The Crazy Eight Body Weight Circuit

Today we are going to take a look at a body weight circuit training called the crazy eight. Traditionally, circuit training involves following several planned exercises performed back-to-back with as little rest as possible. The great thing about circuit training is that it is a way to burn fat while lifting. You aren’t lifting for mass or strength per se, but you are lifting to create an HGH response, which in turn boosts your metabolism and helps to reduce excess body fat. A well-planned circuit training routine is a great way to get in shape without spending a lot of time in the gym but some people don’t have a gym membership or fancy equipment at home. Others have weights, but they don’t have a good treadmill or exercise bike. What if you could get in shape by using your body weight for resistance?

Craig Ballantyne from Turbulence Training has an amazing body weight routine that you can do in your own home?

This workout might give you flashbacks of gym class in Junior High.

The Crazy Eight Body Weight Circuit

Each exercise is done back-to-back with zero rest in between.

60 Jumping Jacks: Done as fast as possible, but make sure you do full jumping jacks.

15-20 Spiderman Pushups: You can do normal pushups it this is a challenge.

Walking Lunges: Ten steps on each side.

Spiderman Climb: (10 per side) These really target the abs and obliques.

Wall Squat: Do for 45-60 seconds. Ouch! This hurts! Don’t rest your hands upon your legs.

Planks: Hold for 60 seconds. Try for 30 seconds if 60 seconds is too much.

5 Burpees: Make sure and do a full pushup at the bottom and explode as high as possible at the top into a jump.

High Knees: Done as fast as possible. Do 50 total. By this time you should be reaching for the oxygen tank.

Rest 60 seconds and repeat....if you can. Craig goes through this circuit a total of three times. Maybe that's where the "crazy" Part comes in.

Personal Notes:  

This routine will have you wheezing like a chain smoker. I was barely able to make it through the first circuit and stopping to rest after the burpees. Honestly, this workout wiped me out and I stopped half way through the second circuit. So be warned.  Don’t add the second or the 3rd cycle until you are ready.

The views expressed on this site are my opinions and should not be taken as a substitute for qualified medical expertise. I am not a Doctor. I do not give medical advice or make claims to cure any sickness, disease or affliction. I simply share my understanding of health and fitness. Please consult your Doctor or Health Care Practitioner before starting any diet or fitness routine.

Affiliate link disclosure: I use affiliate links on my Blog. This means that in some cases when I link to an online retailer I get a commission for referred sales. Meaning, if you click one of these affiliate links and make a purchase the retailer gives me a cut of it. For what it’s worth, I never write articles and insert affiliate links for the sole reason of earning a commission.

Paleo Japanese Curry - Gluten Free

Gluten Free Japanese Curry

Today I am going to share one of my all-time favorite dishes. Japanese Curry. I have adopted a paleo-ish diet and found a way to make this delicious dish without the gluten or the guilt. So let's dig in....

Japanese curry? Your probably thought curry was from India. Or maybe Thailand. Who knew the Japanese had their own signature take on curry? Japanese curry belongs to the group of Japanese foods that have origins in European cuisine, called Yohshoko. It was introduced to Japan in late 1800 by the British and originally it was Western-style stews mixed with curry powder. The Japanese adapted curry to their own version, Curry Rice (Kare Raisu, カレーライス) soon after. By 1950s the curry roux in block form was sold by S&B Foods and everyone could make it easily at home. What is the difference between Japanese and Thai or Indian curry? The Japanese curry sauce is much thicker and sweeter and it’s always served with rice.

Curry is BIG in Japan and is a popular comfort food served in restaurants, schools, and in most Japanese homes. It is a meat and vegetable stew simmered in velvety smooth, sweet and mildly spiced curried gravy served over sticky white rice. Mmmmmm.... Did you say gravy? It is so popular it is unofficially Japan's national dish due to the sheer volume of packaged Curry mix sold every year.

Japanese curry sauce is most commonly made from instant curry roux, available in block and powder forms. Typically the mix comes in segmented bars like chocolate that you break off and add to a boiling pot of sautéd meat and veggies. Unfortunately, commercial curry bases contain ingredients like wheat flour, palm oil, monosodium glutamate, and other mysterious chemical flavorings and preservatives.

