The 3 best exercises you should do be doing

You can waste time and effort with machine exercises. Or, you can do 3 exercises that target most of your muscles and get out of the gym quickly. The choice is yours.

Obviously, you don’t want to be in the gym for 2 hours a day, but you want 2 hour a day workout results. So what exercises can you do to get you in and out of the gym in less than an hour and maximize results?

Well, it’s simple actually. Perform these 3 compound exercises and you’ll be more than happy with your results: deadlift, bench press, squats.

A compound exercise targets several muscles and strengthens your entire body. Compound exercises burn a lot of calories, give you a full body workout, keep your heart-rate up and build muscle.

1. Deadlift

Stand over a weighted barbell, reach down, grab the bar with an open or closed grip, keep your back straight, push your chest out and lift the bar up to your waist. At the top of the movement, stand straight and pinch your shoulder blades together. Then lower the bar back down to the ground and start again. Perform 3-5 sets of 8-15 reps.

This exercise targets all the muscles in your forearms, core, back, shoulders and legs. Can it get any better? The deadlift blasts calories and works hundreds of muscles all over your body. It’s a demanding exercise but it’s extremely rewarding.

2. Bench press



Lay down on a bench, pinch your shoulder blades together, reach up and grab the bar at shoulder width. Lower the barbell down to your chest and then push it back up to the top. Don’t forget to breath and always firmly grip the bar. Perform 3-5 sets of 6-15 reps.

This exercise works your entire upper-body; chest, forearms, biceps, shoulders, back and core. Again, this exercise will build strength and shred fat because you’re taxing your muscles and burning a tonne of calories.

3. Squats



Stand in front of a barbell, rest it against the top of your back, grip the bar with both hands, keep your back straight, press your chest out and squat down, bringing your knees to a 90 degree angle. Then, stand back up, keeping a straight back and pressed out chest. Perform 3-5 sets of 8-16 reps.

This exercise taxes your entire lower body and core; glutes, quads, shins, calves, heels, abs and obliques. Squats target the largest muscles in your body, your legs, which use a lot of energy. When you tax a large muscle group, you burn a lot of calories. It’s simple and helps you shred fat and tone your bottom end.

There you have it, do these exercises at least once a week and get ready for some amazing results.

Healthy snacking on the go

You haven’t eaten in a few hours, you’re hungry and you’re in a rush. So, should you eat something? If so, what do you eat? Or should you just ignore your hunger and wait till your next meal?

It’s simple - YES, you should eat something if you’re hungry! Healthy snacking is an important part of any healthy lifestyle. Even if you’re trying to shed a few pounds, you should NEVER avoid eating when you’re hungry. You keep your metabolism firing by consuming low calorie, high fibre and protein snacks. If you wait too long between meals, your metabolism slows down and thus, makes it difficult to burn calories.

Your body needs food for energy, so give it what it wants! If you deprive yourself of food/snacks, then your metabolism slows down and starts to store fat. This storing of fat makes it hard to burn calories because your body is basically saying: “because you haven’t fed me in a while, I will store food as fat because I need future energy and I don’t know when I’ll be fed again.” Get it?

Simply put, eat something every 3 hours so that your metabolism doesn’t fall asleep. NEVER avoid snacking between meals.

But with that being said, what should you eat? Eating sugary, greasy, fatty snacks is not the answer as you will end up storing these foods as fat because your body can’t break them down efficiently. Choose high fibre, high protein snacks that will satisfy your hunger and keep your metabolism firing. And when you’re on the go, you should always have a few snacks on-hand to satisfy between-meal hunger.

Here are 5 healthy snacks:

Trail Mix – Any combination of dried fruit and nuts constitutes a healthy trail mix snack. This snack is perfect because it’s packed full of fibre (dried fruit) and protein (nuts). Also, the healthy fat in nuts will keep you satisfied for a long time. But, don’t be fooled by trail mixes that contain chocolate chips or smarties as these are not healthy snack options. Chocolate has no place in a trail mix.

Energy bar – Any granola or protein bar makes for a perfect snack. They have a good amount of fibre, protein and healthy fats. For females, choose a bar that has apx. 150 calories. For men, 200 calorie bars are the best.

Fresh fruit – Simple, fast and healthy. Fruit is a perfect snack option as it contains natural sugars and a high amount of fibre. Fruit contains enzymes that allow for easy digestive breakdown, making it a healthy go-to snack when you’re in a rush.

Vegetables – A bag full of carrots, celery, broccoli or any other vegetable is a perfect snack choice. Packed full of vitamins and fibre, these little packages of natural goodness make choosing a healthy snack easy.

Peanut butter and whole wheat crackers – healthy, easy, and portable. The protein and healthy fats in peanut butter make for a perfect ‘any time’ snack option. Whole wheat crackers also contain protein and fibre. The combination is as healthy as it is delicious.

There you have it - 5 simple snacks that can be consumed when you’re on the run.

Need more healthy snack options or clarification on anything? just let me know!

The 400 Workout

The “400 Workout” is my favourite go-to workout when time’s not on my side. The whole workout takes about 20 – 35 minutes, depending on your fitness level. It’s a good workout because it involves timing yourself and trying to get better, stronger and faster. The whole point of the “400 workout” is to complete the workout in the quickest amount of time; beat your best time next time to maximize results.

So what is the “400 workout”? Well, it’s simple. It’s a circuit workout that combines 4 muscle building, fat incinerating exercises. It involves: 100 pull-ups, 100 push-ups, 100sit-ups and 100 body squats. A body squat doesn't require dumb-bells or bar-bells to complete; you're only squating your body weight. All the exercises are done in succession and force you to complete 100 reps per exercise before moving on.

Here’s the order:

50 pull-ups

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

100 body squats (minus the weights, just place your hands behind your head, squat and raise.)

50 pull-ups

You must complete 50 pull-ups before moving on to push-ups, then 100 push-ups before moving on to 100 situps and so-on.

Obviously you won’t be able to complete 50 pull-ups or 100 push-ups, sit-ups or body squats in one set. So pace yourself. I usually try to complete a quick 20 pull-ups, rest for 25 seconds, then continue to finish the 50 reps before moving on. Just remember to do everything in succession before moving on to the next exercise.

The whole point is to completely tax your system. You’ll sweat, you’ll gasp for air, you’ll crave water and most importantly, you’ll burn fat and build muscle.

Now the “400 workout” is extremely difficult and requires you to be in good shape before attempting. But if you aren’t at the level of fitness required for completing it properly, then you can substitute some exercises for easier ones.

For example, if you can’t do pull-ups, then try chin-ups. Or for even easier exercise, reach up to grip the bar and jump-up to help you get elevated. This way, you can use your legs to help you complete the 100 pull-ups/chin-ups.

If you can’t do proper push-ups, then rest your knees on the floor to help you complete 100 push-ups.

The important thing here is to try to complete the reps any way you can, as fast as you can.

Challenge yourself. Work hard and you’ll get results, fast.

Let me know if you have any questions!