Fitness Blog - Fitness Reviews

I just finished reading a great book and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for some entertaining stories, a ton of solid training tips and some great insight from a man who has many years under the bar.  The book is called “Never Let Go” by Dan John, who is a highly respected strength and conditioning coach with over 30 years experience in lifting, throwing and dragging very heavy objects!

Dan John started writing articles for T-Nation magazine, a fantastic strength and conditioning resource website.  After a few years he decided to put all the articles together and publish a book.  The stories are all very personal and range from his life experiences, to different training programs, to funny observations he's made over the years.  He is a very honest writer and completely opens up about his life and the successes and failures he’s had on his strength and conditioning journey.

I really like that Dan John talks like a normal human being and never tries to sound smarter than he needs to.  I also really like the message of his book.  Nothing comes easy.  In life or in the gym.  If you want real, long lasting results in the gym you have to work hard and lift heavy!  If you want to become successful in life, you need to work hard and stay focused on your goals!  

I’ve read almost all of Dan John’s articles and have enjoyed every single one of them.  I especially like the articles that include training programs.  I’d like to share one of my favourite's that left me sore for a few days!

The Litvinov Workout:

Front Squats (bodyweight or higher) x 5-8 reps immediately followed by a 200M run. Take a few minutes rest between each set. Repeat 3-5 times.

My buddy Jordy and I are gong to try this workout with a sled drag this Summer.  It’s called "Litvisleds" and apparently makes the workout so much harder!  I’m excited to try it out and I’ll be sure to post to comments after to let you know how it goes!

I took my GymBoss Interval Timer with us when we went to Thailand this year because I wasn't sure if we’d find a gym on some of the smaller islands we stayed on. I’m glad I did because the closest thing I found to a training facility was a couple heavy bags hanging outside an abandoned building and a rusty old bench with a home made barbell that had cement blocks on each end. 

We didn’t train a lot while we were gone, usually every 3 or 4 days. And it was so hot there that the workouts only lasted about 15 minutes. We kept the workouts short and intense and I used the GymBoss for every single one. It’s such an awesome timer. It’s small, easy to use, it allows you to program multiple timed circuits and intervals and also functions as a stop watch. 

My favorite workout that we did while away was a Tabata style workout consisting of squats and push-ups. We did 10 rounds, alternating between the two exercises, doing 20 seconds of intense work followed by 10 seconds of rest. We finished that workout with 50 double leg drops. It might not sound like a lot but I was absolutely drenched when we finished. It’s pretty amazing how much volume you can do in a short amount of time!

I’m back in the gym training full time again and using the GymBoss Interval Timer every day. I use it with all of my clients and during my own training sessions. It’s one of the things that NEVER leaves my gym bag and I would definitely recommend it to any one looking for a handy, new interval timer!

I came across an ad on Facebook a couple months ago for a company that makes palm grips designed to protect your hands from tearing, ripping or developing ugly calluses while working out.

The company's called GriPad and I sent them an email and asked if they'd be interested in sending me a pair so I could try them out. My hands have always been pretty rough and I've had calluses since I was a kid so wasn't too concerned about the protection they offered but thought the grips might help me make some gains on a few exercises like weighted pull-ups, barbell deadlift and bent over row.

I've had the grips for a few weeks now and have tried them out about a half a dozen times with a few different exercises. For me, they work really well for low rep, weighted pull-ups, lat-pull down, bent over dumbbell row and seated cable row. They give me a much stronger grip on the bar and allow me to focus more on the muscles I'm working (lats, rhomboids, rear delts) rather than thinking about my grip.

The two exercises they didn't really help me with though were high rep pull-ups and the barbell deadlift. With the high rep pull-ups, the Gripads helped to save my hands from tearing but once I started to fatigue, I had trouble re-gripping the bar. If I didn't have the grips on I could have re-adjusted my hand position on the bar and squeaked out a few more reps. With the barbell deadlift, I wasn't able to get a good enough hook grip on the bar with the Gripads on, I still prefer just using chalk.

All in all I think the Gripads would be an excellent addition to any gym bag!  I used mine yesterday during my workout, I've been using them with several of my clients and I've had a few other trainers in the gym ask to borrow as well. The grips are relatively inexpensive, I think about $15 a piece, and come in a wide variety of colors!