Fitness to Go

Fitness to Go

No gym, no excuses. Put your strength to the test with this do-anywhere challenge.

Most men equate strength with hoisting the heaviest weight they can lift from the dumbbell rack and then squeezing out a few shaky repetitions. But the tug-of-war between man and his own weight is the ultimate way to measure his strength, says Todd Durkin, c.s.c.s., author of The IMPACT! Body Plan and creator of this body-weight fitness test. Challenge your brawn with this fast-paced, total-body complex—no equipment required.

Here's how it works: Grab a stopwatch. Do each of the four moves in a row as fast as possible. (Each exercise starts in the pushup position, so you can easily transition from one move to the next.)

Mountain Climber
Assume a pushup position with your arms straight. This is the starting position. Lift your right foot and raise your knee as close to your chest as you can. Touch the ground with your right foot and then return to the starting position and repeat with your left leg. Do 30 repetitions.

Pushup
Begin in a pushup position. Your body should form a straight line from your head to your ankles. Bend your elbows and lower your body until your chest nearly touches the floor. Pause, push yourself back to the starting position, and repeat. Do 20.

Groiner
From the pushup position, jump both feet forward so they land next to your hands. Lower your hips, and then jump your feet back out to the starting position. Do 10 total.

Squat Thrust
In a pushup position, jump your legs to a squat and stand up. Lower back down into a squat, and then kick your legs backward into a pushup position. That's 1 rep. Do 5.

Ready to give it a shot? Durkin completed two rounds in 2 minutes and 58 seconds. What was your time? Let us know in the comments below.

Gifts for Every Fitness Level

 

The holidays would be a whole lot easier if everyone was as interested in strength and fitness as we are. Then, we could fill every stocking a giant tub of protein powder and get on with the celebration. But, it's not that simple. Don't worry. We have a list of great gifts that will work for the guy who has never heard of a sumo dead lift high-pull to the ultra-pumped athlete and everything in between.

Full-On Couch Potato

This guy is your friend, but he hasn't seen the glorious light that can only be found after a hard-fought personal record on the squat rack or on the pavement during a race. Gift Giving season is the perfect opportunity to provide some inspiration, subtle or otherwise.   

Jawbone Up $100 The first step to getting fit is realizing just how pathetic your current condition is. The Up is a simple bracelet you wear at all times that tracks how much you move, how much you sleep and how much you eat. It then uploads that data to the web where it can all be neurotically analyzed on a PC or through a mobile app. It even has silent vibration alarms that let the wearer know when it's time to get up off his butt and move around a bit. Get it at Jawbone.com
  

Wi-fi Scale $168 Shame is a powerful motivator and this smart scale is more than capable of dishing it out. Every time you weigh yourself, it analyzes your body composition and uploads all of that data to the web. You can then see your progress using the free mobile app. But, the best part is that you can set the scale to send updates about your progress to Twitter or Facebook, so everyone will know if you fall off the wagon and go on a three-day eggnog binge. You can even set it up for multiple users so the whole family can berate themselves into shape. Thanks, social media! Get it at Withings.com   

Tapped Out: Rear Naked Chokes, the Octagon, and the Last Emperor: An Odyssey Into Mixed Martial Arts, by Matthew Polly $18 Inspiration is a beautiful thing. In fact, it's one of our favorite things here at Men's Fitness. This book chronicles the journey of an out-of-shape writer as he gets ready for his first MMA bout. His journey is an amazing one and the story is as funny and interesting as it is inspirational. Plus, it has interviews with some of the biggest names in MMA, so it's great for a fan. You can politely suggest that they read it while pedaling an exercise bike. Or, get 'em the audio book and crank it up on the treadmill. Get it at Amazon.com

New Balance 2-in-1 Running Shorts $45 For someone who hasn't seen the inside of a gym since Alf was still on the air, the thought of going out in public in tiny exercise shorts can be daunting. But, these seven-inch shorts give your giftee no reason to be shy. Lightweight and loose-fitting, there's no worry about hanging butt cheek during dead lifts. And because they have a built-in lining, they'll be ultra-comfortable and it'll be overtly clear that they're not meant for sitting around on the couch. Get it at Shopnewbalance.com

New Year's Resolution Maker

So, you have a friend who's determined to get their body where it belongs and that's great. But, it'll be a bummer if you have to watch them give up. Help reduce the odds of that happening with a few thoughtful gifts.

