I don’t care what your dietary preference is…Protein is key if you want to lose fat and build lean muscle.
(By dietary preference I mean Vegan, Vegetarian, Paleo, Gluten-Free…)
While you can lose weight by simply cutting calories to some extent that doesn’t guarantee you that lean, cut look we’re usually striving for when we’re trying to lose weight.
To get that lean look, you need to make sure to increase your protein intake while in a calorie deficit.
And for my non-meat eating friends?
It can be a bit more challenging, which is why I wanted to share one of the Vegetarian recipes from my 4-Week Macro Cycling Accelerator.
In a large nonstick, skillet, add half the garlic and ginger, cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
Add crumbled tempeh.
Cook for about 7 minutes; only stir 1-2 times (the goal is to attain browning). Add 2 tablespoons coconut aminos and Sriracha, stir to evenly mix.
Cook for another 7 minutes, again, don’t stir too much. Once browned well, set aside.
While tempeh is cooking prepare glaze.
In a small sauce pan, heat honey, 1 teaspoon of coconut aminos and the other half of the garlic and ginger over medium heat. Honey should bubble and boil. Let cook for 1 minute.
Let cool slightly then add sesame oil.
To prepare each wrap, add a bit of carrot, scoop of tempeh mixture to a piece of lettuce and top with a drizzle of glaze. ENJOY!
Often when we think about getting in a killer cardio workout, we eliminate as much rest as possible and put in longer work intervals.
But guess what happens when you rest less?
Your power, speed, quickness, intensity all DROP.
If you don’t have as much time to recover, while you may be going “all out” every round, your output will still dip.
So sometimes including a bit MORE rest can allow you to actually work HARDER during the intervals of work and keep your output higher throughout the entire workout.
While I love workouts that shorten rest, giving you half or even just a quarter of the time you worked to recover, there is also something to be said for workouts that allow you to rest equal to the time you worked.
That equal work to rest setup allows you to go harder each and every work interval so your intensity stays higher throughout!
You may even find you include extra rest between rounds to keep your intensity higher!
But if you’re looking for a great cardio killer that gives you a bit of extra rest so you can get even MORE out of the session, try this 30/30 Bodyweight Cardio Workout.
WORKOUT: Set a timer for 30 second intervals. You will work for 30 seconds then rest for 30 seconds before moving on to the next exercise. Go through the circuit, resting 30 seconds between moves. Do not rest extra between rounds although beginners can rest 1 minute if needed between rounds. Complete 3-6 rounds. If you are short on time, just complete 3 rounds.
DO NOT SHORTEN REST. Get in more reps during the intervals of work. Intensify variations. But do not shorten rest to make things harder. If it doesn’t feel hard, you need to push yourself harder during those work intervals! You should feel like you NEED the rest to fully recover whether from your muscles burning or your heart rate elevating.
Hybrid exercises are a great way to target those “trouble zones” while working more muscles in less time so you can be efficient with your workouts and not have to spend hours in the gym.
These hybrid exercises will help you work your arms, shoulders, chest and back while also improving your core strength and stability.
If you’re looking for a great way to work your entire upper body and core in under 30 minutes, heck even in under 20, try including some of these hybrid moves!
12 Hybrid Upper Body Moves To Build Lean Strong Arms And Killer Core Strength
Inchworm Push Ups:
The Inchworm Push Up is a great move to improve your mobility while targeting your core, shoulders, triceps and chest. It will also get your blood pumping, which is an added bonus if you want to blast some fat!
To do Inchworm Push Ups, start standing tall. Then place your hands down on the ground, keeping your legs as straight as possible. Then walk your hands out to move into a plank position.
When you reach the high plank position, you will perform a push up. Keep your core engaged and make sure your body moves in one straight line. Do not sag your hips. Beginners can drop to their knees for the push up.
Press back up to the top of the push up and then, from the plank position, walk back in. Keep your legs as straight as possible as you walk in and out.
Fly Leg Lowers:
If you want to work your chest as well as your abs, you’ll want to include Fly Leg Lowers.
To do the Flys with Leg Lowers, hold a dumbbell in each hand and lie on your back on the ground. Press the dumbbells up toward the ceiling and hold them parallel at your chest height with your legs straight up toward the ceiling.
