Spin it

I like to ride my bicycle, I like to ride my bike.........but, being ready for an epic ride is lots of work and requires lots of time. My solution is-Take a Spinning Class! An hour long spinning class is not only a great way to get a super aerobic workout, it also keeps you ready for those big rides. If you haven't done one before, there are plenty of beginners classes, but once you hit the tough class, with a good instructor, be ready for a world class workout. Too much fun!!

Make the Plunge

Sometime our very best intentions get us no where! We all struggle from time to time to stay on the path, its the ones that continue to rise up over the setbacks that become great. In life, fitness, martial arts, our jobs, whatever area we struggle in can be over come with the perseverance to continue or even restart our plan. Take some time, schedule out your plan and do EVERYTHING in your power to be successful. All I can promise is that if you try, you will always be more successful than if you don't. Happy training and see ya soon!

Getting Back on Track

Sometimes we all fall off the Fitness Wagon. It might be due to an injury, work, family problems, sickness, or, in my most recent case, moving. Lets face it, moving is tough on your fitness program, your entire routine is messed up, schedules are out the window, but, we have to persevere and get back on track when the dust settles. That isn't as easy as it seems, how quickly we get out of the habit of working out!! So, here is my schedule for the first week of fitness reclamation: Monday: 45 Minute Hike; Tuesday: 3X supersets of Push ups and Pull ups and 3X sets of 25 crunches; Wednesday: 45 Minute Hike; Thursday: 60 Minutes of Yoga; Friday: 3X supersets of Push ups and Pull ups and 3X sets of 25 crunches; Saturday: 45 Minute Hike and 30 Minutes of Stretching. This simple, quick routine is great for getting back in the swing of things, so try it and like it!! :) See ya all soon and happy training.

Kicking Butt!!

Here is a quick routine for really getting the motor running, I use this when I wake up a little late, have to get to work a little early, know my day is full and can't imagine squeezing in a workout.

Start in a very deep full horse stance for 30 seconds
Jump feet together, place your hands on the ground and jump feet back into a plank position, quickly do 20 push-ups
Jump feet back up and jump into a full horse stance again for 30 seconds
Jump feet together, place hands on the ground and jump your feet through your hands so they are out in front of you, quickly do 20 V up sit ups
Get back into full horse stance
Do 25 upwindmill blocks and 25 round house punches
Jump feet together and do 25 snap kicks on each side.
Repeat

Quick way to start the day, great way to do a quick workout.

Hit it hard!

Here is my favorite Heavy Bag workout, it should be done with TOTAL intensity and at FULL power!! Try this and you will feel the results.....guaranteed!

50 Round house punches
25 each backhands
25 each backhand/roundhouse combos
25 each roundhouse kicks
25 each snap kicks
25 each super combos: 1st set is Right Snap Kick, Left Round house kick, Left backhand, Right roundhouse punch, 2nd set is just the opposite
REPEAT!!

Good luck and happy training.

Killer Kung Fu Abs!

This has got to be my favorite Ab workout of all time:

50 Swiss ball crunches
25 each side, side crunches
25 "heels to heaven"
50 medicine ball twists
30 lying leg scissors
50 bicycle crunches
20 "V" ups

Try it, you will like it.....and hate it...all at the same time. I try to do this in the evening about an hour or so before bed, finishes the day like I started, with a good sweat and good feelings!!

Zen and the Art of.............Zen

Zen, what is it? You can make it a "Mystical form of Meditation from the Buddhist Religion" (which, technically it is) or you can make it what I do, a form of concentration or "getting in the zone" with whatever you do. I have a few things I do that get me in that zone, and, I really love it. Hitting the Skateboard Park early in the morning when I am the only one there, doing a favorite bo staff form, freestyle fighting, rock climbing, a tough workout, a fast mountain bike downhill, I love getting in the zone. For me, its all about doing something that is so intense that everything else in your life, your problems, worries, future, past, everything, is blocked out of your mind and you are in the moment. If you take nothing else away from Kung Fu fitness, take this: FIND SOMETHING IN YOUR LIFE THAT GETS YOU IN THE ZONE, and pursue it often, it will make the rest of your life better, guaranteed.

