By the time the VCR finally ate my Cindy Crawford A New Dimension workout tape (around October, 2010), the writing was on the wall. My VCR had no place in the 21st century, and neither did the fat-burning moves that had worked for Cindy and I in the 20th century. This is how I found myself face to face with personal trainer Josh Neumann from Stay Fit Anywhere. Yes, I would get into proper good shape again by test-driving fitness trends in our fair city for WE.
No, I have no impressive credentials. No masters in kinesiology or professional training certificate. Yet I bring a vast reservoir of personal experience trying to stay fit to this column, honed in the dozen-plus years that have passed since the Gods of Fast Metabolism first showed signs that Id fallen from favour.
But back to Neumann Hes probably more fit than you. Especially any of you out there with the Muscle Beach physique, because, according to him, bodybuilding is the past and movement is the future of true fitness.
Neumanns Superhero Workout is inspired by Australian actor Chris Hemsworths mucho muscle gain while training for the blockbuster Thor. True, Hemsworth had a hot bod before he was cast in the role, but then hes also a mere mortal. As Thor he had to be a god the God of Thunder, Lightning, Storms and Big Box Office, to be specific. As such, he had to get ridiculously jacked.
Now, most of us dudes included dont want to be ridiculously jacked. In fact, as a general rule for this column, lets assume that men prefer to have necks, and women want to look like women. Yet Neumann assured me that while Hemsworths commitment to compound training resulted in He-Man-like proportions, this didnt necessarily have to be the case. Your average Jo/sephine can customize the same workout to an individually desired effect and do it almost anywhere.
Compound training with a focus on movement is the theme at Stay Fit Anywhere. The workout engages multiple muscle groups at once, as opposed to isolated training, which by another name is called bodybuilding. The superhero workout consists of a five-part warm-up drill and three targeted supersets to be completed in non-stop intervals of 10 minutes each. The warm-ups are basic movements designed to properly stretch and align your body before you start working out. The supersets are made up of squats and push-ups, split lunges and hinge rows, dead lifts and push presses.
Youll definitely see tone, but most people are here to lose weight, whether they say so or not, says Neumann. The magic of this workout is youll get those results.
Hes got a warm disposition and despite his robust figure, Neumann looks relatively benign. It quickly becomes clear, however, that hes got the compassion of a drill sergeant. He puts me through a series of basic push-and-pull movements to see how my body moves. I try to read his eyes. Do I look like a girl who knows what a kettle bell is? The guys bloody Switzerland, though, and I cant tell a thing.
Next thing I know Im squatting a 20-pound dumbbell and doing full push-ups (no knees, Ma!) in eight-rep intervals over the course of 10 minutes.
Youre an animal! he says as I go into my fifth set of push-ups, and I kinda want to bite him. But no, I finish and sneak in another set of squats before the clock runs down. A quick breather, then its onto lunges and hinge rows. By the end of the fourth set of lunges, my legs threaten to collapse.
Do you do this workout yourself? I gasp between rows.
Yep, he confirms. I never wanted to be in the gym, but I did want to play my sports better, and this works.
So I picture my surfboard and a perfect wave and manage to push out another set of hinge rows.
If you have a goal youre trying for, the body will follow, Neumann assures me, and by the end of my workout I believe him. Im spent but I feel good, like Ive put in quality time.
Three days later Im hobbling around, proof that Id actually worked muscles that had been dormant for a long time. If I felt like a superhero it was Superman, with Kryptonite around his neck. But hey, at least that means theres potential.
For more on The Superhero Workout, visit Stay Fit Anywhere (1732 Alberni), 604-408-8810, .
