Not only does Brooklyn Decker grace the front cover of the September 2010 Women’s Health, she was named by the magazine as the best summer body of 2010.
In the September issue, the model-turned actress and wife of tennis star Andy Roddick discusses fitness and health and how she achieves that killer body. She does a lot of cardio (something that I’m not super into, as you know), but also works the free weights (although keeps it light) and does some yoga as well (which is great). Brooklyn admits to being skeptical about yoga at first, like many of us are, but yoga has obviously become a large part of her workout routine as this clip from her Elle/ExerciseTV workout video shows:
So Lance makes the cover of the Jan\Feb 2009 issue of Men’s Health. As one of the planet’s most competitive guys and in obviously good shape, he’s on track to compete in the 2009 Tour de France and attempt to claim an 8th win.
How does Lance do it? How does he seemingly drive so hard and not feel any pain? According to the article on the cycling machine, he uses a training method in which he rides at an intensity just under his lactic threshold (where the move from aerobic to anaerobic takes place and the breakdown of glucose causes lactic acid build up - that good old burn).
The article didn’t go any further into his training methods, but there were some good snapshots of Lance on and a bosu. pfft… And yes, apparently Lance swings the kettlebell.
The Summer has only a couple days left and while that means shorter and cooler days are looming, it also means that the Fall TV lineup is right around the corner. Personally, I don’t have many favourite TV shows anymore, but as a glutton for super-hero related stuff, I like to set aside space on my PVR specifically for NBC’s Heroes.
Heroes Season 3, “Villains”, begins September 22 and looks sweet as usual. With the season premiere being less than a month away, I thought it prudent to do some Heroes related research to see what king of training the cast actually go through. I came across this video of Hayden Panettiere’s workout at a “training session” in West Hollywood with her trainer :
Now, granted, Hayden has youth on her side (she’s 18). So maintaining a fit physique requires minimum effort (relatively anyway). Keeping up with this “routine” her “trainer” puts her through, along with a middle of the road diet would probably keep the cameras on here for some time to come. But seriously this routine is as good as my baking and unfortunately is a similar routine to what probably 80% of the people do at a given time at a gym.
Here’s two reasons why I think it sorta sucks:
Stair Master - unless you’re stair mastering full tilt, you’re looking at a waste of time. Working glutes isn’t a bad thing at all, but there are more efficient ways of doing so. Lunges ring a bell. Cleans and snatches fit the bill too. The bonus of these exercises is being able to get more work into less time. Intensity is the name of the game. 15 minutes of lunges and cleans with weight will get you light years further than an hour on the stair master. And there’s nothing more bothering to me than watching people on the stair master for an hour, reading magazines. If, however, you’d like to incorporate stairs in your routine, then just use a box or some real stairs and go hard. Bah… I loathe the stair master.
The Curl - curls with heavy weight aren’t the greatest exercise as they target such a specific group of muscles and are such a non-functional exercise. However, heavy curls do promote biceps tone\hypertrophy and if that’s what you’re looking for, then so be it. But curls with a small weight (less than 75% max, I’d say) are useless. You’re not going to “tone” anything with that - in fact, you’re not going to be doing much of anything for yourself either. With curls, go heavy or don’t bother. And if fitness or getting lean is a goal, then curls are worthless and at best just a bonus exercise (with max weight).
The biggest problem with these exercises is that when included in a routine as major elements, they’re really just a waste of time. A superior workout, done in a 10th of the time would have simply been something like 50 dumbbell snatches + 50 lunges.
The October Men’s Health guy is Jason Statham. If you don’t know the name, he’s the guy who stars in two great action movies, both called the Transporter (#1 and #2, anyway). His slickness is only second to his great action presence in the films - he has an air about him that says, “don’t mess with me”.Well, it turns out that you wouldn’t want to mess with him in real life either. You can read more about him, his workout and his eating plan here, at the Men’s Health website.
Highlights of the article include how he approaches his workout and his diet. Jason does the bulk of his workout in a circuit style which resembles an extended crossfit session. He never repeats a workout and always pits himself against time. He says, “Every single thing we do is against the closk. That way you’ll always know how good you are and if you’re slacking off.”
His eating plan is basically your no bread, no booze, plain yogurt kind of thing but he writes everything he eats down on paper in order to make it difficult to “muck up” the diet.
In an effort to capitalize on the super hero phenomenon that’s sweeping TV land these days, NBC has resurrected the 70’s era television show, the Bionic Woman. I caught a rerun of the premiere episode today. Similar to other prime time hits, over the last couple of years, the Bionic Woman has a fairly high production value. The effects and cinematography are pretty good and the acting isn’t half bad. Perhaps I had low expectations, but I enjoyed it.
The lead character, Jamie Sommers, aka the Bionic Woman, is played by 23 year old Brit, Michelle Ryan. Like other heroines before her (think Alias), an unsuspected and near fatal event lands her caught in a sort of double life. Unlike Jennifer Garner, however, Ryan ends up with millions of dollars of robotic body parts and some super bionic strength. Not only does she end up being able to outrun a SUV and bound effortlessly from one rooftop to another, she does a killer one handed pull-up.
Now, I know its all smoke and mirrors here. I seriously have doubts that Michelle Ryan is able to pull off one armed pull-ups (as much as one would like to believe). However, according to a recent interview with Men’s Health (their October 2007 issue), Michelle is working hard on making the Bionic Woman as close to a reality as possible.
In order to get her bionic body in shape, Michelle has been working out “90 minutes every morning, and three times a week she does 2 hours of Krav Maga (Israeli self-defense). ” There’s also her diet which is supplemented with “smoothies, nuts, and healthy food.” Filming in Vancouver, Michelle is also able to take advantage of the great mountain biking offered by great B.C. terrain. “It’s really intense, but mentally it feels so good having to get in shape and trek up mountains. I love it.”
It just goes to show how good incorporating squats and lunges into your exercise routine can be. Mike Alexander, the personal trainer for Jessica Simpson for her role in Dukes of Hazard, wanted Jessica to get a “lean, toned look” in her Daisy Dukes. Sure it may not have been difficult for someone like Jessica Simpson to look good in short shorts, but what exercises did Mike employ to help shape up her rear? Lower body exercises, like lunges and squats. Brilliant. Gina Lombardi, the host for Discovery channel
It just goes to show how good incorporating squats and lunges into your exercise routine can be. 
