March 28, 2024

At-Home Core Strength by Chanda Fetter

3 Effective Ways to Strengthen Your Core  Muscles At Home

We can’t always make time for the gym, sometimes we have to rely on the space and items we have around our home to get those important exercises done.  The following three exercises will help strengthen your core, tighten your waistline, reduce back pain and give you a boost of energy!

Sitting V with Trunk Rotation – Grab a bag of potatoes or fruit, something that might equate to 8-10 lbs.  Sit on the ground and wedge your feet under the couch to secure them in place.  Sit up tall and hinge back from the hips to engage your abdominals.  Be sure you don’t hinge back too far as you don’t want to over recruit your hip flexor muscles, nor do you want to load your lower back.  Stay at a safe angle that allows maximum recruitment of your abdominal wall.  Take your weight and rotate side to side making sure to stay evenly planted on your tail.  While you are performing this exercise be sure to tighten your abs and breathe deep.  Know that this exercise can be performed with just your body weight as well for less intensity by simply crossing your arms on your chest.   Perform until you find fatigue in your abdominals then rest for a few breaths and repeat 3x.

Back Extensions – Take a few pillows and place them on the floor.  Lie on your stomach so the pillows rest under your hips.  Wedge your feet under the couch and place your hands behind your head.  Lengthen out of your spine and inhale, then exhale and lift your chest off the ground to find a position just beyond neutral.  You’ll want to be sure you pull the shoulder blades down your back so you’re not taking weight into your neck and shoulders.  Keep your gluteal muscles relaxed and feel the muscles along the sides of your spine tighten and you extend your back.  Perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps with a 3 second hold at the top.

Plank with Rotation Knee Tucks – Take an ordinary kitchen towel or pillowcase and place it under your feet.  Assume a plank position up on your hands, tighten your abdominals and make sure to keep your legs zipped together as one.   Take a deep breath in and as you exhale pull your knees across your body and into your right elbow then your left.  Do this a total of 8-10x keeping a nice pace.  Notice that your hips will lift slightly as you pull the knees across your body.  This is an advanced exercise so know that holding a static plank is a great alternative.  Planks can be done on your hands, your forearms, on your toes or on your knees.

By Chanda Fetter
IM=X Pilates, Owner and Master Trainer. Contact Chanda via chanda@imxsb.net, www.imxsb.net or 805-687-4692.

 

Time-Saving Workout Tips by Tera Busker

What workout can I do at home to save time on busy days?

Here are 4 examples of effective workouts that will get you the results you want in a short amount of time.

Circuit Training
Circuit training is a series of strength or cardio exercises (or both) that are repeated two or three times with little or no rest between sets. Circuit training requires you to move quickly from exercise to exercise, which elevates your heart rate. If you add strength training exercises into your circuit, you can burn fat and tone your muscles in one workout. Circuit training is also a great boredom buster. Who can get bored when you are darting quickly from exercise to exercise? Choose 5-6 exercises, like lunges, mountain climbers, bench dips, burpees or jumping jacks, do each back to back for 30 seconds each. After you have completed all of the exercises, rest for 1-2 minutes. Repeat the same circuit 1-2 more times.

Tabata Training
Tabata training is a type of workout that only lasts four minutes but creates an “after burn effect.” This means that your body continues to burn calories well after the workout is over. A tabata workout consists of eight rounds working at high intensity for 20 seconds, and then 10 seconds of rest. Tabata training hardly takes any time at all, can easily be incorporated into your day, and offers huge benefits. Try it with jump squats, push-ups, or even sprints! An example workout would be do jumping jacks for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, do pushups for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds. Repeat this sequence for a total of 4 minutes. 2 examples of workouts that work great with equipment that you may have at home (cardio machines/weights)

HIIT
Your cardio workout doesn’t have to be long to be effective. Rather than doing steady-state cardio for 60 minutes, opt for 20 minutes HIIT. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a form of exercise that alternates between short bursts of high intensity exercise with longer periods of lower intensity. These high intensity bursts that melt the fat away – up to 50% more effectively than low-intensity exercise. It also speeds up your metabolism, which enables you to burn more calories throughout the day. Try this beginner HIIT workout. After you have warmed up at a low intensity for 5 minutes, start your first HIIT cycle. Work at an intense level for 30 seconds and follow with 90 seconds of moderate effort. Repeat the HIIT cycle for a total of 10 minutes, then cool down for 5 minutes.

Compound Exercises
Compound exercises are movements that combine an upper body and lower body exercise together. Movements that utilize both the upper and lower body at the same time create a better workout than exercises like, bicep curls, which only focus on one part of the body. How do you “build” a compound exercise? Take a lower body exercise like lunges, squats, bridges or planks and fuse it with an upper body exercise like bicep curls, shoulder presses, rows or tricep extensions. Some great examples are the squat and press, the rowing plank and the hip bridge with a tricep extension. Create a workout out of only compound exercise or add compound exercises into your Tabata or Circuit Training for a fast and effective workout.

Tera Busker is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer and owner of Fitness To Go, an exclusive In Home & Private Studio Personal Training Service based out of Roberts, WI. www.fitnesstogo.net

Fitness on a Budget by Tara Busker

This article brought to you by Brett Klika C.S.C.S., Director of Athletics at Fitness Quest 10. Brett is a world renowned human performance specialist, motivational speaker, author, and educator. For a copy of his new e-book and exercise program “The Underground Workout Manual- Exercise and Fat Loss in the Real World” visit www.undergroundworkoutmanual.com.  To contact Brett, send correspondence to brett@fitnessquest10.com.

Fitness on a Budget

 
You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on the latest gadgets to be fit and healthy. There is a cost effective way to exercise. Here are a few items that may be used in your home or when you travel, and won’t put you in debt.

Gymboss Interval Timer. The Gymboss interval timer gives your workout the discipline and structure necessary to take your workout to the next level. The easy to use timer allows you to stay on track during your interval or tabata workouts by eliminating the pesky issue of checking the time during your intervals. Just set it, forget it and put all of your focus on your workout!

Resistance Exercise Bands. Resistance Bands are the best way to workout in a cost and space effective way! Unlike free weights, resistance bands are lightweight and travel well. With dumbbells, each time you want to add or decrease weight, you have to go grab another set of weights. But with resistance bands, all you have to do is tighten or loosen your grip. It’s like having multiple sets of weights in one piece of equipment.

Suspension Trainer. A must-have for the in-home exerciser is the TRX. The TRX suspension training system is great for the traveling exerciser , an outdoor enthusiast or the average exerciser who doesn’t have much space to work out. The TRX is a little more spendy, but it is your perfect all-in-one piece of equipment. Hook the TRX up to a tree, pole or sturdy beam in your house and you’re set for a great workout using just your body weight. Cardio, resistance, stretching – the TRX can do it all.

With a little creativity and prioritizing of equipment, working out outside of the gym doesn’t have to break the bank!

Tera Busker is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer and owner of Fitness To Go, an exclusive In Home & Private Studio Personal Training Service based out of Roberts, WI. www.fitnesstogo.net