I love Japanese Curry with Rice. Maybe a little too much. It has always been a guilty pleasure that borders on an obsession. Okay, an addiction. Unfortunately, commercial curry bases like S&B and House brand contain ingredients like wheat flour, palm oil, monosodium glutamate, and other mysterious chemical flavorings and preservatives. So while it makes an amazingly rich, curry-bomb stew, it is not exactly Paleo-friendly or appropriate for people who are gluten sensitive or celiac.

Making Japanese Curry roux from scratch tastes amazingly better and eliminates the chemicals and unnatural additives. My recipe (through lots or research, development, trial and error) thickens the gravy using Tapioca starch so it stays pretty Paleo and keeps the sodium and carbs in the safe zone. This recipe makes a very tasty S&B Golden Curry clone that is both gluten-free and Paleo-friendly. So say goodbye to those chemical curry candy bars. Toss them in the trash and make it from scratch.

Ingredients: 4 servings
1-1.5 lbs. chicken thighs, chunked
1 Onion, medium size, chopped2 Carrots, chopped 
2 Potatoes, medium size, chopped 
3 Tbs Organic Butter
3 cups Organic Beef Broth

2 Tbs. Organic Ketchup

1 Tbs. Worscester Sauce

1 TBS organic Honey

1 organic red apple, peeled, and puréed or 1/4 cup Apple Sauce

1 teaspoon Apricot Jam (optional)


For the Curry Roux:
4 TBS organic, pastured Butter
1/4 cup Tapioca Starch3 TBS S&B Curry powder 
2TBS Garam Masala
1 teaspoon sea salt


Melt the butter in a small pot or pan. Add the gluten-free flour mix, curry, garam masala, salt, Whisk it all together quickly until it thickens into a paste. When done take it off the heat and set aside until the stew is done and you are ready to use it. This is your home made S&B curry brick


Directions: 

In a large pot, melt butter and brown the onions (approx. 10-15 minutes)
Add meat and stir-fry until lightly browned (approx. 5 minutes).
Add carrots, potatoes or other vegetables.
Add beef broth and bring to boil.
Reduce heat, cover and simmer until meat is tender (approx. 10 minutes).
Add Curry Roux. Cut into pieces and add to the pot.
Stir until completely melted.

Add apple, Worcestershire sauce, and ketchup. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Serve over white rice.


I hope you love this meal as much as I do. Let me know in the comments how this recipe comes out for you! It is such an awesome dish and is probably my all time favorite way to make beef stew.

The views expressed on this site are my opinions and should not be taken as a substitute for qualified medical expertise. I am not a Doctor. I do not give medical advice or make claims to cure any sickness, disease or affliction. I simply share my understanding of health and fitness. Please consult your Doctor or Health Care Practitioner before starting any diet or fitness routine.

Affiliate link disclosure: I use affiliate links on my Blog. This means that in some cases when I link to an online retailer I get a commission for referred sales. Meaning, if you click one of these affiliate links and make a purchase the retailer gives me a cut of it. For what it’s worth, I never write articles and insert affiliate links for the sole reason of earning a commission.

Torch The Fat With High Intensity Interval Training

Today I'm going to show you a sprinting routine that will turn you into the human "fat burning" torch. I know, sounds cheesy, but bear with me on this. It's called HIIT - High Intensity Interval Training. The concept is pretty simple as the name suggests. Research comfirms that short, all-out bursts of effort have a more profound effect on fat loss than a medium-paced jog lasting many times longer. Sprinting is about getting the heart rate high quickly. Sprints help stimulate HGH (human growth hormone) and elevates testosterone, and it can boost your immune system. Studies also show that interval sprinting is a great way to boost your V02 Max (your maximum rate of oxygen consumption). A study by scientists in Canada compared the impact of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise and high-intensity aerobics on fat loss. The long duration group burned twice as many calories, so you would assume they would burn more fat than the high intensity group. However, when the researchers recorded their body composition measurements, the interval group showed that they lost the most fat. In fact, the interval group lost 9 times more fat than the endurance group for every calorie burned. Wow.

So increasing your V02 Max with interval training is more effective for reducing body fat than endurance training. 15 to 20 minutes from warmup to completion and you’re done. Even doing just one set of sprints per week improves speed, muscle mass, bone density, cardiovascular strength and aerobic capacity. So forget the 45 minute "slog and jog" routine. Get moving. Fast.

