Top 5 Most Effective Alternative Workout and Training Techniques

I did swimming and skiing since I could walk, got my first personal trainer in weights when I was 13, played water polo through high school and did MMA, boxing, and bodybuilding through college. 

I have experience adapting to new techniques, overcoming "plateaus", studying everything from Bruce Lee's training journals to Arnold Schwarzenegger's bicept curl techniques (supinate past 90 degrees!). I like to integrate advice from my personal encounters with trainers and physical therapists that i've spoke with over the years, who passed on their knowledge to us.


On the other hand I have been injured and sick. I've accumulated concussions from skiing and sports (I kept my old helmet, on the ski team we kept them as trophies; at the end of the year every big dent on it we would jokingly call a "kill", or "big tree").  Water polo is fun, but swimming head up all day and throwing balls as fast as you can at odd angles is a death sentence for rotator cuffs. I know what it's like to come back out of shape and aching; To show up at 7am and leave at 5, and the pain to head straight to a gym while starving.

We get a ton of bad advice, incompetent trainers, and bad role models who speak as a "guru" on a particular subject.

Below, I compiled some of my favorite additions to basic weight lifting to incorporate and excite your routine.  These will help stimulate your fast twitch muscle fibers, strengthen tendons and bones, and ideally keep your endocrine system in check.

Some Key Advice:


1. Volume + Intensity determine the efficacy of the workout. If you want to hit chest, it's best to chose 3-5 major exercises for the chest, and do 10 reps back to back to back (superset) on all 3-5 of those exercises. You will be winded, exhausted, likely need to lower the weight in order to achieve around that 10 rep mark (you want to feel like you hardly can do another when you hit 8-9, but you need to at least do 8 with perfect form otherwise the weight is too heavy.) Rest 3-5 minutes, then repeat. And then repeat again. Start off with lighter sets for the first 3 rounds, this will take around 15 minutes. Now start gradually adding weight, after about 5-7 sets, start taking off weights. 10 sets is about your goal. Keep the intensity UP if you plan on inducing hypertrophy in your type II muscle fibers and want to get great results after 8 weeks, and transform by 12.

2.Diet: You need to consume the correct amount of carbs, fats, and proteins. Don't worry about supplements, just eat clean as you are willing to. More colors the better, and whatever you do stay away from hydrogenated oils or trans fats. Your body doesn't have the enzyme to break them down and they are stored as fat/cellulite. If you want to splurge, get a hamburger (less cheese less sauce the better), and if you have a sweet tooth like me, greek yogurt mixed with chocolate protein powder topped with blueberries is a great snack. Or dark chocolate with 70% or more cocoa content. Drink a big glass of water with your dessert, it will satiate you better.

3.Alcohol: You cannot look good and be a big drinker on weekends, you have to sacrifice somewhere to make the calories work and keep your metabolism rate high.

1. Swim (build lean muscle)

Swimming is my favorite non-lift day workout. It is low impact, full body, you don't overheat or put stress on your joints. I suggest a steady warm up, upon jumping in and swimming a quick couple laps you can initially feel fatigued from the shock of temperature change, but power through at around 70% for about 8-20 laps. Assuming you didn't stop between those laps you should be warm now. Make up a main set like 5x 200s. This should be easy with just freestyle stroke. As you build endurance try substituting one of those hundreds with backstroke. Then try converting one of them to an entire 200 of butterfly.  Don't do butterfly? Learn it, flail, watch a youtube video, better yet ask me. After this first main set, if you feel up for it chose another second set around sprints, I like to do 10x 50's butterfly. I also like to use fins and paddles, they add extra resistance, make the workout go faster, and build lean muscle. Girls, you don't have the hormone levels to get bulky so there is no risk of too much. Finally warm down with at least a 200 free. This whole thing takes me like 40-60 minutes. More time for hot tub.

2. Kettlebell Training

Recent studies found kettle bell training to be as effective as squats, and that means this activates your quads effectively enough to cause full body muscle growth (release of HGH), full body, lot of core doing these makes ab exercises like crunches obsolete. Work full body and you don't need to isolate your abs. These get you cut but build strong dense muscle, for women it simple gets you cut and lean. 

3. TRX

One of my favorite core workouts and routine I add at the end of all of my days.  Planks with feet up on these, pulling in legs and alternating in some pushups makes this a very high intensity regimen. Also phenomenal to mount somewhere at home for a variety of angle workouts for upper and lower body. I like to use mine as a balance apparatus while standing on golf balls to perform some self-reflexology. 

4. Resistance Band Training

This is one of the best core exercises, because rather than work your rectus abdominis, you are working the "real" core, your transversus abdominis! Also, you are building your serattus anterior for great line work in your mid torso section. So here's the deal. Normally when you lift weights, push and pull: positive and negative weight, is all on a lateral line of resistance. In other terms, if you put on 135 lbs on a bench press, when the weight is on your chest and when you push out and lock your arms, the resistance is always 135 pounds. With resistance bands the weight is moving exponentially where the weight grows. If you turn your torso in the movements you use core, create explosive movements and end up building tons of lean muscle. 

5. Versa-Climber

Screw elliptical machines and treadmills, spend ten minutes on this thing and tell me tomorrow you aren't sore.