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The Squat/Press 5 Minute Circuits

by Cori Lefkowith | Sep 18, 2015

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

WORKOUT

Complete 3-5 rounds of the first superset, taking your time while trying to focus on adding weight. Rest as needed. Then rest 1-2 minutes before starting the circuits. For the circuits, set a timer for 5 minutes. Do not rest during the 5 minutes but keep moving as quickly as possible. Rest 1-2 minutes between circuits. Record the rounds, reps and weights used to try to increase next time.

SUPERSET:
8-12 reps per side Balance Lunges
5-15 reps Eccentric Push Ups

CIRCUIT #1:
4-6 reps per side Alternating Front Lunges
4-6 reps per side Single-Arm Landmine Press or Alternating Arm Dumbbell Press
4-6 reps Body Saw

CIRCUIT #2:
5-10 reps Toe Squats
5-10 reps Close Grip Push Ups
3-5 reps per side Sit Thrus

CIRCUIT #3:
5-10 reps Narrow Stance Squats
5-8 reps Knee Tucks
5-8 reps Lean Backs

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

NOTES:

When choosing a rep range, choose to do as many reps as you can without resting or without going to failure so that you can’t move quickly from one exercise to another. It is better to do 5 reps and move quickly then to do 10 reps and have to pause between reps or rest after the exercise.

The quicker you move while challenging yourself, the more you will get out of this workout. You want to add weight but quickly move right from one move to the next!

EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS:
Balance Lunges – Place your back foot up on a box. Hop your front foot out so you are in a nice wide stance with your back foot up on the box. Then sink down into a lunge, dropping your back knee toward the ground as you bend your front knee to 90 degrees. Really sit back into the lunge. Make sure you aren’t going forward onto your front toe and that your front knee is not going past your toe. You want to sit back to make your glute work. You should also feel a nice stretch in the front of the leg that is back when doing this move. Beginners may want to use a super low box or do the move from the ground as a split squat. More advanced exercisers, or if you don’t have weights, you may want to do it with your back foot in a suspension trainer. You can also add weight to make the move more challenging.

Eccentric Push Ups – To do the Eccentric Focused Push Up, start by lying on the ground with your legs together. Place your hands outside your chest. Draw your belly button in toward your spine and squeeze your glutes and flex your quads as you flex your feet and drive back through your heels. Then press up to the top of the push up with your arms locked out and your body in a nice straight line. Everything should move together as you press up to the top of the push up. Do not let your butt go up in the air or your hips sag toward the ground. Do not tuck your chin. Keep your head in line with your spine. Make sure to keep your core tight so your low back doesn’t arch. Then lower back down, going as slowly as you can or following an outlined slower tempo like a 3 or 5 count. Make sure your body moves as one unit. Touch your chest to the ground and then lift quickly right back up. If your body doesn’t move together, if you do the “worm” as you press up or down, regress to your knees or an incline push up. If you only do the worm when you press back while doing this Push Up from your toes, simply reset at the top instead of pushing back up so that you can then lower slowly back down (aka the Eccentric Only variation). Even if you can’t push up with good form, lowering slowly down with good form from the full Push Up position will help you improve your Push Ups.

Alternating Front Lunges – Start standing nice and tall with your feet together. Then step forward with one foot and bend your knees, dropping your back knee down to the ground as you keep your chest up nice and tall. Drop the back knee down as if moving to half kneel on the ground. Bend the front knee to 90 degrees if you can. Make sure to sink straight down and keep your front heel firmly on the ground. Then drive back off the front foot to drive up to standing. Come back to standing nice and tall then lunge forward with the other foot. Hold dumbbells down by your sides or a kettlebell up at your chest to make the move harder.
Single-Arm Landmine Press – To do the Single-Arm Landmine Press, grab the barbell in one hand with the Landmine right in front of you. Bring your hand and the barbell to your shoulder. Place the opposite foot of the hand holding the barbell forward and stagger the other one back (you can also stand with your feet together if you want your core to work even harder). Then, keeping your core tight, drive the barbell up and out from your shoulder, pressing the barbell overhead as you extend your arm. Because of the Landmine the barbell and your hand won’t go straight up. You will actually press a bit up and forward. Then return the barbell to your shoulder and repeat, pressing the barbell up until your arm is extended. Make sure that when you press, you do not let your core rotate toward the hand with the barbell. Keep your body square to the Landmine. Complete all reps on one side and then switch. As you fatigue you may use your legs to help press the bar overhead or you can keep it as a strict press. Just make sure you do not rotate as you press. This move is meant to work your core because you are fighting the urge to rotate toward the side pressing. If you don’t have a Landmine, just do Alternating Arm Dumbbell Presses.

