Projects Archive Page 15 of 35 | Redefining Strength

The Bodyweight Butt Blaster

by Cori Lefkowith | Sep 3, 2015

WARM UP
Stretch and Roll Out:
Calves
Quads
Hamstrings
Adductors
Hips/Glutes

ACTIVATION

Complete 2 round of the following circuit.

CIRCUIT:
15 reps Frog Bridges
15 reps per side Side Plank Clams

WORKOUT

Set a timer for 5 minute rounds. Complete as many rounds of each circuit as you can in that time. Try not to rest but to go from one move to the next. Keep the reps short while still challenging yourself. You want to push hard without going to failure so that you can keep moving the entire time. Rest 1-2 minutes between circuits. Then rest 1-2 minutes before completing 5 rounds of the Burn Out.

CIRCUIT #1:
4-6 reps per side Alternating Side Lunges with Hop
6-10 reps Glute Bridges Off Box
4-6 reps Toes to Bar OR Leg Lowers

CIRCUIT #2:
4-6 reps per side Alternating Curtsy Lunge
4-6 reps per side Single Leg Deadlift Hops
4-6 reps per side Alternating Leg V-Ups

CIRCUIT #3:
4-6 reps per side Airborne Lunges
8-12 reps Reverse Hypers
4-6 reps per side Side Plank with Leg Raise

BURN OUT:
30 seconds Skater Hops
15 seconds Rest

COOL DOWN
Stretch and Roll Out:
Calves
Quads
Hamstrings
Adductors
Hips/Glutes

NOTES:
It is very important that you move quickly from one move to the next while still challenging yourself with each move. Don’t just do the top of the rep range to do the most. Do the rep range that challenges you while still allowing you to move to the next thing without having hit failure so that you have to rest. Record the reps and rounds you complete in each five minute circuit to try to beat it next time!

EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS:

Frog Bridges – To do the Frog Bridge, place the bottom of your feet together and bend your knees as if doing the butterfly stretch. The closer you bring your feet in toward your crotch, the more mobility you need to do the move. Find a comfortable placement and allow your knees to fall open. Lie on your back on the ground with the outside of your feet down. Straighten your arms down by your sides then bend your elbows to 90 degrees so that only your upper arms are against the ground. Driving through your upper arms and the outsides of your feet, bridge up while keeping your knees open. Squeeze your glutes as you lift and pause at the top. Then lower back down. Keep your core engaged and really drive down through your upper arms so that you don’t push yourself backward. Do not let your knees close. Keep them relaxed and open. Concentrate on your glutes working to lift. Make sure to pause and engage your glutes at the top. If you feel your hips too much, don’t bring your heels in as close to your body.

Side Plank Clams – To do the Side Plank Clam, lie on your side propped up on your forearm with your elbow underneath your shoulder. Bend your knees so that your feet and lower legs are behind you. You can place your top hand on your hip or reach it up toward the ceiling, but don’t touch it down to the ground. With your legs stacked, lift your hip up off the ground, driving through your knee and forearm. As you lift your hips up, lift your top leg up and toward the ceiling, keeping the knee bent. Open up as high as you can then lower the leg back down. As you lower the leg back down, lower your hip back down to the ground. Repeat, lifting up and, as you do, raise your top leg up toward the ceiling. Complete all reps on one side before switching. Make sure you are lifting straight up and not rotating toward the ground or open toward the ceiling. Also keep your elbow under your shoulder and do not get too spread out. When you lift the top leg, don’t rotate open as you do. Really focus on lifting with your glute.

Alternating Side Lunges with Hop – To do Side Lunges with Hop, stand tall with your feet together. Step one foot out to the side nice and wide. Bend the knee of the leg you stepped out to the side with, keeping the other leg straight. Sit your butt back and lean over as you sink into the side lunge. Keep your back flat as you sit back. Then drive back up off your outside foot to come back to standing. When you come back to standing, jump up toward the ceiling, reaching up overhead. Then lunge out to the other side before coming back center and jumping toward the ceiling. Keep alternating lunges until all reps are complete. Make sure your heels stay down as you lunge out to the side. You want to make sure to sit your butt back.

Glute Bridges Off Box – To do the Glute Bridge Off Box, place your heels up on the box. You want your knees bent to 90 degrees or your butt to be even closer to the box. Do not let your butt get too far away from the box. Bend your arms to 90 degrees with just your upper arms on the ground. Then driving through your heels on top of the box, press your hips up as high as you can. Squeeze your glutes and keep your core tight as you bridge up so that you don’t hyperextend your low back. Also, do not let your knees fall in or out as you lift up. Keep your knees in line with your hips and ankles. Squeeze at the top and then lower down and repeat.

