New Years Resolutions From A To Z

Here are some A to Z ideas for your 2012 fitness resolution. Pick one or two or do all 26. But this year, for a change, actually do it, and do it consistently.

A

is for Abdominals.
This year, knock it off with all of the upper ab work you get from crunches. Do more lower ab work by doing leg lifts. And get off the ground too. Unless your doing Turkish get-ups, do some more upright core work.

B

is for Back.
That’s back as in your whole rear kinetic chain. What’s that you ask? Your rear kinetic chain is basically everything from your calves to your traps. Your hamstrings, your glutes, your lower back, your spinal erectors (the muscles that line either side of your spinal chord), your lats. Lay off all the focus on the quads and pec work and build a stronger back this year.

C

is for Cut.
As in, cut out all the comfort foods. Eat more whole foods from nutrient dense sources.

D

is for Dips.
Dips can be a great exercise for your triceps or your chest. In fact, when done correctly, dips for your chest (using a wider grip) have been called “the squat of the upper body.”

E

is for Evolve.
Move forward in your training for goodness sake. If after assessing your overall workout plan you say, “that’s good enough,” or, “that’s all I need to do,” then you’re not progressing. Your body probably has already adapted to your workout and has no reason to continue to change. You have to give your body a reason to change.

F

is for Fat.
Fats are good. All of them at the right times and in the right amounts are good for you. Get that through your confused FAT head. Any doctor or study that says otherwise IS WRONG or will be proven to be wrong. I promise.

G

is for Greens.
Eat your greens. Kale, spinach, brocchli, cabbage, greens, greens, greens. Put some in the shopping cart and get some down your throat everyday.

H

is for High Intensity Interval Training.
Being fit can be a strain on the time budget. Well then quit WASTING TIME spending hours on the tread mill and do more HIIT. Here’s a link to some great HIIT (cardio) ideas to help you save time in the gym and be more effective.

I

is for Intentional.
Make up your mind what you are going to do this year for your fitness and JUST DO IT. Stop dreaming, wishing, vision casting, and over planning and go do it. Seriously, who do you want on your team? Someone who talks a big game but performs lackluster, or someone who says nothing BUT GETS THE JOB DONE? I want the performer.

J

is for Jump rope.
Bad weather got you cooped up inside? Don’t have a treadmill or a million dollars to buy one? No problem. A jump rope is inexpensive, requires little space, and once you learn a few tricks can be down right fun.

K

is for Kitchen.
Go through your kitchen and make sure it’s stocked with lots of healthy foods. Also, make sure you’ve got enough food to get through the week with each and every meal planned out.

L

is for Loop.
WHEN you go to the grocery store EACH WEEK, loop the store. Most everyone knows by now that the nutrient dense foods are located on the outside walls of your grocery store. Make sure at least 3/4ths to 100% of your grocery basket is filled with food from those areas and less stuff from the higher processed inside isles.

M

is for Meat.
Back that grocery cart up and put some meat and fish in it. Almost no one eats enough high quality protein. Meat is your best source of protein. Period. End of discussion.

N

is for Nuts.
Eat some.

O

is for Oxygen.
At least twice a day Oxygenate your brain. Here’s how:
a. Inhale for a slow count of “6″.
b. Then hold your breath through the counts of “7″ and “8″.
c. At “9″ begin exhaling for the rest of the count until you reach “15″.
Here’s where I got the idea for this technique.

P

is for Plyometrics.
Incorporate some plyometric exercises at least once a week. High jumps, long jumps, box jumps, plyo pushups, medicine ball toss and catch. Just do them.

Q

is for Quit complaining.
Knock it off with everything that’s going wrong, that’s working against you and your plans, and that’s setting you back. We all get it. Life is hard. AND IT IS. But complaining about it does nothing to help. In fact, it makes matters worse. Here’s a better way.

R

is for Recovery.
Muscles grow, strength increases, and balance and coordination improve all during the rest time after your workout. Here are some great tips to great recovery.

S

is for Squat.
Deep squats, back squats, front squats, hack squats, overhead squats, dumb bell squats, Bulgarian split squats, sissy squats, body weight squats, you don’t know squat squats (I’m just kidding about that one). Just do some squats.

T

is for Therapy.
Serious athletes and fitness enthusiasts get therapy. Not just a massage here and there. They get deep tissue message, Graston technique, and Active Release Technique on a regular basis to keep the machine working well. Personally I’m a big ART fan but try them all and see which one works best for you.

U

is for Ugly.
Yup, ugly. Sometimes the process of getting in fantastic shape is not a perfect process. Many people look at their outside and decide some part of themselves is ugly but won’t do anything about it unless they can look pretty doing it. I’d rather you take a shot at doing some of these things and doing them less than perfectly but consistently. Don’t stress about the ugly on the outside. deal with the ugly on the inside.

V

is for Variety.
If you’re a triathlete take 8 weeks off and do some strength training. If your a martial artist walk away for a while to develop some other athletic ability. The body thrives on variety.

W

is for Weight lift.
I very rarely hear someone’s fitness goals and determine that weight lifting won’t get them there faster than not. Drop this body weight nonsense. Grab some real poundage and move it around.

X

is for Exit.
Get outside and get some fresh air.

Y

is for You.
This is your goals, your dreams, your decisions, your habits, your responsibility, your fault, your success, your problem, your ego, your victory, your energy, your behavior, you, you, you. You have control over what you have control over and you don’t over what you don’t. Figure out the difference and focus on what you CAN DO. Not what you can’t.

Z

is for Zercher squats.
I left out one of the squats. That’s the Zercher. They are a miserable difficult kind of squat where you craddle the barbell with all of it’s weight in your arms like it were a baby. A 135# baby. More important than the actual exercise is the commitment involved. Only serious athletes do Zerchers. So be serious.

Let us know if you puck one in the comments below. Or tell us what you’ve already got planned.

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