Then fly your arms open toward the ground with the backs of your hands facing the ground as you lower your legs as close to the ground as possible. Do not let your lower back take over.
Lower down only as far as your abs can handle or even do single leg lowers or even bent knee foot taps. Then fly your arms back together as you lift your legs back up toward the ceiling.
Each time open your arms up as wide as possible. Keep your elbows soft but don’t think about bending or extending at your elbows.
Every time you fly your arms open, you will lower your legs. As you fly your arms back together, you will lift your legs back up.
Mountain Climber Row Push Ups:
This push up works not only your chest, shoulders and triceps, but also your back and your abs. Talk about a full upper body workout all in one move! (Plus the mountain climber is a great way to get in a ton of extra ab work!)
To do the Mountain Climber Row Push Up, set up in a high plank position with a dumbbell in each hand. Your feet will be wider apart to help stabilize and your hands should be under your shoulders. Then from this high plank position, draw one knee in and across toward your opposite shoulder.
Perform a cross body mountain climber, moving slowly. Straighten the leg back out and then row the weight in the hand on the same side as the leg you tucked in up to your side. Perform the row without rotating or letting your butt go up in the air.
After rowing the weight up to your side, feeling your back work to row it up, lower it back down so you’re back in the high plank. Then perform a push-up (you can do this from your knees too). Come back to a plank then perform a mountain climber cross body on the other side and a row before another push up. Keep alternating sides.
Superman Wave:
Improve your shoulder stability, scapular mobility and upper back strength with the Superman Wave. We always want to include some posterior chain work with all of the sitting, especially hunched over, that we do!
To do Superman Waves, lie face down on the ground with you arms reaching overhead and your legs out straight behind you.
Then lift your arms and legs off the ground, engaging your glutes and back to lift. Try to lift your chest up as high as you can and get your quads off the ground as much as possible.
Holding here, sweep one arm out and down toward your side, keeping your arms straight. Keep the other arm reaching straight out overhead as you wave the other arm down.
As you lower one arm down by your side, keep it as high off the ground as possible to work the back of your shoulder.
Wave the arm back overhead then sweep the other arm out and down to your side. Keep alternating sides as you engage your back and butt to stay up in the superman position. Move at a controlled pace.
Sit Thru Bridge and Press:
This move looks more intimidating than it actually is although it will challenge your coordination. The Sit Thru Bridge and Press is a great full core exercise.
It will work on your shoulder stability, ab strength and even glute activation.
It is a mobility AND stability exercise!
To do the Sit Thru Bridge and Press, start on your hands and knees with a dumbbell under each hand. Then flex your feet and lift up onto your hands and feet with your knees under your hips and your hands under your shoulders. From this position, step your right foot under your body as you raise your right hand and dumbbell up toward the ceiling.
As you step through and put your foot flat on the ground, rotate your hips open to the ceiling as you press the weight up overhead. Really squeeze your glutes as you bridge up and press. Then rotate your right leg back under your body as you bring the weight back down to the ground. Come back into that bulldog front position then step your left leg under to lift your right hand up and press the weight overhead as you bridge up.
Really bridge up and squeeze your glutes at the top. Keep your abs engaged and do not hyperextend your low back. Keep alternating sides.
Single Arm Plank Rotation with Knee:
The Single arm Plank Rotation with Knee is an advanced move that will work your entire core, including your adductors. It is the perfect way to improve your shoulder stability while also working your abs and obliques.
You’ll even feel this move all around your rib cage and in your upper back.
To do the Single Arm Plank Rotation With Knee, set up in a side plank position from your hand with your bottom leg in back of your top leg.
Then lift that back leg as if kicking it back and up toward the ceiling slightly. Reach your top hand out in front of you and overhead. Your chest will rotate toward the ground as you lift up into this side plank position with your opposite arm and leg raised.
Rotate your chest back open as you tuck your raised leg under and forward, driving your knee forward as you tuck your raised arm down to meet it. Try to touch your knee to your elbow as you rotate your chest back open and away from the ground.
After slowly tucking the knee to the elbow and feeling yourself pivot around that shoulder. The muscles around your rib cage should really be working. Then kick the leg back out and reach back out and overhead with your hand.
Move slowly to stay balanced and try to keep your hand on the ground under your shoulder.
Beginners can tap the toe down behind them or even just do the knee tuck without the kick out.