Toes to Bar OR Leg Lowers – To do Toes to Bar, you will raise your straight legs all the way up so that your toes touch the bar. To start, hang from the bar with your legs straight and together. Then engage your lats and pull as you raise your straight legs up toward the bar. Raise them all the way up so your feet touch the bar. Then slowly lower down.
For the Leg Lowers, set up in the pelvic tilt with your legs raised up toward the ceiling. Then with your low back firmly against the ground and your abs braced, lower both your legs down toward the ground. If at any point while you lower your legs, your low back comes off the ground, stop and reset or regress and only lower one leg at a time. Then either decrease your range of motion or regress to the single leg lowers. However, if you can keep your abs engaged, lower your legs down so your heels are no more than an inch off the ground before raising them back up. You should also engage your glutes as you lower down. And make sure that your legs stay as straight as you can throughout the motion.

Alternating Curtsy Lunge – To do Alternating Curtsy Lunges, you can start on your left side and take your left foot and step back behind your right leg. You will reach your left foot back to about “5″ on the clock. Make sure that you step far enough back (aka do not keep your left foot in too close to your right) that you can bend both knees and sink down into a deep lunge. Keep your right heel down on the ground and your chest up as you lunge back. Then come back to standing, driving off your front heel and the ball of your back foot. Make sure that you feel this lunge in the outside of your right butt cheek when you lunge back with the left leg. Then once standing again with your feet together, step your right foot back and across behind your left leg. Again come back up to standing. Lunge as deep as you can and move quickly alternating lunges.

Single Leg Deadlift Hops – To do the Single Leg Deadlift Hop, stand on one leg with the knee soft and the toe of your other foot lightly touching the ground. Hinge over, pushing your butt back and leaning your chest over toward the ground. Keep your back flat as you hinge over and lift your other leg back toward the wall behind you. You will want to swing your arms as if running as you do the hinge and hop. As you hinge over, the opposite arm of your standing leg should be forward while the same arm will be back. Hinge over quickly, bending the standing leg just a little. Then quickly drive back up to standing, exploding up off the ground as you come back up. As you jump up off the ground, bring the back knee up and forward. Your chest should be up nice and tall as you hop off the ground. Your other arm will also swing forward as you jump while the arm that was forward in the hinge goes back. Using your arms can help propel you up higher. Land back on the same leg and hinge back over before jumping back up. You do not have to jump super high for this move to challenge you. Focus on landing only on one leg and maintaining your balance throughout the reps. If you really struggle with balance, don’t actually jump just move quickly as if you are going to jump up at the top.

Alternating Leg V-Ups – To do Alternating Leg V-Ups, Lie flat on your back with your legs out straight in front of you. Beginners will rest the leg not being raised up on the ground while advanced exercisers will keep both feet off the ground at all times. Lift one leg up toward the ceiling. Crunch the upper body up and reach the opposite arm up toward the toes of the raised leg. Then lower that leg and lower your upper body down. Raise the other leg and the opposite arm to touch it as you crunch up. Keep alternating sides.

Airborne Lunges – To do the Airborne Lunge, stand on your right foot and bend your left knee, bringing your heel back up toward your butt. Then bend your right knee and sit back into your right heel as you lunge down, dropping your left knee to the ground. Do not touch the left foot down when you drop the knee to the ground. Do not reach the left knee back too far when you lunge down. Keep it just a little behind your right foot so that you are almost slightly squatting. Lean forward as needed to counterbalance but do not round forward. To come back to standing, drive up through your right heel and straighten the leg. Complete all reps on one side before switching. Make sure you engage your core and keep your standing heel on the ground at all times. Also, make sure you feel this move in the glute of your standing leg. Beginners may need to hold a pole or use a Suspension Trainer and not sink as low to start.

Reverse Hypers – Choose Bent or Straight. You can even switch it up each time you do the workout but stick with one the entire workout. To do the Bent-Knee Reverse Hypers (bottom), lie face down on a bench, box or table. Place your hips right on the edge of the bench and hold on to the bench or something in front of you. If your hips are too far on the bench, you are more likely to hyperextend your low back in an attempt to get your hips up higher. Place your heels together and bend your knees to about 90 degrees. Flex your feet. You can choose to turn your toes out to hit a slightly different aspect of your glutes as well. Then, with your knees bent, kick your heels up toward the ceiling, squeezing your glutes to lift. You can sort of drive up and out a bit to really get your glutes to work. Make sure that you squeeze your glutes as you lift and don’t hyperextend your low back just to get up higher. Lift so that your quads are about parallel to the ground and lower back down. Only lift higher if you don’t feel your lower back take over. You want to focus on and make sure your glutes are working to lift NOT your low back. The most important part is that you feel your glutes tighten. To do a Straight-Leg Reverse Hyper (top), you will set up like you are going to do the Bent-Knee Variation, however, you will keep your legs straight. Still place your heels together though. And you can also choose to turn your toes out to hit a slightly different aspect of your glutes. Then, keeping your legs straight, raise your heels up toward the ceiling. Squeeze your glutes as you lift. Lift till your legs are about parallel to the ground and lower back down. Only lift higher if you don’t feel your lower back take over. You want to focus on and make sure your glutes are working to lift NOT your low back. If you do feel your low back, make sure you are pressing your pelvic down into the bench as you squeeze your glutes to lift. Hold at the top and lower back down.

