Bodylastics Resistance Bands System

The Good:  Bodylastics exercise bands are a great way to get into shape and offers a wide variety of exercises (over 140).  Even if you just prefer weight lifting for whatever reason, these are still light and easy to carry around (in a bag about the size of a big purse), making them perfect for taking on vacation.  The cost is very low for the quality you are receiving.  These bands are the best I have seen.  The hooks on the end of them (for changing out handles) are far superior to most and the bands themselves have anti-snap technology making them safe even after lots of use.  You really can’t go wrong with these.

The Bad:  I don’t really have much to say here.  My only real complaint is leg exercises are a little more set up and may be a bit clumsy.  There are still plenty of leg exercises, but for someone wanting to do heavy squats these are not for you.

Final Thoughts:  These are great for men or women, because you can adjust how much weight you use, one set of these bands can be used by the whole family.  The cost is less than $100 and for the variety of exercises you can do, you just can’t go wrong here.  The quality is beyond compare and these hold up to massive use.  These take up almost no space (unlike weight machines) and are much safer than heavyweights because you can’t drop them on yourself or lose control of it.  I highly recommend bodylastics exercise bands.

New Workout Program: Day 4

If you haven’t read Day 3 yet, you can find it here:  http://ironfitnessonline.com/?p=166

Resistance Training:

Triceps, Shoulders & Abs


Dips (using the total gym, you can also use a chair)

5 sets, Reps 21/27/19/19/27

Shoulder Press – 3 sets, 8 reps

Crunches

5 sets, reps 24/32/23/23/32

Cardio

My cadio was shadow boxing outside.  Similar to when I was hitting my heavy bag during a previous workout, I also was able to train some techniques and strategies at the same time.  It’s also a nice change of pace.  Down the road I will move up to 5 rounds instead of 3 (5 minutes each round).  I will also start wearing my weighted vest to make it harder.

New Workout Program: Day 3

If you haven’t read Day 2 yet, you can find it here:  http://ironfitnessonline.com/?p=147

Resistance Training:

Legs & Neck

Squats (using a Kettlebell for added resistance)

Reps 22/29/20/21/29

Dead Lift – 3 sets, 12 reps

Neck Bridge – 3 sets, 10 reps (this exercise is for grappling, you can replace it with something else, like lunges or toe raise)

Cardio

My cardio was another day of caveman training.  I did mostly different exercises than the last time but still used a mixture of Kettlebells, running, ground & pound on a heavy bag, punching a standing heavy bag and body weight exercises.  You can do pretty much anything you want to, but you need to keep working for the entire 5 minute round, before taking a 1 minute break and repeating for up to 3 rounds.

New Workout Program: Day 2

If you haven’t read Day 1 yet, you can find it here:  http://ironfitnessonline.com/?p=139

Resistance Training:

Back & Traps

Pull ups (these are done on the total gym, so I am only using about 50% of my body weight, meaning I can do way more than normal).

Reps  12/15/10/10/15/10

Back Row -3 sets, reps 25,20,20 (I will be increasing the weight next time)

Shoulder Shrugs 3 sets, reps 20 (I will be increasing the reps on this exercise as well and will be aiming for the 8-12 range)

Cardio

This cardio routine I will be alternating in with my caveman training.  I did 3 rounds of 5 minutes each, working various combinations and strategies on my heavy bag.  I love this training because it not only gets you into shape, but it’s very sport specific and develops punching power and technique.  This almost doesn’t even feel like exercise as it goes by so quickly.  My goal will be to work up to 5 rounds.

I also had a 10 minute stretching session in between my resistance training and cardio.

New Workout Program: Day 1

I just got back from vacation yesterday.  After taking a week off and resting up, I am ready to get back to it but I am pretty burnt out on my previous program so I changed everything up today.  I’ll be posting my new workouts each day I do them for anyone who also wants to try it.

My slow weightlifting cycle is over.  Now I am going back to regular speed and cutting my exercises way down.  I just don’t feel much like lifting weights right now so I am sticking with a short, simple program.  But just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s easy.  Each week I will increase my reps or weight.  This is merely the beginning.  Today my resistance training looked like this:

Chest & Triceps

Push Ups -5 sets (I used push up handles for an increased range of motion, which makes push ups much harder).

Reps 16/21/15/15/21 (max out)

Bicep Curls -3 sets, 20 reps each (I am going to increase my weight a lot next time, this first workout was just experimenting to see how much I could do)

Hammer Curls -3 sets, 10 reps

That’s it!  It may not sound hard but all of those push ups were pretty rough!  I set a timer to make sure I finished everything in 25 minutes or less.

I enjoyed it.  After lifting weight slowly for the last few months it was nice to move at normal speed again.  I did way more reps this way and it definitely helped cure my boredom.  Not doing as much resistance training helped as well since I was becoming tired of it.

Cardio

I started my new cardio program today as well.  I am doing what is called caveman training.  I am starting with 3 rounds of 5 minutes each (with the goal of doing 5 rounds of 5 minutes each eventually).  You just move from exercise to exercise for the whole 5 minute round without stopping (or doing the best you can to not stop, it’s rough!).

I barely made it through my 3 rounds.  I did a mix of kettlebells, hitting my punching bag, MMA drills, and Ground & Pound on a Heavy Bag for each round.  For an example of what a caveman program can look like just check out this video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcznQd5cu0g

I feel great and it was a nice change of pace.  I also worked in 10 minutes of stretching.  The workout ran for a total of 50 minutes (and once I add two more rounds of caveman training down the road it will take an hour).  Looking forward to the next one!  Let me know how your workouts are going!