This routine transitions from low-moderate intensity intervals to very high intensity intervals. 15 minutes may seem to good to be true to lose weight, but it is not. However, you must keep in mind this is not a cake walk. If done correctly, it's a butt-kicker, but extremely rewarding and time-saving. HIIT will boost your metabolism so that you are burning calories later in the day. If you're new to this, start with 90 seconds at a moderate pace (approx 50% maximum effort) and go as hard as you can for 30 seconds.

• Warm up for five minutes.

• Exercise as hard and fast as you can for 30 seconds. You should be puffing for breath, feeling like you can’t go another second.

• Recover for 90 seconds, still moving, but at slower pace.

• Repeat the high-intensity exercise and recovery a maximum of seven more times if you can. In the beginning do only two or three until you build up stamina.

Make sure you give yourself enough recovery time between sprints. Don't rush it.

Here's a great demonstration video from Craig Ballantyne of Turbulence Training.

Complete a total of 5-8 intervals your first time. That's all you have to do. Only 5-8 minutes of actual working sets, and you are on your way to torching some serious fat. You can also apply the same concept running outside, swimming, jumping rope, using the intervals proposed above.

Here is a progression for building up your intensity as you advance:

Beginner: Tough for 30 seconds, easy for 90 seconds. (3 to 1) 

Intermediate: Tough for 30 seconds, easy for 60 seconds. (2 to 1)

Advanced : Tough for 30 seconds, easy for 30 seconds. (1 to 1)

More Advanced 2: Tough for 60 seconds, easy for 60 seconds. (1 to 1)

Increasing Intensity

To ramp it up a notch, progressively increase the jogging speed of your intervals by .5. 

Warm up for 3 to 5 minutes. Level 3.5 on a treadmill.

Run for 30 seconds. Level 7.0 

Walk for 60 seconds. Level 3.5

Run for 30 seconds. Level 7.5

Walk for 60 seconds. Level 3.5 

Run for 30 seconds. Level 8.0

Walk for 60 seconds. Level 3.5 

Run for 30 seconds. Level 8.5

Keep alternating like this for 10-20 minutes. 

The One-Two Punch

It you have the time, walk on the treadmill or elliptical for an additional 15 to 30 minutes and really take advantage of your fat burning. The HIIT exercise you just did releases free fatty acids into the blood-stream. By following up with 15 to 30 minutes of low level cardio, your body will burn the released fatty acids for fuel.

Limit the total cardio to 30 minutes in the beginning stage. So if you did 20 min of HIIT then just walk for 10. Or walk for 15 min if you did 15 minutes of HIIT.

As you progress, you can increase the total cardio to 40 minutes. So If I did 15 minutes of intervals I follow up with 20 min of walking on the treadmill. If I did 20 minutes of high intensity, I simply walk for 10-15 minutes.

If you are new, start with a 3 to 1 interval workout and just do one or two tot HIIT workouts a week. You don't want to over-train by having too many intense workouts in the same week. Some weeks I only do one HIIT session after my strength training workout. On those days where I am fatigued or not "feeling my Wheaties", I simply walk for 30 minutes after doing my weight lifting routine.

Give it a try but make sure you don't go banzai and overtrain. Start easy, and progress at a sensible rate. And as always, consult your Doctor or primary health care practitioner before starting any fitness regimen.

Thank you for taking a moment of your valuable time to read this article.

The views expressed on this site are my opinions and should not be taken as a substitute for qualified medical expertise. I am not a Doctor. I do not give medical advice or make claims to cure any sickness, disease or affliction. I simply share my understanding of health and fitness. Please consult your Doctor or Health Care Practitioner before starting any diet or fitness routine.

Affiliate link disclosure: I use affiliate links on my Blog. This means that in some cases when I link to an online retailer I get a commission for referred sales. Meaning, if you click one of these affiliate links and make a purchase the retailer gives me a cut of it. For what it’s worth, I never write articles and insert affiliate links for the sole reason of earning a commission.