Gold Bond Extra Strength Medicated Body Powder $8 It seems a little silly to give a guy friend some powder he's likely going to be sprinkling on his nuts, but a little bit of awkwardness on your part will go a long way toward keep him coming back to the gym. Basically, you stuff it in their stocking, they stuff it in their shorts, and they never have to suffer the evil pain of chafing. Nothing derails good gym intentions like what's essentially adult diaper rash. Plus, you're saving them the trip into the drugstore to buy it. Now that's what being a bro is about. Get it at Goldbond.com

Polar Bottle Wood Grain $24 Buying bottled water is lame. It's expensive and have you seen what plastic does to those sea animals? Tragic. That's why a good reusable bottle like the Polar is great to have on hand. The stainless steel, double-wall construction is impressive when it comes to keeping your drink cold and the manly wood-grained graphic is a lot more appealing than most of those transparent, pastel, plastic joints. The lid uses a unique opening mechanism that requires only a slight turn of the top to grant instant access to hydration. Make them keep it close at all times and smack them if you see them without it. Get it at Polarbottle.com
Breville Juice and Blend $499 For someone who has been living life on the dollar menu, getting the proper amount of fruits and vegetables into the diet can be tough. While juicing can't deliver 100% of the benefits you get from chomping down on whole fruits and vegetables, it does go a long way toward getting your body the nutrients it needs. The Breville Juice and Blend is a precision instrument, made from stainless steel and using a five-speed motor that maxes out at 13,000 RPM. It also works as a regular blender, too, so you can use it for protein shakes or guacamole. Delicious. Just make sure they don't get desperate and try to juice a pizza. Get it at Brevilleusa.com

Ogio Locker Bag $69 This boxy bag has room inside for your sneakers, a towel, your gym clothes and just about every toiletry item you could possibly need. It keeps your clothes separate from your shoes and is narrow enough to fit inside the lockers you'll find at most gyms. When you're done working out, you can huck it in your car until it's time to do it all over again the next day. If they keep it packed, they'll never be able to use the cheap, "I forgot my sneakers" excuse again. And they'll also never have to explain the embarrassing, "I forgot my deodorant" excuse at the office. Get it at Ogio.com

 

Weekend Warrior

The fittest guy you know who doesn't have a gym membership, the weekend warrior gets his workouts on the mountain biking trails, the slopes and pick-up games.

 Grid 2.0 Revolutionary Foam Roller $65 You probably know the value of rolling out your muscles when it comes to mobility and recovery. But the concept can still seem fairly odd to the uninitiated. The Grid 2 is 26 inches long and five inches in diameter, so it's perfect for pushing all that post-workout tension out of your muscles. The textured pattern on the outside of the tube allows users to customize the intensity of their rolling routine based on desired outcome and pain tolerance. Their IT bands will be sending you a thank you card. Get it at Tptherapy.com
CCM U+ Crazy Light Hockey Stick At 425 grams, this stick is, as the name suggests, crazy light. It's made from aerial grade carbon, so its durable enough to survive plenty of face-offs. But, while it's light and strong enough for serious competition, it also offers an oversized sweet spot on the blade and a contoured shape to help keep the puck under control at all times, even if you're more Happy Gilmore than you are Wayne Gretzky. Get it at CCMhockey.com  GoPro HD Hero 2 

 

Now that the internet exists, accomplishments don't really count unless you can post a video of them to YouTube. GoPro's latest helmet cam can help you do that and a lot more. It has the ability to pull 1080p video with sound under just about any conditions you can throw at it. The wide angle lens and image stabilization keep your footage nice and steady, so you can actually watch video of yourself shredding without having to lay down afterwards from motion sickness. It even takes time lapse photos, which is great if you're doing something that takes a really long time, like running a marathon or putting together a book shelf from Ikea. Get it at GoPro.com 

  

Kona Jake the Snake $1,200 Cyclocross is a wonderful sport. You ride what's basically a burly road bike over epic trails that are usually swamped with mud and hurdles. The races themselves are great fun and the best part is how easy it is to start competing. Kona's mid-level cross bike is tough enough to survive the CX course, but is also nice enough to look at that you won't mind pedaling it to the store. Plus, the tires are slightly fatter and the geometry is a little more relaxed than most road race bikes, facts that your giftee's groin will appreciate if they're not seasoned in the chamois region. Get it at Konaworld.com

Gym Rat

This guy schedules his social life and career around his workouts—and not the other way around. Get him the kind of indoor training gear that will enhance something he already loves. 

