How to Do 12 Minute Athlete HIIT Workouts if You're Just Starting Out

how to get started with 12 Minute Athlete

If you’ve been a couch potato for most of your adult life, or if your definition of a vigorous workout is half an hour on an elliptical machine or recumbent bike while reading a book, these workouts must seem a bit… hard.

Impossible even.

And I’m not judging. A few years ago, I would have felt the same way.

Back then, if you’d showed me these workouts, I would have laughed in your face and told you there was no way in hell I could do one.

But here’s what you have to realize: it’s all mental.

You can do these workouts.

No matter what kind of shape you’re in, you can start doing these HIIT workouts today.

Because it doesn’t matter how many breaks you have to take, how many reps you can do or how much you have to modify an exercise just to be able to do one single rep.

All that matters is that you try—and that you really, truly give it your all.

But if you’re new to the site, or you just haven’t found the willpower to do one of the HIIT workouts quite yet even though you’ve been here for a while, here are some tips to stop you from procrastinating and start getting in the best shape of your life:

Read more

10 Essential Stretches for Athletes

If you’re anything like me, you don’t have much of a problem getting motivated to work out on a regular basis—but when it comes to recovery, that’s another story.

Maybe you do a good job at taking a rest day at least once a week. Maybe you even do some foam rolling here and there or book a massage as a reward after an extra tough workout.

But when was the last time you spent any time on your flexibility?

Yes, I know it’s time consuming. Yes, I know it’s not as exciting as working towards a strength or skill goal.

But as an athlete, no matter what your level, you need to properly take care of your muscles, or you’re putting yourself at risk for injury.

If you can take 10-15 minutes at least a few times a week to stretch, you’ll reap more benefits than you might expect, and allow your body to get stronger, healthier and fitter than you would be otherwise.

Plus, you’ll help yourself prevent getting injured—meaning you won’t be forced to take extra time off from your regular workouts.

Start with my 10 essential stretches for athletes below, and watch your flexibility and mobility improve over time!

Read more

Home Exercise Equipment Review: Dip Bar

dip bar

There’s no doubt in my mind that you can get in a really good workout with absolutely no equipment.

And in case you haven’t noticed, many of the 12 Minute Athlete HIIT workouts use nothing more than your own body weight.

Personally, I work out equipment-free on a regular basis—and anytime I travel, I never bring more than my timer and maybe my jump rope, yet I’m still able to get in an ass-kicking, sweat inducing workout—no problem.

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t nice to have some basic exercise equipment available every once in a while, whether at home or in a gym.

A good piece of equipment can be used for multiple exercises, adds an increased challenge and keeps your workouts interesting.

One of my favorite pieces of home workout equipment that fits this description? Dip bars.

Here’s why…

Do more with a dip bar

Yes, push ups are great. Yes, handstands and handstand push ups should rock your world.

But want to build a sexy, strong upper body—fast? A dip bar will do the trick.

Read more

Mexico Adventures, Sweaty Humid Workouts, and Dorky Videos

Mexico sweaty workout

How’s 2013 treating you so far?

My 2013 has been awesome. I’ve had a lot of fun adventures and met some really cool people so far.

Plus, I’m totally psyched about the direction 12 Minute Athlete is heading.

We’re building a movement here, folks. A movement of awesome, totally no-excuses athletes. We’re changing lives, one 12 minute athlete as a time.

I’m currently working on two big projects for the site — get ready, because they’re going to rock.

So anyway, in an effort to give you a peek into my crazy world, I wanted to tell you a little bit about my recent trip to Sayulita, Mexico.

It was awesome. Amazing. So much fun.

Seriously, if you ever have the chance to visit, definitely go.

Here are a few highlights of my trip:

Read more

How to Properly Warm Up Before You Work Out

how to do a proper warm up

If you played high school or college sports, you probably remember your coach telling you to always warm up beforehand, or put yourself at risk for getting injured.

As a former basketball player, I remember jogging around the court, doing lunges down and back, doing wall sits and even running lines before starting practice or a game.

But since most of us are past the days of organized sports, how do you know how to properly warm up before a tough workout?

Longer isn’t necessarily better

Despite what your coach may have drilled into your head back in your school days, longer warm ups do not equal to better performance.

In fact, too long of a warm up can actually cause you to lose strength and endurance in your actual workout.

In her book, The First 20 Minutes: Surprising Science Tells Us How We Can Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer, Gretchen Reynolds stresses:

“A warm up should be a prelude to exertion, not the exertion itself.”

The ideal warm up length? Just around two to five minutes. My typical warm up takes about two minutes, then I’m onto the good stuff.

