elite workout library Archives Page 9 of 25

The 1 Minute Interval Cardio Workout

by Cori Lefkowith | Apr 25, 2015

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

ACTIVATION

Complete 2 rounds of the circuit below.

CIRCUIT:
20 reps Glute Bridges
10 reps Thoracic Bridge to Sit Thru
10 reps per side Plank with Reach Back and Out

LOCOMOTION

After stretch and rolling, set a timer for 2-3 minutes and jog, backpedal, side shuffle, carioca, skip, do butt kickers and/or high knees. Move around at about 75% of your max effort to get your heart rate up and blood pumping.

WORKOUT

Set a timer for 1 minute of work, 20 seconds of transition time between moves. Rest 1 minute 40 seconds between rounds. Complete 3-6 rounds of the circuit. Make sure to pick a variation of each move that allows you to work the entire minute. You may find you need to work between 75-85% of your max effort to keep moving the entire time.

CIRCUIT:
1 minute Rower or other piece of cardio equipment
1 minute Towel Taz
1 minute Jump Rope
1 minute Wall Sit
1 minute Rope Plank Pulls
1 minute Crawling
1 minute Rest

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

NOTES:

Make sure to work the entire minute and then rest between exercises for only 20 seconds. Work as hard as you can each minute, but make sure you don’t go so hard you can’t continue for the rest of the round.

Beginners may need to rest longer between rounds.

EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS:

Glute Bridge – To do the Basic Glute Bridge for reps, bend your knees and put your feet flat on the ground just close enough that you can graze your heels with your fingertips when you stretch your arms down by your side. Your feet should be about hip-width apart. If you put your feet further away from your glutes, you will engage more hamstring than if you keep your heels in closer to your glutes. Bend your elbows to 90 degrees so that only your upper arms are on the ground. Then drive up through your heels and upper back to lift your glutes off the ground. Drive your hips up as high as possible, squeezing the glutes hard. Keep your belly button drawn in so you don’t hyperextend your back. Focus and consciously squeeze your glutes at the top. Do not push backward off your heels. Make sure you are driving straight up and that your knees aren’t caving in. Squeeze your glutes for second or two at the top and lower all the way back down to the ground before repeating. Do not rush through the move. To make the move harder, hold longer at the top or even slow down the lower back down to the ground. A slower tempo means more time under tension and more work for your glutes.

Thoracic Bridge with Sit Thru – Set up on your hands and knees with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Flex your feet and lift up onto your hands and toes. Then lift your right hand and bring your left leg through and place your left foot flat on the ground. Rotate your hips up toward the ceiling, squeezing your glutes to lift them up as high as you can. While your lift your hips, reach your right hand down toward the ground, rotating your chest toward the floor. Feel your glutes working to keep BOTH hips up, while you reach your hand down. We have a tendency when we rotate to drop that hip down. Make sure both stay up. You should feel a nice rotation and stretch through your spine. You are twisting almost like someone wringing out a towel. Then drop your hips and step your foot back through while placing your hand back down on the ground. Rotate to the other side, bridging your hips up as high as you can.

Plank with Reach Back and Out – To do the Plank with Reach Back and Out, set up in a Front Plank from your hands and toes with your hands under your shoulders and your feet about hip-width to shoulder-width apart. For this move, you will want your feet wider to create a more stable base. Beginners can do this move from their knees. Then from the Plank position, reach one hand back and across toward the opposite ankle, pushing your butt back and up toward the ceiling as you reach. Then reach back forward and out toward the wall in front of you, dropping your hips back into a nice plank position. Do not drop your hips too low and feel your low back engage. Keep your core tight to protect your low back as you come back into that nice plank position. Reach back and across with the same hand until all reps are complete on that side.

Towel Taz – For a complete guide to the Towel Taz, click here.

Jump Rope – For jump rope you can do a basic jump, a run, a skip, or even double unders. If you struggle with jumping rope, you can fake it and do jumps without the rope! Play around a little and have some fun.

Wall Sit – To do the Wall Sit, stand with your back to a wall and your feet about hip-width apart. Then sink down into a squat and press your back into the wall behind you. When you sink into the squat, try to get your quads parallel to the ground and make sure your ankles are aligned under your knees. Hold there and drive your back into the wall. If you start to feel this in your low back, try engaging your core with a pelvic tilt. Press your low back into the wall. To make this move easier, don’t sink as low in the squat or move your feet out just a bit from the wall. Do not let your ankles get too far out in front of your knees though. To make this move harder, hold a weight or even try a Single Leg Wall Sit.

