Exercising with your Kids

Who says you cannot exercise with your kids? Utter nonsense!

Above is "The Lilly Ann Workout", a video created by father and YouTube user Michael Stansbury to show off the workout he does regularly with his baby daughter.

It is undoubtedly the cutest workout video I have ever seen.

How to do 400 Pushups - The 400 Pushups Challenge

Anyone who can do 400 pushups will obviously have really nice pecs - simply due to the combination of strength and endurance that is required to do that many pushups.

But the good news is that you don't need to have a body like Bruce Wayne (aka Batman) to be able to do large numbers of pushups. (Although doing large numbers of pushups will certainly help you to become more like Batman...)

So how do you become a pushups machine? Start by taking Cardio Trek's 400 Pushups Challenge.

The 400 Pushups Challenge - Step One

What you need to do is first be able to do a pushup. If you cannot - due to being overweight or lack of physical strength - then you will need to do lots of cardio (to lose weight) and after you've lost a healthy amount of fat start weightlifting and focusing on upper body strength building. Once you reach the point where you can do at least 10 pushups then you are ready to begin training.

Your pushups don't need to be fancy. They could even be an easier version of standard pushups - like the bench pushups demonstrated below.

The 400 Pushups Challenge - Step Two

Next determine how many pushups you can actually do before collapsing in a heat of sweat and craving release. If you can do 15 then your start point for the next stage will be 10. If you can do 30 then your start point will be 20. Basically whatever amount it is you can do, multiple it by 66% and that is your starting goal.

The 400 Pushups Challenge - Step Three

Do 66% of your maximum pushups. Then take a 2 to 3 minute break and do 66% again. Keep doing this until you have done 400 pushups.

So for example lets say you determined you could do 30 pushups at once before collapsing, thus you do 20 pushups during each set - and you do 20 sets of 20, for a total of 400 pushups. That is your goal.

Note - It will take you a significant amount of time to total 400 pushups. Think hours due to all of the breaks you are doing. So for example if you watch TV a lot in the evening you can do your pushups during the commercial breaks. Every commercial break until you get all 400 done. If you have difficulty finding time to do that many pushups then set yourself a lower goal like 200 or 100 pushups.

The 400 Pushups Challenge - Step Four

The next day you do one extra pushup. Thus in our example you do 21 pushups, for 19 sets. A total of 399 pushups.

Every day after that you add 1 extra push up. Some days you might do slightly more or less than 400.

20 x 20 (400)
21 x 19 (399)
22 x 18 (396)
23 x 17 (391)
24 x 17 (408)
25 x 16 (400)
26 x 15 (390)
27 x 15 (405)
28 x 14 (392)
29 x 14 (406)
30 x 13 (390)
31 x 13 (403)
Etc

The 400 Pushups Challenge - Step Five

When you start getting to the bigger numbers (like 40 or more) you can starting adding a half set or a portion of a set just so you keep the total number of pushups to roughly 400.

Assuming a starting point of 20 it should only take you 380 days of training to eventually do 400 pushups. Doing 400 pushups all at once will be exhausting work. It takes about 40 minutes to actually do it because closer to the end you will be pausing for breath between pushups.

The good news is that in a period of roughly 1 year you will go from having tiny pecs and being able to do 30 pushups to being able to do hundreds.

You will also find that your arms, legs, back muscles are also stronger and have greater endurance.

If you take up The 400 Pushups Challenge please let us know by leaving a comment below. Happy exercising!

Over 100 Cardio Exercises you can Try

Below is a list of over 100 cardio exercises you can try - and many of them won't cost you much to try them either.

At The Gym

Arm ergometer (arm cycle)
Box jumps
Circuit training
Elliptical trainer
Interval training
Jacob's ladder (climbing treadmill)
Kettlebells
Plyometrics
Rowing machine
Stair stepping
Stationary or recumbent bike
Step ups
Treadmill walking or running

Household Chores

Changing sheets
Cleaning out the garage
Cleaning the bathtub
Cleaning the gutters
Gardening
Heavy landscaping such as planting trees, shrubs and bushes
Heavy renovations (pulling carpet, knocking down walls, etc.)
Mopping
Moving furniture
Mowing the lawn with a push mower
Painting
Raking
Scrubbing floors
Shoveling snow
Sweeping the patio and walkways
Vacuuming
Washing the car
Washing windows

The Great Outdoors

Cycling
Hiking
Snowshoeing
Downhill skiing
Cross-country skiing
Water skiing
Wakeboarding
Rock climbing
Jogging / Running
Power walking (brisk walking)
Rollerblading
Paddling a canoe
Nordic walking
Surfing
Paddle boarding
Swimming
Water jogging/running
Skateboarding
Bleacher running
Ice skating

