How to Add Running to Your Workouts

Trail running in the Swiss Alps

Making the best, fastest progress towards your fitness goals requires that you be doing some kind of exercise / training / physical activity most – if not EVERY – day of the week.

Working out two or three times per week is of course WAY better than not working out at all … and you CAN make some progress with this type of schedule … but you will be able to get MUCH fitter, MUCH faster, and stay there, training and being active five, six, or seven days per week.

That being said, an easy, effective, time-efficient way to be more active, more often is to add running to your workouts.

Let’s take a person that is doing three boot camp – style workouts per week as an example. And let’s assume that this person is working towards losing some body fat, gaining some lean muscle, and just improving their overall fitness level.

So this person might do their boot camp workout on Monday / Wednesday / Friday … and do a short, 20-30 minute interval run on Tues / Thurs – like this:

###

(run/walk interval workout 1)

— 5 min walk to warm up warm up
— 2 mins jog/run (as fast a pace as you can maintain for 2 mins)
— 1 min walk (recovery)
— repeat interval 5 times total
— 5 min walk to cool down

OR

(run/walk interval workout 2)

— 5 min walk to warm up warm up
— 30 seconds run (shorter interval, so faster pace than the example workout above!)
— 30 seconds walk (recovery)
— repeat interval 10 times total
— 5 min walk to cool down

###

Then on Saturday, they might go on a long walk or bike ride or hike etc … and there they have six days per week of exercise!

Get started on this basic plan to start being more active, training more frequently and getting better, faster results in your fitness program by adding running to your workouts today.

Train hard, and talk soon –

– Forest Vance
Owner, FVT Boot Camp and Personal Training

PS – At the upcoming FVT Ultimate Challenge Workout, we have a 5k around the Land Park area as part of the event … so you’ll NEED to add running into your workout mix to help you get ready.

And I know for a lot of folks – myself included – physical challenges like this, and the training involved to get ready, is a GREAT way to give yourself a bit of extra motivation to get in shape, and be more consistent with the workouts.

Click the link below to register now – the “Early Bird” discount ends soon, so be sure to sign up ASAP to get in at the best rate:

=> August 1st, 2015 FVT Ultimate Challenge Workout

The Hanging Leg Raise – a 4 Step Progression

*Preparations for the August 1st FVT Ultimate Challenge Workout officially start TODAY – get more info and reserve your spot now by clicking HERE*

The hanging leg raise is one of my favorite ab exercises. It works all the muscles of your midsection, and even your lats.

But it’s also relatively challenging. It takes a good amount of ab strength, as well as flexibility, to perform properly.

So I wanted to break down the movement for you into a four step progression.

If you’re doing the exercise in a workout for, say, a timed 30 second set, you want to be able to do the full set, with solid form, at step 1 before you move on to step 2.

Continue trying to work to the next step over time – from workout to workout, and week to week … and before you know it, you’ll be cranking out multiple reps of the hanging leg raise!

 

The Hanging Leg Raise – a 4 Step Progression

Step 1 – Grab the bar and hang

1

This is the basic version if you’re just getting going.

Try to get your body tight – to what we call our “hollow body” position. You don’t want to just be hanging there loose and limp.

Abs should be braced, lower body is tight, upper body is tight, and you’re cranking down on the bar with your grip.

Once you can hold that for a solid 30 seconds, it’s time to move on to …

Step 2 – Hanging knee raise

2

Starting from the same position, you’ll bring your knees up towards your chest, and get them as high as you can.

Think about using your ab muscles to do the movement. Also think about using your upper body – your lats – to “press down” on the bar and assist, WITHOUT bending your arms.

Step 3 – Knees to elbows

3

Same idea as the hanging knee raise, but now you’ll just end up bringing your knees all the way up and touching your elbows.

You’ll be extending the range of motion, and the exercise will be more challenging.

Step 4 – Straight leg raise

4

For the last step in the progression, you’re going to straighten your legs completely and touch your toes to the bar at the top of the move.