Side Plank with Leg Raise – To do the Side Plank with Leg Raise, set up in a Side Plank from your forearm. Set up on your side and prop yourself up on your forearm with your elbow right below your shoulder. Your legs should be out straight. Stack your feet. Then, driving through your forearm and the sides of your feet, lift your bottom hip up off the ground as high as possible while keeping your body in a nice straight line. Squeeze your belly button in toward your spine and keep your glutes tight. Do not let your chest rotate forward toward the ground or your top hand touch the ground. Keep your top hand on your hip or reach it up toward the ceiling. Then, holding the Side Plank, lift and lower your top leg up and down. Do not let your hips drop toward the ground as you lift the top leg. This is a challenging move. Beginners may need to start in a Side Plank from their knees.

Skater Hops – To do Skater Hops, start standing to one side of the space you have to use. This is a lateral hop so make sure you have space to jump to one side. Starting to the right, shift your weight so that you are standing on your right foot. Sink down into a little squat and swing your arms down in front of you and out to the right. Then explode up off the right leg and jump to the side, landing on your left leg. Keep your chest facing straight ahead as you jump and land. As you land on that left leg, sink into a slight squat, pushing your butt back so that you load your glute to help you jump back laterally to the right. Use your arms to not only help you balance but also help propel you further when you jump. Let them swing toward whichever side you are jumping to. Then push off your left leg and jump back right, landing on your right foot. Try not to touch the other foot down when you land. Only touch the other foot down if you need to for balance. Beginners may need to go slower and not jump as far to each side. While this is a cardio move, you also want to use it to work on your balance. Beginners will want to hold for a second on each leg and balance. As you advance, do not pause on either side of the jump to balance. You want to jump as far to each side as you can as quickly as possible!

The Tabata Bodyweight Workout

by Cori Lefkowith | Aug 28, 2015

WARM UP
Stretch and Roll Out:
Calves
Hamstrings
Quads
Groin
Hips/Glutes
Chest/Shoulders/Traps
Back/Lats

WORKOUT

Set a timer for 8 rounds of 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest. Complete all 8 rounds on one exercise before resting 1-2 minutes and moving on to the next exercise.

#1:
20 seconds Jack Burpees
10 seconds Rest

#2:
20 seconds T Push Ups
10 seconds Rest

#3:
20 seconds Skater Hops
10 seconds Rest

#4:
20 seconds Mountain Climbers
10 seconds Rest

#5:
20 seconds Butterfly Sit Ups
10 seconds Rest

COOL DOWN
Stretch and Roll Out:
Calves
Hamstrings
Quads
Groin
Hips/Glutes
Chest/Shoulders/Traps
Back/Lats

NOTES:

Pick a variation of each move and a pace that forces you to work hard, but allows you to keep moving the entire 20 seconds each and every work interval. Do not rest longer than 10 seconds. Rest longer between exercises if needed or even do 3 or 4 instead of all 5.

EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS:

Jack Burpees – To do the Jack Burpee, start standing with your feet together. Then bend over and place your hands on the ground as you jump your feet back into a high plank position with your feet together. From that high plank position, jump your feet out wide then back together. Then jump your feet into your hands and come up to standing. At the top, perform either a basic jumping jack or a plyometric jumping jack, leaving the ground as you spread your legs and swing your arms up to the side and overhead. Like with most burpee variations, to regress the movement, step back instead of jumping back. And instead of jumping your feet out wide in the plank position, step your feet out to the side and back in. And at the top, perform a basic jumping jack or even no jack at all. The quicker you do the movement and the bigger and higher your plyo jumping jack is at the top, the harder the move will be.

T Push Ups – Set up in a regular push up position from your hands and knees (beginner) or hands and toes (advanced). Your hands should be outside your shoulders and your legs should be together. Your body should be in a nice straight line. Squeeze your glutes and draw your belly button in toward your spine. Do not let your hips sag or go up toward the ceiling and don’t tuck your head. Once at the top of a push up, do a push up and then when you push back up to the top, rotate open balancing on one hand as if you are doing a side plank. Hold and then rotate back to a push up position. Do another push up and rotate to the other side. Keep your body in a nice straight line as you do a push up and make sure to really rotate open into a side plank.

Mountain Climbers – To do the Basic Mountain Climber, set up in a high plank position with your hands under your shoulders and your feet together and legs out straight behind you. Your body should be in a nice straight line from your head to your heels. Brace your abs before you start so that you don’t feel this in your low back or let your hips sag as you run your knees in. Then, maintaining the nice plank position, begin to run your knees in toward your chest. Bring your right knee in toward your chest with your left leg still out straight. Keep your butt down as you run the knee in. Then straighten your right leg back out as you bring your left knee in toward your chest. “Run” your knees in as quickly as possible until all reps are complete. The faster you go, the harder the move will be. Do not let your butt go up in the air or your hips sag as you run your knees in.

