Centurion Blog

The filthy 50 bodyweight workouts!

 

A few of my clients have requested a bodyweight workout that can be easily completed at home so with my usual maniacal genius I have written the “filthy 50” workouts.

Each workout consists of 5 exercises which will be performed in a circuit fashion for 10 repetitions. Once you have completed each of the exercises repeat the circuit again for a total of 5 rotations (hence the name filthy 50!)

Upper Body

Wide grip press ups

Dips

Pike press ups

Resistance band rows

Close grip press ups

 

Lower Body

Squats

Lunges

Calf Raises

Hip Extensions

Speed Skaters

 

Cardiovascular

Star jumps

High knees

Heismans

Mountain climbers

Burpees

 

Core (hold for 30 seconds instead of 10 repetitions)

Plank w/ rotation

Side Plank

Crunches

Leg Raises

Supermans

 

I will upload a video of each workout during the coming week but if you have any questions or comments either write them below in the comment section or email me (Josh@centuriontraining.com). Try it out and let me know how you feel afterwards but most of all have fun and get fit!!!

Joshua Mullin – Master Trainer

Welcome to the Centurion Training blog. Our blogs used to consist of our monthly newsletter however we have decided to post fitness information and tips on a daily basis to enhance your fitness knowledge, anyway on with the show!


Reason Number 1...

Long, slow duration cardiovascular exercise elevates cortisol levels within your body. (Cortisol is a hormone released in response to stress. It's primary functions are to increase blood sugar, suppress the immune system and decreases bone formation) Elevated cortisol levels in the body means more fat will be stored around the abdomen and an ever increasing waistline!

Reason Number 2...

Excessive steady state cardio will increase the time spent by your body in a state of catabolism (muscle breakdown for fuel) so hours of steady state cardio will ultimately lead to a decrease in muscle mass which in turn will decrease your metabolic rate!

Reason Number 3...

Steady state cardio on a general level will make you more susceptible to injuries, any movement performed repetitively in the same position will cause excessive wear and tear on the joints and supporting structures. This is especially true for beginners in the gym who are misinformed about their cardiovascular training methods or have poor technique (one example is watching people on treadmills with poor gait).

Reason Number 4...

Long duration cardiovascular exercise can be extremely time consuming for minimal results. Unless you are training for a specific event such as a marathon then you are better off performing short interval workouts such as the ones listed below. Shorter workouts at a higher intensity will help you lose fat faster and improve cardiovascular conditioning in a shorter time than steady state cardio.


Sample Interval Workout

Perform your intervals on four cardiovascular machines using the Tabata training protocol (20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest for a total of 8 rounds). Rest two minutes then move onto the next machine.

You can choose any four exercises that you enjoy and that allow you to train hard over the four minute Tabata rounds.

Ensure you make a note of all the exercise details such as incline, resistance etc so you can track your progress throughout your training regime. Here are my suggestions;

Incline treadmill (either walk, jog or sprint)
Rowing machine
X-Trainer
Spin bike (standing climb position)

Sample Bodyweight Interval Circuit

Press ups
Squats
Inverted rows
Lunges
Pike press ups
Step Ups
Wide grip pull ups

Perform each exercise for thirty seconds and between each exercise listed above perform one bodyweight cardiovascular exercise for thirty seconds. I suggest choosing one of the following;

Burpees
Star jumps
Mountain climbers
Shuttle runs/Suicide Drills (either 30 seconds of shuttle runs or one complete suicide drill)

This only equates to 7 minutes per circuit! Perform the entire circuit 3-4 times and then curse me under your breath!



I hope this post has inspired you to start being fitter, keep your current level of conditioning or just to try something new!
Thank you for reading and feel free to leave a comment!

If you are short on time then interval training can be an effective to maximise calorie burning, cardio conditioning and fat loss in a lunchtime or time crunched workout.

Research in "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise" found that 45 minute bouts of intense exercise such as the workout samples below will increase your metabolc rate (rate at which you burn calories) for more than 14 hours which can burn up to 190 more calories long after you have left the gym!

Another study from the University of Nebraska found that athletes performing 30 second intervals at 90% of max effort last 20% longer than when performing 3 minute intervals even though their heart rates were higher! Basically less lactic acid accumulates in your muscles which means you reduce workout pain whilst still reaping the physique and performance rewards.

Workout  1 - Treadmill
Estimated Calories Burned - 705
Total Time - 43 minutes

1 - 5 minutes ... Warm up
5 - 10 minutes ... 5mph jog
10 - 15 minutes ... 7mph sprint
15 - 20 minutes ... 5mph jog
20 - 23 minutes ... Rest (walk)
23 - 28 minutes ... 8 mph sprint
28 - 33 minutes ... 6 mph jog
33 - 38 minutes ... 7 mph sprint
38 - 43 minutes ... 5 mph jog

Workout 2 - Run Steps or Stepper
Estimated Calories Burned - 643
Total Time - 43 minutes

1 - 5 minutes ... Warm up
5 - 10 minutes ... Step run or stepper
10 - 15 minutes ... Jog
15 - 17 minutes ... Mountain climbers
17 - 19 minutes ... Rest
19 - 24 minutes ... Step run or stepper
24 - 29 minutes ... Jog
29 - 31 minutes ... Mountain climbers
31 - 33 minutes ... Rest
33 - 38 minutes ... Step run or stepper
38 - 43 minutes ... Jog

Workout 3 - Run Steps or Stepper
Estimated Calories Burned - 597
Total Time - 20-25 minutes

5-10 minutes ... Warm up
30 seconds ... Step run or stepper
30 seconds ... Slow walk
30 seconds ... Skip
30 seconds ... Slow walk
30 seconds ... Step ups
1 - 2 minutes ... Rest
30 seconds ... Step run or stepper
30 seconds ... Slow walk
30 seconds ... Skip
30 seconds ... Slow walk
30 seconds ... Step ups
1 - 2 minutes ... Rest
30 seconds ... Step run or stepper
30 seconds ... Slow walk
30 seconds ... Skip
30 seconds ... Slow walk
30 seconds ... Step Ups
1 - 2 minutes ... Rest


I hope that once again my blog has been useful, if you have any questions then please email me on josh@centuriontraining.com and feel free to leave a comment!

