Last week I featured the first of a 2 part Q n A series with Stair Fitness Expert Virgil Aponte. If you missed it, you can check out part one by clicking on the blue link.

Let’s get straight back to the rest of the interview so you can discover why stair exercises are one of the best bodyweight workout methods possible.

DPM: What is your favourite stair running exercise? My personal, because it’s really tough are prisoner runs – where I have my hands behind my head.

Virgil Aponte (VA): I do like prisoner runs (I call them hands behind the head. LOL!) But my favourite stair exercise has to be the buddy carry. I call it the greatest stair exercise of all.

In fact I dedicate 1 video in Ultimate Stair Exercises to it.

It’s simple: pick up someone that weighs at least 20 pounds (about 9kg) less than you and carry them up stairs. Very simple but I’ve not found many exercises that are so effective for strength, conditioning, muscle building and fat loss. And less than 10 minutes on this is all you need. I carry my wife who weights 135ilbs (61kg) up 20-26 flights of stairs.

Set 1: 10 flights
Rest 1 minute
Set 2: 4 flights
Rest 1:15
Set 3: 3 flights
Rest 1:30 – 2:00
Set 4: 3 flights

DPM: Okay, great example that people can do. Now I’ve got bad knees, so what’s the deal for people like me? Will it give my knees grief or will they be sweet? (Personally I find stair running fine for my knees – walking down them is the hardest part when you’re legs are all jelly like and shaking!)

VA: That’s a tricky one because the cause of knee pain is different each case. I had chronic knee pain and my therapist prescribe using the crossover box lunge.

So what did I do in the stairs. The crossover forward and guess what? My knees never felt better. The key is to see how you feel when you hit the stairs. While it did wonders for me each case is gonna be different.

DPM: What is your Ultimate Stairs Exercises program like and what do I get with it?

VA: The Ultimate Stairs Exercises is book detailing how to use stairs as a total fitness program. It starts with a 200 page e-book that breaks down stair training into aerobic fitness, anaerobic conditioning (or what I like to call high end conditioning), strength development, power development, flexibility and what else can be done (using 1 step, 1 flight, adding equipment, eyes closed etc…).

After all that there is a section with 10 stair workouts, a nutrition section, a for your spirit section and an FAQ section.

You also get 15 videos that demo that exercises you’ll find in the book plus a bonus video section of body weight exercises called No Gym Necessary!

DPM: That’s pretty extensive. I found a really good ITB stretch from reading your book which I hadn’t seen before. Is it normal for people who do a lot of stairs and other running to feel tight in the ITB?

VA: I added that stretch because it unique to stairs or a step and because I’ve always had super tight ITB’s! I’m not sure if running or stairs caused it or if it’s normal for people to have tight ITB’s due to running or stairs.

For me I think my sitting way too much behind a PC has more to do with it. But I would say that any tightness in the ITB would be an individual thing. Either way a good ITB stretch can help and there are some excellent stretches unique to stairs you can use for tight ITB’s.

DPM: Now for anyone who invests in Ultimate Stairs Exercises from http://www.stairfitnessexercise.com/ I’m throwing in FREE my 18 week
Aussie Fatblast Success Manual so they can maxmise their time inside and out of the gym. How many times should people do your stair workouts in conjunction with my fatblast system?

VA: I’d say start with twice a week and go from there. When I initially started stair training I did it 4 times a week but that is all I was doing. After I returned to weight training I decided that the stairs were too valuable and settled on 2 stair days and 2 weight days.

But you can also combine the stair work with your program as you already do a lot of stuff which fits perfectly with stairs like your body weight exercises, sandbag work and kettle-bell work.

The key of course is testing to what works for you.

DPM: Thankyou for your time Virgil – and for people who are interested in Stair Running I highly recommend you check out Virgils program. He is even giving away 3 free videos that demonstrate some great exercises you can do on the stairs as a thankyou for visiting his site. Just pop your email in the address.