Body Saw – To do the Basic Body Saw, set up in a Plank position from your forearms and toes with your feet close together. Your forearms should be right under your shoulders and your body should be in a nice straight line from your head to your heels. Then begin to walk your feet backward, taking small steps. Keep your body in a nice straight line and don’t let your hips sag toward the ground. Lengthen through your triceps and lats as you walk back. Walk back as far as you can while keeping your core engaged. Then walk your feet back forward until you are back in the Forearm Front Plank. Do not let your butt go up in the air as you walk your feet back in. Repeat, walking your feet back out. Only walk out as far as you can without your low back engaging. If your low back feels this move, don’t walk out as far. Start with only a few steps. To advance the Body Saw, you can place towels or sliders (Valslides) under your feet. This reduces the traction and makes the move harder.

Toe Squats – To do the Toe Squat, set up with your feet wider than shoulder-width and toes slightly turned out. Then press up as high as you can onto your toes. Keeping your chest up and heels up off the ground, squat down as low as you can. Sit your butt down and back while staying balanced and then come back up to standing. Try not to touch your heels down between reps. Sink as low as you can and move in a slow and controlled fashion.

Close Grip Push Ups – To do Close Grip Push Ups, place your hands no wider than right outside your chest as you set up in the high plank position with your feet together and your body in a nice straight line. The closer your hands are together (aka the closer to a Diamond Push Up you get), the harder the move will be and the more your triceps will be forced to work. Then keeping your body in a nice straight line, lower your chest down to the ground. Your body should move as one unit to lower down without your butt going up in the air or your hips sagging. Also, make sure to keep your elbows and arms in by your side as you lower. Do not let them flare out at all or you will not force your triceps to work as hard. Lower your chest as close to the ground as possible then press back up. Make sure your body moves as one unit and your arms don’t flare out. Often with Close-Grip Push Ups, people will start to press back up and end up arching their backs because their hips stay down and their triceps aren’t strong enough. If you can’t press back up with your core staying engaged and your body in a nice straight line, you may need to regress the movement to an Incline Close-Grip Push Up or a Knee Close-Grip Push Up. Once you’ve pressed back up, repeat, lowering down with your arms in by your sides. To make the move more challenging, perform a Diamond Push Up.

Sit Thrus – To do the Sit Thru, start on your hands and knees with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Flex your feet and press up onto your hands and toes. Rotate open toward the right and kick your left leg under and through toward where your right hand is. As you bring your left leg forward and through, lift your right hand. You want to rotate all the way through with your left leg out straight so that you are almost sitting with your left hand down to support you. You want to “sit through.” Then bring the left leg back through so you are back in the starting position. Next rotate to the left and kick your right leg through and forward as you lift your left hand. Move as quickly as you can back and forth. Beginners may need to move slowly or even start in a more spread out position with their legs out straight instead of their knees under their hips.

Narrow Stance Squats – To do the Narrow Stance Squat, place your feet hip-width apart or closer. Squat down, sitting your butt back and down. Then drive back up to standing and squeeze your glutes. Do not round forward or come forward onto your toes. Repeat, squatting as low as you can.

Knee Tucks – To do the Knee Tucks, place your toes in the foot straps and set up in a plank from your hands with your hands under your shoulders. Engage your abs so that your hips don’t sag or your butt doesn’t go up in the air. Then pull your knees in toward your chest. Tuck them in as far as you can and then straighten your legs back out. Your back may round as you tuck, but try not to let your butt go way up in the air. And when you straighten back out, don’t let your hips sag. Keep your legs and abs engaged to keep a nice straight line from your head to your toes while you are in that plank position. Repeat, tucking your knees back in toward your chest. You can also do these on sliders if you don’t have a Suspension Trainer.

