Cardio for Gym Bros

Laurence Grigorov is director at a leading residential property development company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company specialises in high-end luxury residential developments.

Laurence Grigorov enjoys various forms of exercise and visits the health club regularly to maintain both his physical health as well as enjoying the mental benefits from regular exercise. Laurence Grigorov believes that diet is an equally important aspect to physical health.

It’s time for the post-workout cardio you promised yourself you would add in. But 30 minutes on the treadmill sounds about as appealing as getting a root canal. So, you’re left with two choices: Slog through it, or go home early knowing you shorted your training.

There is a third option: Replace that bland cardio routine with simple, sweaty conditioning work. Think of conditioning work as cardio for gym bros. You certainly won’t be using a treadmill or elliptical for any of these challenging finishers! You’ll do straightforward work, feel it from head to toe, and know you did something substantial.

1. Kettlebell Swing Intervals

The kettlebell swing is a fantastic conditioning tool. Yes, some people experience some lower back discomfort with swings at first, but this can usually be remedied with some form correction. Here are the basics:

Swings lend themselves well to a time-based approach. Nobody wants to count reps on this explosive move! For a killer conditioning finisher, set an interval timer for a 20-second work period and 40-second rest period. Swing for 20, rest 40, and complete 10 rounds.

2. Rowing Machine Sprints

The rowing machine is easily the most challenging piece of cardio equipment in the gym. It’s easy to tell because if you walk into any large commercial gym, the treadmills and ellipticals are always full, and the rowers are gathering dust. Consider this an endorsement! A well-made rower demands you use both the arms and legs intensively, creating a unique challenge for the body that few other cardio machines can match.

We like distance intervals with the rower as opposed to timed intervals. Get creative with these! Too much routine goes hand in hand with boredom, and boredom is definitely an issue that many people face when it comes to cardio.

To get started, try 10 sprints of 100 meters. Don’t worry, the machine will do the counting for you! Rest the same amount of time it took you to complete the sprint. You will likely start out doing these in 20

seconds or less, but the times will quickly creep up as you proceed through the sets.

3. Loaded Carries For Distance

Loaded carries are a classic conditioning tool and can be done in many different ways. The most common variation is the farmer’s carry. With this carry, you simply grab one or two heavy dumbbells, hold them at your sides with you arms extended and your shoulders rolled back, and walk. This can also be done with a trap bar if you have the space.

For any variation of loaded carry, you can program it for time or distance. But given how a gym is usually a fixed space, time is a great place to start.

For time, start with 30 seconds of carrying followed by 60 seconds of rest, and complete 8 rounds. If you are going for distance, try 10 rounds of 20 yards (or thereabouts) with 45-60 seconds of rest between each round.

4. Fan Bike Sprints

Chances are, if anything on this list is going to make you lose your lunch, this is it. No matter if you call it a fan bike, AirDyne, or Assault Bike, this is a cruel piece of equipment. If the rowers are gathering dust at your local gym, the fan bike has cobwebs growing on it.

What’s so good and bad about it? The resistance on this bike is provided by a giant fan, so the harder you push yourself, the harder this piece of equipment is going to push back.

The fan bike usually comes equipped with two great interval options programmed into the bike’s software. The first is a 10/20 Tabata-style interval: 10 seconds of sprinting followed by 20 seconds of rest for 8 total rounds. Can’t go wrong with that.

For the brave, the bike also has a 20/10 interval, also for 8 total rounds. If you are feeling ambitious, give that one a try.

I know what you may be thinking: “Only 4 minutes? That’s nothing.” Be warned though: There is a reason this bike is a favorite among CrossFitters. Your lungs will burn, and no amount of water will help. And your legs will be ready to explode from acid and lactate accumulation. Enjoy!

5. Sled Pushes

There is a reason that human beings invented the wheel: It clearly makes it easier to move heavy loads over distances. If you want a challenging conditioning workout, though, easy is your enemy. That’s why you are going to drop the wheels, embrace your inner ox, and push a heavy sled.

Sled pushes will not only make your lungs burn, they will strengthen your glutes, hamstrings, and calves better than most other exercises—all without the joint stress of heavy deads or squats.

Similar to the loaded carry, you can program the sled push for time or distance. For distance, try a 30-yard push followed by 45-60 seconds of rest and complete 10 rounds. For time, try a 30-second push followed by a 60-second rest for 8 rounds.