Stephen Amell Workout Routine for Arrow

                                           This is not your Daddy's superhero

Green Arrow is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Originally one of the earlier Golden Age superhero characters, Green Arrow was often teamed up with the better known Green Lantern. Admittedly, I was skeptical when I heard they were making a television episode remake of one of my favorite comic book characters. Until the movies Iron Man, and The Avengers, comic book screen adaptions have always lacked depth and often stray too far from the original story. So I was impressed when I decided to sit down and watch a few episodes of Arrow on Netflix. Sure, Slinging arrows and doing acrobat stunts hardly compares to flying and blasting bad guys like Iron Man. But Arrow delivers an action-packed, suspenseful story that is has an edgy feel that the original Green Arrow could only wish for. This sleek, modern-day adaption of Green Arrow gives new life to the old one, and leaves you wanting to find out what happens next to the bad-ass arrow slinger.

Steven Amell wealthy playboy Oliver Queen, who returns from a remote island off the North China Sea where he was stranded for five years after a shipwreck. Right away, we see that Oliver is a changed man. And he keeps the details of that fact a closely guarded secret. To the world, Queen plays the part of a party-loving rich guy, but by night, he's the Arrow, a crime-fighting vigilante who wields a bow and arrow with deadly accuracy.

The action-packed show is full of fight scenes and acrobatics with Amell doing the majority of the stunts himself. To pull it off, Amell had to get in stellar, superhero worthy shape. He even elevates himself up a series of metal rungs with just a metal bar - a feat that’s called a salmon ladder and is part of Stephen Amell’s real life workout routine to work on his physique. It is compound exercises like this which makes Stephen Amell so fit. Check out Amell's amazing display of upper body strength and definition in this clip:

What enables Stephen Amell to be able to look like that and perform some of his stunts is that he focuses quite a bit on functional strength and compound exercises; Stephen Amell said he actually did Parkour as part of his workout regimen.

The following exercises and workouts consists of a lot of compound exercises that builds up muscles but also enables you to become more agile and flexible to move around your surroundings.  They aren’t the simplest exercises, but if you want to be cut like Stephen Amell, you should be doing these exercises.

Workout A (Chest/Triceps/Abs)

4 sets of Incline dumbbell press of 6-8 reps

4 sets of Flat bench press of 10-12 reps

3 sets of weighted dips of 8-10 reps

4 sets of tricep rope extension of 10-12 reps

3 sets of hanging leg raises of 10 reps

Workout B (Legs/Calves)

4 sets of rack pulls of 5 rps

4 sets of dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squats of 8-10 reps

3 sets of Weighted hyper extension of 8-10 reps

5 sets of Calf raise (any variation) of 12 reps

Workout C (Back/ Biceps/ Abs)
4 sets of Weighted chin ups of 6-8 reps
4 sets of Barbell row of 6-8 reps
3 sets of Barbell curls of 8-10 reps
3 sets of Hammer curls of 8-10 reps
3 sets of Hanging leg raises of 10 reps 

There are many other exercises that you can implement in your workout. These are just some of the example exercises that you can do to get that Stephen Amell body.

The views expressed on this site are my opinions and should not be taken as a substitute for qualified medical expertise. I am not a Doctor. I do not give medical advice or make claims to cure any sickness, disease or affliction. I simply share my understanding of health and fitness. Please consult your Doctor or Health Care Practitioner before starting any diet or fitness routine.

Affiliate link disclosure: I use affiliate links on my Blog. This means that in some cases when I link to an online retailer I get a commission for referred sales. Meaning, if you click one of these affiliate links and make a purchase the retailer gives me a cut of it. For what it’s worth, I never write articles and insert affiliate links for the sole reason of earning a commission.

Welcome to Fit1Now

Fit1Now is a blog dedicated to sharing the latest information on health, fitness and diet. Here you'll find fitness tips, health-related articles, and delicious recipes.

Thank you for taking your valuable time to read about Fit1Now.

The views expressed on this site are my opinions and should not be taken as a substitute for qualified medical expertise. I am not a Doctor. I do not give medical advice or make claims to cure any sickness, disease or affliction. I simply share my understanding of health and fitness. Please consult your Doctor or Health Care Practitioner before starting any diet or fitness routine.

Affiliate link disclosure: I use affiliate links on my Blog. This means that in some cases when I link to an online retailer I get a commission for referred sales. Meaning, if you click one of these affiliate links and make a purchase the retailer gives me a cut of it. For what it’s worth, I never write articles and insert affiliate links for the sole reason of earning a commission.