Monthly Archives: September 2014

Close Grip Pushup Mountain Climber

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Hello HomeBody Training followers!  It’s time for another Home Exercise of the Week and this time I have an upper body and core combination exercise to show you called the Close Grip Pushup Mountain Climber.

This is a great exercise to work your chest, tricep, shoulder, and abdominal muscles!  Also, since this move incorporates many muscle groups you will be burning more calories making this an effective fat burning exercise as well as a muscle building one.

Let’s take a look at the key points to doing the Close Grip Pushup Mountain Climber properly.

  • get in to the pushup position with your hands closer together than a standard pushup
  • make sure your hands are directly under your chest
  • from this position slowly lower yourself down to about an inch from the floor while keeping your elbows tucked in to your sides.  Don’t let them flare out.
  • push back up to the start position and from here you will drive one knee up underneath you while squeezing your abdominals
  • return the leg to the start position and repeat with the other leg.  That’s one rep.
  • repeat the whole movement starting with the close grip pushup then the mountain climber
  • make sure to keep your hips down and body as straight as you can while doing the pushup and the mountain climber
  • if you have trouble doing a full close grip pushup then perform the pushup from the modified knee position then go up on your toes to do the mountain climber
  • as with all exercises make sure you engage your core throughout the movement

There you have the Close Grip Pushup Mountain Climber!  It will be tough and some of you may dislike this one but it is very effective in strengthening and toning the upper body especially the triceps and the core.

Medicine Ball Side to Side Pushup

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Hey everyone!  It’s time for a new Home Exercise of the Week and this week we are going to work your upper body.  The exercise is called a Medicine Ball Side to Side Pushup and this will primarily work your pectoral muscles.  Assisting in the movement will be your deltoids and triceps, and your core will get a great workout too!

In the video I use a medicine ball which is great to use because the weight of the ball will activate more muscles to push it across but if you don’t have one then you can use a soccer ball, volleyball, or basketball.

The purpose of using a ball in this pushup exercise is to increase stabilization of your body which is what the offset hand position will cause your shoulders, chest, and core to do.  Also, the side the ball is on will work through a longer range of motion, increasing muscle activation.

So let’s take a look at how to do the Medicine Ball Side to Side Pushup properly.

  • get in to your pushup postion with one hand on the ball and one hand on the floor
  • lower your chest to about an inch from the floor then press back up
  • once at the top of the pushup, push the ball across to your other hand and you will now be in position to do the other side
  • repeat the pushup and medicine ball roll until you complete your desired amount of reps
  • if you are a beginner and you have trouble doing the full pushup, you can modify this exercise to do it from your knees.  Just make sure you keep your butt down and body straight.

There you have the Medicine Ball Side to Side Pushup!  This is a great variation to the standard pushup that will challenge your muscles in new ways!

Side Plank Contralateral Knee Tuck

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Hey there!  I have a new Home Exercise of the Week to show you and this core exercise is going to target your obliques as well as work your shoulders isometrically.  It’s called the Side Plank Contralateral Knee Tuck and it is quite challenging so take it slow until you get the hang of it and then work your way up to higher reps.

Let’s take a look at the key points to doing the Side Plank Contralateral Knee Tuck properly.

  • start in a side plank position with your elbow directly under your shoulder
  • offset your foot position by bringing your top leg to the front and your bottom leg to the back
  • raise your hips up until your body is straight and contract your abdominals
  • extend your top arm overhead and from this position drive your bottom knee up underneath you and at the same time bend your top arm so the elbow and knee meet in the middle
  • squeeze your abdominals then return to the starting position
  • repeat for the desired amount of time or reps then do the same for the other side

So there you have the Side Plank Contralateral Knee Tuck.  It’s a tough one but well worth the effort!  If you have any questions please comment on this post or feel free to email me.

Happy planking!