Lean Backs – To do Lean Backs, start kneeling on the ground with your knees about hip-width apart. Flex your feet and kneel nice and tall. Squeeze your glutes and brace your abs. You can then cross your hands over your chest or reach them out in front of you. Engaging your core and driving down through the balls of your flexed feet, lean back. Do not arch your back as you lean back but simply move from your knees. Go back as far as you can with your body in a nice straight line. Then come back forward. Squeeze your glutes and brace your abs the entire time. Feel your quads really working to control your lean back. Do not sit back on your heels as you go back. Come back up to kneeling nice and tall and repeat. You can make this move more challenging by holding a weight in at your chest or even in your straight arms out in front of you. Do not rush the Lean Back, but instead move in a slow and controlled fashion.

The Anti-Rotational Core Workout

by Cori Lefkowith | Sep 11, 2015

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

WORKOUT

Complete 3-5 rounds of each circuit. Rest as needed. Do not rush the movements but take your time to really use your core to stabilize.

CIRCUIT #1:
8-12 reps Unilaterally-Loaded Deadlift
8-12 reps per side Anti-Rotational Single-Arm Inverted Row
6-12 reps per side Renegade Rows

CIRCUIT #2:
8-12 reps per side Single Leg Squat
8-12 reps per side Anti-Rotational Single-Arm Press
8-12 reps per side Stability Press

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

NOTES:

Do not rush through these movements. Take your time to really focus on core stability. Record reps, weights and variations so you can improve upon them over time!

EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS:
Unilaterally-Loaded Deadlift – To do the Unilaterally-Loaded Deadlift, you can hold a dumbbell, kettlebell or even a sandbag. Hold the weight in one hand and hold it at your side like a briefcase. With the weight by your side, stand nice and tall with your feet about hip-width to shoulder-width apart. Then, hinge over at the hips as you sit your butt back and lean forward. Bend your knees as you hinge and lower the weight down to the ground. Keep your chest pressed out and your back flat as you hinge over. Drop the sandbag to the ground without allowing your body to rotate or lean. Hinge straight back and don’t shift to one side. Your Deadlift should look like you are holding weights in both hands. Really sit your butt back as you hinge and keep the abs engaged. Then drive straight back up to standing and squeeze your glutes at the top. Repeat, holding the weight on the same side. Again, do not let your back round as you lower down or let yourself lean or rotate. Once you’ve completed all reps on one side, switch the weight to the other hand. Start light so you can get proper form and make sure that you don’t shift or rotate. You should really feel your core working to keep your body in alignment.

Anti-Rotational Single-Arm Inverted Row – To do the Anti-Rotational Single-Arm Inverted Row, a Suspension Trainer works best. Grab one handle of the trainer in one hand and place the other hand across your chest. You can also reach the free arm up as if holding a strap if that will help remind you to keep your shoulders square. Set up with your body in a nice straight line, squeezing your quads, glutes and core and pressing your chest out. Make sure to relax your shoulder down and back and not shrug up. Walk your feet forward to an appropriate incline. The closer to parallel you are to the ground, the harder the move will be. Make sure that you choose an incline that allows you to row with proper form and feel your back working. You do not want your shoulder to shrug. Square up your body and then row up. Do not let the side not holding the strap rotate toward the strap as you row up or the shoulder of the arm not holding a strap to drop open. You want to row up as if you are pulling with both arms. That means your body shouldn’t close toward the strap or your shoulder shouldn’t open toward the ground. Drive your elbow down and back as you row up and row your chest all the way up to the handle. Do not shrug your shoulder as you row. Then lower back down. Do not let your back round or your body open up toward the ground as you lower. Repeat rowing back up, making sure that you don’t bounce off the bottom or rotate as you repeat.

