Tag Archives: plyometric

In and Out Squat Jump

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The holidays are fast approaching so get a jump start (no pun intended) and burn some calories with this plyometric Home Exercise of the Week!

The In and Out Squat Jump…talk about a leg burn!  You’ll be sweating, your heart will be pumping, and your legs will be on fire with this one.  Sounds fun doesn’t it? 🙂

Aside from all the uncomfortable side effects of this exercise you will really build some explosive strength and endurance since the In and Out Squat Jump is a plyometric exercise.  When your feet are together you will be working your outer thighs and when your feet are wide you’ll be working your inner thighs.  Your glutes and hamstrings will also be working hard too.  So overall this is a great exercise to add in to your leg or full body routine and the cardiovascular aspect to it will really rev up your metabolism and burn calories…much needed before the surplus of calories that usually come with the holidays!

Let’s take a look at the key points to doing the In and Out Squat Jump properly.

  • whether your feet are close together or apart, when you come down in to the squat make sure that your head and chest is up, back is straight, and your weight is on your heels.  Always make sure your knees are over your toes and not shooting out past them.
  • start with your feet together and explode up in to the air spreading your feet apart and landing softly in the wide stance
  • explode up again but this time bring your feet together and land softly in the close stance
  • with each squat try to get your thighs below or at least parallel to the floor

So there you have the In and Out Squat Jump.  A 12 to 15 repetition set is a good starting point and if you want an extra challenge hold on to some dumbbells!

Keep working hard and don’t forget to treat yourself over the holidays.  That being said, stay active and it will be that much easier to get right back on to your routine in the new year! 🙂

Jump Lunge Hold

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Hello everyone!  It’s time again for the Home Exercise of the Week.  I have a killer thigh burning and sweat inducing exercise for you today!  It’s called the Jump Lunge Hold and if the jumping part doesn’t cause you to shout profanities then the hold will. 😉

The Jump Lunge Hold is going to strengthen and build your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves.  The hold is going to build muscular endurance and the jumping adds a plyometric aspect to the exercise increasing your explosive power and heart rate.  So overall this is a great leg exercise to add in to your routine and can be done anywhere with or without weights.

How to do this leg burner effectively:

  • keep your body upright with your chest out and back straight throughout
  • lunge down until both legs are at 90 degree angles
  • jump up pushing through the heel of your front foot
  • switch legs in the air and try to land softly keeping your weight distributed between your front foot and back toes
  • hold the lunge position for 3 to 5 seconds before switching legs

So that’s it for the Jump Lunge Hold.  Give it a try and I guarantee that it will strengthen and burn your thighs and butt!  If you are in one of my boot camps or a one on one client then you have this exercise to look forward to in your next session!  Happy lunge jumping. 🙂

 

Helicopter

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The Home Exercise of the Week this week is the Helicopter.  I could have called it a squat jump with a 180 degree turn but that’s pretty boring!  This is a plyometric exercise that will target your quads, hamstrings, and glutes while building explosive power and improving agility and coordination.

Also, since this is a plyometric movement that requires many muscle groups to work together, your cardiovascular system will be working hard and your body will require a lot more oxygen.

Is this a challenging exercise?  A big YES to that question!  The movement itself is fairly straight forward but the challenge comes with the jumping and turning part of the exercise.  Your heart pumps faster and harder and your breathing rate increases quite a bit to get that much needed oxygen to your muscles.  But…the rewards to doing this exercise and many others like it far outweigh the uncomfortable feeling while doing it.  You will burn more calories with this exercise than just a regular squat and if your goal is fat loss then definitely try adding this to your routine!

Burpee

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This weeks exercise is a Burpee!  It is a very popular exercise used in group fitness classes and boot camps but I would say it’s not a very popular exercise for the people doing it!  The reason being is it is a challenging exercise that will test your strength and cardiovascular endurance.  Any full body movement that involves jumping gets the heart rate up high because all those working muscles are trying to get oxygen and your blood brings that oxygen to them.  More muscles used = increased cardiac output and increased oxygen uptake.

The Burpee shown in this video is a modified basic version and the burpee at the end is a regular basic version.  As I mentioned before, it is a full body movement working the muscles in your upper and lower body as well as strengthening your core, improving coordination and building cardiovascular endurance.  There are many variations to this exercise and I will be showing more versions in the future because I know how everyone just loves Burpees! 🙂