This is one of the most toughest workouts I have ever done. It puts your cardio, strength and endurance to the test. The workout itself is something that you should acclimate yourself too. Don’t expect to go all out and be able to complete this type of training, unless your used to it. What makes it truly challenging is the use of time  as a measurement  instead of reps.
To put it into perspective curling 25 lbs for 10 reps resting for 60 seconds than repeating the reps is a lot easier, than curling 25lbs for a minute straight doing as many reps as you can.  This puts your cardio to the test gets the blood pumping right away. Resting for 15 seconds before moving to the next exercise gives you a chance to catch your breath.

My advice for anyone starting out is lift light at first trying to do as many reps within a minute.  Men’s Health suggest that if you can not complete the exercise for the full minute do 15 to 20 reps instead. The amount of weight you should lift according to Men’s Health is weight that is challenging, which basically means you should be able to lift it for a minute.

I have done this workout with two other gym mates, one threw up wasn’t able to complete the exercises. The second almost fainted three exercise in.  As for myself I when I first started this routine I was able to complete some exercises for the full minute. Other exercises I would revert to reps instead.

Other tips to getting the most out of Spartacus Workout.
1. Rest – Men’s Health suggests that you do this routine three times a week taking a day off in between workouts.
2. Keep pushing yourself if you can do a minute at ten pounds move it up to fifteen.
3. Stretch before you do this workout
4. Maintain form over reps

By the second circuit I am pouring in sweat and pumping the music to get through.

To date I have done this routine 12 times.
Here is where I am at from the date I started till the present.
I am amazed at the results.

Goblet Squat –  
1/2/10
1st / 20 reps  Weight 40 whole minute
2nd/ 20 reps  Weight 40 whole minute
3rd/ 20 reps  Weight 40 whole minute
Present
1st / 40 reps  Weight 50 whole minute
2nd/ 35 reps  Weight 50 whole minute
3rd/ 35reps  Weight 50 whole minute

Mountain Climber
1/2/10
1st / 20 reps  
2nd/ 20 reps  
3rd/ 20 reps  
Present:
1st / 50 reps  whole minute
2nd/ 30 reps  
3rd/ 30 reps  

Single-arm dumbbell swing
1/2/10
1st / 15 reps  Weight 30 each arm
2nd/ 15 reps  Weight 30 each arm
3rd/ 15 reps  Weight 30 each arm
Present
1st / 20 reps  Weight 35 each arm
2nd/ 20 reps  Weight 35 each arm
3rd/ 20 reps  Weight 35 each arm

T-Pushup
1/2/10
1st / 16 reps  Weight 15  whole minute
2nd/ 12 reps  Weight 15 whole minute
3rd/  12 reps  Weight 15  whole minute
Present
1st / 16 reps  Weight 20 whole minute
2nd/ 14 reps  Weight 20 whole minute
3rd/ 14 reps  Weight 20 whole minute

Split Jump
1/2/10
1st / 20 reps  
2nd/ 20 reps  
3rd/ 20 reps  
Present
1st / 40 reps  almost the whole minute
2nd/ 30 reps  
3rd/ 25 reps  

Dumbbell Row
1/2/10
1st / 15 reps  Weight  30
2nd/ 15 reps  Weight 30
3rd/ 15 reps  Weight  30
Present
1st / 30 reps  Weight  35 almost the whole minute
2nd/ 30 reps  Weight 35 almost the whole minute
3rd/ 25 reps  Weight  35

Dumbbell side lunge and touch
1/2/10
1st / 10 reps  Weight  20
2nd/ 10 reps  Weight 20
3rd/ 10 reps  Weight  20
Present
1st / 18 reps  Weight  20 whole minute
2nd/ 16 reps  Weight 20 whole minute
3rd/ 14 reps  Weight  20

Pushup – position row
1/2/10
1st / 10 reps  Weight  15 each arm
2nd/ 10 reps  Weight 15 each arm
3rd/ 10 reps  Weight  15 each arm
Present
1st / 26 reps  Weight  20 each arm whole minute
2nd/ 25 reps  Weight 20 each arm whole minute
3rd/  20 reps  Weight  20 each arm