Renegade Rows – To do the Renegade Row, you will need two weights. Set them on the ground under your shoulders. If you place your hands and the weights closer together, it will make the movement easier and help you balance. Then set up in a high plank position with each hand on a weight. Beginners may need to do this from their knees while more advanced exercisers will do this on their toes. If you are doing this on your toes, set your feet between hip-width and shoulder-width apart. You can also widen out your knees if doing this from your knees. A wider stance will make the move easier by providing you with a more stable base. In the plank position, engage your core and squeeze your glutes so that your body is in a nice straight line. Then row one weight up toward your chest, driving your elbow down and back. You want to drive it back toward the ceiling, but also down toward your hip. As you row up, fight your body’s urge to rotate. Keep your hips and chest square to the ground. Row the weight all the way up to your chest just below your pec. Keep your core tight and squeeze your glutes. Do not let your butt go up toward the ceiling or your hips sag. After rowing the weight up to your chest, lower the weight back down and then row up on the other side. Keep alternating until all reps are complete. Keep your core braced and fight the rotation as you alternate rows. Do not rush the movement.

Single Leg Squat – To do the Single Leg Squat to bench, choose a bench that is as low as possible. The lower the bench, the harder the move. Stand in front of the bench and lift one leg out in front of you. Then sit back and squat to the bench. The more you completely sit and reset on the bench, the easier the move will be, especially if you lift your standing leg and then stomp it back into the ground. If you just barely touch and go, you may find that the move is harder. Also, the more you swing your arms, the more momentum you will have to help you stand back up. Make sure to keep the heel of the standing leg down as you squat and drive back up to standing.

Another great Single Leg Squat variation to do if you need a little assistance is the Suspension Trainer Single Leg Squat.

Anti-Rotational Single-Arm Press – To do the Standing Anti-Rotational Single-Arm Press with a resistance band, anchor the band behind you at about chest height. Hold one handle in one hand and step away from the anchor point so that there is tension in the band when your hand is in at your chest. You can stand in a staggered stance or with both feet even. Standing with your feet even will make the move more challenging and force your core to work harder to stabilize. If you stand with your feet even, the wider apart your feet are, the more stable your base will be. To challenge your core further, stand with your feet even and close together. Then with your hand up at your chest and your shoulder relaxed down and back, press your arm straight out from your chest. Do not rotate as you press and do not let the shoulder shrug or the hand press up and out. You want to press straight out from the chest, keeping your chest pressed out and your shoulders down. Then once you press all the way out without letting your core rotate, bring the hand back. You want your body to move as if you were pressing both hands, aka with your chest and hips staying square instead of rotating. Complete all reps on one side before switching. You can place the hand that isn’t working across your chest, by your side or on your hip. Do whichever helps you fight the urge to rotate.

Stability Press – To do the Stability Press, you can use a resistance band or cable. If you are using a band, anchor the band and then hold one handle in both hands. Turn to the side so you are sideways to the anchor point and step away from the anchor point so that there is tension in the band. You want to make sure there is tension or the move won’t be challenging. Stand with your feet no more than shoulder-width apart. The closer your feet are together, the harder the move will be. Choose a stance though that challenges you while allowing you to maintain good form and not lean away. As you become stronger, bring your feet closer together and then even try a heavier band or walk further from the anchor point. Bring your hands into the center of your chest and squeeze your glutes while you brace your abs. Standing up nice and tall with your chest pressed out, slowly push the band straight out from the center of your chest until your arms are straight out. It should be a struggle to press the arms straight out because the band is trying to rotate you back toward the anchor point. Your core should have to work to stabilize and press straight out from your chest. Do not let your arms rotate open and go back toward the anchor. You want to press straight out from the center of your chest without shrugging your shoulders. Maintain a nice tall posture with your shoulder blades drawn down and back and your core engaged. Make sure you also don’t lean away. Then slowly bring your arms back in and repeat. Move slowly to really have to fight the band. If you move too quickly, you won’t get as much out of the move and you’ll probably get sloppy and let yourself rotate toward the anchor point or even shift open and push away. Also, if you allow your stance to rotate open or if you lean away, it will make the movement easier and won’t force that inside side (the side closest to the anchor point) to really work to stabilize. Complete all reps on one side before turning and facing the other way to work the other side. Really consciously engage your glutes before starting to press.

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.