As you learn the move and perfect it, a bit of momentum is okay … but you want to work to where you can do it slowly, under control, and using zero swinging etc to get your legs up to the bar.

 

The hanging leg raise is a great ab exercise. It works all the muscles of your midsection, and even your lats.

But it’s also relatively challenging. It takes a good amount of ab strength, as well as flexibility.

Work through the four step progression outlined in today’s article, and you’ll be a master of the movement in no time!

Thanks, train hard, and talk soon –

– Forest

PS – Preparations for the August 1st FVT Ultimate Challenge Workout officially start TODAY – get more info and reserve your spot now by clicking HERE

FVT Ultimate Challenge Workout is LIVE!

Okay – registration for the FVT Ultimate Challenge Workout is LIVE!

This is going to be a LOT of fun … and we’re going to help a local charity in the process, which makes it even more awesome.

Click HERE to get all the details and reserve your spot now … and if you’re interested, make sure to do it quick, as the sooner you sign up, the sooner you can start training (the event is only 6 weeks away!) …

Thanks –

– Forest Vance
Owner, FVT Boot Camp and Personal Training

PS – We’re SUPER excited about the upcoming FVT Ultimate Challenge Workout!

FVT Ultimate Challenge Workout

feb 2015 FVT

We have a charity event on the FVT calendar scheduled for the next month or so …

And with the success of the Ultimate Challenge Workout we did at the beginning of 2015 … as well as the fun we had last weekend as a team at the Tough Mudder event in Lake Tahoe, and all the excitement it’s generated in the community …

We are throwing around the idea of doing another FVT Ultimate Challenge Workout!

This time though, we’d take it to the next level, and raise funds for charity in the process.

Details on the January 2015 Ultimate Challenge Workout we put together, to give an idea of what it’s all about (registration is NOT open at this time – just check out the page below to get more info on the event):

=> January 2015 FVT Ultimate Challenge Workout info page

Tentative date for the Challenge would be Saturday, August 1st … it’d be a great way to stay on track with your workouts during the lazy summer months, and raise funds for a great cause in the process.

So – if you’re interested, hit reply to this message and let me know, okay?

If we get enough initial interest, we’ll get moving on organizing things, and open up registration asap!

Thanks –

– Forest Vance
Owner, FVT Boot Camp and Personal Training

 

 

[video] How to Fix Kettlebell Lower Back Pain

Okay, check this out – it’s one of my most popular, most commented on YouTube videos:

It covers a common KB swing mistake that’s a big cause of lower back pain … and how to fix it, quickly and easily.

See, the swing is NOT an exercise for the lower back. Done correctly, you should feel it in your glutes, hamstrings, and lats / muscles in the MIDDLE of the back …

But lower back pain is actually a sign that you’re doing something WRONG when performing the movement.

So check out the video, and let me know what you think – I hope it helps!

And, if you want to learn more from me about the basics of safe and effective kettlebell training in person, be sure to sign up for the Kettlebell Workshop we have coming up at the FVT Studio on the 27th of June, HERE.

Thanks, train hard, and talk soon –

– Forest Vance
Master of Science, Human Movement
Certified Level 2 Russian Kettlebell Instructor

Team FVT at Tough Mudder! (recap, pics inside)

About 10 weeks ago, we thought it would be fun to spend a Saturday running / hiking about 10 miles … crawling through mud, under barbed wire, and through a tear gas- like substance … climbing over 10+ foot walls … getting electrocuted … jumping into a dumpster filled with ice water … and a few other things …

So we decided to sign up for the Tahoe Tough Mudder 🙂

We’ve been training hard as a group for the last 8 weeks at FVT … and all the preparation paid off! 100% of us kicked butt and finished strong last Saturday.

I am SO proud of each and every member of the FVT Mudder Team who completed the course. It was no joke. And also, a lot of fun!

collage

We’ll organize more events / runs / challenges in the near future at FVT for sure – so if you missed out this time around, keep an eye out for what we got coming up.

Keep training hard, and talk soon!