Butterfly Sit Ups – To do Butterfly Sit Ups, sit on the ground and place the bottoms of your feet together. Bend your knees into the Butterfly stretch, letting your knees fall open as you bring your heels in toward your crotch. Keeping your knees open and feet together, lie back on the ground. Then sit back up and come back up to the seated position. The more you swing your arms, the easier the move will be. Also the closer in your feet are to your body, the harder the move will be (this will also be based a bit on flexibility as well).

The Pyramid Of Upper Body Destruction

by Cori Lefkowith | Aug 20, 2015

WARM UP
Stretch and Roll Out:
Lats
Upper Back
Traps
Shoulders
Chest
Forearms

ACTIVATION

Complete 1 round of the activation exercises below.

CIRCUIT:
10 reps Camel
15 reps Scapular Push Ups
10 reps Dive Bomer Push Ups

WORKOUT

Complete the pyramid as fast as possible and record your time.

You will do 1 rep of each exercise. Then you will return to the first move and do 2 reps of each move. Each “round” you will add a rep until you complete 10 reps of each move. Then you will go back down, doing 9 reps, then 8 reps, then 7 reps, back down to 1 rep of each move.

PYRAMID:
1-10-1 reps Pull Ups
1-10-1 reps Dips
1-10-1 reps Inverted Rows
1-10-1 reps Push Ups

COOL DOWN
Stretch and Roll Out:
Lats
Upper Back
Traps
Shoulders
Chest
Forearms

NOTES:

Remember 1 rep of each move then 2 reps then 3 reps then 4 reps, up to 10 and then back down.

You can do assisted variations of each move as needed, but don’t regress it just so you can complete all reps easily in a row. It is ok to have to rest between reps as the reps increase.

Make sure that you challenge yourself and that you simply can’t cruise through the workout. Choose variations of each move that challenge you for all the reps.

EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS:

Camel – To do the Camel, kneel on the ground with your knees about hip-width apart and your feet flexed. If you point your toes instead, this will make the move harder and require more flexibility (bottom two photos). Also, flexing your feet will stretch the bottom of your feet more while pointing your toes will get your shins more. With either your feet flexed or pointed, sit back on your heels and place your hands on your heels. Then arch your hips up and away, as you press your chest out and lift your glutes up off your heels. Keep your hands on your heels as you arch away and squeeze your glutes to fully extend your hips. Do not hyperextend your low back. Engage your glutes to stretch out your hips. Relax your head back and arch as much as you can, getting a nice stretch down your chest, core, hips and quads. Do not let your shoulders shrug and really focus on opening your chest up. Hold for 1-2 seconds and relax back down. Repeat, arching back up. You can also make this a static stretch by simply holding the pose for 15-20 seconds. If you are less flexible and can’t place your hands on your heels, you can do this stretch with a couch, chair or table behind you. Kneel down with the coach or table behind you. Place your hands back behind you on the couch or table. If you are at your desk, you can use your desk or chair. Keeping your arms straight behind you, press your chest out and arch away from the piece behind. Relax your head back and really squeeze your glutes to arch away.

Scapular Push Ups – To do Scapular Push Ups, set up in a high plank position with your hands under your shoulders and your feet together as if you are going to do a push up. Your body should be in a nice straight line from head to your heels. Then, without bending your elbows, press your chest out and pinch your shoulder blades together. Do not tuck your chin or allow your hips to drop toward the ground. Your elbows should not bend. You are not doing a push up. You are simply pinching your shoulder blades together. This move has a very small range of motion. All you are doing is pinching your shoulder blades together and then relaxing or even rounding your back up out of it (round your back at the top is another variation but can be very useful for correcting certain push up problems).

Dive Bomer Push Ups – This move can be done from the knees by beginners or from the toes by more advanced exercisers. To do this from the knees, set up at the top of a push up with your hands outside your chest and your body in a straight line down to your knees. Sit back onto your heels as if doing a child’s pose stretch. Keep your hands in their original position. Then start to move forward back into the push up position, but keep your head and chest close to the ground as you go forward. Keep your upper body as close to the ground until your chest is in between your hands. Arch, opening your chest up toward the ceiling as if you are doing upward facing dog. Get a nice stretch at the top, making sure to press down through your palms and elongate your neck. Do not let your shoulders shrug up by your ears. Hold for a second and then sit back into the child’s pose stretch and repeat. To advance this move, set up on your hands and toes. Hands should be just outside the chest and your feet should be together or about hip-width apart. Push back into a downward dog pose. Start to move back forward, keeping the chest and head as close to the ground as possible. As your chest passes through your hands, arch up and move into an upward facing dog stretch. Hold for a second and then move back into the downward dog stretch.

