A Healthy You: A compound move to work your whole body

Thursday, July 7, 2011

A compound move to work your whole body

This combination forward lunge, balance and rotation with weighted ball will work pretty much every major area/muscle group in your body.

You start by standing in place holding a weighted ball in both hands. Take a step forward and lunge being careful not to let the knee extend over the ankle and twist in the direction of the leg that is bent at 90 degrees, step back up holding one leg in the air balancing while twisting/rotating yet again the direction of the leg bent at 90 degrees in the air. See photos below

This exercise works the legs, glutes, abs, shoulders and biceps. When you are crunched for time and want to get the best bang for your buck, I highly recommend this compound/combination move to work most of your body in less time.

Always remember to warm up for 5-10 minutes before beginning any exercise and cool down with a few minutes of stretching at the end.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding any of the exercise moves I post on my blog please feel free to contact me at lisahabs@optonline.net

Hope you are all enjoying your summer and remembering to stay hydrated!!!

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Important!

Before starting any exercise or fitness routine (especially for those who have never exercised or who have not in a long, long time), it is recommended that you have a physical exam to make sure your blood pressure, heart rate and everything else checks out okay. Make sure you talk to your physician about your fitness plan.

Fitness Plan Components

1. a nice light warm up (8-10 minutes), this could include light jogging or marching in place, loosening up back muscles, rotating arms to loosen shoulder joints etc. You want to warm up muscles before any exercise.

2. your cardio could include: walking, running, hiking, cycling, dancing, rowing (anything that can get your heart rate up). Cardio can be done everyday of the week if you have the time if time is limited try to work in a cardio routine at least 3-5 days a week. (30-40 minutes is recommended by ACSM) but I feel whatever you can do is better than nothing at all.

3. strength and resistance: machines at the gym, using your own body weight, free weights, weighted balls etc. Very important to build and keep muscle. Muscle helps strengthen and maintain the bone's quality. Ladies you won't bulk up (unless you are using steroids), you will get better definition and keep bones strong.
Try to do at least 2 days a week of resistance work. Working your muscle to fatigue is best. By that I mean using a weight you can handle and try to do 2 sets of at least 10-12 reps. If you feel the weight is too light and you can do way more...then you know you need to increase the weight.

4. stretching: at the end of any work out it feels great to do some stretching of the muscles. This should only take you about 10 minutes to do. Hold each stretch for about 10 seconds. No bouncing movements, a static stretch is best.

I will be posting weekly exercise moves as well as stretches.

thank you!

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