teas and coffees per day. If you have a teaspoon of sugar each time it will soon add up. It might not seem like much but it will soon hit you when you can’t fit into your work uniform.

6. Ride your bike
Saving the environment at the same time as losing weight. Riding to work is a fantastic option for anyone who wants to quickly lose weight. There is a woman at my work who started riding to work everyday. She didn’t change her diet at all but in two short weeks she has lost so much weight. She looks amazing! And it is exercise without actually calling it exercise. She just goes to and from work each day. Simple.

7. Compete with your work partner
If your wife is getting sick of your belly and your work mate is complaining of the same thing then set up a competition. Me and my partner go to the gym at lunch time and are in a little friendly competition to see who has the biggest arms at the end of the year (I’m winning!). It is great because you get the support and encouragement from someone who is with you most of the day. Don’t be shy to explore this one - someone will be thrilled by the idea.

8. Replace normal tea and coffee with Green Tea
Green Tea has many weight loss benefits as well as keeping you healthy and fighting cancers. Green Tea will soon be very popular around the world as one of the healthiest things you can consume. It speeds up your metabolism and will keep you alert all day. Drink it. Japanese and Chinese leaves are the best.

9. Get management to buy a gym
This might sound a little silly but I know of at least two small firms where this was successful. The employees of an accounting firm went to management with statistics showing how exercise during work hours increased productivity and morale. Within a month the management committee had purchased a large amount of gym equipment which was placed in an empty office in the firm’s building. The purchase was tax deductible so the boss didn’t mind. Try this one out in your office - most of the time the boss will be as keen to get a gym as you!

10. Walk to lunch
Do you catch a taxi to lunch? Perhaps you catch the tram or the city free bus? Do you drive? Forget all this and walk. Walking burns calories and gets you out in the sun which helps keep you happy and well.

11. Organize a work sports competition
My old work had sports competitions coming out of its ears! People spent so much time talking about the sporting ladders that we hardly did any work. There was tennis, squash, bowling, indoor soccer and golf. Not to mention the end of year paintball trip that was the talk of the town. Something about being able to legally shoot your boss and not kill him really appeals to everyone in the office! Organizing a office-wide sporting competition is a great way to get active and get everyone involved.

12. Sit on an exercise ball
I have mentioned this one before but sitting on an exercise ball is good for your back, neck and eyes. You can also drop back at any time and do a few crunches which is good for your heart as well as helps to develop that six pack. Again, go to management and tell them how it is beneficial for the staff as well as help them to avoid any back injury complaints and they might buy it for you!

I have done a review of a good cheap exercise ball here.

13. Have a protein shake at 4pm
If you have an extra meal at about 4pm you will speed up your metabolism. Try not to have a huge lunch and instead get some more food into you at afternoon tea time. Eating small meals more often is one of the best ways to boost your fat loss progress.

14. Keep a gripper at your desk
A forearms gripper isn’t going to burn a lot of calories but at least you can work on developing some nice forearms while you are talking on the phone or closing some deal. It is also fantastic for getting rid of some stress. I have a Captains of Crush Gripper at my computer desk; they are the best.

Conclusion
These are just some ideas you can take to work with you. Try to make your weight loss exertions last all through the week and not only when you feel like it. This way progress will come much faster and with better results.

However, most people don’t know how to do it.

Want firm arms? Here’s how to tone up!

It seems to me that a lot of people are going after toned arms in a really poor fashion. For example, there is the old myth that low weight and high reps somehow magically tones your muscles so that they appear firmer and with greater definition.

Not true.

You see muscle toning is all about losing the fat that is covering the muscles. It is not about toning the muscles themselves but about burning the adipose cells that are stopping your muscles from showing their natural tone. You see everyone has toned muscles but not everyone is lean.

So how do I tone my arms?

Now that you know that you need to lose weight to tone your arms you need to do a few things.

1. Weight train to gain muscle
Here is the part where most people get confused. If you want to tone your arms you need to pack on some muscle because the more muscle you have the easier it will be to “tone” them. Once the fat starts to melt away you will have more to “reveal” and this is very important.

Also, weight training increases your metabolism and helps you burn fat a lot faster. So weight training and muscle toning should go together - it just shouldn’t be a “high reps” affair.

2. Eat healthy
If you want to be super toned you need to make sure your diet is super awesome! I am talking about fresh fruit and vegetables and other foods that are not man made. If you get healthy you will get lean and this weight loss is not the kind that only lasts a few weeks.

3. Cardio hard
Start doing cardio workouts that really challenge your body. High intensity is much better for burning fat and it will help get your whole body toned in a much shorter amount of time.

Conclusion on toning your arms

Toning your muscles is not about high reps and low weight. It is about losing the fat that is covering your muscles so that they take on the appearance of being more toned. Don’t let fancy gimmicks fool you. This is the bare essential facts.

This post will look at what toning actually is and how bodybuilders do it.

What exactly is muscle toning?

