Every good gym-goer has an arsenal. Go-to basic moves that provide a full body workout and are necessary to perfect before moving on to more complex exercises.
*Disclaimer: Please ignore the less-than-professional photos*
Squat
Squats are one of THE BEST and MOST AVOIDED pieces of a workout ever. More often than not I make my clients do a ton of squats, simply because they tell me if I didn't tell them to, they would never do them.
Basic rules to a squat:
1) stand slightly wider than feet shoulder width apart, toes pointed outward slightly (no need to be a ballerina - that comes later).
2) Sit back as if all your weight was in your butt. You should feel the weight in the back of your heels, rather than on the ball of your foot. Chest should stay nice and high, don't let it drop just because the rest of your lower body is dropping
3) Your goal is to get your knees to reach a 90 degree angle (see photo). In order to remind yourself to keep the weight in the back of your heels, try to wiggle your toes. This is possible if you are keeping the weight in the right place, if it isn't stand up and try again.
Rule of Thumb: Do not let your knees go over your toes - this will cause unnecessary knee injury.
As I said, the goal is 90 degrees, but this is not achieved instantly. Practice getting the proper form down first, then work on getting lower. For all intents and purposes right now, it is not necessary to try and go lower than 90 degrees, although people do.
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| Feet shoulder width apart, chest up high |
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| Weight in the back of your heels, chest up high |
Lunge
Lunges, the second most avoided body-weight exercise. Lunges are surprising beneficial for both your legs and your core when done correctly. I personally love lunges and could do them all day (or at least until my legs fall off). They require more balance than a squat and can be done in several different ways.
Basic steps:
1) Stand feet together
2) Take a wider than normal step forward with one leg. Keep your chest high! (see photo)
3) Drop your back knee towards the ground. Keep your chest high!
4) Make sure your front knee bends with you (to form a 90 degree angle)
5) For walking lunge: push off the ground with your back leg to get to a standing position again
6) For regular one leg lunge: push off the ground with front leg to get to a standing position
Rule of Thumb: Front knee does not go over the toes (same as squat)
Also - due to various levels of flexibility in the hip flexors some might find they can't get their back knee that low. That's ok, with practice and stretching you will be able to get the back knee towards the ground.
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| Step 2: Taking a wider than usual step forward |
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| Step 3 & 4: Back knee drops towards the ground, front knee is at a 90 degree angle and not going over the toes |
Push up
Probably the third most avoided body weight exercise. (Noticing a trend?) Push-ups are fantastic and a great way to build upper body strength (something many females lack). Let me clear any sentiment towards the so-called "girly-push up" (a push-up done on knees rather than toes). There is NOTHING wrong with this push-up. It is better to start on the knees and achieve a perfect push up, rather than struggle to stay on your toes and get no where. The photos below show both types of push up.
Basic Steps:
1) Start in a good, flat body position (see photo) on knees or toes. Hands should be at shoulder width or slightly wider.
2) Close Body Push ups: (see photo) elbows bend to a 90 degree angle with the elbow brushing up the side of the body. This works more of the upper arms.
3) Chest Push ups: (see web photo) This requires a wider hand position. Elbows bend to a 90 degree angle but out to the side of your body. This focuses more on chest muscles.
Rule of Thumb: Body should always stay in a flat, tight position. No butts in the air, no butts sagging. One straight line the whole time.
If you can not achieve a good elbow bend while on your knees, it's better to start against a wall. Same flat body angled away from the wall, hands wider than shoulder width apart.
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Starting on Toes
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| Starting on Knees |
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| Bottom 90 degree close arm position (on knees) |
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| Wide Arm Stance: |
Crunch
Probably the most favorite, but poorly executed exercise females like to do. First allow me to clear up some myths. 1) Doing crunches will give me a 6 pack of abs. False 2) Doing crunches will strength my core. True
Everyone should be doing crunches (in conjunction with back strengthening exercises - will be addressed later) in order to strength your core, not to get abs. We will discuss the art of abdominal acquiring in a later post.
For now...the basic crunch:
1) Lie flat on your back, knees bent (see photo) or knees in the air at a 90 degree angle (see photo)
2) Arms should be lightly "holding" your ears, elbows wide (your arms are not your leverage up, that's what your ab muscles are for)
3) Direct your elbows towards the ceiling, not towards your knees as you lift your shoulder blades off the ground. A crunch is not the same thing as a sit up - crunches focus on lower abdominal muscles while sit-ups are most generally useless.
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| Knees on ground, lying flat on back (this is the beginner position) |
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| Elbows directed towards the ceiling, shoulders off the ground |
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| Feet in air (more advanced) |
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| Elbows directed towards ceiling, maintaining 90 degree angle in knees |
The Workout:
For a week practice these exercises, these can be done at home (as done in these photos). These can be done once in the morning and once at night.
Day 1-3: 3 sets of 10 of each exercise
Day 4: A more intense workout with just these 4 exercises, you will need a stop watch.
30 seconds - as many squats as possible
15 seconds - rest
30 seconds - as many single leg (stay on the same leg) lunges
15 seconds - rest
30 seconds - as many lunges (on the other leg)
15 seconds - rest
30 seconds - as many push ups as possible
15 seconds - rest
30 seconds - as many crunches as possible
1 minute rest
Repeat 2 more times. Record your numbers with each set and try to beat it the next time around. The goal is to push as hard as possible, but rest when you need to in those 30 second "sprints". (This type of exercise is based on the rest-based workouts similar to those created by Metabolic Effect- - more to come on this later)
Let me know how it goes!!
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