And don’t forget, when you invest in the Ulimate Stair Fitness program (it’s less than $60USD) through the link on my page all you need to do is email me – daniel@dpmperformance.com.au and include your receipt so I can send you your Fatblast 18 gym program to follow along and complement the stair program outdoors.

Related posts:

1. The Truth About Stair Fitness Exercises: The Ultimate Stair Exercises Program Review Recently I was asked to review the Ultimate Stair...
2. Stair Running Exercise – The Ultimate Weight Loss Workout Lately I’ve been doing a bit of stair running...
3. Sydney Personal Trainer Reveals Most Effective Exercises For Your Weight Loss Workouts Todays post will be short and to the point....

Today is part 2 of my 5 part video series with Kate McArthur, a Podiatrist from City Clinic in the Sydney CBD.

If you missed part one which dealt with foot pain and what could cause it, you can visit it here.

Kate reveals whether or not women can wear high heels in this latest episode.

Now, before I go into the video shoot, let’s clear up the fact that wearing high heels causes women lots of grief with hip, foot, knee pain and other alignment issues.

But let’s be realistic. Professional women, and shorter women especially, are going to wear high heels no matter whether they are told to or not.

So is there a solution to help reduce the problem? Let’s find out with Kate below:

Sound like a plan ladies?

You can find Kate McArthur, resident podiatrist at City Clinic which is located in the Sydney CBD on Level 7, 50 King St.

Make sure you mention that you saw this video on my blog and she’ll look after you with a special DPM Performance preferred discount price on your repeat bookings.

Related posts:

1. Got Foot Pain Questions? Sydney Podiatrist Kate McArthur On DPM Hotseat Today is part 1 of a 5 part video...
2. Sydney Personal Trainer Reveals Most Effective Exercises For Your Weight Loss Workouts Todays post will be short and to the point....
3. Sydney CBD Boot Camp Style Group Training 30 Minute Fatblast Sessions I consider myself lucky to be a Personal Trainer...

Yesterday while at the shops I had a great brainstorm to get some fresh fish for dinner.

We do it every now and again and it had been a while. So when I saw the fish shop approaching I got a burst of inspiration to cook some fresh fish for dinner.

And I tell you if you are looking for a quick healthy dinner, nothing can beat fish and veggies.

In fact it doesn’t get much more healthier than what we had last night.

Start off with the best looking piece of fish that you can find. The seafood shop we were at had some great choices and we settled on the John Dory which looked fresh and tasty. Best yet – it had already been cleaned and de-boned. So that cuts down preparation big time!

You Don't Have To Eat Nemo To Enjoy The Benefits Of Fish

So while I got the fish cooking and adding only sea salt, cracked pepper and fresh lemon juice to enhance the flavours while cooking my wife started on the veggies.

All you need to do is select whatever veggies grab your fancy. Aim for about 4 or 5 different types to ensure you’re getting various colours of the rainbow for all their nutrient values.

Stir frying the veggies takes no more than a couple of minutes because you want to ensure you’re eating crispy vegetables and not the usual soggy stuff you’d find on airplane food.

Add a few different spices to your veggies for seasoning while you’re whipping it around in the frying pan and you’ll be sweet.

All in all, the whole meal would’ve only taken 10 minutes – definitely no more than 15 minutes. I didn’t time this one but it was fast.

And the end result?

Absolutely fantastic! Even the My Kitchen Rules judges would’ve been hard pressed to turn their noses up at this masterpiece.

So what’s stopping you from eating healthy meals at home? Don’t tell me you don’t have time to cook when something like this takes less than 15 minutes.

Related posts:

1. Quick Healthy Dinner Idea #3 Just For Busy People These quick healthy dinner recipes seem to be going...
2. Quick Healthy Dinner In Less Than 5.5 Minutes Last week I got home late from work. I...
3. Another Quick Healthy Dinner For Busy People Everyone’s busy right? I know I am and I...