Firstly people need to know exactly what muscle toning means. Everyone knows what toned muscles LOOK like but do you actually know what has to happen for a muscle to become toned?

A toned muscle is simply a muscle that does not have much fat covering it. When the fat is burned off of the body the natural shape and definition of the muscles can show through and this is called tone.

This means that to tone your muscles you need to lose the fat that is covering them. Toning your muscles is NOT about doing light weights in attempts to change the actual muscle. It is not the muscle itself that changes, it is the fat on top of it.

Bruce Lee was one of the most defined and toned bodies in history. Why? Because he had almost 0% bodyfat.

How do bodybuilders tone their muscles? By dieting.

Of all the people in the world it is the pro bodybuilders that have the most toned muscles. Their careers depend on it. They could have the biggest arms in the world but if they were fat and soft the judges would not be too impressed.

This means they have to divide their time between building huge muscles and making them look toned and defined. It is a delicate balance that takes a lot of skill and practice.

However, you could ask any bodybuilder on this planet what the most important aspect of muscles toning is and they would tell you diet. Your diet will make or break you. You could weight train six days a week, do all the cardio in the world but if your diet is poor your body will never be as toned as it could be.

Conclusion

If your muscles aren’t as toned as you would like the first thing you should look at is your diet. Are you getting enough protein? Are you eating too many carbs? When you address these things the rest will fall into place and your training will be more productive.

5 weight loss principles you probably forgot

Refresh your memory with these important principles.

1. Sugar will make you fat
Refined sugar is enemy number one when it comes to losing weight. This means that any food that contains a lot of sugar should be banned from your diet. It is unhealthy and not needed.

High sugar foods are usually low in nutritional content and as such you are consuming a lot of calories but getting very little health benefits. It fills you up and then you don’t eat the healthy stuff later. This is why sugar is dangerous.

2. Exercising before breakfast burns more fat
Many health experts disagree with this principle but the fact remains; if you exercise before breakfast you are going to burn more fat. The reason for this is simply because your body doesn’t have any available energy in your system from the days food and drink so it needs to tap into the fat stores.

However, if your are interested in gaining muscle this principle might interfere with your goals. Muscle can also be broken down during periods of long cardiovascular exercise and as such you might find you are losing both fat and muscle mass.

3. Weight training DOES help with weight loss
Many sites on the internet tell you to replace some of your weight training sessions with cardio when you want to lose weight. While this might help somewhat I think you need a balance of both because, despite popular belief, weight training is a very effective fat burner.

Weight training increases one’s metabolism which stops you from converting daily calories as fat. Also, any muscle mass you have will act as a fat burner meaning the more muscle you pack on the less fat you will store. This makes weights a very valuable weight loss tool.

4. High intensity cardio is better than low intensity cardio
This principle always gets me into trouble. Weight loss experts love to tell you that low intensity walks and jogs are the best way to burn fat. Bull! It is absolute rubbish.

High intensity cardio is by far superior to low intensity when trying to lose weight. It takes less time to do, burns more calories overall and keep your metabolism and heart rate up for longer after the session finishes. It is also a very anabolic style of working out meaning it will build muscle too. Have you ever seen a boxer or an Australian Rules Footballer that wasn’t cut and ripped? No. Me either. They train with very high intensity weights and cardio workouts and their defined bodies are a result.

5. Diet is the most important weight loss factor
Whether you lose weight or not depends more on your diet than anything else. I always love to give the example of the can of Coke. One can of Coke will take you about 20 minutes on the treadmill to burn off. If you remove that can of Coke from your diet it means that 20 minutes can go to burning other calories that you have consumed.

Keeping your diet clean is the best way to lose fat and stop yourself from putting it back on. It makes your exercise more productive and keeps you healthy and well.

The full series is Part I, Part II and PART III.

Does your budget stop you from getting a gym membership? Are you trying to build muscle size and strength in your backyard shed?

If you answered “yes” then this is the series for you.

This series is going to take a look at how you can train in your backyard shed and still achieve amazing strength, power and muscle growth. We are going to look at the best exercises, the best techniques and some lesser known cheats for working out home. The workouts are brutal but the results are worth it.

This post is going to be an introduction/basics post for the aspiring backyard shed trainer.

Background to the Brutal Backyard Shed Workouts for Low Budgets Series

All throughout high school and up into my early university days I trained in a stinking car shed. In the summer it was hot and in the winter it was freezing. I had a bench press that collapsed more than once and a few rusty dumbbells that cut me when I let them slide in my hands.

It was great!

I know it sounds awful but the feeling of going out into my shed and training like and old-school boxer really got me going. Still to this day I can say most of my best workouts were while I was pumping iron out in that stinking little car shed.

The problem with training at home, however, was that I was short on equipment. I didn’t have a lot of money to spend. Two things I wasn’t short on though were inventiveness and dilligence. I created many workouts that I could do with little or no equipment that could rival any gym workout. And using them I got fitter, stronger and bigger than any of my friends who were up in their air conditioned gym.

