Tag Archives: shoulders

Three Close Grip Pushup Superman

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This week I have a combination exercise for the Home Exercise of the Week.  Combination exercises are great to add an extra challenge to your workout and you can target many muscle groups in one move.  The more muscles being used the more calories you will burn and the higher your metabolism will be.

The combination exercise I would like you to try this week is the Three Close Grip Pushup Superman.  I say three pushups but you can definitely do more or less before the superman.  The idea here is to do enough rounds of this in a set so you get around 10 to 15 total reps of each.

With the Three Close Grip Pushup Superman you will be working your triceps and lower back muscles primarily but you will also be working your chest, shoulders, and upper back muscles.

Let’s take a look at the key points to doing this exercise properly.

  • start by doing the pushups from your knees if you find you can’t go down all the way on the pushup portion of the exercise.  You can build up to doing the pushup from your toes over time.
  • keep your abs tight and body straight the whole time (no bending at the waist)
  • throughout the pushup you will want to keep your elbows tucked in to your sides…this will allow your triceps to do most of the work
  • keep your head in line with your spine throughout
  • during the superman part of the exercise keep your arms straight out in front of you and raise them up as high off the floor as you can while at the same time lifting your straight legs up as high as you can
  • hold the superman for a second or two then go right back to your close grip pushups

So there you have the Three Close Grip Pushup Superman.  Your lower back and arms will thank you for this one but I’m fairly certain you won’t be thanking me once you add this to your routine! 😉

One Arm Plank Shoulder Circles

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It’s time to get your core and shoulders working with this Home Exercise of the Week!  In the video you’ll notice that this exercise has a really long name! (obviously at the time of filming it I couldn’t think of anything better)  So instead I have shortened it to One Arm Plank Shoulder Circles.

I’m going to be honest with you and say this exercise is hard!  That being said there are modifications to make it easier until you get stronger.

The plank part of the exercise is isometric which means the joint angle and muscle length doesn’t change during contraction.  This is really going to work your core!  The shoulder circle part of the exercise works your deltoids and in particular, your posterior deltoid and upper back muscles.

Let’s take a look at the key points to remember when doing One Arm Plank Shoulder Circles.

  • keep your feet wide to stabilize yourself during the movement
  • keep your body straight throughout (no butts sticking up!)
  • pull your belly button in towards your spine to keep your abdominal muscles flexed
  • raise one arm out to the side keeping it in line with your upper body
  • move your arm in small circles at an even, medium pace (this is going to burn!)
  • start by doing forward circles for 10 to 20 seconds or for 15 to 20 repetitions then go backwards for the same amount of time or reps
  • breath deeply and evenly throughout the exercise

As I mentioned earlier, there is a way to make the exercise easier if you are having trouble.  To do this, put your knees on the floor instead of being on your toes.  Keep in mind though that you still need to keep your body straight with this modification so no bending at the waist.

So there you have One Arm Plank Shoulder Circles!  If you have progressed to the point where this exercise is starting to get easy, try holding on to a dumbbell when doing the shoulder circles.  This will step up the intensity and maybe even cause you to utter some profanity while doing it!

Side Tricep Pushup

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If laying down on the floor and building some great looking arms sounds appealing to you then you will love this week’s Home Exercise of the Week.  Of course laying down on the floor only won’t magically give you fantastic arms.  There is some work involved and that work goes by the name of the Side Tricep Pushup!

The Side Tricep Pushup is a wonderful exercise that can be done anywhere with no equipment required.  It can even be done in bed if your mattress is firm enough!

The primary muscles being targeted in this exercise are your triceps but you will be working your shoulders and core as well.  People think you need to build huge biceps to have great looking arms but what gives your arms size and the most shape are your tricep muscles.  They make up two thirds of your upper arm so if you want people to take notice of them, you will want to make sure that you are working your triceps regularly.

Ok so on to the key points to doing the Side Tricep Pushup effectively.

