by Cori Lefkowith | Nov 7, 2015 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Pain Relief, Stretches, Warm Up
If you want to move better and feel better, you need to move more throughout the day. You also need to make sure that your workout program includes a proper warm up routine.
The more you can stretch out and loosen up everything that gets tight from sitting hunched over a computer all day, the better you are going to feel and move while also preventing and alleviating injury!
Below are 5 Quick Stretching Flows you can use throughout the day or if you are in need of a quick warm up. Do not skip your warm up just because you are short on time! A proper warm up is essential to helping you move better and get the most out of your workouts. (more…)
by Cori Lefkowith | Oct 31, 2015 | Blog, Bodyweight, Butt, Exercises
Glute Activation is a hot topic right now and with good reason – strong, active glutes not only look great, but they also help prevent pain and injury while also helping you to lift more and run faster.
And the Glute Bridge is one of the best basic glute activation exercises out there.
But as much as everyone needs to include the Basic Glute Bridge in their workout routine, it is important to also add some variety to that basic movement to challenge your glutes and work them in different ways.
By using variations of the same basic move, we can progress the movement to challenge our body with the “same, but different.”
Here are 15 Glute Bridge Variations and some new Glute Bridge Activation Series you can include in your workouts to get your glutes activated and working (aka pumped and feeling the burn!).
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by Cori Lefkowith | Oct 20, 2015 | Blog, Exercises, Functional Fitness
All too often we do cardio in only one plane of motion. Actually, not only in one plane of motion, but also in one directions – forward. We run forward. We use the elliptical moving forward. We even ride the bike and move forward.
That is why anytime there is a piece of equipment that allows us to get our sweat on while moving in a different direction than forward, or backward, it should always be included in our workout routine to help make sure we are functionally strong in every direction.
That is why the Slide Boards are a great piece of cardio equipment to use that can also be used to strengthen your entire body.
Slide Boards build glute and leg strength and really work on your external rotators and even you inner thighs. Basically, they work everything done the outside and inside of your legs as well as your glutes.
Actually, Slide Boards are great for anyone coming back from a knee injury and can be used as you advance with your rehab program because they strengthen the muscles used to stabilize the knees.
And if you get creative, you can also use Slide Boards to work your core and upper body as well.
Here are 21 Slide Board Exercises you can use to strengthen your entire body while also getting your blood pumping!
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by Cori Lefkowith | Oct 9, 2015 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises
The Jumping Jack is one of those basic bodyweight gym class moves that many of us forget about in search of the new best thing to help us burn fat and get our sweat on at home.
We skip the Jumping Jack in favor of soul crushing Burpees or Squat Jumps or some other move we feel like is more likely to make us feel gnarly and want to barf.
But Jumping Jacks can be a great move to include in our workout routines, even simply as active rest. Plus there are a ton of fun Jumping Jack Variations you can do if you are bored with the basic gym class variation!
Below are 15 Jumping Jack Variations as well as a regression for anyone who needs a lower impact move.
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by Cori Lefkowith | Sep 18, 2015 | Blog, Core, Exercises, Functional Fitness
Often we don’t realize how much our core actually works when we do our basic exercises. We instead think we need to do more crunches or sit ups to specifically target our cores instead of focusing on movements that work more muscle groups at once.
And while including exercises to really target our core is important, there are more moves out there to work our core from every angle than we realize.
Many of them we may even be doing without realizing how much they are already building and improving our core strength and stability.
These moves will target and work your entire core – everything from your shoulders to your knees – in a functional way to strengthen, not only other exercises, but also how well you move in everyday life.
These 15 Unconventional Core Exercises are functional movements because they target your core while making you move or engage muscles in a way you might during everyday life and during exercises that require you to use other muscles.
by Cori Lefkowith | Sep 11, 2015 | Blog, Core, Exercises, Functional Fitness
A good workout program should make you move in every direction – forward, backward, sideways and even rotationally.
We need to be strong in every plane of motion to help us prevent injury when moving in everyday life.
But sometimes strengthening ourselves so we can move better in everyday life and prevent injury means performing Anti-Rotational Exercises.
Anti-Rotational Exercises are exercises that build stability and strength to prevent rotation. “Preventing rotation” means that your body is able to resist forces acting upon it that may try to rotate or move it in a way and direction that it can’t move safely.
If you are shoved, trip, slide on ice or are simply carrying something that is an uneven weight and awkward, Anti-Rotational Exercise can make your body strong so that your core can handle the torque without leading to pain and injury.
Below are some great Anti-Rotational Moves to help you build your core strength and stability to prevent injury so you can move better in everyday life.
These Anti-Rotational Movements are either unilateral moves, moves unilaterally loaded or movements with an outside force trying to rotate and twist you while you resist.
Start light with these moves and make sure that you maintain proper form throughout as improper form could cause you to twist and compensate, leading to the exact thing you are trying to prevent!
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