Fitness Forum

12/3/2001 How Fit is Your Ego?

By: Steven Oberfest, Top Personal Trainer at Underdog              Personal Training NYC

Whether it’s a pre existing injury, or it’s something new…When do you know it’s time to stop? Stopping indicates failure, lack of toughness, no heart and opens the door to some teasing or self destruction.

Well Its time to shake the ego, If you feel pains in your joints, vertibrae, shoulders, groin or back-STOP immediately. This is called “bad pain”-it is you body speaking to you and warning you that something is wrong, and you should stop. Failure to listen to your body will almost guarantee injury.

Remember- your body is he only one who’ll never lie to you, listen to it when it speaks. Ignore it and you’ll be regretting it on the sideline.

As You lift more, you lift wiser- Train Hard, Listen To Your Body and avoid the sidelines!

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Fitness Expert Falls In Love With A Kettlebell After One Date

(09/14/2011)I remember when I was first introduced to Kettlebells in New York City about 10 years ago. Looking at an intimidating cast iron weight shaped like a cannonball with a handle, I wasn’t sure what to do with her. Once I became familiar with her temperament and a few basic movements; my heart-felt like it would come out of my chest. After a brief encounter, it was clear that I stumbled onto something great! My traditional relationship with fitness had me separating cardiovascular training from strength training. The Human body is designed to be powerful, fast and flexible. The traditional “gym” workout isolates the components of strength, speed and flexibility,  meanwhile Kettlebell training fully integrates components of power, endurance and elasticity.

TIME

Stop wasting time! You can complete a full body workout that includes cardio in 30 minutes. Theworkouts are composed of multi joint compound movements (using more than one muscle to perform a single movement). Due to the high intensity of training, your body burns more calories faster and longer compared to a low intensity 90 minute workout. This is a great bonus for the busy New Yorkerwith no time to waste.

SPACE

Kettlebells are the ultimate home gym, which can also be taken on the road easily. MostNYC apartments can’t accommodate a full set of weight and an elliptical trainer. All you need is a 6 by 9 area, one Kettlebell and you can have an intense, fun and effective workout. Due to the momentum and inertia created during use, the Kettlebell works multiple muscles at once and is functional fitness at its finest.

FORM & FUNCTION

When you work out with a machine you’re forced to move in a predetermined path of travel and can never correct any strength imbalances. Dumbbells have a tight center of gravity and mainly targets major muscle groups. A Kettlebell workout offers a different workout compared to machines or free weights. Kettlebells are oddly shaped with its mass off-center, requiring an individual to recruit more stabilizer muscles which mimic real life situations.

Exercises

There is a learning curve that comes with Kettlebell Training and it can’t come from a book or DVD. To get the most from Kettlebells, every beginner should take 3 private lessons from an expert just to learn the basics. Even the most basic of Kettlebell movements can provide a full body workout (including strength and cardio) within minutes.

History

In the 1700s Kettlebells were used as counterweights for Russian farm equipment. As Russian farm workers began working with them they became a favored fitness tool. Soon the Russians powers were not the only ones using them, military and Special Forces began training with them. In recent years, various athletes, celebrities and motion pictures like Rocky have helped spread their popularity.

About the Author:Steven Oberfest is an expert Kettlebell instructor with 10 years experience and the founder of Underdog Fitness in New York City.

Contact: Steven Oberfest at Underdog Fitness

www.underdogfitness.com

(646)644-9001

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9/11- Stairs can save your life!

(9/11/01)So we just had our 10^th anniversary of the devastation caused on 9/11. Lives were lost, changed and we will never forget what happened to the World Trade Center. I can’t help to relive and think about all the people evacuating the buildings by using the stairs. Even when I train my clients, I always add a “stair” component to their routine. The bottom line is that doing stairs, will lean you out, strengthen your legs and possibly save your life one day. The sad fact is many perished because they were too out of shape to escape death by using the stairs. I don’t care how old you are, climbing stairs is an excellent component of any routine and essential for an emergency evacuation.

Steven Oberfest founder of Underdog Fitness in NYC recommends to start with climbing one fight a week, and keep adding an additional flight weekly. Before you know it, you’ll be climbing to the roof of your building. Working the stairs combines aerobic and anaerobic activity plus is a great non impact workout. There are 100’s of drills to be performed, tons of creativity to implement and you can do it anywhere in the world! One way to improve lower body strength in stair-workouts is to climb every other step (essentially performing a lunge),because this puts your legs in a mechanical disadvantage your muscles have to get stronger to overcome this disadvantage. I also have certain people climb every three steps to challenge them even further. But this is usually left to very tall people or people with very long legs. Two steps is usually enough to challenge most anyone.

Strength Development Ideas: Change how many steps you use: Normally I prefer to use 2 steps but you can also use 3 steps when doing stair lunges. In my experience this has been possible with taller people or atleast those with longer legs.

One thing I’ll tell you though: That 1 extra step makes a big difference and will challenge almost anyone I know. Lunge in Different Directions: Besidesusing the traditional straight forward lunges you can also do crossover lunges,crossover lunges from the side, side steps ups and so forth.

Add more reps and sets: As your conditioning improves you can add more reps and sets for further improvements. Just keep in mind what you’re trying to accomplish. If you start doing sets of 50 lunges you’ll be doing aerobic training as opposed to strength training.

Use Dumbbells or wear a weigh vest:Another way to add external resistance when things get to easy is with the use of dumbbells. In future articles, I’ll go over actual workouts that I’ve used with hundreds of people. If you want to have legs of steel and/or improve your sports performance- Start using the stairs!!

About Steven Oberfest:

He is the top trainer at Underdog Fitness and one of NYC’s toughest trainer. He has over 20 years experience in training the most demanding NewYorker’s. Mr. Oberfest or “Steve O” is a professional fighter and refuses to lose and guarantees results. He is a fitness authority and has been quoted and interviewed by many publications.

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