Dumbbell lunge and rotation
1/2/10
1st / 20 reps  Weight  20 whole minute
2nd/ 20 reps  Weight 20  whole minute
3rd/ 20 reps  Weight  20 whole minute
Present
1st / 20 reps  Weight  30 whole minute
2nd/ 20 reps  Weight 30  whole minute
3rd/ 20 reps  Weight  30 whole minute

Dumbbell push press
1/2/10
1st / 20 reps  Weight  30
2nd/ 15 reps  Weight 30
3rd/ 15 reps  Weight  30
Present
1st / 30 reps  Weight  35 almost the whole minute
2nd/ 30 reps  Weight 35 almost the whole minute
3rd/ 25 reps  Weight  35

I am on the news! Interviewed about how I used FitnessBuilder to lose weight.
Check out the story.

I am writing this as an answer to a question some one asked me. How did I lose16lbs within 60 days working out with the FitnessBuilder. The answer is not as simple as I woke up everyday and worked out anywhere between an hour to an hour and a half for five days. No, it actually has six parts to it.

Part 1. Mental Focus Motivation.
It all started in my head.
Prior to losing 16 lb. with FB I had lost around 20lbs in 5 months on my own working out with some posters that I had on the wall.  I had basically plateau, my body stopped changing and I was getting bored with the same exercises.  My motivation was out the door I started feeling like I was wasting my time and was all around frustrated. I didn’t have time to go to the gym and hire a personal trainer. During this time of my frustration I had purchased an iPhone and you know just like the commercial says, ” They have a app for that “. So I looked on iPhone and found FitnessBuilder. I had experience a little sticker shock at first because they were asking for more than the other fitness apps. They had a free workout that I tried and I was hooked. FitnessBuilder was worth every cent. It became my personal trainer and keeper of my progress.

FitnessBuilder made knowing what to do easy, getting up every day and working out was the hard part.
If motivation came in a bottle it would sell like hot cakes. So I had to do something that would keep me on course. So I decided to blog about it, talk about my experience share with the world what I was doing. I reached out to pumpone.com makers of FB and got their full support. They were excited that I was putting their product to the test.

This gave me motivation and focus, so part one of my answer is find
” Focus and Motivation”.

Here are some other motivators and focusers  that I used.

1. Don’t laugh. Find the body you want and stick your head on it.
Matthew McConaughey is in great shape I wouldn’t mind being in shape like him.

2. Find people who inspire you.
Randy the Natural Couture UFC MMA fighter. The man is 46 and still kicking ass.
Dara Torres 40 year old Olympic Swimmer.
Declan Condro (no I am not just saying this) he is in great shape and truly works it in the FB demo videos.

Dara Torres

3. Talk about working out. You would be surprised at how much
support and knowledge you will pick up by talking about working out.

4. Take pictures of yourself. You won’t believe your eyes when you look back on how you looked. It’s a truly out of body experience when you start losing weight and looking different, you feel like you stepped out of your own skin.

Part 2. Goal setting.

When I first started this 60 days challenge I didn’t know what to expect. I was looking to lose about 8 lbs. and gain some muscles. I worked with Declan Condron cofounder of FitnessBuilder who pointed me to the FitnessBuilder workouts to get me started working with the equipment that I had at the present.
Full body work outs to get my metabolism going at the same time build muscle, circuit training to get my cardio up and then muscle group workouts to build muscle.
To my surprise I lost double of what I initially set out to do.  “Set realistic goals”, if you set your expectations too high you will fall really hard when you don’t achieve them. So shoot for something attainable then be surprised when you get more than what you expected.

Part  3. Sugar is the enemy!

Food I know what you are saying no I don’t want to hear it. I want my soda, burger and french fries. The truth is when I started watching what I was eating my body really started changing. It’s simple. What you put in is what you are going to get out. If you don’t eat right you will see changes but only slightly like where I was before I started FB. One of my biggest changes to my diet was watching how much sugar I take in. You wouldn’t believe how much sugar everything has.
4 grams of sugar is equivalent to one teaspoon and 15.2 calories.

So to put things in perspective the average soda has about 40 grams of sugar. Which is 10 teaspoons of sugar and a 140 calories, that is a lot of sugar.
Here is a great video that talks about it.