Side Plank Row:
While heavy rowing exercises are great to build back strength, we want to include rows that make us work in other planes of motion.
This Side Plank Row adds in some rotation to the pulling movement and forces us to work on our shoulder stability as well as our oblique and even glute medius strength.
To do the Side Plank Row, set up in a high side plank from your hand with your feet staggered (your top foot will be in front). You will hold a dumbbell just off the ground down in front of you with your top hand.
Keeping that nice side plank position, row that weight up and across your body, driving your elbow back toward the wall behind you. You will slightly rotate open as you row. Feel your back pulling the weight up and across as your bottom side works to keep your bottom hip up for that nice plank position.
Lower the weight back down and across toward the ground and repeat the row.
Bird Dog Push Ups:
This Bird Dog Push Up is a more challenging push up variation that works not only your chest, shoulders and triceps, but also your core as it requires a great deal of stability to prevent rotation when you come up into the bird dog at the top!
To do the Bird Dog Push Up, set up in the high plank position from your hands and toes with your hands under your shoulders and your feet about hip-width apart. If you bring your feet closer together, it will make the move more challenging. Make sure your core is braced and your body is in a nice straight line from your head to your heels.
Then, with your body moving as one unit, perform a push up, dropping your chest to the ground. Do not let your elbows flare way up by your shoulders. You do not want your arms and body to create a “T” shape. Press back up to the high plank position. Make sure to keep your core engaged and drive back through your heels so your body stays in a nice straight line. Do not let your hips sag or your butt go up in the air.
At the top of the push up, lift your opposite leg and arm up, reaching your arm out straight toward the wall in front of you as you lift your foot back toward the wall behind you. Keep your core engaged and squeeze your glutes as you lift the leg and arm. Do not let your body rotate open or your hips sag toward the ground. Do not let your butt go up toward the ceiling as you lift and pause to hold.
You do not need to lift super high. It is more about lifting toward opposite walls and engaging your core and glutes to stay balanced. Hold for a second or two at the top and then lower back down and repeat the push up. Make sure your body moves as one unit. Do not tuck your chin or let your hips sag.
Then perform a Bird Dog on the other side, lifting the opposite arm and leg up. Keep performing a push up then a Bird Dog, alternating sides.
Beginners can do the move from their knees or even simply lift either their leg or their arm instead of lifting both. It is better to regress and perform the movement properly than to do the full Bird Dog Push Up with your butt up in the air.
Plank with Two-Way Raise:
The Plank with Two-Way Raise is a great way to work your arms and shoulders while also improving your anti-rotational core strength.
When you’re short on time, this allows you to get in some extra targeted shoulder work while also building ab strength!
To do the Plank with Two-Way Raise, place a dumbbell in each hand and set up in a high plank position with your feet about hip-width to shoulder-width apart. These should be light dumbbells as we are working small muscles.
Then, keeping your core stable, lift your arm straight out to the side, feeling the back of your shoulder and even in between your shoulder blades work. Bring it back down then lift it forward out in front. When you lift to the side, the back of your hand will be facing the ceiling. As you lift out in front, your thumb will be up.
Then repeat, lifting out to the side then down the raising to the front and down. Keep your core stable the entire time.
Lunge Curl Press:
When we’re short on time, the more muscles we can work at once, often the better – especially if fat loss is part of our goal!
This hybrid exercise will help you torch calories by using a lunge to work the big muscles of your legs and get your blood pumping as you target your biceps and shoulders with a curl and press!
To do the Lunge, Curl and Press, start standing tall with a dumbbell in each hand down by your side. You can choose to have your palms facing forward or even in toward each other to perform both the curl and the press. Lunge forward with your arms down by your sides. Holding the lunge, perform a bicep curl, curling the weights up to your shoulders. Keep your chest up as you curl to maintain good form.
Once you curl up to your shoulders, press the weights overhead, staying nice and low in the lunge with your abs engaged. Press all the way up, then bring them back down to your shoulders and reverse the curl. Once the weights are back by your sides, push back up to standing in one movement.
Beginners may not lunge out as far or as deep. They may also choose to lunge then perform the curl and press while standing. You can stay on the same side or perform lunges alternating sides.
Glute Bridge Skull Crushers:
When you want to use isolation exercises to target those trouble zones, you can help yourself get even more “bang for your buck” in less time by combining that isolation move with an exercise to work a different area.
