I LOVE Bodyweight exercises and bodyweight workouts! There is nothing better than burning fat, building muscle and developing insane relative strength using the best piece of exercise equipment ever invented – the human body!

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Today’s video is about old time, high school style rope climbing… without using your legs!

Many athletes think they’re strong. But, in my book, if you can’t climb a rope – Your not truly as strong as you should be.

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Rope climbing is one of my all time favorite ways of turning athletes into a strength monsters! If you’re a Strength Coach or Trainer and want your athletes to gain insane strength and out perform the competition – you need to get a climbing rope! Plus, it’s fun!

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So, who’s up for the strength challenge? – Are you strong enough to climb a rope without using your feet? Are your athletes?

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I think climbing ropes should be in every gym! – How about you?

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Yesterday, my article titled Six New Tabata Workouts for Fast Fat Loss was published at Tmuscle.com.

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The article tells you everything you need to know about the Tabata protocol and effective Tabata workouts. But, the article originally included 7 workouts, not 6! The editors, for whatever reason, decided not to included the 7th workout.

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That’s okay because in today’s post, I’m going to hit you with the missing 7th Tabata workout!

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So, here’s the missing workout exactly as I wrote it the unedited New Tabata Workouts for Fast Fat Loss article:

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Tabata Workout #7 – Bodyweight Tabata (8 Exercises)

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This bodyweight Tabata incorporates 8 exercises and alternates from the lower body, to the core, to the upper body and finishes with a total body exercise. This is repeated twice to equal four minutes total.

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Here’s how it goes down-

20 sec Speed Squats or Squat jumps (lower body)

10 sec rest

20 sec Tight Core Rotations (core)

10 sec rest

20 sec Push Ups (upper-body)

10 sec rest

20 sec Burpees (total body)

10 sec rest

20 sec Lunges or Lunge Jumps (lower body)

10 sec rest

20 sec Tight Core Rotations (core)

10 sec rest

20 sec Plank Fast Hands (upper body)

10 sec rest

20 sec Burpee w/Jump

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Remember to perform each exercise as fast and with as much intensity as possible!

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There are two exercises listed above you may not be familiar with? – The Tight Core Rotations and the Plank Fast Hands.

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Go here to learn how to do the Tight Core Rotations

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Watch the video below to learn how to perform the Plank Fast Hands exercise.

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As always, I love to hear your comments, thoughts and favorite workouts. So, hit me with everything you have to say that’s related to doing Tabata style workouts!

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Six New Tabata Workouts for Fast Fat Loss
by Nick Tumminello | Jan 6, 2010

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TMUSCLE coach Nick T. takes on a classic conditioning protocol, and the results are guaranteed to leave you gasping.

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Continue Reading…

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A few weeks ago, I did a post covering a 12-week interval training progression using the Tabata Protocol.

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In that post, I discussed exactly what Tabata Intervals are, why Tabata Workouts benefit athletes of all levels and off course, how to gradually progress over a 12-week period to prevent overtraining.

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In this post, I’m going to cover a slightly shorter, 8 week Tabata Workout progression.

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If you are a fitter athlete with a solid conditioning base.  This 8-week progression is just what the doctor ordered to help you maximize the results of your Tabata training efforts.

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8-Week Tabata Workout Progression

Key – 10/20 x6 = 10 seconds work / 20 seconds rest x 6 rounds.

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Wk.1 – 10/20 x6

Wk.2 – 15/15 x4

Wk.3 – 10/20 x8

Wk.4 – 15/15 x6

Wk.5 – 20/10 x4

Wk.6 – 15/15 x8

Wk.7 – 20/10 x6

Wk.8 – 20/10 x8

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Do you have any personal favorite Tabata workouts?

I have a few killer Tabata workouts I will posting soon – keep checking back!

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In the meantime, post your comments and tell us about your favorite and most effective Tabata workouts!

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One of the best and most popular shoulder stabilization / pre-hab drills used among strength coaches these days is the Push Up Plus exercise. Why? – Because it’s a great exercise for activating and strengthening the all important Serratus Anterior muscles of the shoulder.

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Serratus Anterior

A strong Serratus Anterior muscle is crucial for optimal shoulder health and functional movement. Put simply, the Serratus Anteriror keeps the Scapula (Shoulder Blade) pressed against the rib cage while your arm moves or deals with load.

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Many folks blame a weak Serratus Anterior muscle for causing a winged Scapula. Although this can be true. There are some cases in which Scapula winging is cause by a long Thoracic nerve problem. This an an issue that is way beyond the scope of most coaches and therefore beyond the scope of this Blog.

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Now, what IS within the scope of this Blog is to provide you with yet another  new, smarter and more effective way to use the Push Up Plus exercise for the purpose of shoulder strengthening and injury prevention.

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In the video below, I demonstrate  how to perform the Push Up Plus exercise to MAXIMALLY recruit and strengthen the Serratus Anterior muscles.

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These recommendations featured in the video below are based on the current Bio-mechanical research and teachings of world renowned Physical Therapists like Mark Comerford and Kevin Wilk.

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Check out this video and discover how to Perform the Push Up Plus a Better way!

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As always, I love to hear your thoughts and feedback. So, don’t forget to comment below…

So far, the feedback from Part 1 has been fantastic! So, please keep your comments coming!
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If you missed my first installment of How to Get Stronger WITHOUT Increasing the Weight Load – Go here after watching the video below.