Pull Ups – To do a Perfect Pull Up, start hanging from the bar with your palms facing away from you. Hanging with your arms straight off the bar, press your chest out and up and feel your shoulder blades draw down and together. Leading with your chest, pull yourself up to the bar. Ideally you want to bring your chest all the way up to the bar as you draw your shoulder blades down and back. Then slowly lower yourself down until your arms are fully extended.Your arms should fully extend at the bottom but you do not want to relax the tension in your back. Make sure to lead with your chest and do not let your shoulders shrug. Do not bounce or swing at the bottom. You do not want to use momentum to pull back up. Only on the last couple of reps should you ever swing at all or kick your legs. You want clean reps, but to eek out an extra rep or so and go past failure, you can use a little momentum. For Pull Up variations for beginners or even to advance the move, click here.

Dips – To do the Basic Parallel Bar Dip, place a hand on each bar and grip the bar tightly. Jump or press up so that your weight is held by your arms and your arms are fully extended with your chest pressed out and your shoulders down. Do not shrug your shoulders as you hold at the top of the dip. You can keep your legs down straight or bend your knees. When you do Dips, you can lean forward a bit to target your chest more or you can stay more upright to focus on your triceps more. From the top of the dip, slowly bend your elbows and lower your body down toward the ground. You want to lower yourself down until your upper arms are about parallel to the ground. Then drive back up through your hands until you are fully extended at the top. Keep your core tight and squeeze your glutes as you press up so you don’t arch your low back. Also, try to keep your head in line with your spine as you dip and press. Once you’ve locked your arms out at the top of the dip, lower back down and repeat. Again, you can stay more upright to work more tricep or lean forward a bit more to work the chest. For more Dip Variations for beginners and Push Up Variations, click here.

Inverted Rows – To do the Basic Inverted Row, you can either use a Suspension Trainer or a Bar. Using a Suspension Trainer, hold a handle in each hand with your palms facing in. Walk your feet forward so that your body is at an incline. The closer to parallel to the ground you get, the harder the move will be. Hang from the straps with your body in a nice straight line and your chest pressed out. Engage your core and glutes and keep your legs straight. You want a nice straight line from your head to your heels. Do not let your low back arch or your hips sag toward the ground. Then drive your elbows down and back to row your chest up to the handles. Keep your body in a nice straight line as you row up and do not bounce off the bottom. Keep your wrists straight as you row up. Also, do not shrug your shoulders. Then lower back down. Do not lose tension at the bottom. Make sure to keep the chest pressed out and your body in a nice straight line. Do not swing to row back up. Make sure to feel your back and arms working to row and not just your arms. Focus on feeling your back pull.

Push Ups – To do the Basic Push Up, set up in the high plank position with your hands under your shoulders and your arms locked out while your feet are together and your body is in a nice straight line from your head to your heels. Make sure you can drive back through your heels and that your feet aren’t too far back so that you are up on your toes. Squeeze your glutes and legs together as you brace your abs and drive back through your heels to engage your legs (especially your quads). You want to make sure to squeeze your legs together to help hold your body in a nice straight line. By squeezing your legs together, your adductors will engage. By engaging your core before you even lower, your hips shouldn’t drop toward the ground and your butt shouldn’t go up in the air toward the ceiling as you perform the Push Up. By engaging your core before you do the Push Up, you will help your body move as one unit. Make sure that as you set up, your head isn’t tucked toward the ground or jutting forward. Your back should also not be excessively arched or rounded. Your body should be in a nice straight line with your core engaged. While in the high plank position, remember your hands should be below your shoulders and right outside your chest. Your finger tips should be pointing straight ahead and your hands should be pressing into the ground and away from each other as if trying to tear a piece of paper between them. You can play around with exact hand with to place more emphasis on different muscles. As you lower down to do the Push Up, you should lower your chest directly between your hands, keeping a nice straight line with your body. Your elbows shouldn’t flare out from your body. Your elbows should make an arrow shape with your body. Like this (–> ). You do not want your arms to create a “T” with your body or you will put more strain on your shoulders and risk injury. You also don’t need to keep your arms right in by your sides unless you want to work more tricep. Your shoulders, elbows and wrists should all be in a straight line as you lower. Your body should move as one unit toward the ground. Touch your chest to the ground when you lower with everything moving together. Hips shouldn’t move back up first or touch the ground first. Your head also shouldn’t jut forward as you lower and lift. Everything should move as one without your hips sagging or your elbows flaring out as you lower or lift. Keep your head in line with your spine. Only if you engage your entire core will your body move as one unit down to the ground and back up. Once you touch your chest to the ground, press back up to the starting position and lock out your arms and then repeat, lowering your chest back down to the ground as you keep your body in a nice straight line.

The Improve Your Pull Ups Activation Series

by Cori Lefkowith | Aug 12, 2015

ROLL OUT
Wrists/Forearms
Chest
Shoulders/Traps/Upper Back
Lats
(Below in the Exercise Descriptions are some basic moves for the areas.)

STRETCH
10 reps Wrist Extension
10 reps Wrist Flexion
10 reps Kneeling Thoracic Extension and Lat Stretch
10 reps Quadruped Thoracic Rotation
10 reps per side Lying Chest Stretch and Scorpion
10 reps Camel

ACTIVATION

Complete 2-3 rounds of the circuit below if you are using this as a warm up. Otherwise you can do this as a part of your recovery day workout and complete 3-5 rounds of the circuit below.