And while there’s really no right or wrong way to warm up, you should always aim get a little warm (hence the term warm up) and get your muscles working—but not wear yourself out completely. 

How to warm up

As I mentioned before, there’s no absolute perfect warm up. Generally, you should try and gently work the same muscles you’ll be working in your workout in your warm up.

Read more

5 Simple Tricks to Keep Motivated When You Work Out Alone

 

Let’s face it: it’s much easier to motivate ourselves to do things when someone else tells us what to do.

That’s why so many people have jobs with bosses, instead of striking out on their own. Or why someone pays tens of thousands of dollars for a grad school degree instead of reading books from the library.

Heck, that’s why people paid upwards of $120 an hour to hire me as a personal trainer when I was working at a gym in NYC. It wasn’t because they couldn’t figure out how to do the exercises I assigned them. It was because they wanted—and craved—the accountability.

Because there’s no doubt about it: doing things on your own can be hard.

And sticking with a fitness habit is no different.

You’re no longer in gym class

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably tried the 12 Minute Athlete workouts (or intend to) at some point or another.

And most likely, you’re not doing the workouts in a group environment. If you’re like me, you’re probably not even doing them at a gym. Without a doubt, most of you are working out at home, in your garage, or maybe (if you’re lucky enough to have nice weather this time of year) outside in a park.

But wherever you do the workouts, most of you have one thing in common: you do them completely alone, without a coach, a trainer, or even a friend to cheer you on.

Read more

Finally: Watch a Full 12 Minute Athlete Workout in Action

All right, I did it.

I finally filmed a full length 12 Minute Athlete video.

I’d been putting it off for some time because… well, as you know… these workouts are hard.

Staying pretty and sweat-free just isn’t an option when doing this kind of ass-kicking HIIT.

But that’s OK. Because I wanted you to see exactly how hard I work… how much I sweat… and how exhausting but incredibly effective these workouts actually are.

My hope? That it’ll motivate you to work even harder. Sweat like you’ve never sweated before. Push till your muscles burn like fire. Jump till your legs won’t even lift off the ground.

Work hard. I do.

Read more

Choose to Be Fit, or Choose to Be Unfit: It's Your Choice

It amazes me how many people I talk to tell me they can’t lose weight, can’t get fit, can’t get healthy.

Oh, they’re very good at coming up with excuses.

They don’t have time, can’t find the motivation, they travel too much, the workouts are too hard.

Or maybe they blame their weight issues on genetics, an undiagnosed thyroid condition, big bones.

Excuse after excuse.

The whining never stops. But it’s their loss.

Because no one can force you to be healthy.

It’s completely up to you. You have to choose it.

What are your priorities?

Some people really don’t care if they are in good shape or not. They’ve made a conscious decision that food X is more important to them than a strong, healthy, sexy body and a long life.

And that’s OK.

But if you do choose to eat that fifth slice of pizza, or that second bowl of ice cream, don’t tell me that you can’t lose weight.

Because if I ate five pieces of pizza in one sitting, day after day, and skipped out on my veggies, I’d be fat too.

Read more

100 Ways to Get Moving Outdoors This Winter

Snowboarding

Think winter means you have to be indoors all the time?

Think again.

I’ve put together this list of 100 outdoor activities that you can do all winter long to keep getting the benefits of getting outside.

Depending on where you live, some of these will be more feasible than others. But don’t let any inclement weather stop you.

Here are 100 ways you can keep active outside in the winter:

1. Go skiing.
2. Try a polar bear swim.
3. If you live somewhere rainy, jump around in mud puddles.
4. Learn to snowboard.
5. Gather some friends and go ice skating.
6. Cross country ski.
7. Go sledding.
8. Take a walk in the rain or snow.
9. Get a pair of shoe shoes and go exploring.
10. Work out outside.
11. Go stand up paddle boarding (just don’t fall in).

Read more

How to FINALLY Do a Pull Up

pull ups

I know what you’re thinking: you can’t do a pull up. And unless you spontaneously turn into a superhero someday, you never will.

But the truth is, if you’re one of the majority of people who can’t do a pull up, it’s probably more of a mental issue than a strength one.

Most people, especially women, assume they can’t ever do a pull up. As in, they truly believe it’s physically impossible.

In fact, the New York Times even published an article recently on why women can’t do pull ups. While the article pissed a lot of people off (including me), many more were reconfirmed in their belief that they will never be able to do pull ups.

But whether you’re male or female, young or old, athletic or a workout newbie, you shouldn’t accept that you can’t do a pull up just because the New York Times tells you that you can’t.

Because here’s the thing: most people who claim they can’t do a pull up haven’t even tried.

And how can you expect to be able to do something if you never even try?

Read more