Rope Plank Pulls – Wrap the rope around a pole or anchor point. The more you wrap it, the harder the move will be. Set up in a plank position with the rope between your legs. Your hands should be about under your shoulders and your feet should be wide. Then sit your butt back toward your heels, bending your knees as reach one hand back through your legs to grab the rope. Push off the balls of your feet and drive your hips forward to pull the rope up under your body and through overhead. As you pull the rope through, extend your hips and squeeze your glutes to help you power the pull. You don’t want to pull the rope through using only your arm. Then sit back again and reach the other hand back and through to pull the rope. As you pull the rope through, make sure to extend your hips so that your hips help power the pull. Keep alternating arms. If you pull the entire length of the rope just start pulling the rope back through the other way.

Crawling – You can do any crawling variation you choose. Here are 21 Crawling Exercises to help you choose!

The 10-Minute Feel Better Desk Workout

by Cori Lefkowith | Apr 19, 2015

Progress through each of the three Steps in this workout. It will take only 10 minutes although you can add in extra time foam rolling or stretching or even add in extra rounds of the circuit if you have more time.

But all you need is 10 MINUTES! You can even break it down and do one step at a time throughout your day.

You also only need your own bodyweight and a clock or timer although you can even count in your head if needed.

STEP 1 – FOAM ROLLING (2 minutes):
20 seconds each side Forearm Foam Rolling
20 seconds each sideTricep Foam Rolling
20 seconds each side Upper Back Foam Rolling

STEP 2 – STRETCHING (3 minutes):
20 seconds each side Wrist Flexion
20 seconds each side Wrist Release
20 seconds each side Seated Pigeon Pose
20 seconds each side Chest and Bicep Stretch
20 seconds Wall Hang

STEP 3 – ACTIVATION/STRENGTHENING (5 minutes):
Complete 2 rounds of the following:
30 seconds Mountain Pose
30 seconds each side Extended Triangle
30 seconds Scapular Wall Hold or Chair Scapular Hold
30 seconds Desk Chair Camel Hold

BONUS! (about 30 seconds):

20 reps each side Rubber Band Extensions

NOTES:

For this workout, you can even break it down and do one move any time you stand up from your desk or need a quick mental break from work. Many of the moves you can even do seated at your desk. The point is to try to move more and open up everything that is in flexion all day at your desk.

EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS:

For descriptions, pictures and even videos of all of the foam rolling, stretches and Activation and Strengthening Moves, check out these two posts:

The Functional Leg Workout

by Cori Lefkowith | Apr 10, 2015

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

WORKOUT

Complete 3-5 rounds of the first exercise, resting 1-2 minutes between rounds. Then rest 2-3 minutes before moving on to the supplemental supersets. Complete 5-8 rounds of each superset. Rest 30 seconds between rounds of the supersets and 1-2 minutes between supersets.

EXERCISE:
8-12 reps per side 3-Count Eccentric 1/2 Squat, 1/2 Deadlift

SUPERSET #1:
30 seconds Duck Under Lunge
30 seconds Farmer’s Walk
30 seconds Rest

SUPERSET #2:
30 seconds Get Up Lunge
30 seconds Kettlebell Swings
30 seconds Rest

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

NOTES:

For the first exercise, focus on the slow tempo and adding as much weight as you can while maintaining good form.

For all of the timed movements, pick a variation that challenges you but that allows you to move the entire 30 seconds. If you rest, you won’t get as much out of the 30 seconds. Only add weight or make the move more challenging if you can keep working at a consistent pace the entire time.

EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS:

3-Count Eccentric 1/2 Squat, 1/2 Deadlift – To do the 1/2 Squat, 1/2 Deadlift, start by standing on your right leg. Then start to bend your right knee as you drive your left leg back and hinge over. Keep your back flat as you hinge over and sit your butt back. You are going to hinge over as you also squat down on your right leg. Try to touch the ground without rounding your low back. Make sure to push your butt back as you sit back in your heel and squat down. Take 3 seconds or a 3 count to hinge over and touch the ground. Once you’ve gone as low as you can, you will come back up to standing. Try not to touch your left toe down between reps. Hinge back over, sitting your butt back as you bend your standing leg to squat down. Touch the ground and come back up. Go as low as you can each time and take 3 seconds to lower down. The more you bend your knee as you hinge over, the harder the move will be.

