The spinal drape lifts the hips and lengthens the lower back. Lie on your back in a straight line, balancing the left and right sides of your body. Rest the bolster on the sacrum closer to hips, not on the coccyx. Separate the legs 4-6″. Move upper arms away from side of chest, palms facing up. Exhale and relax into the stretch.
The seated back stretch is essential for every office worker. All you need is a chair so there is no reason not to perform it. The seated back stretch will help relieve tension in your low back and help you feel better. While this is a gentle stretch it is still best to warm up before stretching.
Push ups with the feet elevated increase the resistance on the chest, shoulders, and triceps. Elevating the feet emphasizes the upper chest. If the hands are elevated, more emphasis is placed on the lower chest.
The back drape is a good post-workout exercise to help cool you down. The bolster or rolled up towel provides support for your back to help you relax into the stretch. The purpose of the exercise is to stretch the mid back and chest and lower your body temperature. Lay back, relax and breath deeply.
The dumbbell chest press performed on the ball is significantly more challenging than the barbell bench press. The ball forces you to stabilize your body while pressing the dumbbells. You are also using you glutes and hamstrings to maintain proper position on the ball. This exercise requires you to focus your attention on using proper technique which helps you get more out of the exercise.
The band shoulder adduction is used to strengthen the chest and lats. You can perform this exercise at home or at the gym with an elastic band or cable machine. This exercise is often performed to strengthen the shoulders and to regain mobility after surgery. As you progress on this exercise, select an elastic band with a high degree of tension for more resistance and added difficulty.
The Push Up on a Medicine Ball adds an extra element of speed and precision to the standard push up. It is a great exercise for building explosive power and coordination for the upper body. This exercise would benefit boxers, and other martial artists as well as football players.
The single arm push up is not for the weak. This exercise challenges your chest, shoulders, triceps, core, and mental toughness. The single arm push up is a favorite of athletes in mixed martial arts (MMA) and wrestling. The single arm action loads the abdominals and hip flexors for stabilization.
The Squat Thrust is a whole body exercise that taxes the shoulders, arms, and core muscles. This is a great exercise to improve the anaerobic system. Try performing as many reps as possible in a set duration (e.g., 30 seconds). Team up with a training partner for extra motivation.
The push up test is a way to test chest, shoulder, arm and core strength. To start, balance on your hands and knees with your body straight. The goal is to do as many as you can in one minute. Tests like this are a good way to see how fit you are now. When you do it again in the future it will show you how much progress you have made.
Doing push ups with your feet elevated is more challenging than regular push ups. To perform this you simply put your feet on a step, bench or chair. This engages your deltoids more. As your prop gets taller, the exercise gets more challenging. Eventually you may be able to work up to a handstand push up.
The push up with your hands elevated is a beginner version of the push up. As you get stronger you can move your hands down, closer to the ground. The goal is to eventually do regular push ups on the ground. This is a good exercise for beginners or people that have a hard time getting down to the ground.
The push up is a great upper body and core exercise. It does not require any equipment and it can be done anywhere. The push up is a favorite of many military exercise program. Even if you aren’t in the military the push up is a great exercise for over all fitness and conditioning.
The push up on knees is another way to make the push up a little bit easier for those who aren’t strong enough to do a regular push up. When doing this exercise it is important to keep your body straight and you stomach tight. When the push ups on your knees gets too easy you can advance to regular push ups.
The Long Jump Burpee complex develops explosive power in the legs while providing a challenging anaerobic workout. You may perform this exercise for a set distance or duration. This is a great exercise to perform outdoors, in group classes or with a friend.
The dumbbell supine fly performed on the ball is an advanced exercise requiring a strong core. By weighting the body on one side it forces you to work harder to stabilize the movement. The surface of the ball provides for more range of motion and therefore recruits more muscle to perform the action. If one side of you chest is stronger than the other this exercise can help even out development. Bodybuilders like to use this exercise as a “finishing” movement on their chest day.
Pike walk is a bodyweight exercise that strengthens the upper body and core. The pike walk also stretches the hamstrings and glutes (butt). This is a good exercise for building shoulder stability and coordination. Perform more reps if you want to burn calories.
Pike walk with pushup is a bodyweight exercise that strengthens the upper body and core. The pike walk with pushup also stretches the hamstrings and glutes (butt). This is a good exercise for building shoulder stability and coordination. Perform the pike walk with a push up for more results in less time.
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