That’s why the Glute Bridge Skull Crushers are a great hybrid move to include when you’re short on time! You’ll work your glutes and core as you target those triceps!
To do Glute Bridge Skull Crushers, hold either a kettlebell or weight(s) in your hands and lie on your back. Set up in the bridge position with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Press the weights or weight up at shoulder height toward the ceiling.
Then bridge up. Holding this bridged position, curl the weights back toward your forehead just bending at the elbows. Your palms should be facing in toward each other. Then extend your arms back out. Move at a controlled pace and stay up in the bridge the whole time.
When you lower the weights down toward your forehead, think about just bending at the elbows so your elbows stay right over your shoulders. And as you extended the straighten but still stay aligned.
Keep your abs braced in that bridge too and don’t hyperextend your lower back just to bridge up higher.
Bi’s And Tri’s Series:
When you’re short on time, it can be hard to use some of your workout time to target those specific areas you want to tone and strengthen with isolation moves because they don’t give you as much bang for your buck.
But if you really want to target those areas, you can get killer results by combining isolation moves into a hybrid series! This way you can pack more into less time!
To do Dumbbell Bi’s and Tri’s Series, hold a dumbbell in each hand with your arms down by your side. Have your palms facing in.
Then perform a bicep curl, curling the weights up to your chest. Do not swing, but fully curl them up.
From here, press them straight overhead, keeping your arms facing toward each other.
With your arms pressed straight up, drop the weights down and back toward your back. You want to think you are bending at the elbows to lower the weights back behind you.
Then, feel your triceps working to raise the weights back up overhead. Bring them back down to your chest and slowly lower them back down to your sides. Stay in control of the weights as you perform the entire move.
After lowering them back down, repeat the curl, press overhead and overhead tricep extension!
Love these moves? Want to build a killer strong and lean upper body?
If you’ve truly been doing all of the right things CONSISTENTLY for awhile, which really means more than 4 weeks at least, and results are just not adding up like they should be, you’re missing a weak link.
Very often our first focus is near the point of pain, which is a good place to start.
Because underactive glutes are an all too common culprit.
But what if you’re doing hip mobility work and glute activation, and even feeling the right muscles working, BUT things just don’t seem to be “sticking.”
What’s going on?
This is when you need to start looking at compensations and imbalances up and down your body that may be creating the perpetual overload.
It also means addressing any PREVIOUS INJURIES.
And one all too common injury people tend to forget about is the ANKLE SPRAIN.
If overload is being perpetuated, even while doing the right moves with the right recruitment patterns (assessing recruitment patterns should be one of the FIRST things you do when doing the “right moves”), you need to address previous injuries you may not have considered before…
Specifically ankle injuries when it has to do with hip, knee or lower back pain and the hip mobility and glute activation work isn’t sticking.
There is a very important ankle-butt connection we often don’t recognize (and yes…this is my very highly technical term for it hehe)
Ankle injuries are too often overlooked because…
Often we FORGET about ankle injuries because how could something years ago be affecting us now!?! (People won’t mention them to their physio or trainer).
AND…Often we don’t properly REHAB the ankle injury NOR do we continue doing PREHAB for it once it’s “better.”
We return to working out like nothing happened and often things seem absolutely fine.
But what we don’t realize is that injuries create disruptions in our mind-body connection AND that, all too often even very slight movement distortions, lead to overload and imbalances.
Sometimes when I bring up previous ankle injuries to clients, they’ll even say, “Yea but I had no issues after that…Just the knee pain or hip pain years later.”
(This is where I would make a face that combines both the eye roll emoji and that emoji with the line mouth and lines for eyes.)
Ok…IF YOU HAD A PREVIOUS INJURY YOU NEVER TOOK CARE OF AND NOW HAVE INJURIES ON THE SAME SIDE, THEY ARE PROBABLY CONNECTED.
Plain and simple.
And yes…they can finally rear their freaking ugly heads YEARS, legit YEARS, later.
So you can’t ignore that ankle injury you may have even had a decade ago.
If you never worked to restore proper mobility and strength, if you never re-establish that interrupted mind-body connection, well…it’s like leaving a crack in your foundation.
Things may not fall apart instantly, but if you don’t take care of that crack, other issues will spread throughout your structure slowly until it all collapses.