The workouts above all have two things in common: They will make you question your choices while you’re doing them, but also keep you seriously focused and engaged on the task at hand. You can’t say that about “normal” cardio!

If you do find yourself getting accustomed to these though, try combining them! You could do kettlebell swings alternated with loaded carries, rower sprints with loaded carries, sled pushes with kettlebell

swings, and many other combos. Be creative with it to make sure you don’t get bored, bro!

Words and image courtesy of www.bodybuilding.com

Messi Wins 6th Ballon d’Or

Laurence Grigorov is director at a residential property development company based in Johannesburg, South Africa that specialises in high-end luxury residential developments including stand-alone cluster homes and apartments. Laurence Grigorov enjoys watching sport when he is not involved in developments and is a keen viewer of football in his spare time.

Lionel Messi won a record-breaking sixth Ballon d’Or after another sublime year for the Argentinian, whose familiar brilliance remained undimmed even through difficult times for club and country. Despite Barcelona’s collapse at the end of last season and Argentina losing to Brazil in the semifinals of the Copa America, Messi’s genius was ever-present in 2019, for which he now stands alone in the history of the game’s most prestigious individual prize.

Four years after his last Ballon d’Or, Messi pulled clear of the five next to the name of Cristiano Ronaldo, and now owns twice as many as Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten.

In 54 appearances this year, Messi has managed an astonishing 46 goals and 17 assists while for Barca alone he hit 41 goals and 15 assists in 44 matches, which included seven doubles and three hat-tricks. “It’s like he is extra-terrestrial,” said Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde in March. “Every time he gets the ball something extraordinary seems to happen.”

Messi’s first season as club captain brought a third consecutive La Liga title and he scored the winner in the game that clinched it, a 1-0 victory over Levante. He also claimed his sixth Pichichi Trophy as the division’s top scorer, with 36 goals in 34 matches. But Barcelona unravelled as their 3-0 advantage over Liverpool – to which Messi contributed a brace – went up in smoke at Anfield and the club crashed out in the semifinals of the Champions League.

They were then beaten by Valencia in the final of the Copa del Rey, when Messi’s tap-in proved a consolation, but it was his voice that spoke loudest in defence of coach Valverde, whose survival owed much to the support of his captain.

Messi had led the way on the pitch too, particularly during the run-in when he scored 16 goals in 12 games as Barcelona put together a relentless winning streak. “This league has one person’s name on it,” wrote Diario Sport.

He scored his 50th career hat-trick in a 4-2 win at Sevilla and in April, another hat-trick began with a

free-kick into the top corner and ended with a sweeping chip from the edge of the area that was so good even the Real Betis fans felt compelled to applaud. When asked about their reaction, Messi said: “To be honest I don’t remember anything like that.” His goal was nominated in the Fifa Puskas Award’s 10-long shortlist. “I have not seen any player like Messi in the history of football,” said Betis coach Quique Setien. “His goal was something you do playing Playstation.”

After finishing the Champions League as top scorer with 12 goals and collecting his sixth Golden Shoe for a record third consecutive year, Messi joined up with Argentina for the Copa America, a tournament that kick-started a frustrating three months for the 32-year-old. Messi was sent off against Chile in the third-place play-off and his comments about the refereeing drew him a three-month suspension from international football.

A return to Barcelona should have offered some respite but Messi suffered a calf injury on the first day of pre-season before a thigh strain meant he would not begin playing regularly again until October. Yet he made up for lost time by scoring six goals in five games and then a hat-trick against Celta Vigo, this time a treble made up of set-pieces, two from free-kicks and one a penalty. It was his 34th hat-trick in La Liga, equalling Ronaldo’s record in the Spanish top flight.

Free-kicks have become an increasingly potent weapon for Messi and his improvement is more evidence of a player still adding to his skill-set in what can be assumed will be his twilight years. “It’s clear that when games are close we have the advantage of having the best player in the world and the best free-kick taker in the world,” said Barca midfielder Sergio Busquets.

Another milestone came at the end of November when his goal and two assists in a 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund coincided with his 700th appearance for Barcelona. Recently he scored the winner in a 1-0 victory at Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona insist they have plans for coping with Messi’s dreaded retirement but the truth is their number 10 will be irreplaceable. He has unfulfilled ambitions too, including another Champions League crown, not to mention an elusive major trophy with Argentina. Despite it all, Messi is not finished yet.

Words and image courtesy of www.supersport.co.za