Sports

Tennis
Flag football
Hitting balls at the driving range
Archery
Archery Biathlon
Triathlon
Marathon Running
Decathlon
Soccer
Hockey
Basketball
Lacrosse
Boxing
Martial arts
Kickboxing
Kickball
Karate
Jiu-jitsu
Racquetball

Group Classes

Spinning
Step aerobics
Jazzercise
Zumba
Bootcamp
Yoga (Ashtanga and/or Vinyasa)
Salsa dancing
Dance classes or lessons
Cardio kickboxing
Hi-lo floor aerobics
Water aerobics
BODYPUMP
Silver Sneakers
Gliding
Hip hop dance
Sports conditioning
CrossFit
Krav Maga
StrollerStrides or StrollerFit classes
Turbokick

Play Time

Walking the dog
Playing with your children
Dodge ball
Tag
Hooping (hula hooping)
Obstacle courses
Jump rope
Water games in a pool
Playing with your dog
Skipping
Surfing
Hop scotch
Taking the stairs
Jumping jacks
Trampoline jumping (rebounding)

5 Cardio Exercises for People who have difficulty Exercising

Large and heavy people often have difficulty exercising because they get sore joints, they have very low endurance, they feel embarrassed, etc.

But cardio exercises like running, jogging, etc are very beneficial for people looking to lose weight. Thus it becomes a whole Catch-22 wherein they feel they are "too fat to jog" and thus feel demotivated to exercise.

And they're not alone.

Elderly people with sore knees find jogging too painful on their legs, women with very large breasts cannot find sports bras in their sizes that give them enough support get sore backs and chest pain / sore armpits when trying to jog.

And then there are people who might be suffering from a sports injury that makes it too difficult for them to jog. eg. An ankle injury.

Thus I have come up with this list of 5 Cardio Exercises for People who have difficulty Exercising

#1. Swimming - Call it the beauty of swimming, but it is great for exercise as it uses as much or as little effort as you feel like putting into it, and you can do it slowly or quickly depending on your endurance - and it is safe for people with knee injuries and won't be problematic for women with large breasts.

A 300 lb person doing moderate swimming for 60 minutes will burn approx. 690 calories.

#2. Cycling - This might be trickier for people with sore knees or ankle injuries (it can still be done, but take it slower and don't put excess force on your knees or ankles), but it won't be a problem for people who are heavier or have large breasts.

A 300 lb person doing leisure cycling for 60 minutes will burn approx. 450 calories.

#3. Household Chores - Honestly this is a long list and includes everything from washing windows to washing the car, gardening to shoveling snow, scrubbing floors to cleaning out the garage. These activities burn calories and you can do them at your own pace, so you can take it easy - which means you get a workout and a clean home too.

A 300 lb person washing their car for 60 minutes will burn approx. 510 calories.

#4. Power Walking / Hiking / Walking the Dog - Assuming that your knees / ankles are okay with walking, you should also be able to go for "Power Walks" or hikes. Avoid long walks if you have low endurance, and keep it short if you find you have problems with your ankles or knees. If you have a dog try to take them for a short walk twice per day.

A 300 lb person walking the dog for 60 minutes at 2 mph will burn approx. 315 calories.

#5. Dancing - Again if you have ankle or knee injuries, stick to slow dances. Signing up dance lessons or joining a dancing group might be one of the best decisions you've ever made.

A 300 lb person doing leisure dancing for 60 minutes will burn approx. 345 calories.

Burning 3500 calories = shedding 1 lb of fat. It takes time, but you can do it.

NOTE - Depending on your circumstances I strongly recommend consulting a doctor before signing yourself up for anything strenuous. Stick to lighter exercises when in doubt.

Winter Archery Practice

During January and February I sometimes go to the archery range to get some personal practice in. I don't teach archery during the winter, but whenever there is a day where the weather is nice it is fun to go and get some extra practice in.

The trick about practicing archery in the winter is whether or not your aim is good enough that you are not missing any shots and having to search for your arrows in the snow.

If you're lucky the snow will have a thick icy layer on top and your arrows will just skitter across the top.

Another problem is that there is no winter maintenance of the target butts - which means they look pretty decrepit during the winter. You have to aim your shots in the corner so you aren't aiming near the softer middle sections of the target butts - where there is often either a gaping hole or material so soft your arrow goes straight through and keeps going.

Because it is so cold outside I strongly recommend wearing multiple layers of clothing. eg. On this particular day I was wearing a t-shirt, a sweater, a hoodie, an outdoor vest, a jacket, a neck warmer, hat and gloves.

Alternatively you can also go to a longer range - 50 yards for example - and practice there instead. But you had best have really good aim if you want to be shooting at that distance and hitting the target with tight clusters.

I have even made a series of fun videos of myself doing archery in the winter, shown below, wherein I was shooting a snowman for fun.