A recent media report in the Sydney Morning Herald mentioned that big old cash cow McDonalds have announced a relationship with Weight Watchers first in New Zealand, and later this year in Australia.

I must admit I did a double take at first when I heard this thinking how on earth is anything on a Maccas menu worthy of making the cut for someone using Weight Watchers but it seems to be true.

Just like the Heart Foundation before them, Weight Watchers have sold their soul to the highest bidder.

I used to be a big supporter of the Heart Foundation including volunteering for them at the City to Surf before their alliance with the dirty M’s but now have brushed them for good.

Another Big McFail - Don't Fall For This Healthy Eating Myth

Weight Watchers, while I was never a big fan, have a part to play as they portray sensible eating habits while enjoying cheat meals. I don’t recommend everything in their plan but it’s definitely not the worst one out there.

Now they are off my Christmas Card list too.

The meals that get the Weight Watchers seal of approval are – drumroll – chicken McNuggets, Fillet-of-Fish and a sweet chilli seared chicken wrap.

Since when did a chicken McNugget constitute an actual food?

I haven’t seen the insides of a McNugget for a long time but last time I looked the ‘meat’ barely resembled anything that might have once looked like chicken meat in a previous life and throwing them in the deep fryer is not exactly the most nutritious thing just to further destroy it is it!

Ditto for a fillet-of-fish. What ever happened to just eating plain grilled fish on a burger like you can find at a decent take away store?

I wonder how many points these pieces of rubbish will take up on the WW scale. It sure won’t leave much room for anything else that day!

And of course, like the article mentions, the fact that parents may be drawn to Maccas to eat what is marketed as a healthy eating choice does nothing for their kids who are going to go and destroy a McHappy meal with burger, fries and a coke that contains enough sugar to send them hyper for a week.

I guess I’ll be continuing my Maccas boycott and will now add Weight Watchers to the likes of the Heart Foundation that are doing nothing to encourage a healthy lifestyle in this day and age of a massive obesity problem.

Anyone else with me?

What would constitute a reasonable healthy eating plan? Exactly the step by step approach that you get in my Bodyweight Blitz home exercise system

Your No Excuses Step By Step Nutrition System

Related posts:

1. Healthy Eating Myths Set Straight Alright I can’t take this any longer. You may...
2. Healthy Eating Myths Part 2: Breaking The Confusion Following on from my maiden healthy eating myths post...
3. Healthy Eating Tips & Food Myths: Is Coffee Good Or Bad? One of the questions I get asked the most...

You may remember that I have been posting over the last couple of weeks my seven pillars that I believe make up your overall health and wellbeing.

If you’ve missed the previous 3 pillars you can find a link to them at the bottom of this post.

Today is an important pillar, as they all are, but it is probably the pillar that most people gloss over.

The 4th pillar of health and wellbeing focuses on keeping the number of cheat meals you eat under control.

This Is Definitely A Cheat Meal

Some people have the misguided perception that they can eat whatever they want so long as they are doing a lot of training sessions.

BIG mistake my friends.

You can never out-train a bad diet.

This goes hand in hand with the Eat Clean, Stay Lean principle that I discussed as part of pillar number two.

So what do you reckon about your cheat meal intake?

Personally I know when I exceed my weekly limit (and it does happen at times – I’m only human) that my results suffer.

This Is Definitely NOT A Cheat Meal

When I’m on my game, my progress and physique is where I want it to be.

Take a good, honest look in the mirror and see if your cheat meal intake is tripping your fat loss potential up.

Only you know the answer to this one…

Related posts:

1. The Third Pillar Of Health And Wellbeing: Forget The Past Today is pillar number 3 in my 7 health...
2. The First Pillar Of Health And Wellbeing: Goal Setting Recently I was interviewed for a TV show –...
3. Eat Clean, Stay Lean: Health And Wellbeing Pillar # 2 Today is part 2 in my 7 Pillars of...

Lately I’ve been doing a bit of stair running sessions with my clients – who have a love/hate relationship with them and I’ve also been doing them myself to give my workouts a bit of variety.