– Forest Vance
MS, RKC II, PCC
Owner, FVT Boot Camp and Personal Training

Jessica Biel’s Training Secret (pics inside)

Jessica Biel is well known for her beautiful and athletic body. And she always seems to be in amazing shape.

jessica beil workout 1

She’s not one to shy away from an intense workout. And guess what she includes in her training routine?

That’s right – kettlebells.

jessica beil workout 2

Kettlebells are an AMAZING way to exercise that can help you train all of your major muscle groups all at once, burn TONS of fat, and get you a very efficient workouts in an extremely short amount of time.

In fact, a recent study demonstrated that kettlebell movements burn about 20 calories per minute – more than DOUBLE what spinning class will get you!

And that’s one of the big reasons why we are all about kettlebell training at FVT.

The only thing that sometimes holds people back from training with KBs, is learning how to use them properly. Getting some basic technqiues down that will help you learn how to use them safely and effectively can be a challenge.

Well – if YOU are looking to learn how to use kettlebells to get the kind of results Jessica Biel does, but have shyed away from using them in the past, because you wanted to make sure that your form and technique was dialed in first … great news. We have a Kettlebells for Fat Loss Workshop coming up on June 27th at FVT Boot Camp and Personal Training.

At the workshop, you’ll learn all the basics of safe and effective kettlebell training – so that you can start using them right away to burn more fat in less time.

And, you’ll even get a copy of my best-selling kettlebell training course, “Ultimate Kettlebell Challenge Workouts” – which includes over 50 workouts you can do with your kettlebell(s) – FREE when you sign up!

More info at the link below:

=> Kettlebells for Fat Loss Workshop at FVT June 27th

Oh, one more thing – if you want to grab a spot, make sure you do it quick – we’re limiting sign ups to 15, and we only have 9 spots left as I write this email. It’s first-come-first-serve, so to guarantee your spot, don’t delay.

That’s it for today. Train hard, and talk soon –

– Forest Vance
Level 2 Certified Russian Kettlebell Instructor
Owner, FVT Boot Camp and Personal Training

PS – If you are interested in learning how to use kettlebells safely and effectively to reach your fitness goals, but can’t make it to our workshop on the 27th, let us know – as I mentioned at the top of this message, we use KBs as a part of ALL of our workouts at the FVT studio. Contact me HERE to get more info on our programs and to schedule a free Test-a-Trainer session!

Improve Your Kettlebell Clean – 3 Simple Tips

Most folks can pick up / swing a ‘bell into a rack position at the shoulder, and it will resemble something like what we would call a “clean” …

However, to really get the movement DOWN, to make it smooth, efficient, and minimize impact on the forearm etc … is quite tricky. It’s one of the hardest of the basic KB moves to really perfect.

Here are three simple tips to help you improve your kettlebell clean technique:

*We’ll cover HUNDREDS more tips, tricks, and techniques like the ones in this video at my June 27th Kettlebell Workshop – details and grab your spot HERE*

Improve Your Kettlebell Clean – 3 Simple Tips

1 – Think about getting your hand around the ‘bell

Most folks clean the KB up, but when it comes around their hand, it just kind of flops over the top and ends up smacking them in the wrist.

If you can think about getting your hand around the kettlebell instead, it will help you slip your hand around and finish in a nice strong position at the top.

2 – Think about zipping up a jacket

The motion your hand should be making is not unlike zipping up a jacket. Think about this next time you do the exercise, and it will help you keep your hand in the proper position.

3 – Land in the proper rack position

When the kettlebell is racked at the shoulder, this is called the rack position. You should 1) be able to touch your thumb to your collar bone 2) have the KB resting on your upper arm 3) also have the KB resting on your forearm when in the rack.

Give those technique tips a try, practice ’em, and let me know how they go for ‘ya!

And if you found these tips helpful, check out the Kettlebells for Fat Loss Workshop we’re putting on at FVT on June 27th at the link below:

=> June 27th Kettlebell Workshop at FVT

Thanks –

– Forest Vance
Owner, FVT Boot Camp and Personal Training
Level 2 Certified Russian Kettlebell Instructor