Joshua Mullin - Master Trainer

Welcome to the Centurion Training August newsletter ... Grab a chair and a drink and relax for 30 minutes while I blow your mind with some more fitness knowledge!

In this month’s issue I have a delicious healthy recipe for you, a great new exercise for your fitness arsenal and also some of our special offers this month.

Special Offers

This month we are working with Evolution Gym and The Locker Room (Leigh-On-Sea & Southend-On-Sea respectively). We are offering a monthly membership to each gym individually for £25! This is a massive discount on the normal memberships which can be upwards of £45 per month! If you would like to take advantage of this offer then please send an email to Josh@centuriontraining.com with your full name and contact details with the subject line “Gym membership”

Offer number two is open to any newsletter members that have signed up and haven’t yet had their free personal training session or bootcamp training session. If you would like to redeem your session then please email Josh@centuriontraining.com with your full name and contact details with the subject line “Complimentary Session”. We can train you at home, outdoors or in the gym and our Bootcamps are all over Essex.

Recipe of the month

My favourite recipe this month has got to be the easy to make wild salmon fillet dish below.

It’s quite easy to cook and it’s also relatively quick too so it’s perfect for after a workout when your muscles are screaming for replenishment!

This recipe is high in Omega 3’s, Protein and with the accompanying Quinoa and Broccoli full of slow digesting, starchy carbohydrates.

Ingredients

¼ cup of low sodium soy sauce

2 tbsp lime juice

A pinch of garlic powder

¼ tbsp chilli powder

2 tbsp freshly chopped coriander (or ½ tbsp coriander paste)

½ tbsp of natural peanut butter

Instructions

Beat all the ingredients together in a bowl
 
Pour mixture into a sandwich/freezer bag with the wild salmon fillet
 
Let the marinating fillet sit in the fridge for approximately 2-3 hours to settle
 
Pan fry using a little cooking oil until its fully cooked turning only once
 
Serve with steamed broccoli and quinoa 

 

 

 

Exercise of the month

My favourite exercise this month has got be the kettlebell snatch to overhead lunge it has been a staple in most of my conditioning workouts recently as it requires a lot of synergy between body parts and requires strength, power, balance, core stability and cardiovascular fitness.

This exercise can be used as part of a kettlebell/conditioning circuit or as a standalone straight set exercise.

 

Execution of exercise

Start with your feet shoulder width distance apart and keep your knees slightly bent.
 
Perform a high pull movement to break the kettlebells inertia.
 
As the kettlebell reaches waist height, start to squat and try to get lower than the kettlebell.
 
Let the momentum carry the kettlebell upwards and start to roll the wrist outwards as it reaches shoulder level.
 
As the kettlebell rolls around the wrist punch the kettlebell upwards.
 
Once the kettlebell is overhead, take one large step forwards and drop your back knee until it is around one inch above the floor.
 
At the bottom of the lunge position make sure both your knees are at 90 degrees , pause for a second then reverse the process to come back to standing.

 

Train Smart, Train Hard!

Josh Mullin – Director & Head Trainer

Centurion Training

www.centuriontraining.com

Today I started a new circuit training style workout which will be performed 3 days a week and each workout forms the basis of a challenge.

In all 3 workouts the challenge is beating your previous times and anyone else who enters times too!

The workout is as follows;

Perform 10 press ups (chest to floor!)
                10 inverted rows
                10 parallel bar dips
                10 neutral grip chin ups (all the way down and up until your chin goes over the bar!)

Perform all exercises in that order as fast as you can with breaks if necessary. Your timer should start just before you drop down for your first press up and your timer should stop as soon as you finish your chin ups.

After round one rest for 2 minutes and then repeat twice more!

The final part of the challenge is a 1000m sprint on the rower, record your workout from start to finish on video and post to the comment section below.

Have fun and give it everything!

Josh.

Here is the sandbag video I promised! It is quite short but it shows all of the exercises listed and a few more...

I just thought I would update you all on a new fitness tool that I am using and that I highly recommend you all to purchase or at the very least try!

As you may guess I'm talking about sandbags ...

Sandbags have been used for quite some time as a functional training tool and have been proven to be effective at providing an uneven load and a varying workout for even the most hardcore of trainees.

The sandbag workout I have been using is as follows and a video will soon follow;

1) 3 x 5 minute rounds of skipping to warm up (Alternatively use the Centurion Warm Up)

2) Sumo deadlift/high pull

3) Floor clean/uneven press

4) Stiff legged deadlift/bent over rows

5) Moving wide to close press ups

6) Overhead lunges

7) Grappling crunches


For each round you will be using the Tabata method which is 8 rounds of 20 seconds with 10 seconds break in between each round. 

If this is the first time you have trained with sandbags or in a functional manner then start with 1 round of each exercise which will take approximately 54 minutes depending on your rest times.

If you are really up for a challenge then record the amount of repetitions you perform in each 4 minute round. This will allow you to firstly see your overall progression from workout to workout and secondly allow you to see how variable your performance is between bursts or between rounds.

I will upload a video so that you can watch the correct exercise technique as soon as possible.

If you have any questions then please feel free to email josh@centuriontraining.com

Josh Mullin - Head Trainer