  • lay on your side with your feet stacked on top of eachother
  • place the hand of the arm you are laying on onto your opposite shoulder and tuck the hand of the working arm in to your armpit
  • keep your hand flat on the floor throughout the exercise and push up through the palm of your hand
  • you will want to try and get a full extension of the arm to fully activate your tricep muscles but this may be very difficult if you haven’t done this before.  Press up as high as you can while keeping your hand flat and over time your strength will increase to the point that you will be able to get a full extension
  • when coming back down you will want to stop just before your shoulder rests back down on the floor.  This will keep constant tension on your triceps throughout the movement.

So there you have the Side Tricep Pushup.  This is a great exercise to add in at the end of your upper body or arm workout to really burn them out!  Try doing a couple of sets of as many reps as you can and I guarantee it will be hard to wash your hair the next day!

5 Squat Hold

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This weeks Home Exercise of the Week is a variation of the regular body weight squat.  The 5 Squat Hold is an exercise that I like to add in to my training sessions and boot camps from time to time so people have another reason to curse and swear at me!  I can just picture it now…sweaty people groaning, complaining, and wondering why they ever decided to do this. 😉

All kidding aside, the 5 Squat Hold is effective.  You will be sculpting and strengthening your quads, hamstrings, and glutes.  On top of all that, the hold part of the exercise will increase your muscular endurance.  The benefits far outweigh the temporary pain and discomfort.

With any exercise, strict form is top priority.  Some key points to remember when doing the 5 Squat Hold:

  • Have your feet shoulder width apart with your toes pointed out slightly
  • Squat down like you’re going to sit in a chair keeping your knees in line or behind your toes
  • Stay as upright as possible.  There is a tendency when squatting to lean over too much.  Try to avoid this as doing so can hurt your lower back.  To stay upright, stick your chest out, keep your head looking forward, and arch your back up slightly.
  • Come down until your thighs are parallel to the floor.  If you can’t go down that far at first just do what you can and over time you will be able to go lower
  • As you are coming up out of the squat make sure that you are pushing up through your heels.  If you push up through your toes, a lot of stress will be placed on your knees.  We don’t want that!  Pushing through the heel will put more of the strain on the working muscles

In the video, I said to hold for 5 seconds.  That is a good time to start off with but if you want more of a challenge take each hold to 10 seconds.  1 set of this exercise would be 5 squats with a 5 – 10 second hold for 3 – 4 times through giving you 15 to 20 repetitions of squats total.  To get a shoulder workout at the same time, hold your arms in front of you at shoulder height throughout the exercise and they will be burning too!

So there you have the 5 Squat Hold.  Fire up your legs and let me know how you do!

Wall Sit Shoulder Press

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It’s time for another Home Exercise of the Week!  Get your legs and shoulders fired up with the Wall Sit Shoulder Press.

From the video, it may look simple enough but don’t let that fool you…this will burn!  Grown men have almost cried because of the wall sit, curses have been vocalized through clenched teeth, and sweat has poured down grimaced faces.  I know it sounds horrible and you might be thinking “Craig, why would I ever want to put myself through that?”.

Well the answer to your question is you will gain more strength and endurance in your legs, you will increase strength and mobility in your shoulders, and you will strengthen the deep core muscles of your trunk and your spinal muscles.  All that plus if you’re weird like me, you might even think it’s fun! (Ok I’ll be honest…it’s more fun making people do it than actually doing it!)

The wall sit portion of this exercise is isometric which means you are working your muscles without any movement at the joint.  This is great for building strength and endurance.

Some key points to remember when doing the Wall Sit Shoulder Press:

  • make sure your knees are directly over your ankles
  • slide down the wall until your thighs are parallel to the floor
  • keep your back pressed firmly against the wall
  • press your arms back against the wall as much as you can throughout the movement (you may not be able to maintain contact with the wall throughout the exercise at first but over time your mobility will increase)
  • exhale as your press up and inhale as you lower your arms

So there you have the Wall Sit Shoulder Press.  Start with a couple sets of 12 repetitions or a couple of timed sets of 30 seconds at the end your leg or shoulder workout and feel the burn!