Orange Theory Fitness: Santa Monica

A 21st-century take on treasure hunting, geocaching is the ideal pursuit for techies after a bit of outdoor fun. Participants go online to download co-ordinates of hidden containers and then use a GPS Sat-Nav device to locate them in the countryside.

Geocaching Is a Fun New Sport

In order to make that hard earned muscle show, we are going to dust the cob webs off some long standing, tried-and-true exercises that you already know, already love and are already good at. So be prepared to squat, press, clean and pull for the next four weeks.

The program will also involve total body training four days per week. That’s right, say goodbye to body part splits and welcome back a total body-style program you used when you first got into training. A total body routine will allow us to train the big muscle groups more often and create more metabolic demand. This will result in improved body composition (read: more muscle, less fat). What this program will not do is provide tons of volume per body part that is typical of hypertrophy or “bulking” programs which use body part splits. You spent all winter getting hyoooge, now it’s time to make that muscle pop.

SPRING SPECIFICS
This Spring Cleaning program is going to consist of several components. Each workout will start with a power movement, followed by strength work, then a superset in the hypertrophy (mass building) rep ranges and finished off with some metabolic conditioning via complexes and cardio. Training in this hybrid manner will ensure that you’ll keep the strength and muscle you’ve worked hard to build while torching enough fat to reveal some killer abs that will get you some attention by the time your ready to step onto the sand.

Number of sets and reps will change from week to week in an undulating manner. The loads you choose for each exercise should reflect these changes in sets/reps. Meaning if you are performing 4 sets of 6 reps in squats one week and then 6 sets of 2 reps the next week, be sure to use a load that would be appropriate for each workout (you should be able to lift significantly more for 2 reps than you would for 6 reps).

Also, it’s important that you adhere to the rest periods that are assigned for each exercise in order to get the maximum benefits out of your training. Yes, we all want to stare at the girl in tight shorts and high socks while she’s banging out a high-rep set of thrusters. But stay focused and get your set in when your rest time is up. You can always chat her up over post-workout shakes on your way out of the gym.

This program consists of four workouts per week and I personally recommend you train on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. As with any training program, what you do outside of the gym is just as important as what you do inside it. With that in mind, shoot for 7-9 hours sleep per night, lay off the late night partying and follow a smart nutrition plan.

SPRING FORWARD
“Train hard? Use proven, tried and true exercises? Eat smart? Get enough sleep? This Spring Cleaning Program isn’t gimmicky at all,” you say to yourself and you’re right. Getting real results takes old-fashioned hard work using proven methods. But the rewards are just as predictable. Put in the effort in the gym and in the kitchen and you’ll be the biggest and leanest dude on the beach come Memorial Day.

Exercise burns calories. Not excuses that you couldn’t make it to the gym, or you didn’t have time.

View every workout as a personal challenge. Conquer that challenge like a champion.

Pull-ups

The pull-up is definitely your best bet for developing arm and back strength. That’s exactly what you’ll need when it comes to climbing ladders and ropes to escape danger.

MUSCLE IN A SNAP: CARDIO AND STRENGTH WORKOUT

Need to get in a quick workout on-the-go? This workout combines cardio and strength work in one routine.

Perform 1A through 1C in sequence and then rest 60 seconds. Repeat for five rounds. Then move on to 2A through 2C, rest for 30 seconds, and repeat for five rounds.

Are you thinking about starting to get fit? What’s there to think about? Just get started already. The benefits are unbelievable. When you start seeing the results that you want, you will wonder why you didn’t start sooner.

28 DAYS TO LEAN MEAL PLAN

You're training hard every day with your program, going heavy on the weights and sweating up a storm with cardio. Newsflash: While that's critical to your ultimate success, that's just not enough for you to lose the fat you want to.

To reach your get-lean goal, you must also follow a get-lean diet. Why? Even if you work out hard for an hour every day, that still leaves 23 more hours for you to wreck all your hard work in the gym with just one slip-up: a measly handful of chips, a beer with the guys or a burger at lunch. Diet is a huge, so to speak, part of the fat-loss equation. It's the backbone of your entire plan, the foundation of a hard body.

Bodybuilding nutrition consultant Jim Juge says nutrition determines your success or failure, plain and simple. "The diet is 65% of what you need to get in shape," he says. Juge would know, as he's helped countless dedicated people reach their goals, from achieving their best body ever to placing first in bodybuilding competitions.

You've got 28 days to get to your goal, so we've recruited Juge to help you every step of the way. He's adapted a traditional bodybuilding competitor's diet for a non-competitor (that means you!) who wants to look his best, shedding as much fat as possible in a very short time. With just under a month, there's no time to fool around, so commit today! Go to the grocery store and stock up tonight. Come breakfast time tomorrow, follow his plan as strictly as you can and get ready to show off those impressive muscles in a month.

Staying loyal to your workout isn’t always easy. It will make you sore and exhaust you. Sometimes it may hurt. But the regret from quitting hurts much worse.

Dumbbell Lateral Raise Video >>

Going to arms parallel in the dumbbell lateral raise provides good deltoid recruitment and doesn't put the shoulder joint in a stressful situation," says Louie Brockhoeft, MES, a personal fitness coach at Mercy Hospital in Anderson, Ohio. "But taking the move 45 degrees past parallel fully engages the middle delt; plus it recruits the upper traps, levator scapulae and all muscles around the scapula, including the rhomboids, the lower traps and serratus.

While the concern over rotator-cuff impingement is real, Brockhoeft notes this fear can be minimized in two ways. First, slightly supinate your wrists (turn your palms up) on the way up if necessary. Second, instead of bringing the weights directly out to your sides, raise your arms in a wide V formation, about 10-15 degrees in front of your torso.

Both modifications should improve the comfort of your lateral raises.

Brockhoeft argues that it's not necessary to go above 135 degrees (about halfway between the arms-parallel position and directly overhead) because the middle delt is strongest to that midway point, then quickly falls off. "Once you pass that point, you're no longer working against gravity [when using dumbbells] and the weight becomes lighter, taking stimulus off the muscle. Going to 135 degrees not only maximizes your delts but also works the traps from an angle different than you're used to."

The training you are doing isn’t getting any easier. You are just getting stronger. Don’t sell yourself short. You are as strong as you choose to be.