There’s a number of things I love about them.

* They’re hard
* You don’t need to do them for ages
* It is a fantastic bodyweight workout where you don’t need any equipment – just a few sets of stairs
* You get to train in the great outdoors – perfect if you’re like me in a place like Sydney!
* And stairs are an awesome weight loss workout without one shadow of a doubt.

Stair Running Is A Great Weight Loss Workout Alternative

So I got the Stair Fitness Guru, Virgil Aponte (who has worked with WNBA and pro baseball players) to answer a few questions I had about stair exercises and today is the first of a 2 part q n a DPM hotseat series.

DPM: What is the deal with stair climbing Virgil? I mean, can you actually get a good workout from them? I know some people just view stairs as a means of getting from point A to point B.

Virgil Aponte (VA): The deal is they are as viable a fitness option as running, swimming, weight training, body weight exercises and any other fitness option.

When you consider that stairs can be used for strength, power, conditioning, flexibility and fat loss it stands right up there with all the other fitness options available.

It’s a definite keeper in the my fitness tool box as well as countless elite athletes and celebrities for one simple reason: Stairs flat out deliver results!

I think people view stairs as just getting from point A to B or that you can just walk or run them.

One simple workout in the stairs using ANA Runs, Hops & Crossover Forwards and Buddy Carry’s and they’ll see there is a lot more to stairs then just walking or running them.

DPM: Okay, so we’ve established they’re effective so why switch to stair running from my normal sprint sessions?

VA: I’d keep sprints in but I’d add hills and stairs for a change of pace.

Plus stairs are better a helping one develop leg strength & lend themselves better to adding plyo work (such as hopping up stairs).

Stairs are also inherently safer than sprints because there is less stress on your hamstrings.

Although I’d still say it’s best to do all of them if you can so you can reap the benefits of each.

DPM: What about the upper body? How can we work that with the stair sessions?

VA: If there is one drawback/complaint with stair training is how do you work the upper body. The simple answer is you can’t.

It’s just like running or sprinting. You must supplement upper body work to make your training complete. The thing is that this is very easy to so.

In reality you don’t even need to leave the stairs for a full body workout. Stairs will take care of your overall conditioning, lower body strength & power and you simply supplement your upper body work with body weight exercises.

And when I was the strength & conditioning coach for the New York Liberty (WNBA team) in 2002 we lived on using bands along with our stair work. Theresa Weatherspoon really turned me onto them as she always traveled with fitness bands. It was funny because I turned her onto to stairs and she turned me onto bands.

A simple fitness band which you can attach to a stair rail or door and you can easily do pushing, pulling and core work followed by your stair climbs. It does not get simpler or more effective than that.

I have 2 bands that I love: JC Fitness Bands & BodyLastics Fitness Bands but there are others you can find that are excellent as well.

DPM: Cool. I really love doing prisoner stair runs (hands behind ears) which I find works the upper body a little bit. So what about people that don’t really have access to any decent stairs. What can they do if anything?

VA: Anything is never a problem in my book. One only needs to look at their own body for a workout. In fact most experts would agree these days that any exercise should start with your own body weight. If you can’t control your own body then work on that and progress from there.

DPM: Very good point Virgil. People do under-estimate the effectiveness of a bodyweight workout first and foremost. You can do so many things to make it more challenging.

Stair Fitness Guru Virgil Aponte

I’ll be back with part 2 next week but in the meantime Virgil has given me 3 special reports that he has said to only give people who are dead serious about stair fitness training.

If you’re keen to get these 3 reports – Stair Lunge Variations, Stair Climb Basics and Stairs For Fast Fat Loss – simply email me – daniel@dpmperformance.com.au with STAIR EBOOKS in the title and ask me to flick them through to you.

They’re free and with no strings attached.