While your ankle may no longer be in pain, and it may “seem” like nothing is wrong there, a lack of pain isn’t a sign of optimal functioning.
BUT it is why, all too often, we ignore these other areas.
If you’ve been ignoring your foundation, start giving it some TLC with these 3 moves to get you started.
3 Moves To Take Care Of Your Feet And Ankles
These three moves will help you start to relax commonly overactive muscles and strengthen weaker muscles to improve your foundational stability.
Peroneal Foam Rolling:
Knee, ankle and foot pain (yes this muscle can lead to flat feet even!) can all be related to this muscle. Yet it is a muscle we often ignore because…well…it isn’t exactly where the pain is!
It is an important muscle to pay attention to because if just one side becomes short and overactive, which is foam rolling is so important for this muscle, it can lead to a functional leg length discrepancy (aka you may “think” one leg is shorter when it is actually muscle tightness causing the symptoms) and a weight shift during bilateral movements.
This can perpetuate compensations and overload, leading to injuries all the way up the other side even!
To roll out your Peroneal, a ball or small roller works best although you can use a larger foam roller.
Take a ball and place it on the ground with the side of your lower leg on top. Press down on your lower leg with your hand to apply more pressure so that the ball digs in.
Then move your leg so that you roll the ball down the length of the side of your lower leg.
Hold on any tight spots and even make small circles on the ball with your lower leg to dig into any tender areas. You can also circle the ankle while holding on any tight spots.
To hit slightly different angles along the side of your shins, rock forward a bit (toward your shin) or backward (toward you calf).
Work your way up to just below your knee and then down to a few inches above the anklebone.
Kneeling Foot Stretch To Bear Squat:
This stretch can help if you’ve ever had plantar fasciitis or limited ankle mobility and Achilles issues.
What we often don’t realize is that even our BIG TOE can get “locked up.”
This stretch will work to relax and lengthen the muscles under your feet as well as work to improve your calf flexibility and ankle mobility, improving specifically your dorsiflexion (your ability to bring your toes closer to your shin).
This stretch can even help you SQUAT deeper if you’ve felt like your range of motion when squatting is limited.
To do the Kneeling Foot Stretch to Bear Squat, start kneeling on the ground with your feet flexed. Sit back on your heels. Rock side to side to stretch your feet.
Then place your hands down on the ground and press your butt up into the air, driving your heels down to the ground. Relax your calves and try to get your heels down to the ground.
Feel a nice stretch down your calves and even up into your hamstrings. Hold for 1-2 seconds and then drop back down to your knees and sit back on your heels again to stretch your feet.
Make sure that as you drive your butt up, you are pressing yourself back so that your driving your heels down. Don’t simply pike up and lower back down. Actually drive back and feel the stretch down your calves.
You can walk your hands in just a little bit closer to your knees to help you feel the stretch a little bit more, but do not walk them in too close.
Calf Raise Circles:
Calf Raise Circles can strengthen your feet and help you improve your ankle stability. Often when we do basic calf raises, we aren’t conscious of compensations we even perpetuate with them.
But by doing the circles, you are focusing on moving across your foot to engage all the muscles correctly and not just perpetuate patterns of overuse.
To do Circle Calf Raises, start standing with your feet about hip-width apart. You can face a wall or table if you need a little help balancing so that you can really focus on circling.
Then start to circle by rocking to the outside of your feet. Slowly come forward toward your pinky toe. Then come up onto your toes slowly circling from your pinky toe toward your big toe. Come up as high onto your toes/balls of your feet as you can. Then reach your big toe and circle in toward the inside of your feet as you come down.
Then come back up, this time starting with the big toe and circling out toward your pinky toe before coming down on the outsides of your feet. Repeat circling back up and in. Really feel yourself getting as big a circle as you can while feeling your calves work to help you come up onto your toes. In order to really circle, you may need to lightly keep your hand on the wall.
If you’re ready to move and feel your best and learn the prehab, strength and cardio combination right for you and your needs and goals, apply to my 1:1 Coaching.
There legit looks like there is absolutely no difference between these two images above.
I mean maybe if you look really closely you can see the peanut butter is spread thinner on one…or the bananas are cut a bit thicker.
But if you were making this for yourself, you can see how it would be so easy to make the second and THINK it was the same portion size if you didn’t measure it.