One of my most favorite food is dried fruit which is loaded with sugar. Go figure! You can’t image how disappointed I was when I thought I was eating healthy but I really wasn’t. What sugar does to your body is basically turn you from a fat burning machine to a fat earning machine. So all that working your ass off goes down the drain when your blood sugar spikes. Part three of my advice “Watch your sugar”. Look for alternatives to get your sweet tooth fix. Examples – Natural Peanut butter and apples, Jello Mousse pudding has 60 calories, no sugar and it tastes awesome. There are tons of good food out there. Also to keep your sanity treat yourself once a week or every two weeks to a cheat meal. Make your cheat meal into a reward, the next day you should do a extra set to burn off the extra calories. I didn’t start my cheat meals until half way through my experience. Food is something I will do a lot more blogging about in 2010.

Part 4. Vary your workout.

When I initially started working out it took my body some time to get acclimated to the exercises.

For example, circuit training was kicking my ass and wiping me out. Once I got used to it I was able to move up in intensity which FitnessBuilder does for you. FB starts you out with a foundation than moves you up to comprehensive. From reading I found out other bits of information that helped me.
” Varying your work out” will keep you growing and burning. Little changes to your routine will go a long way.

Here are some other tips  things I found out through this expeirence.

1. People who workout in the morning are more likely to stick with it. Makes sense, when you get out of work you don’t want to workout you just want to relax. So working out in the AM is easier to stay focused and motivated.

2. Lift so that you can complete your set with the feeling you can do one or two more. Lifting heavier doesn’t always mean your going to get the most out of your work out. So vary the amount your lift, one week heavier the next week lighter but not to light were you don’t feel it. Basically what this will do is keep your muscles guessing and this will keep you from plateauing.

3. Resting time. When I started I was resting 60 seconds between reps, I read if you want to burn more that you should lower it to 30 seconds.  I tried it and have been doing it ever since. Sometimes I do need 60 seconds of rest between reps when I am lifting heavier. Feel it out everyone is different.

Part 5. Incorporate low impact exercise with your workout.

One thing I do a lot that contributed to my weight loss is walking. I walk about four and a half miles a day. What this does is keep my body in burn mode. If you don’t walk, take the stairs at work or take a 15 minute walk at lunch. If all else fails, get at least 30 mins of jumping rope in.  Anything that gives your body a little be more motion.

Part 6. Push it.

What can I say this is one  hardest things to put into words because it’s emotional. There where times I was sick and didn’t want to workout. There were other times I just didn’t want to workout. It’s human to be lazy, it is so much easier to sit back and do nothing. Sitting back doesn’t get you anywhere pushing it does. On these days I would look in the mirror and psyche myself up. Think of something that would make me mad and take my aggression out on the weights. Another thing I would do is put my two feet on the floor and sit up immediately in the morning. I would pretend that their was a invisible me who was beating me at lifting for that day. Anything that would get me downstairs to workout. My last piece of advice is “Push it” when you feel like giving up don’t. Say to yourself that you can do it. Remember the biggest room in the world for improvement, is the room of self improvement. No one is going to give you the keys or tell you how to do it.

You can find people who are willing to help you out. You have to initiate the conversation, You have to start it and You have to keep the fire burning.
“A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step”. Lao-tzu

I hope this was inspirational. Stay tuned for 2010 it’s going to be fun. I am going to have some unexpected things going on.
I hope you will join me.
Thanks,
Nat

On my way to work today I ran into a group of elderly women who were on a charter bus tour.

The entrance that was closest to where they were dropped off didn’t have an elevator.  It had a long flight of stairs down.
I could have kept my pace like everyone else and hurried off to work but that little voice inside of me made me offer these adventurous independent elderly women a hand.

I asked them to leave their luggage at the top of the stairs, promising not to run off with their belongings, I then proceeded to carry them down two at a time.  In all I think it was about 5 trips.  During the process I started to think, what exercise would be similar to this?  Stairmaster and shoulder laterals!  Smiles, thank you’s and a “I will be thinking you for the rest of the day.”  All I could do was smile and think of my mother.  Hoping that my good deed for today will be returned to my mother for when she is in need of a helping hand.

The moral of my story?
Pay it forward.

I am on a mission to find, try everything and anything fitness related to see if it works.  Then share the results with you!  At the same time it helps me get up everyday and work out, not a easy feat with life going on. I hope I can inspire you, inform you and get you to GET FIT, LIVE FIT and STAY FIT.  -NJ