If your push ups are too easy you can perform them with your feet on a ball. By raising your feet you add more resistance to the upper chest muscles, much like the incline bench press. The swiss ball also adds the extra challenge of maintaining your balance while performing the exercise. The instability challenges your core and activates the abdominals, low back and obliques.
The push up is a great upper-body exercise. When performed often, it develops strength and endurance in the chest, shoulders, and triceps. Performing push-ups with a resistance band increases the difficulty of the exercise. If you’ve been leaving the push-up out of your upper-body workout because it’s too easy, add the resistance band and you’ll be surprised at the results. The exercise is fun to perform and feels good on the upper-body muscles. Best of all you can do push-ups anywhere.
The push-up performed with your feet elevated and using a resistance band for added difficulty will strengthen your chest, shoulder, and triceps. You can perform this exercise at home or at the gym. To increase the difficulty select a resistance band that is less elastic and provides more tension. Keep your core tight and back straight as you raise and lower yourself.
The barbell complex is a “hybrid” exercise combining the hang clean, back squat and shoulder press. There are many variation of this exercise, but most often it is performed with an Olympic lift, squat, push and pull. It’s very demanding on your short-term energy systems and is effective for conditioning for sports. You can use a PVC pipe, wood dowel or empty barbell to begin. Once you feel comfortable with the movements you can slowly add weight.
The barbell forward lunge strengthens the glutes and thighs. You can take a shorter step forward if you are just learning to perform lunges. Once you have performed a few sets you can increase your stride length to activate the hamstrings and glutes. Dumbbells may be used in place of a barbell if you have difficulty balancing the bar on your back. The barbell forward lunge can be included in your lower-body workout or circuit training routine.
The barbell squat is the “king” of lower body exercises because it involves most of the muscular system. The barbell squat exercise strengthens the quadriceps glutes, hamstrings, calves, and the lower back. By performing this exercise with limited range-of-motion you are capable of lifting more weight. This might be important to a powerlifter looking to perform “partials” for added strength. Set the safety pins to the low squat position.
The “regular” or parallel squat is a great exercise for lower-body strength. Parallel is defined as where the tops of the thighs reach parallel to the floor. Set the safety pins in the squat rack to receive the bar if you are unable to rack the weight. The parallel squat develops the quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, calves and low back. The parallel squat can be used to develop strength, definition and muscle size in the legs.
The barbell reverse lunge is a more dynamic movement than the stationary lunge. It places a higher demand on the inner thigh muscles than the stationary lunge. The barbell reverse lunge can be performed at home or at the gym. If a barbell is not available dumbbells can be used. Keep your torso upright and maintain a tight core. Reverse lunges are a great way to add variety to your workout routine. After mastering the stationary and forward lunge progress to the reverse lunge.
The barbell step up strengthens the hip extensors (glutes, hamstrings, hip adductors), and knee extensors (quadriceps). These muscles are called upon daily in our everyday lives and are critical for performance in sport and recreation. The barbell step up is a great exercise and can be used to build strength, definition and size. Varying the height of the step is a great way to challenge your muscles to adapt. Select a step height that creates a 90 degree angle on the lead leg.
The lunge is a great bodyweight exercise for the lower body. Adding dumbbells is a great way to challenge the leg muscles to grow stronger. Bodyweight lunges can be used as a conditioning exercise by performing a high number of repetitions and keeping the rest between sets to a minimum. Use lighter dumbbells for strength-endurance and heavier dumbbells to develop strength-size.
Body weight squats to below parallel are the foundation of any good training program. Body weight squats develop strength in the glutes, hamstrings, hip adductors, quadriceps and spinal extensors. This exercise transfers well to the real world and can be adapted to meet the needs of almost anyone.
The box shuffle drill is used for speed, agility and conditioning. Athletes in sports such as, soccer, ice hockey, and lacrosse use this drill as part of their dynamic warm-ups. The box shuffle should be performed at full speed and with little rest between sets. This will challenge the anaerobic system and improve conditioning. Perform the box shuffle in an open field, free of debris and pot-holes.
The cross arm ball crunch is a good exercise for beginners. It is an easy exercise to learn yet it is an effective way to strengthen your abs. More advanced exercisers can use this exercise as a finishing exercise for their ab routine. When performing this exercise try to curl your body into a ball, don’t just sit up.
The stationary or static barbell lunge is a great beginner exercise for developing strong, legs and glutes. The static barbell lunge can be performed at home or in the gym with limited space and equipment. It’s recommended that the static lunge be performed after a strong strength base has been built with squats or leg presses. The static barbell lunge is ideal for anyone looking to get a great lower-body workout.
The half wall slide performed with dumbbells is a great way to develop strength in the legs and glutes. The half wall slide emphasizes the quadriceps. It can be performed as part of a lower-body workout or to improve performance for sport. A sturdy wall and pair of dumbbells is all that is required.
The leg curl exercise is an isolation movement for the hamstrings. If the hamstrings are not strengthened along with the quadriceps (front of the thigh) imbalances may result and lead to injuries. It is recommended that the hamstrings are strengthened and stretched as part of a comprehensive lower-body workout routine. The hamstrings add shape to the thighs and butt.
Leg extensions are an isolation exercise for the quadriceps (front of the thigh). Its easy to achieve a peak-contraction on the leg extension due to the pre-stretch at the beginning of the movement. Pause at the top for a brief second to squeeze the thighs. The leg extension is used with compound exercises such as squats and presses to shape, build and define the legs.
The Lunge with FSSH Squat Harness is a dynamic and functional lower body exercise. The lunge helps increase strength in the legs, hips and buttocks. Performing lunges with the FSSH Squat Harness will help improve balance and body awareness.
Fitness Academy Europe is the European leader in fitness education. We deliver inclusive and insightful courses that emphasize practical training.