And that’s EXACTLY the problem.
Most of us aren’t as good at “eyeballing” our portion sizes as we think.
And our hunger levels, as well as our stress levels, can dramatically impact exactly how big or small a portion looks….trust me.
Now with general weight loss, you may be able to “get away with” a little more deviation in your portions, especially if you’ve started your journey by cutting out specific foods.
But for fat loss…well you can’t.
We NEED to track if we have specific goals because it’s just so easy for our portions to become distorted.
Something that literally can look exactly the same can have 100 calories more and double the fat. (And heck, if you’re a nut butter fiend like me, that extra tbsp can EASILY become 2 or 3 more…)
And this is exactly why we can FEEL like we’re doing all of the right things yet not seeing the results we want.
Small portion distortions at each meal can add up.
And let’s face it too…the portions that usually become distorted aren’t generally the lean meats or even veggies….
It’s usually the nuts or the dried fruit or the crackers we have “just a couple extra of.”
It’s not that we are even eating “unclean,” whatever “clean” means to you.
But those little things we tend to want to have “extra” of are usually calorically more dense and not as “macro friendly.”
We have to remember that fat loss requires a calorie deficit AND tweaks to our macro ratios…both of which can easily become skewed by “just a few more” constantly being added in.
Tracking may be annoying. It may be tedious. Heck, you may even think it sucks.
But it not only gets easier, it’s truly key to results.
Plus, is 5 minutes of logging a day or an extra few minutes weighing out your food at each meal really worse than not reaching your goals?
When you have access to limited space and equipment, sliders are a great way to make basic bodyweight moves even more fun and challenging while being easy to take with you anywhere!
So whether you need a quick go-to option at home or a workout when you’re short on time and traveling, try this Slider Upper Body And Core Burner that’s just about 10 minutes long!
Set a timer for 30 second intervals of work and move right from one exercise to the next. The final exercise in each circuit can also be modified to be a full rest interval if needed. Complete 2 rounds through each circuit, resting up to 1 minute between circuits.
To do Knee Tuck Push Ups, place your feet on sliders and set up in a plank position with your hands under your shoulders.
Then perform a push up, keeping your body in a nice straight line as you drop your chest to the ground. Press back up with your body moving as one unit. Your arms should made an arrow shape with your body. Do not shrug or let your arms form a T.
In the high plank position, tuck your knees in. Do not let your butt go way up in the air as you tuck or use the tuck as a chance to rest. Pull your knees in using your abs and then straighten your legs right back out and repeat the push up.
As you return to the plank position, do not sag your hips or let your butt go up in the air. Also, make sure your hands stay outside your chest and don’t creep forward past your shoulders.
Beginners can do this off an incline and do a single knee tuck at a time without the sliders or they can do a push up from their knees then move to the high plank position to perform the tuck.
Alternating Slider Tabletop Curls:
To do Alternating Slider Tabletop Curls, place a slider under each foot and sit on the ground with your heels on the sliders and hands behind you on the ground. Turn your hands out or back as you place your hands on the ground behind your butt.
Bend your knees and bring your heels back close to you so you can bridge up into a tabletop bridge. Squeeze your glutes as you lift your butt up and press your chest out.
You can perform a posterior pelvic tilt to help engage your abs as you hold this tabletop position and even slightly tuck your chin to look out beyond your knees.
The slowly extend one leg out before using your hamstring to pull your heel on the slider back in. Then extend the other leg out, pulling the heel back in again with your hamstring.
As you pull the slider back in, really even think about driving the slider down into the ground to help work your hamstring more.
Do not let your hips drop toward the ground as you extend. You want to keep your abs and butt engaged the entire time as you slowly alternate sides.
Slider Ab Extensions:
To do Slider Ab Extensions, place a slider under each hand and set up as if you’re doing a push up from your knees.
You want to have your hands under your shoulders and your body in a nice straight line from your head to your knees. Brace your abs and squeeze your glutes.
Slide both hands out as far as you can, lowering your body toward the ground. Extend out, if you can, until you’re hovering just above the ground.
Then pull the sliders back under your shoulders without bending your arms as your body moves back into the plank position. By sliding your hands back under, pulling with your back to bring your hands back in, your body will move back into the plank position.
