Tag Archives: quadriceps

Lunge Hold Shoulder Fly

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HOME EXERCISE OF THE WEEK

The Lunge Hold Shoulder Fly is a great full body exercise that is going to target your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, core, rear shoulders, and the major upper back muscles including your rhomboids and trapezius muscles. The leg muscles will be worked isometrically while the rear delts and upper back muscles will be worked concentrically and eccentrically. You can give yourself even more of a challenge with this exercise by holding a dumbbell or weighted item in each hand.

Let’s take a look at the key performance points of the Lunge Hold Shoulder Fly.

  • start by stepping one foot forward and one foot back until you have a nice wide stance with your toes pointed forward
  • stand nice and tall and flex your abs to provide stability to your upper body
  • now bend at both knees and lower your body straight down until your legs are at 90 degree angles
  • keep your weight on your front heel as you lower your body and don’t let your front knee move forward past your toes (keep it in line with your front toes or slightly behind)
  • from this lunge position, raise your arms up to shoulder height in front of you
  • hold the lunge and slowly bring your straight arms out to your side while getting a good squeeze in your upper middle back (pretend you are grabbing something with your shoulder blades and back muscles to get a really good contraction)
  • return your arms out to the front and repeat the motion for your desired amount of reps or time while maintaining the lunge position
  • now switch legs and repeat the same amount of reps or time for that side

So there you have the Lunge Hold Shoulder Fly. It’s challenging and your legs and shoulders will be burning but it will be worth it. 

Let me know how you do in the comments below or if you have any questions.

See you next week with another new exercise!

Compass Jump Squat

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Hello! It’s time for a new Home Exercise of the Week and this week I have a great plyometric exercise for you to try called the Compass Jump Squat.

The Compass Jump Squat is going to fire up all the muscles of your lower body including glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, and calf muscles. The jump component will also work your fast-twitch muscle fibers and give you a great cardiovascular workout which means a higher heart rate and more calories burned.

Let’s take a look at the key performance points of the Compass Jump Squat.

  • start by standing tall with your feet shoulder width apart and toes pointed slightly outward
  • squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor while keeping your weight on your heels
  • maintain a straight back and keep your knees in line over your toes (don’t let your knees push forward past your toes)
  • from this squat position jump up as high as you can and turn your body 90 degrees clockwise
  • land from the jump and immediately go back down in to a squat
  • jump and turn another 90 degrees clockwise and repeat the movement until you have come all the way around
  • now repeat the 90 degree jump squats but this time go counterclockwise
  • keep squatting and jumping until you have reached your desired amount of reps or time

So there you have the Compass Jump Squat. You’ll be sweating, you’ll be huffing and puffing, but you’ll be working all those major leg muscles and burning lots of calories in the process!

Let me know how you do in the comments below or if you have any questions.

See you next week with another new exercise!

Split Squat Jump

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Hello there! It’s a new week and that means it’s time for a new Home Exercise of the Week! This time I have a heart pumping plyometric lower body exercise for you to try called the Split Squat Jump.

The Split Squat Jump works your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves, all the stabilizer muscles of the ankles, and those fast-twitch muscle fibers which help with the explosive power of the movement. So there are quite a few muscles involved with this one which means more calories burned and you will also get quite a good cardiovascular workout on top of strengthening the muscles of the legs.

So let’s take a look at the key performance points of the Split Squat Jump.

  • start by stepping one foot forward and one foot back until you have a nice wide stance with your toes pointed forward
  • stand nice and tall and flex your abs to provide stability to your upper body
  • now bend at both knees and lower your body straight down until your legs are at 90 degree angles
  • keep your weight on your front heel as you lower your body and don’t let your front knee move forward past your toes (keep it in line with your front toes or slightly behind)
  • from this lunge position, push through both feet and jump straight up as high as you can while maintaining that forward and back leg position
  • land from the jump and go right back in to the lunge while keeping your body as upright as possible
  • repeat for your desired amount of reps or time and then switch legs and repeat the movement for that side
  • you can make this even more challenging by holding on to weights at your sides

So there you have the Split Squat Jump. It’s challenging, you’ll be huffing and puffing, and you’ll be sweating but it will be worth it as you will be building strength, power, endurance, muscle, and burning lots of calories in the process!

Let me know how you do in the comments below or if you have any questions.

See you next week with another new exercise!

Jumping Jack Squat

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Hey there, it’s time for a new Home Exercise of the Week! This week I have a heart pumping lower body and plyometric exercise for you to try called the Jumping Jack Squat.

The Jumping Jack Squat will work all the muscles of the legs including quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves and the jumping jack part of the exercise will give you a great cardiovascular exercise and will also work the arms and shoulders.

Let’s take a look at the key performance points of the Jumping Jack Squat.

  • start by standing nice and tall with your feet together and your arms at your side
  • lower your body like you are going to sit in a chair while keeping your weight on your heels and your back straight
  • make sure to drive your hips back to prevent your knees from going past your toes
  • once your thighs are parallel to the floor, explode up from the squat position and jump your feet out to the side while raising both arms over your head
  • jump your feet back together while lowering your arms down to your sides and descend back in to a squat
  • repeat the movement for your desired amount of reps or time

So there you have the Jumping Jack Squat. Your heart will be pumping, your legs will be burning, and you’ll be sweating. That probably doesn’t sound very pleasant but it will be worth it! 😉

Let me know how you do in the comments below or if you have any questions.

See you next week with another new exercise!

Reverse Lunge Knee Up Hop

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Hey there, it’s time for a new Home Exercise of the Week! This week I have a lower body exercise that will get your legs burning and your heart pumping called the Reverse Lunge Knee Up Hop.

This is an exercise that will take some practice but it is fun to do and the benefits are great. The Reverse Lunge Knee Up Hop works your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves, all the little stabilizer muscles of the ankle, your abs, and your balance and coordination. The jump also adds a plyometric component to the exercise that will work on your cardiovascular endurance and those fast twitch muscle fibers. As you can see there are a lot of muscles being activated in this move! If you’re just starting out with these and you can’t do the jump just yet then you can do the lunge knee up without the hop and then work your way up to adding the jump in.

Let’s take a look at the key performance points of the Reverse Lunge Knee Up Hop.

  • stand nice and tall with your abs engaged and take a big step back with your left leg
  • from this position, come straight down by bending both knees until each leg is at a 90 degree angle
  • make sure to stay as upright as possible
  • pushing through your right heel, come up out of the lunge and drive your left knee up in front of you while using that momentum to hop your right foot off the floor
  • land from the hop and immediately go back in to the lunge with your left leg
  • repeat for your desired amount of reps and then repeat the movement with your right leg

So there you have the Reverse Lunge Knee Up Hop. Take some time to practice the technique and start without the hop if you need to. Once you get the hang of it you can also hold on to some weights to make it even more challenging!

Let me know how you do in the comments below or if you have any questions.

See you next week with another new exercise!