Related posts:

1. The Truth About Stair Fitness Exercises: The Ultimate Stair Exercises Program Review Recently I was asked to review the Ultimate Stair...
2. Bodyweight Workout Blitz – The Ultimate Home Exercise Challenge To be honest with you, I’m sick of hearing...
3. Susan Boyle Weight Loss Workout: How To Get Stress Relief & Lose Inches At The Same Time Susan Boyle is definitely the flavour of the month...

Today is part 1 of a 5 part video series interview I recently did with Sydney Podiatrist Kate McArthur from City Clinic.

Today I ask Kate what it can mean when people complain of foot pain whether it be when they are running or jumping around when doing their training sessions.

Stay tuned for the end of the video where Kate gives you a great exercise tip that you can do to help improve this foot pain.

You can find Kate McArthur at City Clinic which is located in the Sydney CBD on Level 7 50 King St.

Make sure you mention that you saw this video on my blog and she’ll look after you with a special DPM preferred discount price on your repeat bookings.

Related posts:

1. Sydney Podiatrist Reveals: Can Women Wear High Heels? Today is part 2 of my 5 part video...
2. How To Find Your Perfect Shoe: Hotseat With The Running Company How to find the perfect running shoe is one...
3. Bootcamp Sydney For Weight Loss Workouts I know that you’re a busy person still struggling...

I’ve made up a picture collage that I’ve just put together of photos from my honeymoon to Hawaii in November – December last year and last week I hung it on a hook that sits on the wall opposite our bed.

I put it together as a souvenir of the honeymoon and obviously a very special time in Bron and my life.

Me On Hawaii's North Shore

Now originally the only reason I hung the photo there was because that was the only spare hook we had in the house and when you’re renting you can’t exactly start banging hooks in every other wall.

But I realised there was a significant reason, albeit it subconsciously at first, for me placing the frame where I did at the end of my bed.

I see it every single day.

I get to look at the photos of our great time in Hawaii each and every day and to me it serves as motivation.

Motivation for me to continue my travels.

Motivation to get back to Hawaii.

Motivation to continue to make my business as successful as possible to ensure that I can live the lifestyle that lets me travel to the places that I want to go.

All of this brings me to my Munday’s Motivation words for today from the big man – Donald Trump.

I’ve just started reading Trumps Book “Think Big & Kick Ass” and this quote sums up my travel goals in a nutshell.

So as the Donald himself says:

“If you’re thinking already, you might as well think BIG. It’s your choice. No matter what your circumstances, nobody can stop you from thinking BIG. And once you get a taste … you’ll never want to stop and the rewards will come to you”.

Perfect words to get you fired up for that goal of yours whether it be personal, travel or whatever.

Pick something and then make it happen.

I’ve been very fortunate to travel to most of the places that I’ve always ever wanted to see already in my life although there’s still a couple I want to cross off.

Looking at this photo collage every day makes me motivated to do so.

So how are you going to achieve your think big goal?

Do you have to stick an inspirational photo on the fridge to motivate you to eat healthy and stay away from the foods that will sabotage your dream size?

Time to think now and let me know below what steps you’re going to take.

Me? I get motivated every time I look at those pictures to make my goals happen.

Related posts:

1. The Secret to Motivation and Goal Achievement This is a guest post from UK Fitness Expert...
2. Munday’s Motivation: Amazing Inspiration For You I was going to share with you a totally...
3. Munday’s Motivation: Moving Forward Today’s Munday’s Motivation is from a book I’ve quoted...

Most people who train in a gym have at some stage or another been forced to change their planned workout at the last minute due to the gym being absolutely packed to the rafters.

So instead of writing that workout off, packing up and going home here’s some bodyweight exercises that you can implement into your gym workout routine from Turbulence Training’s Craig Ballantyne.

What can you do in place of dumbbell presses, dumbbell rows, split squats, etc.?

Well, here are 27 alternative bodyweight exercises for you.