Duck Under Lunge – To do the Duck Under Lunge, hold the sandbag up at your chest with your arms wrapped around it. Then squat down, sitting your butt back while keeping your chest up. To come up out of the squat, rotate toward the right, pivoting your left foot. Stand up nice and tall, facing to the right with your back leg in triple extension. Do not let your foot stay put and your knee cave in. Pivot your back foot so that, when you straighten your leg, your ankle, knee and hip are all in line. Then sink down into a lunge and pivot into a squat. From the squat, pivot and rotate up toward the left side, pivoting your right foot. Keep your chest up the entire time. Do not let your back round toward the ground. Also do not lean forward to try to get lower to the ground. Sink as low as you can in the squat without your form breaking down then quickly pivot up to each side. As you get comfortable with the move, try to make it as fluid as possible. The move should look like a “U” shape. You will sink down into a little lunge and pivot into a squat before rotating into a lunge on the other side and standing up. Beginners may need to make it look more like a “V” until their hips open up more. Beginners may also need to drop the weight or not go as low.

Farmer’s Walk – 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.

Get Up Lunge – To do the Get Up Lunge, start standing with your feet together. Then sit your butt back and sink into a little squat. Then lunge back to half kneeling on the ground. Keep your chest up as you half kneel down. Lunge back on the other leg until you are fully kneeling on the ground. Keep your chest up and back flat as you come to kneeling. Then step one foot forward to return to half kneeling before pushing back up into the little squat. Repeat either lunging back with the same leg or by alternating sides. To make this move harder, add a weight. Beginners may need to add a pad under their knees if they can’t get all the way down to the ground. Make sure that even when you stand up, you don’t completely extend your legs. You want to stay in that little squat even at the top so your legs are working the entire time.

Kettlebell Swings – For Kettlebell Swing form and variations, click here.

The Isometric Stability Workout

by Cori Lefkowith | Apr 2, 2015

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

ACTIVATION
After stretch and rolling, complete 2 rounds of the circuit below.

CIRCUIT:
10 reps Mini Band Scapular Flyes
10 reps Mini Band Pull Downs
15 reps Mini Band Standing Kickbacks
15 reps Mini Band Lateral Raises

WORKOUT
Set a timer for 30 seconds – 1 minute. Only hold for 1 minute if you can maintain good form the entire time. Switch from one exercise to the next, resting as needed between rounds. Complete 4-6 rounds of the circuit.

CIRCUIT:
30 seconds – 1 minute each side Warrior III
30 seconds – 1 minute Pull Up Hold Variations (you can even move between them during the time)
30 seconds – 1 minute Glute Bridge Hold
30 seconds – 1 minute Dip Hold
30 seconds – 1 minute Banana Hold

CONDITIONING
Set a timer for 5-10 minutes. Perform locomotion (jogging, back pedaling, shuffling, carioca, skips) at 75% of your max effort so your heart rate gets up but you can move consistently the entire time without redlining.

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

NOTES:
During the Pull Up Holds, you can move between all three, holding only a few seconds at each, or you can pick one to do for all of the rounds or even alternate holds between rounds. You can also do the Glute Bridge as a Single Leg Glute Bridge Hold.

If you do the Single Leg, hold on one side for 30 seconds to 1 minute before switching to the other side. Do not move on to the Dip Hold until you’ve held on both sides. For the Banana Hold, beginners may need to do a variation of the Pelvic Tilt to make sure their abs and not their backs are working.

EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS:

Mini Band Scapular Flyes – To do the Scapular Flyes, place the mini band around your arms. The closer to your elbow the band goes, the easier the move will be. To make the move harder, place the band around your wrists or hands. Press out on the band so there is some tension and extend your arms in front of you at about shoulder height. Stand up nice and tall and press your chest out, retracting your shoulder blades down and together. Then press out on the band, pulling it as far apart as you can, flying your arms out to the sides. Feel the muscles between your shoulder blades work to pull your arms open. Once you’ve pulled the band as far apart as you can, slowly return to the starting position. Stay in control of the movement the entire time and don’t let the band pull you.

Mini Band Pull Downs – To do the Pulldown, you can either hold the band in each hand or place it around the back of your hands, wrists or even your forearms. Do not hold it in your hands if you can’t keep tension on the band the entire time. To make the move easier, place the band on your arms closer to your elbows. Then with the band around each arm, extend your hands up toward the ceiling. Stand tall, pressing your chest out and squeezing your glutes. Draw your shoulder blades down and back. Then, keeping tension on the band and your arms about shoulder-width apart, pull the band down toward your chest. Feel the sides of your back working to pull the band down to your chest with 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. You can either do this move for repetitions or you can hold the band down at your chest for an isometric move. No matter which you do, make sure to consciously engage your back and draw your shoulder blades down and back. Make sure you 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.

