Sweating and drinking plenty of water is part of the everyday workout.  Personally, I sweat like a hog and have to drink a ton of water to keep up.  Everyone is different and we all have our own “sweat rates.”  “What’s a sweat rate” you ask?  It’s simply the amount of fluids your body loses per hour while exercising.  Drinking the amount of water to replace the fluids you lose through perspiration is important in maintaining well hydrated.   Here’s how to determine your sweat rate…

1. Weigh yourself before your workout while you’re still fully hydrated.

2. After  your workout, weigh yourself again.  Take the difference of your weight from before your workout and multiply it by 16.  (For example: During my 1-hour workout, I went from 197 pounds at the start to 195 pounds when finished.  So therefore, 197 - 195 = 2 pounds. Multiply by ounces per pound, 2 x 16 = 32 ounces.)

3. Add the number of ounces of liquid you drank during your workout to find the total amount of fluid your body lose during exercise.  (I drank 16 ounces during my workout so 32 + 16 = 48 ounces.)

4. Divide your total number of ounces by the number of hours you exercised to get your sweat rate.  (I worked out for 1 hour and 30 minutes so  48 / 1.5 = 32 ounces per hour.)

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According to Matt Twight, the man who founded Gym Jones and helped trained the Hollywood stars, “300″ was actually a one-time test, an invitation taken only by those who dared. Half of the cast and crew completed this challenge where every set was supervised, each rep counted and evaluated for quality.

“300″
25x Pull-up +
50x Deadlift @ 135# +
50x Push-up +
50x Box Jump @ 24” box +
50x Floor Wiper @ 135# (one-count) +
50x KB Clean and Press @ 36# (KB must touch floor between reps) +
25x Pull-up
300 reps total

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I’ve finally found the cardio exercise that I actually enjoy doing!  I got on the elliptical machine last week after my coworker told me it was part of his workout routine that helped him lose 25 pounds in a month.  So I tried it and it was painless.  I used to think “no pain no gain” and run on the treadmill while enduring the leg pains and muscle cramps.  But with the elliptical machine I can run for 45 minutes without any real discomfort and still sweat like a hog.  So far there hasn’t been a day at the gym where I didn’t spend at least 30 minutes on this lovely machine.

Reasons why I love the elliptical:

1. It’s true, it’s much easier on your knees
2. If you look around the room to check out the opposite sex while you’re running, you won’t fall off and look like an idiot
3. You can watch TV or read with minimal distortion because there’s less bouncing up and down
4. The elliptical motion is more enjoyable than pounding your feet on the treadmill

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I found an interesting short article from Men’s Fitness that helps you to increase your one-rep-max lift.  It involves tricking your brain into thinking that you’re not lifting that much weight.

HERE’S WHAT YOU DO

After your warm-up sets, leave the weight you’ve been using on the bar. To get up to the amount you’ll need for a new one-rep-maximum lift, pile on the smaller plates that are available in the gym (the 35-, 25-, 10-, and five-pounders). Even though it would be more economical to slide on the standard 45-pound plates, make up the difference with those little plates. Don’t count up the pounds as you add weight–just estimate. Now lift–it may take a few attempts before you find your new max, but afterward, tally up the total number of pounds. We bet you’ll have gotten 5%-10% more weight on your last attempt than you planned.

HERE’S WHY

The nervous system controls your muscles but it also relays sensory information from the eyes to the brain, which controls perception and, in turn, performance. Take away that visual stimulus — in this case, by loading plates on that don’t look heavy — and you change your whole perception of the lift. Even though you know full well that the bar is heavy, your nervous system won’t make the same connection, and you’ll lift with more confidence. This allows your body to focus more on recruiting muscle fibers and less on how much weight is on the bar.

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(Intermediate - Back)

1. Drape a towel over each handgrip of a lat-pulldown bar. Sit on the bench and grab the ends of each towel so that your palms are facing each other.
2. Moving only your arms, pull the bar down below your chin by squeezing your shoulder blades together.
3. Pause, then slowly return to the starting position.

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