Full Body Archives Page 5 of 13 | Redefining Strength

The Deadlift And Core Workout

by Cori Lefkowith | May 23, 2015

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

WORKOUT

Complete 4 rounds of the first exercise, resting 60-90 seconds between rounds. Then rest 1-2 minutes and start the supplemental circuit. For the circuit, set a timer for 20 minutes and complete as many rounds as possible in that time. Rest only if needed but try to keep moving. Record how many rounds you complete and the weights used and try to increase next time!

SINGLE LEG DEADLIFT:
8-15 reps per side Single Leg Deadlift

CIRCUIT:
5 reps per side Sandbag Plank Pull Throughs
10 reps Duck Under Lunges
15 reps Inverted Rows
20 reps KB Swings

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

NOTES:

Complete all four rounds of the Single Leg Deadlift before moving on to the circuit. With the circuit, use the heaviest weights possible while still being able to move quickly and not have to rest.

EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS:

Single Leg Deadlift – To do this move you can use a barbell, sandbag, dumbbells or even kettlebells. To do the kettlebell Single Leg Deadlift, hold a kettlebell in each hand down by your sides. Stand on your right leg with your knee slightly bent and your left toe lightly touching the ground. Then lift your left leg back toward the wall behind you as you hinge over, keeping your back flat. As you hinge over, drop the kettlebells down and back. Do not reach them toward the ground and let your back round. Only lower them as far as you can without rounding or “squatting.” Your standing knee should be soft but isn’t going to bend extra as you hinge over. Make sure that as you hinge over you sit back in your heel and then drive through your heel to come back up to standing. You want to feel your hamstring and glute work.

Sandbag Plank Pull Throughs – To do Sandbag Plank Pulls, set up in a plank position from your hands and toes or hands and knees and place the sandbag on the ground to one side of your body just outside and below your shoulder. Make sure your hands are under your shoulders and then place your feet or knees wider apart to give you more stability. The closer together your feet are, the harder the move will be because you won’t have as wide or stable a base. If you feel your hips rocking side to side, widen your feet out. If the move is too easy, bring your feet closer together. Then reach your hand under your body and across to grab the sandbag. Squeeze your glutes and, without rotating your hips, pull the sandbag through and across to the other side of your body. Make sure your body stays in a nice straight line with your abs engaged as you reach through and pull. Do not let your hips go up in the air or sag toward the ground. You want to pull the sandbag all the way across and outside the other shoulder. If you can’t pull the sandbag all the way across or need to rotate your hips a lot to do so, it may be too heavy. Then reach through with the other hand to pull it back. To fight your body’s desire to rotate, you will need to engage your core and really squeeze your glutes. You do not want to feel this move in your low back. Keep alternating reaches until all reps are complete. Your goal is to keep a nice straight line from your head to your heels the entire time.

Duck Under Lunges – To do the Duck Under Lunge, hold the sandbag up at your chest with your arms wrapped around it. You will then squat down, sitting your butt back while keeping your chest up. As you come back up out of the squat, you will 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. Then rotate and sink back down into a squat and then 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. 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.

Inverted Rows – To do the Inverted Row, hold a suspension trainer strap in each hand or use a bar. Walk your feet out so that you are leaning back. The closer to parallel to the ground you get, the harder the move will be. Squeeze your core and glutes and press your chest out so there is tension between your shoulder blades. Make sure you don’t shrug your shoulders and that your body is in a nice straight line. Then row up, keeping your body in that nice straight line. Row until your chest comes up to the handles and then lower yourself back down. Don’t let your hips sink as you lower back down or your low back arch. Also, keep your chest pressed out the entire time (make sure you don’t round your thoracic spine at the bottom). Move in a controlled fashion as you keep tension between your shoulder blades the entire time. Make sure you row low and don’t shrug your shoulders at any point. Do not bounce off the bottom of your row or use momentum to get back up.

KB Swings – Click here for Kettlebell Swing form and some variations if you’ve never done it before.

The Bodyweight Cardio Parfait

by Cori Lefkowith | May 15, 2015

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

WORKOUT

Start with the first exercise. Do the first exercise (complete the reps listed). Then start back at the top and do the first exercise and add on the second exercise. Then go back to the first exercise and do the 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Return to the top and do the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Continue returning to the top and adding a new move until on the final round you complete all 10 exercises. So to illustrate how the workout will look in terms of the exercise you do each round.
1
12
123
1234
12345
123456
1234567
12345678
123456789
12345678910

CIRCUIT:
5 reps per side Plank Skier Hops
10 reps per side Split Squat Jumps
5 reps Burpees
10 reps Plank Jacks
5 reps per side Hop Overs
10 reps Plyo Push Ups
5 reps per side Donkey Kick Sit Thrus
10 reps per side Single Leg Deadlift Hops
5 reps each way 3-Way Mountain Climbers
10 reps per side Box Shuffle

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

NOTES:
Remember, each time you repeat exercise number 1 (Plank Skier Hops) and then add on a new exercise at the end. Rest as needed. You can even time yourself and then try to beat your time later!

EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS:

For the Mountain Climbers you will do 5 reps for each of the 3 knee drives on both sides. So that will be 15 reps per side of 30 reps in total.

All moves are in our new 20 Bodyweight Cardio Exercises That Aren’t Running post.

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 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.