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In Part 1 – I explain the reasoning behing why adding weight is not always the best strategy to use to progress your strength and performance as an athlete.
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Now, check out this video and discover another very practical and effective strategy anyone can use to get stronger!

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Everyone knows that in order to continually get stronger, bigger, leaner or faster you must consistently challenge your body by adding progression. More specifically, you need to always incorporate a progressive challenge to your workouts.

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Although this concept is well known, the methods of how to do this safely, efficiently and effectively are still somewhat of a mystery to athletes and coaches alike.

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In this Blog post series, I’m going to provide you with a multitude of challenging, fun and effective ways to continually gain muscle, increase strength, improve explosiveness and reduce body fat without increasing the load on the bar or dumbbell.

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Beyond Just Adding Weight

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Although adding more weight is certainly a valuable and proven way to progress, there are also many other options that are just as, if not more effective depending on your goals effective. These are the methods I will describe in this and future posts.

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Don’t Misunderstand!

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Before you watch the video below, Let’s get one thing straight. I’m not saying you shouldn’t ever add weight to your lifts. Nor am I saying that adding weight is not important to gaining size and strength. All I’m saying is that adding weight is just one method of many. In other words, its just a tool in the tool box, is NOT the only tool in the box.

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Watch this video and discover the first, simple method to get stronger and improve performance w/o adding addition weight load!

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Stay tuned for Part 2 because I will reveal another simple and very practical method of gaining strength!

Alright, I’m back home from giving two killer presentations at the ECA World Fitness THRIVE Conference. The crowd at both classes could not have been any better and a BIG Thanks goes out to all the folks at ECA for welcoming me with open arms and for their amazing staff!

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On top of that, Alli had her Figure Competition this past weekend. Tomorrow, I will reveal the results and talk about what goes back stage at a Figure Show.

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For now, we are back in action with Smarter Strength and Conditioning concepts!

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In todays post, I’m going to hit you with one of my favorite Leg Complexes. A  leg complex could also be called a leg circuit.

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This complex is one of the version I have developed from the original Super Legs circuit designed by my good friend, Coach JC Santana.

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This Leg Complex is done unilaterally so its great for sports specific purposes and for physique competitors to develop symmetry.

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In my last post, I provided you with Mark Young’s brilliant concept of using Tight Rotations as part of a cardio / conditioning / fat loss workout.

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As promised, in this post, I have provided a video that will show you one of the ways I utilize Tight Rotations in our Metabolic Conditioning here at Performance U.

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In this video, you will see Alli McKee doing some serious upper body dominant conditioning after her Strength Workout. Trust me when I say, Alli can out-last any and all comers when it comes to conditioning. When we are training, regardless of how difficult the workout, Alli won’t stop until I tell her to stop! That my friends is the type of drive, mental toughness and dedication it takes to be a champion!

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And, its why Alli is going to kick ass on stage at her figure competition next week!

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Watch Alli “get after it” in the only she knows how, as she performs 1 round of her interval conditioning.

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Now , go here to read Alli’s Blog post in which she reveals the exact training specifics of the Conditioning workout you have just watched. Yes, here, Alli tells you the specific reps, sets, tempos, rests used in during her strength session that day. Plus,  she provides the work/rest interval times she performed on the conditioning workout in the video here.

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Where else can you get real world training information like this? – No where but here at NickTumminello.com and at Alli’s Fit to Figure Blog.

A little while ago, my good friend and Fellow Strength Coach, Mark Young, sent me an email about how he has been incorporating the Tight rotation Core training progressions into his interval conditioning workouts.  You can check out Mark’s Blog here.

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I wanted to share Mark’s email with you because he has a great idea that I think we all can highly benefit from. Plus, his one interval training concept has sparked about 100 new interval training ideas for me. And, I’m sure it will for you too!

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First, If you are not familar with the Tight Rotation Core Training Progressions;

Go here to see Tight Roation Level 1,

Go Here to view Tight Roation Level 2

and Here to Tight roation Level 3.

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Now, here is Mark’s email about how he use Tight Rotations to spice up his Interval Training and Fat Loss workouts;

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“Nick – I saw your post the other day about Dewey Nielsen and thought I should share my implementation of the tight rotation as well.  Since you mentioned it to me a while ago I have been using it and figured this might be of interest.”

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“I often like to mix core work with conditioning in the interest of time and so I came up with the idea of having my clients do a tight rotation for time (usually 20-30 seconds) followed immediately by a 30-40 yard sprint.  I never imagined how intense this would be, but most clients tell me that their obliques feel like they’re about to explode after this.  After 5 consecutive sprints people are totally cooked. – Mark Young”

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Put simply, I love Mark’s idea! Since receiving his email, I have been taking Mark’s concept of using Tight Rotations as part of a interval conditioning and Fat Loss workouts and applying it myself, in a multitude of ways, all with much success! Try it yourself and I’m sure will too

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The training options available with applying the Tight Rotation progressions into your interval conditioning and fat loss workouts are endless! You are only limited by your imagination! Just make sure you a have a good reason for doing whatever way you come up with!

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If you are still not confident in developing your own methods of using Tight Rotations in your metabolic workouts, don’t worry because I’m going to take the guess work out of it and show I use it here at Performance U!

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In my next post, I will provide you a real world training video, featuring one of my favorite metabolic conditioning / Fat Loss circuits utilizing Tight Rotations.

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Stay tuned!!!