CIRCUIT:
10-15 reps Mini Band Pull Downs
10-15 reps per side Back of Hand Band Rows
15-20 reps Scapular Push Ups
8-12 reps Mini Pull Ups

NOTES:

Go slow with all of the activation exercises and make sure you feel the correct places working. If you just rush through and don’t actually get the correct muscles activated, you won’t get as much out of this warm up or recovery workout.

If you do this workout on off days even in between back/pull up workouts, you will see lots of improvement in your pull ups and even in your posture!

The key is to get the big muscles actually activated and working!

For more on Activation Exercises, click here.

EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS:
Wrists/Forearms – To roll out your forearm, place a small ball or roller up on your desk, table or even a box. Place your forearm over the ball with it right below your elbow. Press down on your forearm with your other hand to press it into the ball. Make small circles on the ball, holding on any tight spots. If you find a tight spot, you can also tense and relax your forearm by either making a fist or by pointing your fingers down toward the ground. By flexing and relaxing the muscles, you help the ball dig in and release the tight spot. Once you’ve worked on one spot, move the ball down your forearm. You can use it to roll out both sides of your forearm. Make sure to get the outside and inside of your forearm as there can be trigger points in both spots causing your wrist and elbow pain. Don’t waste time on any areas that aren’t tight or sore. Seek out and spend time on any areas of pain. Apply as much pressure as you can handle and use as small and hard a ball or roller as you can.

Chest – To roll out your chest, a blue foam posture ball is a great tool although you can use a small ball against a wall or up on some books. Place the ball on the ground and lie face down on top of it with the ball right in your chest beside your shoulder joint. Then with the ball right to the inside of your shoulder, move your hand overhead and then back down toward your legs. Move your arms slowly up and down to change exactly how the ball digs into your chest muscles. Hold and relax on any tight spots.

Lats – To roll out your lats, place a roller under one armpit when you are lying on your side on the ground with your arm stretched out overhead. Rock forward and backward on the roller and then move it lower down the side of your back. Hold on any tight spots as you go and make sure to rock forward and backward as you make your way down your side. Work all the way from your armpit to the end of your rib cage.

Shoulders/Traps/Upper Back – To roll out your upper back with a ball, stand with your back to a wall and place the ball to the side of the base of your neck. Press the ball into the wall and roll it down along your shoulder blade. Hold on any tight spots. You may even want to pull your arm across your chest as you dig out under the shoulder blade. You can also use the ball against the wall to dig out right at the top of your armpit. If you want to apply more pressure with the ball, you can use a harder ball or use the ball against the ground instead of the wall.

Wrist Extension – To do the Wrist Extension Stretch, kneel on the ground and place your hands down on the ground in front of you, palms down. Turn your fingertips out and back toward your knees. Then rock back, sitting on your heels, keeping the heels of your palms down on the ground as you sit back. Come back out of the stretch then sit back again, stretching down the inside of your forearms.

Wrist Flexion – To do the Kneeling Wrist Flexion Stretch, start kneeling on the ground. Place your hands down on the ground in front of you with the backs of your hands on the ground and your fingertips pointing in toward each other. Rock side to side slowly, holding slightly to each side so that you feel a stretch down the outside of your forearms.

Kneeling Thoracic Extension and Lat Stretch – To do the Kneeling Thoracic Extension and Lat Stretch, place your elbows up on a bench about shoulder-width apart and kneel on the ground in front of the bench. Make sure you are back far enough that you have room to lean forward and over and drop your head between your elbows. Then with your elbows on the bench, relax your chest and head over, sitting your butt back just slightly. Press your chest toward the ground and feel a nice stretch down your triceps and lats as well as through your thoracic spine. Try to extend your back as much as possible as you press your chest toward the ground. You can either hold here and breathe to stretch deeper or you can come out of the stretch and then relax back into it and try to get further with each rep.

Quadruped Thoracic Rotation – To do the Quadruped Thoracic Rotation, start on your hands and knees with your knees under your hips and your hands under your shoulders. Then reach one hand down your neck and spine. With your hand behind your head, rotate your elbow down under your body toward your opposite knee, sitting your butt back slightly as you tuck. Then rotate the elbow up toward the ceiling as much as you can, opening your chest up toward the ceiling and pushing your hips slightly forward. Feel a nice stretch down your back and even into the outside of your hips. Repeat, rotating your elbow back under before twisting open. Complete all reps on one side before switching. Make sure to really rotate open as much as you can each time.

Lying Chest Stretch and Scorpion – To do the Lying Chest Stretch with Scorpion, lie on your belly with your arms out straight at shoulder height. Bend the elbow of one arm to 90 degrees so that your upper arm is still in line with your shoulder. Then lift the opposite leg up from the bent arm and bend your knee to kick your foot over and behind you as you press your chest open with your straight arm. Kick your leg back over your body, trying to touch your toe back behind you and feel a stretch through your chest and low back. You should feel a nice stretch down the front of the shoulder of the bent arm. Make sure as you reach the leg back over that you relax your head down onto the ground. Hold for a second or two then bend the other arm and kick the other leg back over. Alternate sides, holding for a second or two each way.