Ultra Fitness Day

If you need a boost to your program, schedule what I call an "ultra fitness day". An example of one of these, that I just completed is as follows: 6am-Go Skateboarding at the Skate park (I know, I am the only old dude who skateboards, but I really enjoy it!) 7:30am-Go on a 3 mile hike up a mountain 8:30am-Rest 9:30am-15 mile road bike 10:30am rest and eat 12:00noon-1 hour martial arts workout 2:00pm-2 hour kayak run 5:00pm Chicken BBQ time 7:00pm-upper body super sets (10 pull-ups; 25 push-ups, 8 pull;20 push, 6 pull; 15 push, 4 pull; 10 push, max pull, max push-ups) 8:00pm-20 minute ab workout 8:30pm-RELAX TIME, pat yourself on the back, what a day of fitness!! Really, give it a try, you will be amazed at how good so much work can make you feel!!

Kung Fu Workout of the Day

OK, here is a great Sunday Afternoon Kung Fu Workout:
50 Upwindmill Blocks in Deep Full Horse Stance
50 Downwindmill Blocks in Deep Full Horse Stance
50 Roundhouse punches in Deep Full Horse Stance
50 Front Snap Kicks
25 each side Roundhouse/Uppercuts in Deep Half Horse Stance
50 Backhands in Deep Full Horse Stance
50 Double Punches in Deep Full Horse Stance
3X's Stance Form (for info, join www.cyberkungfu.com)
note: first, quick speed, second, very slow and deep, third, medium speed
Repeat sequence

Interval Aerobics

If you are looking for gains fast, to really increase your aerobic threshold, try interval training. Its simple (maybe tough, but simple). Do each of the following sets by starting out with 40 seconds easy, 30 seconds at medium intensity then 20 seconds all out, and when I say all out, I mean GIVE IT ALL YOU GOT! Also, try not to rest inbetween sets longer than needed. So, here it is: Jogging/running in place; Jump rope; Jumping Jacks; Alternating Lunges; Plain old Jumps; High Knee Lifts; Side to Side Lunges; Alternating Snap Kicks; repeat sequence. Good Luck, this 25 to 30 minute workout will really get the blood flowing and the heart pumping!!

The Quick Power of "4's"

Wake up a little late? Have a late meeting or dinner? We all have days that seem impossible to squeeze a workout into, here is my "quick power of 4's" workout for those days:

Equipment Needed: set of Dumbbells; Pull up Bar

Routine:
Set 1: 4 dumbbell curls; 4 shoulder presses; 4 wide set push-ups; 4 wide grip pull-ups

Set 2: 4 dumbbell hammer curls; 4 shoulder presses; 4 medium set push-ups; 4 reverse grip chin-ups

Set 3: 4 alternating dumbbell curls; 4 shoulder presses; 4 close set push-ups; 4 close crip pull-ups

Repeat the routine 2 to 4 times and just like that you have a quick comprehensive upper body workout

Happy Training,

CyberSifu

Kung Fu Fighters, Start your engines

Alright, the CyberKungFu Online Martial Ats Kung Fu School is open and running hard and fast, we have many students learning real Kung Fu in the comfort of their own home and many are progressing well. Not too many glitches and, judging by the emails, the course is working out great. Now, back to Martial Arts Fitness: At the Cyber Kung Fu Studio your will receive an entire fitness program that is sure to whip you into the fitness level of any MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighter. Today, I will give you a "typical Monday" workout: After you wake up and get the cobwebs out of your head, throw on the shoes and hit the street (or, if you live in Montana, the trail) and go for a vigorous 30 minute run, try to find somewhere that has hills to give your legs and lungs the workout the are looking for. Later in the day we hit the weights for the upper body workout and then in the evening, the 15 minute ab workout (this schedule assumes that you train for Martial Arts on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and those workouts will be in future posts). For specific info, join the fast growing Kung Fu School of www.cyberkungfu.com and begin your path to ultimate fitness today!!

CyberKungFu.com is up and ready for action

If you have dreamed of learning Real Martial Arts, Kung Fu but havent had the time or don't have any place to go, we have a solution for you! www.cyberkungfu.com is up and running, you can now learn the arts seen in movies by such greats as Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Chuck Norris and many, many more. Simply join our group at cyberkungfu.com and start learning TODAY! Its simple and straight forward, we hope to see you aboard soon.

CyberKungFu.Com

Lots of progress in the CyberKungFu.com website this week, almost ready for full action. Still nursing the chest a little, hurt ribs take a while to heal, almost 4 weeks now but still going strong. Fitness this last week included the following: Monday, a good upper body weight workout consisting of Curls, Pull-ups, Push-ups, abs, shoulders, all the good stuff. Tuesday, CORE all the way! Wednesday, full body workout and some really intense Kung Fu freestyle. Thursday, yoga and Kung Fu forms and finally, Friday, aerobics and upper body again. Also, throw in a few agressive hikes, bikes and runs and you have a very complete week. Also, on Wednesday, a fruit fast which was cleansing, energizing and exceptional. Make sure and check out the site, www.cyberkungfu.com for all the updates and content, which is growing rapidly. Happy Training and see you all soon!!