Situation #1 – You can’t do dumbbell chest presses because all the benches are taken, so you can do…

1) pushups
2) close-grip pushups
3) decline pushup
4) elevated pushups
5) off-set pushups
6) pushups with your feet on the fitball
7) pushups with your hands on the fitball
spiderman pushups
9) pike pushups
10) or possibly the hardest two hand pushup of them all, decline
close-grip spiderman pushups

Situation #2 – You’re superset calls for dumbbell chest presses and dumbbell split squats, but you only have one set of dumbbells and you’re set on doing the chest presses…what can you do for your legs?

11) 1-leg lying hip extensions for beginners
12) high-rep Bulgarian split squats for advanced
13) high-rep split squats with your front foot elevated 4-6 inches
14) 1-leg deadlifts
15) 1-leg squats onto bench
16) 1-leg squats standing on the bench
17) deepstep-ups
18) reaching lunges

Situation #3 – You’re at the gym on a busy Monday night and your superset calls for dumbbell rows and stability ball leg curls, but all of the dumbbells are taken. What alternatives can you do using a pullup bar or smith machine?

Using the smith machine, you can do…
19) inverted rows
20) underhand inverted rows
21) inverted rows with your feet on the ball
22) inverted rows holding the ends of a towel hung over the bar (advanced grip strength there!)

Using the pullup bar, you can do…
23) eccentric pull-ups
24) regular pull-ups
25) sternum pull-ups
26) chinups
27) side to side pull-ups

Whew. Who said you can’t get much done if all the weights are taken!

Stop the excuses and look for what you can do instead of what you can’t do.

If you are looking for some more examples of exercises like this, as well as descriptions on how to perform the above, I truly recommend Craig Ballantyne’s Ultimate Bodyweight Workout Program.

The 7 Turbulence Training Manuals retail for a total of $153.93 and Craig does sell these individually. But with this special Ultimate Bodyweight Workout Package offer you can get all these programs for only $57USD.

Simply click on the link below to read more

Turbulence Training Bodyweight Exercises Program

Related posts:

1. Top 10 Bodyweight Exercises For Fat Loss Results The more and more that I do bodyweight exercises...
2. The 3 Best Abdominal Exercises that Are Not Traditional Ab Exercises This is a guest post from Mike Geary, the...
3. The Best Ever Abs Exercises Let’s do a random survey here. If I held...

My favourite piece of workout equipment in the world might surprise you. It’s not a kettlebell – although I am a massive fan. I can always get a great workout just using my own bodyweight.

The one thing I can’t do without however, is my foam roller. I keep one in my lounge room so I can use in front of the TV and I keep 2 in the car, to use with clients and also for when I train in parks around town.

The foam roller is like having a massage therapist on tap. You can do it anywhere you have access to one and it gives your body a great relief, helping reduce some of your post exercise muscle soreness.

So what should you do on the foam roller? I found a great video on You Tube from Candace Stupek, a Personal Trainer and Fitness Model from one of my favourite places in the USA – Atlanta. Back in the day I used to work in the States and spent a lot of time with mates in the ATL. Candace actually has a cool blog with some good stuff on it that’s worth checking out too.

Candace runs through 3 of my favourite foam roller stretching exercises that are a must do.

Give them a shot, your body will thankyou for it!

The foam roller is a must use for anyone who spends all day sitting at your desk (the back stretch Candace showed you is perfect for you).

The ITB stretch that is shown is a must for anyone who does a lot of running – either long distance or even sprints.

The hamstring stretch is gold too.

If you want to invest in a foam roller – which is what I highly recommend you do, my preferred brank is by AOK Health. You can Buy A Foam Physio Roller. They retail for $90AUD at places like Rebel but I’ve organised a wholesale price for you so you can get them cheaper by clicking through to the AOK link here.

Physio Foam Roller Discount Price

PT SECRETS

Related posts:

1. Free Gym Workout Routine Yesterday I got a gym workout routine in and...
2. Underbelly Workout: Look Good Naked Gym Workout Routine If you are like me you are hooked on...
3. Are Bodyweight Workouts Effective For Fat Loss? This is a question that is worth its weight...