Mini Band Standing Kickbacks – To do the Standing Kickback, place the band around your ankles. Higher up on your leg will make the movement a bit easier. Face a wall, chair or anything you can use to slightly balance with. Stand with a soft knee while you lift the other foot off the ground and kick it behind you. Keep the leg fairly straight and flex your foot so you are driving the heel back into the wall behind you. Squeeze your glute as you lift. Do not rock forward to try to get the leg up higher. Height doesn’t matter. Just focus on squeezing your glute and keeping your core tight. You may have a very slight lean forward as you stabilize on the standing leg, but you don’t want to rock forward and open up your hip just to kick back higher. Rocking forward may also put the move in your low back instead of forcing your glute to work to lift the leg. Hold at the top and then lower down and repeat on the same side. It may not be a huge range of motion. The important part is to really squeeze the glute and not just hyperextend your low back to kick the leg back higher. If you really struggle to keep from rocking or putting the move in your low back, you may want to lie face down on the ground and try the kickback or use a lighter resistance. Really consciously squeeze your glutes as you lift.

Mini Band Lateral Raises – To do the Standing Lateral Raises, place the band around your ankles. Face a wall, chair or anything you can use to slightly balance with. Stand with a soft knee while you lift the other off the ground and out to the side. Keep the leg straight (but don’t lock out the knee) and lift to the side. Try not to let the toe rotate open so that the move stays focused on your abductors. Keep the foot you are lifting parallel to the foot on the ground. Squeeze your butt as you lift. Do not lean to the side just to lift the leg higher. Keep the core tight and stand up nice and tall. Hold for a second at the top and then lower and repeat. Complete all reps on that side. You may also feel this in the standing glute as well because that leg is working to resist the band and keep you stabile. You may find you lean a little to stabilize on the standing leg on the first one and that is fine. The point is just not to actively lean away to raise the leg up higher or to rock as you lift. If you wish to work your external rotators more, you can then turn your toe open as you lift. Just be aware that it is a different movement and working the muscles in a different way. Beginners may need to use a lighter band or even no band at all to start. They may also find that a Lying Lateral Raise is easier to control.

For descriptions of all of the Isometric Exercises and even more Isometrics to work your core, check out these 10 Core Isometric Exercises.

The Push Up Destroyer Workout

by Cori Lefkowith | Mar 28, 2015

WARM UP
Stretch and Roll Out:
Wrists/Forearms
Chest
Shoulders
Traps

WORKOUT
Complete 3-5 rounds of the Eccentric Push Ups, resting 60-90 seconds between rounds so you do quality reps each and every time. Then rest 2-3 minutes before moving on to the supplemental circuits. Rest 20-40 seconds between rounds of the circuits. Complete 6-8 rounds of each circuit. Rest 2-3 minutes between circuits.

ECCENTRIC PUSH UPS:
3-8 reps Eccentric Focused Push Ups (as slow as possible)

CIRCUIT #1:
20 seconds Push Up Variations
20 seconds Inverted Row Hold or Scapular Wall Hold
20-40 seconds Rest

CIRCUIT #2:
20 seconds Push Up Holds
20 seconds Inverted Rows or Corner Rows
20-40 seconds Rest

COOL DOWN
Stretch and Roll Out:
Wrists/Forearms
Chest
Shoulders
Traps

NOTES:
For this workout to really help you improve your Push Ups, you need to make sure that on the Eccentric Push Ups all your reps are quality reps. You want to make sure you have perfect form and lower yourself down as slowly as possible. You are better off doing 3 perfectly than moving quickly or allowing your form to slightly break down and doing 8 reps. The Eccentric isn’t about volume. Those reps are about quality and doing the hardest variation possible.

Also, it is better to regress the Eccentric by doing them off an incline instead of from your knees so your core has to work like it would with the full Push Up. Also, you can do an Eccentric Only if you are close to a full Push Up, but not quite there yet.

See the Push Up post link below for Eccentric Push Up Form.

For the second two circuits, it is very important that you pick variations you can do for the entire 20 seconds. If you rest during that time, you aren’t going to get as much out of the workouts as you would otherwise.

For the Push Up Variations, mix it up and use this time to work on your weak points. If your chest is weak, do Wide Grip. If your triceps are weak, try Close Grip. If your core is weak, try a Spiderman Variation. If you struggle pushing up from the bottom of the Push Up, try a Dead Stop. Pick variations that help you strengthen your weak points while allowing you to maintain proper form!

For the Push Up Holds, you can use the High Plank or Top Push Up Hold, Mid-Push Up Hold or Bottom Push Up Hold. Mix it up to strengthen different points in your Push Ups and challenge your upper body and core in different ways.

EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS:
For Stretches, Foam Rolling Moves and all of the exercises in this workout, including Push Up Variations, check out our How To Do A Push Up post.