Strengthening Training
Hey y’all,
This week's fitness check-in is all about strengthening and training the bigger muscle groups. One of my favorite fitness instructors (and an international burlesque performer!) Jake Dupree, and his 45-minute video on a full-body workout. I’ve highlighted some of my favorite exercises.
Planks
A plank exercise is the best exercise to strengthen and test your core. A walkout plank exercises strengthen your hips, lower back, and abdomen wall and improves your body balance.
Walk your hands forward, wrist in line with your shoulders. Create a long line from your head to your hips, and hold each step to stretch your calves a bit. This warms up the shoulders and hands nicely. Hold the plank for 15 seconds to really wake up your core. From your plank, walk your hands back to your feet until you are in another forward bend.
Lunges
Lunges target your glutes, quads, hamstrings, and inner thighs and help to strengthen your core, calves, and outer thighs. Alternating lunges can improve balance and agility and increases performance and flexibility.
Stand tall with your feet hip distance apart. Take a large step forward and lower your body toward the floor. Both legs should be bent at a 90-degree angle at the bottom of the lunge. Push off the front leg to rise back up to start, and repeat on the other side.
Bicycles
Elbow-to-knee exercises can help improve cardiovascular health, decrease back and joint stiffness, and strengthen core muscles that help the spine balance weight.
With elbows flared, lift your shoulder blades off the floor and hold the position. This is your starting position. Twist your upper body in one direction bringing the elbow to the opposite knee while fully extending your other leg. Hold and then return back to the starting position to repeat in the opposite direction.
Cheers, Tiana
Movement Snack
Core strengthening exercises are essential for maintaining good posture and overall body stability during movement. The core muscles, which include the transversus abdominis and the rectus abdominis, play a vital role in supporting the spine and pelvis while assisting in the maintenance of proper alignment of the body. Watch our new video HERE!
