Fitness ft. Joe Davis

“Greetings all, my name’s Joe Davis.

 That being said, I must inform you all that I’m
not a professional trainer or nutritionist. I’m simply a guy who’s
tried it all and seen what works. For this first entry, I wanted to
discuss something I feel to be the most important and, more often then
not, missed bit of advice to exercise and diet: the wrong and right
reasons to exercise.
The two general reasons being for appearance and/or health. When one
exercises for “appearance”, I’m talking about a conscious effort to
“improve” their looks based on what they see as “attractive”. Like it
or not, we can think of ourselves as the sexiest people alive, but
it’s meaningless if no one else agrees. When I refer to exercising for
“health”, I’m speaking of when one tries to improve physical aspects
of their body, for example, doing a cardio workout to improve one’s
heart or utilizing weights to increase strength.
Obviously, either reason utilizes and requires exercising and diet,
but sponsor two very different states of mind. Getting a shredded core
and sculpted muscles, though appealing, can take years of committed
exercise and diet to reach. I’ve seen too many friends get frustrated
going to the gym expecting instant results only to be overshadowed by
the people who’ve spent a good majority of time and money being there,
and quit after a few weeks. On the other hand, when one does it in the
name of health, no one else benefits from your healthier heart more
than you do. My advice, when one decides to make the lifestyle choice
to get healthy, fit, and “attractive”, they should pursue it for a
healthier self, not for the short sighted approval of strangers.”

Fitness

by Rea Frey

Dare to Bare… Your Delts

It’s springtime again – perfect weather to show off a good set of shoulders. Often one of the weakest body parts, underdeveloped shoulders can lead to numerous injuries. Following these simple, but effective moves can help shape the three heads of the deltoid so you can have nice round caps to pop from your tank top. Perform each of these exercises in a circuit style fashion (complete one exercise then move immediately to the next) with the following repetition sequence: 21/15/9. Do all three exercises 21 times, then start at the beginning and complete all exercises for 15 reps and finally for 9. Get ready to bare amazing shoulders!

Thumbs-up

Begin in a push-up position, with your hands directly under your shoulders. Keeping the abs tight and without twisting your hips, slowly extend one arm straight in front of you, with your thumb pointed skyward. Bring it back to the ground and switch arms. Complete reps.

Punches

Grab a light pair of dumbbells and bring them under your chin. Keeping your abs tight, extend one arm out, rotating the wrist until your palm is facing the floor. Retract the arm before your elbow is fully extended. Use the core to rotate and exhale with every punch.

Steering Wheel

Grab a round weighted plate and lift it straight in front of your chest. Contract your abs and shoulders and begin twisting the plate like a steering wheel.

The Ryan Phillipe Workout

Ryan Phillippe has worked with the same trainer for 10 years and is as consistent in the gym as anyone you’ll find. The simple key to maintaining that kind of focus: “Variety, so he isn’t bored,” says his trainer, Happy Hill. Here, Phillippe blends cardio work with heavy weights and adds plyometrics for a comprehensive challenge.

The Plan
Complete this workout three times a week for 4 weeks, and rest at least 1 day after each training session. For each circuit, rest 30 seconds after each exercise, and 2 minutes after you finish all five.