Hello Everyone!

Let’s get ready to move our bodies! All too often body weight training (calisthenics) gets overlooked and underestimated. So called strength trainers and recreational strength athletes scoff at the idea of wasting their chest and triceps day with mere push ups. Well, I don’t know when the last time you dropped down and did a hundred push ups was but I’ve been exercising for 11 years and it still gets me every time. As do 100 pull ups or squats or just about any body weight exercise you can think of. Yeah, anyone with a trace of exercise proficiency can make a dozen push up, squats or pull-up (though I doubt pull ups) look easy. But it’s when you start to get north of 50 that separates the men from the boys, and  women from girls. Me? I love weights. Don’t get me wrong. Weight training has been a huge part of my life for over a decade. However, I would never sacrifice the ability to move my own body weight around with strength and ease even if it meant that I could bench press a truck. Thats why it’s so important to be facile in all aspects of exercise. Never sacrifice your speed for strength nor your strength for speed. In this instance choose to be a jack of all trades and a master of none. I don’t want to be Lance Armstrong OR Arnold Schwarzenegger. I want whatever is in the middle ground; strength, endurance, speed, agility, power, flexibility etc… Be dynamic and enjoy the benefits of training in all modes of fitness. Not a one trick pony.

And now for your workout:

ONE MILE RUN – Intervals. Try and get it under ten minutes.

3 rounds. One minute at each exercise.

24” Box Jumps - DEMO

Burpees (guys with a push up, girls without) – DEMO

Squat Hold – Drop down into the squat position and hold yourself there for the minute. Chest up, back straight, hips below your knees!

Bicycle crunches - DEMO

Then, 3 rounds for time of:

8 Pull ups or body weight row (whatever is available) – DEMO(S)

16 Push ups – DEMO

24 Alternating lunges – DEMO

10 min stretch

Thats it! Rest and repeat.

To your health,

Justin Schollard

Hey Everyone,

Since yesterday’s post was all about building muscle it only seems fitting that this week’s workout follows suit. We’re going heavy! Obviously heavy is relative. for some that may mean 100lbs and for others 20lbs. Just make sure you pick a weight thats challenging to lift without causing you to sacrificing proper form. We always want to strive for walking our edge without falling over.

And now for your workout:

10 minute warm up: Jog, jumping jacks, bike, jump rope, etc…

5 rounds with a 90 second rest in between each round:

Reps are: 12, 10, 8, 6, 6

Goblet Squats – Go relatively light for the first round. Then progressively get heavier. – DEMO ( A dumbbell works as well)

Seated Rows – Again, moderate weight for the first round. Heavier as you go. – DEMO

Then, 5 rounds  with a 90 second rest in between each round:

Reps: 12, 10, 8, 6, 6

Standing dumbbell overhead press – DEMO

Decline Push up (no weight) – DEMO

Alternating lunges with dumbbells – DEMO

Thats it! You might want to give yourself a few days before repeating this one. Make sure you eat with in an hour after your workout. Even better, bring a banana or some other fruit to eat immediatly upon fininshing. There are many reasons why a post workout meal is so vitally important. I will lay them out in a future post.

To your health,

Justin Schollard

Hello Everyone!

It seems like almost every time we hear a fitness professional speak about exercise and diet it is on the topic of “weight loss” or “fat loss” of some kind. Granted, I would agree that most of us out there could stand to lose a few. However, if you’re at all like me packing on those pounds of muscle can be challenging at best and down right next to impossible at worst. Well, this post is here to help answer some questions with 4 great tips to start incorporating into your routine now.

1) EAT MORE FOOD!

I am blow away by the amount of guys and girls (girls rarely ask to “bulk up” but I have had a few) who say they’re too skinny and want to put on muscle, then look at me like I’m crazy when I tell them they need to be eating 3 times the amount of food as they currently do. The fact is that most of us can’t have it both ways; you can’t train like an animal and then eat like a bird. At least don’t expect to build muscle if you do. Bottom line: Examine your caloric intake. If you’re an average size male (between 160-190lbs) then you need to be eating around 3,000 calories a day in order to be anabolic (building). However, not all calories are created equal so this doesn’t mean go load up on bunt cakes and fro-yo. Organic meats, Veggies, nuts & seeds, beans, fruits etc… That’s how you eat to put on the muscle without storing a bunch of body fat in the process.