This series is for all those people out there who are working out at home with the bare minimum but still want to get serious results. I will show you some techniques and exercises I used in my backyard shed to do the very same.

The Mind of the Backyard Shed Trainer

When you work out at home you need to have a certain mental attitude that is going to get you through the hard times. You don’t have anyone around you to get you inspired. You don’t have a personal trainer to egg you on. Your equipment isn’t smooth and polished.

It is just you and your shed full of crud iron.

If you go out in the backyard shed all depressed and sad about your situation you are never going to make any results. You need to hit you workouts like Rocky the gym - he had only one thing on his mind - the result. He didn’t care that two kids punched his stomach while he did situps. He didn’t care that his gym had rats and cockroaches. He just trained because he wanted to beat that Apollo!

You need to be like Rocky. Make the most of your scenario and don’t go out into that shed unless you are going to give it everything you got. There is no one else around to pick you up.

What Equipment Your Backyard Shed Needs

Now my backyard shed did not have much but it did have a few things. I worked with what I had and made the most of it and I am going to encourage you to do the same. However, without a few basic pieces of equipment training is going to be very hard.

Some basics you need include:

- Some dumbbells
There is a lot you can do with just your body weight alone but without a few dumbbells you are really making things hard for yourself. Even if you just pick up one 15 kilo dumbbell from someones hard rubbish collection you are going to be able to make your workout that much better. If you don’t have any and really can’t find any, don’t panic.

- A chin up bar
This is an absolute must. A lot of the muscle gains you make are going to be based around that bar. It doesn’t have to be a bar though. In high school I used a branch on a fig tree at my dad’s house! It wasn’t perfect (or straight) but it did the job. Don’t be picky.

- A barbell or equivalent
Getting a barbell with some weight discs is a great asset. However, if you can’t manage that try to cook up a safe alternative like a heavy steel bar with some buckets filled with sand on the end. Something long and heavy (like a barbell) will really assist your muscle growth.

- Some random heavy things
Make sure you have a few heavy things handy. They should be of a variety of weights. I have a few different weighted medicine balls, an empty beer keg, a sack full of sand and some other things like that. This will come in handy but again are not essential.

Other than this all you need are your arms, legs and a floor to stand on.

Coming up in this series…

The future posts in this series will be looking at all the different ways you can train at home and still achieve amazing size and strength. There are going to be well-known exercises, lesser known exercises and some that are going to make you think I am crazy.

Remember, the series is called BRUTAL backyard shed workouts.

So your on a weight loss kick but you are not losing much weight. Evil calories are everywhere and you are struggling to beat them. When every calorie matters try implementing a few of these ways to reduce those evil calories.

(I apologize in advance to all the sensitive religious people this post offends)

8 Ways to Reduce Your Daily Evil Calorie Intake

These 8 tips are not hard to do. It will take a little bit of guts in some cases but most of you should find them pretty simple.

8. Don’t break bread
Many people have a sandwich at lunch time and a bit of bread with dinner. Get rid of it. Take all the vegetables and meats and cheeses out of the bread and throw it into a bowl. Now it is a salad! There goes a days worth of carbs and a truck load of sugar and bleech that most commercial bread companies use.

7. Make a plan and treat it like a diet bible
A good idea is to make a daily or weekly plan and do all your shopping in advance. Write out everything you are going to eat for the day and stick to it like it is your diet bible. If you plan well this is a good way to avoid snacks and cut out excess calories.

6. Have a second serve of saintly vegetables
If you have a meal full of vegetables it is a good idea to go back for seconds. These saintly foods keep you full and are full of goodies like fiber, vitamins and minerals. It is okay to fill up on these because they are calories that come with benefits. It will also stop you from snacking later.

5. Shop after a meal
When you go to the shop on an empty stomach it is just like inviting evil calorie rich foods into your home. Go out for a healthy meal first and then go to the shop. I guarantee it will protect you from the evils of chocolate bars and packets of chips. It is like holy water to a vampire.

4. Banaish evil salad dressings
Salad dressings are essentially like adding some sugar to your carrot. If you are on a weight loss diet you are probably eating a lot of nice salads with some delicious salad dressing on top. Bad idea. Most commercially made salad dressings are full of added sugar. Try replacing them with lemon, olive oil, chilli or some other homemade solution.

3. Walk more
The more exercise you can do the better. Every little bit helps. If you walk to the shops instead of driving you burn off a couple of hundred calories. Carrying the bags works your arms out and helps keep your metabolism firing.

2. Low fat is where the devil lives
Low fat products are often full of added sugar. Think about it. That market the product as being healthy and low in fat and then people think it is good for their waistline. Shame. While it might be low in fat it sure as hell ain’t good for your waistline. Many low fat foods are sky high in sugar. Be careful what you eat.

1. Swap Coke for holy water
This is the most important thing you can do if you want to cut out some unneccesary calories from your day. It takes about 30 minutes on the treadmill to burn off a single can of Coke. Cut it out and make your job a whole lot easier. Water keeps you healthy and never adds any calories to your diet.