Mini Band Pull Downs – To do the Mini Band Pull Down, place a Mini Band around the back of your hands, wrists or even your forearms. To make the move easier, place the band closer to your elbows. Then with the band around your arms, extend your arms up toward the ceiling. Stand tall, pressing your chest out and bracing your abs. Press out on the band so that there is tension. Keeping tension on the band, pull the band down toward your chest. As you pull the band down, draw your shoulder blades down and together. Feel the sides of your back working to pull the band down to your chest. Make sure to keep your chest pressed out and open toward the ceiling. Hold for a second at your chest and then extend your arms back up toward the ceiling. Make sure to consciously engage your back and draw your shoulder blades down and back as you pull the band down. Keep tension on the band the entire time. Also make sure you do not arch your low back as you perform the move. Keep your abs braced so you don’t feel it in your low back. If you don’t have a Mini Band, you can use a towel instead. Hold the towel in both hands. Pull out on the towel to create tension and then do the Pull Down like you would with the band.

Back of Hand Band Rows – To do the Back of Hand Band Row, anchor a resistance band in front of you and either loop it or make sure it has a handle you can put your hand through. Place the band or handle around the back of your hand and point your fingers up toward the ceiling. Step away from the anchor point so that there is tension in the band with your arm extended in front of you. Stand up nice and tall and press your chest out as you face the mini band. Your feet should be about hip-width apart. Make sure you aren’t shrugging your shoulders as you hold your arm out in front of you with the band around your hand. Then drive the elbow down and back as you row the back of your hand and the band into right below your chest. Row low so that you don’t shrug your shoulder. Also, don’t rotate as you row. Feel your back pull the band back. Don’t just use your arms. Also, make sure that your upper traps don’t try to take over. Really press the chest out and drive the elbow down and back. Straighten the arm back out and repeat. Focus on feeling your back pull the band and not just your arm. By focusing on what muscles should be working, you will improve your mind-body connection. Also, make sure to keep your fingertips pointing up toward the ceiling to engage the extensors in your forearm.

Scapular Push Ups – To do the Scapular Push Up, set up in a high plank position with your hands under your shoulders and your feet together. Your body should be in a nice straight line from head to your heels. Without bending your elbows or dropping your hips, pinch your shoulder blades together and press your chest out. Do not tuck your chin or jut your head forward. Also do not let your core wiggle or your elbows bend to try to increase your range of motion. You are not doing a push up. This is a very small range of motion where you are simply focused on pinching your shoulder blades together. Just pinch your shoulder blades together and then relax or even round your back up out of it (rounding your back at the top is another variation but can be very useful for correcting certain push up problems). Keep your core tight as you pinch your shoulder blades together. As you get stronger and build the mind-body connection you will find your range of motion increases. If you struggle to pinch your shoulder blades together without wiggling your core or bending your elbows, go down to your knees as if doing a push up from your knees. If you still struggle, bring your knees under your hips. Do not get caught up on doing this from your toes. Just focus on pinching the shoulder blades together.

Mini Pull Ups – To do the Mini Pull Ups and work on engaging your lats to pull up, hang from the bar with your palms facing away from you (you can also do this with palms facing toward you for a Mini Chin Up). Your hands should be about shoulder-width apart although you can do it with them wider apart or closer together as well. I recommend using whatever grip you use when you do your Pull Ups. Hanging from the bar, press your chest out and pull your shoulder blades down and together. Feel your back engage as you draw your shoulder blades together. Don’t bend your elbows and turn this into a pull up. Just press your chest out and retract your shoulder blades bringing them down and together. Feel your back engage and pull you up toward the bar even though your arms aren’t moving. You should feel your shoulders go down as your chest lifts up. Then relax out and repeat. Remember, you are not bending your elbows to make this movement bigger.

The Suicide Core Workout

by Cori Lefkowith | Aug 8, 2015

WARM UP
Stretch and Roll Out:
Calves
Hamstrings
Quads
Groin
Hips/Glutes

WORKOUT
Complete 3-5 rounds of the Turkish Get Up. Rest up to 90 seconds between rounds. Then rest 1-2 minutes and move on to the circuit. Complete 4-6 rounds of the circuit, resting the same amount of time as the time you worked.

LUNGE MATRIX:
1-3 reps per side Turkish Get Up

CIRCUIT:
3 line Crawl Suicide
50ft Down and Back Farmer’s Walk
5-8 reps Butterfly Sit Ups

COOL DOWN
Stretch and Roll Out:
Calves
Hamstrings
Quads
Groin
Hips/Glutes

NOTES:
With the Turkish Get Up, keep the reps low and work up to heavy weights. Beginners may need to start by balancing something on their hands. For the circuit, complete all three exercises as quickly as possible. Do not rest once you start the circuit. Rest longer between if needed. Beginners may need to shorten the Suicide and the Farmer’s Walk.

EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS:
Turkish Get Up – Start by lying on your back on the ground with your legs out straight. Then drive your right arm up straight and have your fist pointing up toward the ceiling. Bend your right knee and place your foot flat on the ground. Straighten your left arm out to the side (not straight out at shoulder height, but not right by your body). Keeping your right arm straight up and pointed toward the ceiling at all times (it can even help to balance something on your knuckles to remind you of this while you are learning), roll up on to your left forearm. Prop yourself up nice and tall on your left forearm. Press through your right foot on the ground. Do not let your right knee cave in and keep your left leg out straight on the ground. Once up on your forearm, press up onto your left hand with your left arm going straight. Sit up nice and tall. Do not shrug your shoulders. And remember, your right arm is always straight and pointing straight toward the ceiling. Then from the seated position you are going to bridge up, lifting your hips up as high as you can. You will press down through your left hand as well as your left heel and right foot. Keep your right foot flat on the ground and your left leg out straight. Do not let your right heel come up. From the bridge position, slide your left leg back and under you so that you are in a kneeling position with your hand on the ground. Make sure you swing your leg back enough so you are in a strong supported kneeling position that will allow you to lift your left hand off the ground. Staying nice and tall, lift your left hand and come to a kneeling position. Do not lean forward of slouch forward as you lift your hand up off the ground. With your right arm still pointing up at the ceiling, stomp your right foot into the ground and come up to standing, bringing your left foot forward to be even with your right foot. Once standing, you will reverse the steps until you are again lying on your back. You will first go back to kneeling, stepping your left foot back. You will then place your left hand down on the ground out to the side and just a little back from your left knee. You will then bridge up and swing your left leg through so it is out straight in front of you. As you bridge, keep your right heel firmly planted on the ground. From there, you will return to a seated position supported by your left hand. Then you will relax down to your forearm and finally roll on to your back. Do not slouch as you move back down. Keep a nice tall posture throughout the entire move. Repeat 3-5 reps on this right side before switching. You can also do this move with either a sandbag over your shoulder or a kettlbell or dumbbell in the raised hand. Beginners may just want to start by balancing something on their knuckles.

Crawl Suicide – The Suicide means you crawl to the first line then back. The second line then back. And finally the third line and back. Set the 3rd line about 50ft away and then divide it up with the other two lines. You can do a Forward/Backward Table Top Crawl or even a Lateral Table Top Crawl. To do the Table Top Crawl, set up on your hands and knees with your knees under your hips and your hands under your shoulders. Flex your feet and lift up onto your toes/the balls of your feet. Then take a step forward with your left foot and right hand, keeping your knees close to the ground and your back flat. Make sure to brace your core so that your hips don’t wiggle a lot side to side as you crawl forward. Then step forward with your right foot and left hand. Keep crawling forward, moving the opposite arm and opposite leg together. Take small steps forward so that you don’t get too spread out. You don’t want your hips to start to wiggle and your butt to go up in the air. Also, keep your knees as close to the ground as possible. You can also do the Table Top Crawl backward. Backward may be a bit more challenging and harder on the shoulders. Make sure to keep your steps small, especially when starting out, so that you don’t overload your shoulders and can keep up the contralateral movement. To do the Table Top Crawl backward, step back with the opposite arm and leg. Make sure you don’t get too spread out as you crawl backward. If you reach too far back with your feet and get too stretched out, your going to put a lot of pressure on your shoulders and then you wont’ be able to move fluidly. Keep you steps nice and short and compact to start with and your knees close to the ground. Make sure to brace your core and keep your butt down.

Farmer’s Walk – For this, walk to the 3rd line of your suicide (aka 50 ft) and then come back. Down and back is the rep. To do a Farmer’s Walk, you can hold dumbbells, kettlebells, water jugs or any sort of weights in each hand. Use as heavy a weight as you can grip while maintaining a nice tall posture. Stand up nice and tall with your arms down by your sides and your chest pressed out. Make sure your core is braced so you don’t feel your low back engaging. Holding the weights in each hand begin to walk forward, making sure the weights aren’t resting on your legs. Hold them just off your thighs. Walk around for a set distance or an amount of time, maintaining perfect posture. You want to use weights that challenge you and make you want to drop them just before the time or distance is out. Do not let your head jut forward or your shoulders round. Do not let the weights rest on your legs. Keep your core tight and glutes engaged as you walk with your shoulders down and back and your head up.

Butterfly Sit Ups – To do Butterfly Sit Ups, sit on the ground and place the bottoms of your feet together. Bend your knees into the Butterfly stretch, letting your knees fall open as you bring your heels in toward your crotch. Keeping your knees open and feet together, lie back on the ground. Then sit back up and come back up to the seated position. The more you swing your arms, the easier the move will be. Also the closer in your feet are to your body, the harder the move will be (this will also be based a bit on flexibility as well).