Kicking it up, Literally.......

When you watch any great (and sometimes cheesy) Marital Arts film, be it an old Kung Fu movie from China, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Steven Segal, or who ever, you almost always see some amazing kicks. How do they do them? The answer is fairly simple, they do them LOTS. Every day when I am practicing Martial Arts I do a series of kick sequences. It goes as follows: 50 front kicks, 50 side kicks, 50 back kicks, 20 combinations of the three and 20 various knee kick combos as well. Lot of kicks, lot of work, but if you want the ability to do kicks well, the main ingredient is practice. For proper techniques (which is very important) go to www.cyberkungfu.com. More later and happy training.

Taking it easy

The focus of the blog has been lost in injury, I really hurt my ribs and some muscle tissue on the upper left side of my chest and it has really put a crimp in my style for sure. So what did I do? Light workouts all week, a moderate bike ride for an hour, a slow run for an hour, light plyometrics and a light Kung Fu workout focusing on movement and style. Eating healthy, taking the right supplements to get healthy and taking care of my body have been the focus. Working through injury is a great time to allow the entire body to heal and catch up in what is otherwise a constant barrage of workouts and pressure from a vigorous routine. It doesn't mean kick back and get lazy, it simply means changing it up a bit. Check www.cyberkungfu.com/injuryworkout for details on my recovery week. Thanks all and be ready to hit it hard over the next few weeks!

Ouch! That hurts!

Occasionally, during our intense training, we get an injury and have to take a step back, but how? We work hard, we train hard, then, an injury. We sure don't want to loose any ground but we can't train the way we were, what to do? Last night I took a Chuck Norris sized kick to the side of my left upper ribs and can hardly breath, maybe cracked a rib, maybe just hurt them, don't know, don't care, all I know is that it hurts. These things happen when you train with intensity, so what now. Today, I am going to do an abbreviated workout of yoga, will work up a sweat, will work out my chest and will play it by ear. Friday, I will go on a short bike ride, maybe longer depending on how my breathing goes, Saturday I will do Martial Arts forms and stretching and some Kayaking and hopefully, by Sunday all will be well and I can focus. Time will tell, just don't give up!

Kung Fu Fitness

The first step to fitness is to build a base, its easy to start TODAY and rewarding, your whole day is better. Depending on your current fitness level, go for a walk, run, hike..whatever is your fancy, but do it NOW. This morning I woke up early and headed out to the mountains where I hiked up a short 2 mile, fairly agressive trail to the top of the mountain and ran back down. Didn't take much of the day and now, my day is open and ready to go. Next post I am giving the first steps of the Basic Kung Fu form for you to practice and work with. Now.....Get Moving!!

Happy Memorial Day

Today, the CyberKungFu Studio remembers all those fallen warriors...friends, family and other Americans who served with such bravery and valor. We appreciate the freedoms we enjoy because of their sacrifice and will never forget. To all those families who have lost loved ones throughout the years, our heart felt prayers and best wishes. Salute.

What is Kung Fu Fitness?

Most people have their impressions of martial artist developed through watching movies. It started with Bruce Lee, a perennial favorite, and moved to Chuck Norris, Steven Segal, Jean Claude VanDame, Jackie Chan and Jet Li along with many others. For myself, it actually started watching Sunday afternoon "Kung Fu Theatre" a wonderful program that featured the dubbed over chineese made kung fu films which I love to this day. Reguardless of where you got your introduction to Martial Arts, undoubtably, one of the things you couldn't help but notice was the almost unbelievable physical conditioning of these stars of the big screen. Fitness has always beed synonomys with Martial Arts, from the Monks of the Shaolin Temple (if you have ever had the chance to see these guys in action, they are fantastic) to todays Masters. Oddly enough, however, physical conditioning has little to do with having the ability to really take care of a confrontation, however, it sure doesn't hurt. The next post is going to get specific about the actual steps you can take, starting today, to get yourself into better fitness and begin your Martial Arts journey.

Total Fitness through Martial Arts

Greetings and welcome to the Kung Fu Fitness Blog spot! Keep watching and tracking this blog and you will find out how you can achieve both complete fitness and learn the ultimate in self defense. The next blog will give you all the details on this new and fantastic path to achieve your goals, not only in fitness, but in life. Thanks for checking and make sure to click on our sponsors links for valuable information and specials. Also, be watching for www.cyberkungfu.com the ultimate home for Martial Arts and Fitness coming soon!