2) TRAIN YOUR LEGS!

I see a lot of disproportionate training routines out there. Guys especially love to work the “glam group” (chest and arms) but nearly faint trying to squeeze out even 10 squats with nothing but their own body weight as resistance. Shame. Yeah, its exuasting training legs, I get it. But that’s the very reason why it is so crucial to any fitness routine, especially muscle-building. The fact is that your hips have the potential to unlock massive hormonal responses when trained intensely. Nothing wakes up your central nervous system like deadlifting a couple hundred pounds, and that’s what triggers your body to release the hormones that are responsible for hypertrophy (building mass). Squat, lunge or deadlift every week with heavy weights. Trust me.

3) CUT DOWN ON CARDIO

Despite what you may have heard you cannot build muscle and lose fat at the time. At least not in any significant amounts. So pick a direction and go there. In this case its the direction of building muscle. After you’ve reached your 5, 10 or 20 pound goal then bring back the cardio and “trim up” a little. This is called periodization. For example; 8 weeks of heavy weight training and increased caloric intake to pack on as much muscle as possible, followed by 4 weeks of lighter weight training, increased cardio and decreased caloric intake to trim off the body fat you most likely gained during your building phase.

4) REST

Muscles grow at rest. Period. So if you’re exercising too much (more than 4-5 days per week) most likely you’re body is exerting too many calories via exercise that could be going toward building up your sore muscles at rest. Once you reach your goal then sure increase the number of days you train, but for the purpose building muscle choose quality over quantity. For example: Train with intensity 3 times per week with heavy weights for no more than an hour.

Hey everyone!

Here we go:

10 minute warm up: Jumprope, Jog, Bike, Power walk, Jumping Jacks, hulahoop… Any and all are great.

5 rounds for time of:

10 Dumbbell Thrusters (guys 25-40lbs, girls 10-20lbs) – DEMO

10 Body Weight Rows - DEMO

Then, 5 rounds for time of:

30 Mountain Climbers - DEMO

15 leg lifts – Lay flat on your back and raise both legs in the air. Repeat 15 times. 

10 reverse flys (5-10lb dumbbells) – DEMO

Then,

10 minute stretch

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Thats it! Congrats. Rest and repeat.

To your health,

Justin Schollard

Hey everyone!

The other day I stumbled upon this amazing video of a women who literally cured her MS through HEAVY vegetable intake… Think that’s crazy? Still don’t believe that all the physical changes you desire can be yours if you just clean up your diet? Still think that medication and surgery is the only viable option to treating disease? Still think that things like vitamins and minerals  and eating vegetables are just “whatever”? … Watch This

The center of it all

The proper food pyramid

Hey everyone,

Happy New Year! It’s resolution time and I have a great new program starting this month. It’s called ParkFit! I’m taking the outdoor fitness bootcamp model and combining it with the individual attention of private training to create semi-private bootcamps! Groups will be no larger than 6 people to ensure quality attention.

Groups will be held at two different locations:

Monday Wednesday and Friday bootcamps 7 and 8am at:

West Hollywood Park. Corner of Santa Monica and Robertson Blvd.

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Tuesday/Thursday 7pm and Saturday 10am at:

Continuum Fitness 307 S Robertson Blvd Beverly Hills, 90211

Classes are taught by yours truly. Areas of focus are: Strength, stamina, core and flexibility. For those of you who have never trained with me, I incorporate dynamic functional full-body exercises with kickboxing. I am a CrossFit certified coach and former kickboxer. I have personally witnessed hundreds of people get into the best shape of their life with this winning combination.

The first one is FREE so give it a shot and I guarantee you’ll be hooked! After that its only $25/class.

If you promise to show up, I promise results. It’s that simple.

Still think saturated fats are bad? Check out this clip