Tag Archives: strength

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. 🙂

 

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! 😉

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!

Reverse Lunge Leg Kick

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The Home Exercise of the Week this week is the Reverse Lunge Leg Kick.  If you ever have one of those personal trainers that are always pushing you to do more when you don’t want to, then this exercise could come in handy! 😉

Like a regular reverse lunge, the Reverse Lunge Leg Kick works your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves.  Adding the leg kick however, will increase the difficulty and will greatly improve balance, coordination, and core strength.

Some key points to remember when doing the Reverse Lunge Leg Kick:

  • Step backwards with one leg and lunge down until both legs are at 90 degree angles
  • Keep your back upright and straight throughout the movement
  • When stepping out of the lunge, push up through your front heel
  • When raising your knee up to do the kick, make sure to really squeeze your ab muscles (make sure your trainer is close enough in front of you as well if he/she is annoying you!)
  • give a nice forceful kick and bring the same leg back in to the lunge and repeat
  • do 10 to 12 reps for one leg then repeat on the other leg

So there you have the Reverse Lunge Leg Kick!  This is a great variation to the regular lunge and also good practice if you ever want to be a kung fu master!