Sennheiser x Adidas MX680 Headphones $70 Many fitness-oriented headphones sacrifice sound quality for the sake of durability, but the audio guts in these earbuds are provided by trusted headphone maker, Sennheiser. The buds are surrounded with a unique EarFin to keep them in place and the cord has been reinforced with kevlar to make it more durable. They also made them bright yellow, which may not go with everyone's workout attire, but it sure will make them easier to find when you're trying to dig them out of the bottom of your bag before a 5:30 AM workout. Get it at Sennheiserusa.com
Buddy Lee Aero Speed Jump Rope $40 Six-inch aluminum handles are strung together with a customizable rope to create one of the smoothest and sexiest jump ropes around. It uses a special swivel bearing system, which give it the ability to whip out five to six rotations per second. It's adjustable for people under 6' 5" tall and even comes with a wrench for getting it just right. Skipping with this thing can make for an insane workout and once you've honed your skills, you can go show those little girls down at the playground what's really up. Get it at Buddyleejumpropes.com
Moto ACTIV When attached to its watch band, the Moto ACTIV looks a bit like an iPod Shuffle on HGH. It's built around Google's Android platform, using apps to track your workouts with integrated GPS. You can store music on the internal memory and the ACTIV will also keep track of what songs motivate you to perform the best. Then, it'll combine those songs into one high-performance playlist. Of course, you could always just check out our motivational playlists instead. Get it at Motorola.com

Athlete

This guy practically wrote the book on training (or maybe he literally did). Only the most hardcore fitness gift would satisfy his elite athletic status. Demon Bells Kettlebells are great fun to swing, but very boring to look at. That's why owner Ryan Williams felt it necessary to turn the metal blobs into works of art. Each bell is made from injection-molded recycled steel, so they aren't rough on the surface like the cast bell you're probably used to. They offer four different weights: 20, 35, 54, and 72 pounds. Each weight has its own unique demon-face design making it by far the coolest-looking piece of equipment in your collection. Get it at Demonbells.com

Sisu War Hammer 

Sisu is the Finnish word for "stubborn determination," which seems a fitting name for an exercise device that's basically an ultra-heavy hammer. At the end of a 38-inch handle is a 14 pound head that can be loaded up with sand or lead shot, bringing its final weight to 20 or 28 pounds, respectively. You'll have to provide your own tires to hit with it, but you could easily use it to do heavy club bell swings as well. And hey, should a medieval war break out or if you need to take down a shed, you'll be more prepared than most. Get it at Roguefitness.com

Garmin Forerunner 610 The Forerunner line has been around for a while now, and Garmin just keeps making it better. The 610 does everything you'd expect a solid GPS training watch to do: it tracks your distance, pace, GPS position, heart rate and other metrics you can pore over later using your PC. You can challenge yourself with virtual partners or challenge actual people over their Garmin Connect network. The whole thing is small, light and uses a responsive touchscreen display that makes navigation easy, even if you're in the midst of a lung-crushing workout. Get it at Garmin.com

Burton Burrtech Premium Full-Zip Hoodie $75 If you're buying a gift for someone who's seriously into fitness, chances are they might have all the gear they need. But, if they're still hucking it to the gym in an old tattered sweatshirt they've had since high school, this is a very worthy upgrade. It's made of 100% cotton with a 300G fleece lining. It's water-resistant, so wearing it for a jog isn't out of the question and it's cut specifically to fit someone who is in shape, so it won't make you look like a bloated mess on the long walk between the gym and the car. Get it at Burton.com

Couch Potato No More! 5 Exercises to do During Commercials

Get a workout while catching up on your favorite shows. All you need is a couch, a TV remote control, and a throw pillow. Now you really have no excuse!

Couch Push-Up

Targets: Chest, arms, abs

Begin in push-up position with hands on side of couch, palms under shoulders, legs extended and feet on floor, hip-width apart.

Keeping back straight and abs engaged, bend elbows to lower chest toward couch.

Push back up. Do 15 reps.

Remote Reach

Targets: Abs, obliques

Lie faceup on floor with knees bent, abs engaged, holding remote control in right hand.

Lift left knee to 90 degrees, straighten right leg and raise.

Lift upper body; twist torso to left, reaching right hand under left leg.

Grab remote with left hand and lower upper body.

Repeat on other side. Do 12 reps, alternating sides.

Ice Skater

Targets: Abs, glutes, hamstrings, quads

Place pillow on floor.

Stand to right of pillow, feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent.

Lift left leg a few inches off floor and squat, keeping right knee behind toes.

Jump over cushion and land on left foot; reach right hand down to left toes.

Do 10 reps, alternating sides.

Pillow Crunch

Targets: Abs, inner thighs

Lie face up on floor with knees bent, legs together, abs engaged.

Place pillow between knees and lift legs off floor, knees bent 90 degrees over hips.

Place hands behind head and exhale to crunch up while squeezing pillow with legs. Keep elbows out and eyes looking up.

Inhale to lower. Do 15 reps.

Lunge Touchdown

Targets: Glutes, hamstrings, quads

Stand with feet hip-width apart, abs engaged, with a pillow 3 feet in front of you.

Lunge right foot forward, keeping knee behind toes, and grab pillow.

Lunge Touchdown, Part 2

Push off right foot and stand up, lifting right knee while pressing pillow overhead. Hold for 1 breath; lunge to return pillow to start.

Do 10 reps, alternating sides.