Do not sit your butt back or let your lower back engage as you extend out or pull your hands back in. You want to brace your abs and keep your body in a nice straight line the entire time.
Once back in that knee plank position, repeat the slide back out. Do not let your hips sag, lower back arch or butt go up in the air. Also, make sure you don’t sit your butt back to help pull your arms back in. You only “rise up” because your hands come back under your shoulders.
Beginners may not slide out as far or they may extend one hand, then the other, then pull one in at a time.
Banana Hold:
To do the Banana hold, start by lying on your back with your legs out straight and your arms reaching overhead on the ground. Your legs should be together and your arms should be right by your head.
Press your low back into the ground and draw your belly button in toward your spine as you lift your legs and arms up off the ground. Your neck and head should be in a neutral position between your arms and your legs should be together and out straight a few inches off the ground.
Hold here, squeezing your legs together as you try to get your shoulder blades up off the ground while keeping your low back against the ground and abs engaged.
Beginners may find they need to lift their legs up higher toward the ceiling or bend their knees to keep their low back against the ground and their abs engaged. Beginners can also try an easier variation of the Pelvic Tilt if they feel their low back taking over.
Fly Push Ups:
To do the Fly to Push Up, set up in a push up position with a towel or slider under each hand. You can do the Fly to Push Up from your knees (beginner) or toes (advanced).
Beginners may also want to start with one hand on a slider and the other hand on the ground (black frame). They will then slide the hand on the slider out to the side and perform a push up. As they push up, they will slide the hand back in toward their hand on the ground. They will complete all reps on one side before switching.
If the single slider Fly to Push Up is too much, this move can be done by just stepping the hand out to the side on the ground or even on an incline. To advance the Fly to Push Up, you will use two sliders. Start at the top of a push up and then slide one hand out to the side and perform a push up. After the push up, slide the hand back into the starting position. Even though this is a wider push up, don’t let your elbows flare way out by your ears. Then slide the other hand out on the slider and perform a push up. Keep alternating sides until all reps are complete.
If you want to do the Full Fly to Push Up, you will have a slider on each hand. You will then slide both hands out to the side as you lower into the push up and then pull them back in as you come back up out of the push up. You will perform the fly as you perform the push up instead of sliding out, doing a push up and sliding back in.
Slider Plank to Bulldog:
To do the Slider Plank to Bulldog, place a slider under each foot and set up in a high plank position with your hands under your shoulders and your body in a nice straight line down to your feet. Your feet should be no wider than hip-width apart.
Holding this plank position, use your abs to tuck one knee in and then the other to come into a bulldog position.
Your knees should be about under your hips or in slightly closer in, but do not tuck them so far in you can sit back on your heels. Really focus on using your abs to slide them in, bracing your core to keep your body in a nice straight line the entire time.
Then extend your legs back out, one at a time. Make sure your butt stays down and you don’t slide back too far, but instead keep your hands under your shoulders. Then repeat, drawing one knee in then the other.
Body Saw:
To do the Body Saw, set up in a plank position on your forearms with your feet on the sliders. Elbows should be under your shoulders and your feet should be together or no wider than hip-width apart.
With your body in a nice straight line from your head to your heels, slide your feet back and lengthen through your arms. As you slide back you should extend your body down to your elbows, shifting your shoulders back behind your elbows. Do not let your hips sag as you slide back. You are extending your triceps as you slide back.
Then, using your lats and core, pull your feet back in to the plank position. When you come back into the plank position, do not let your butt go up in the air. Make sure your hips don’t sag either.
Then slide back out, lengthening your body out as much as you can. Again do not let your low back take over. Make sure that you also aren’t simply sliding forward and then back to the start but are actually sliding back and lengthening through your arms.
Superman Wave:
To do Superman Waves, lie face down on the ground with you arms reaching overhead and your legs out straight behind you.
Then lift your arms and legs off the ground, engaging your glutes and back to lift. Try to lift your chest up as high as you can and get your quads off the ground as much as possible.
Holding here, sweep one arm out and down toward your side, keeping your arms straight. Keep the other arm reaching straight out overhead as you wave the other arm down.
As you lower one arm down by your side, keep it as high off the ground as possible to work the back of your shoulder.
Wave the arm back overhead then sweep the other arm out and down to your side. Keep alternating sides as you engage your back and butt to stay up in the superman position. Move at a controlled pace.
