ELIMINATING EXCUSES | fitness

Alright folks, we are hitting the lower back today. Remember to stretch prior to exercising. If you need help with a lower back stretch, please see my posting for March 29, 2007. Let’s do some back extensions today. This exercise is great for strengthening the lower back. Lay on the floor with your stomach facing downward. Flex the muscles of your lower back bringing your arms and legs off the floor at the same time (it’s almost as if you were doing the reverse of an ab crunch). Take your time with these. I like to pause a bit after flexing the muscles of my lower back to add more emphasis to the exercise. See if that works for you. This exercise is simple; yet effective. DO SOMETHIN’!

I hope that you all have been stretching prior to any exercise. To help in these efforts, I will begin to include stretches in our exercise regimen. Here’s our first stretch and it’s for the lower back. Start by sitting (knees bent) on your shins with the insteps of your feet facing downward. Lower you torso toward the ground and stretch your arms forward. Come forward to your knees by using your abdominal muscles as if your were doing a crunch. As you move to your knees, put a hump in your back. You should feel the stretch in the muscles of your lower back. Now move back to starting position. With this stretch, you can also work the abs by putting emphasis on the crunch as you move forward to you knees. Alright now, DO SOMETHIN’!

Alright fitness people, time to hit it again! Let’s hit those shoulders. Here’s a good exercise for toning and strengthening the shoulders: shoulder press. You need some weight for this exercise. If you’re like me and you still have not invested in dumbells, find convenient objects near your. I prefer to sit down for this one so that I minimize stress on my lower back. Also, if I stand, I might be tempted to use my legs to help get the weight up when I am tired. Now, pick up your weight and hold it at your side above your head. Each arm should be bent at the elbow so that it forms a right angle. Press the weight up till you are slightly shy of locking out the elbow. Locking out joints puts extra stress on your joints and you risk an injury; be careful. On the way down, guide the weight so that your shoulders continue to do the work. Don’t just let gravity take the weight down. Got that? Now, DO SOMETHIN’!

Let’s work those abs. Here’s another great exercise for working both the upper and lower abs: bicycle crunches. Ready? Assume crunch position. Bring your right elbow to your left knee. I say elbow but imagine that you are bringing your right shoulder and left knee together; that’s the motion we are going for here. Now work your other side: bring your left elbow (think left shoulder) and right knee together. Remember to bring your knee toward your elbow/shoulder. If you don’t, you won’t work the lower abs. Don’t speed through these. Take your time and feel the crunch. Feels good, right? Ok . . . DO SOMETHIN’!

I had a request for more quadricep exercises, so I’ll go ahead and start the week with a quadricep exercise. This exercise is called a wall sit. As the name indicates, you lean against the wall as if you were sitting in a chair. Bend your legs so that they form a 90 degree angle. That’s it! Simple to do but very effective since this exercise keeps the muscles under constant tension. See how long you can hold this position. If you have any pain or discomfort from bending your knees, I recommend that you don’t do this exercise. Now, your excuse = eliminated . . . DO SOMETHIN’!!!

PEC TIME! Alright, let’s hit the chest muscles today. This exercise is great for tone, definition and strength. Most of you are familiar with push-ups. We’re going to do knuckle push-ups (which were introduced to me by Shihan Roger Young: www.torakan.net). I love knuckle push-ups because you increase the range of motion vs. the standard push-up which allows you to work your pectorals more than with a regular push-up. Also, knuckle push-ups strengthen your forearms so that your wrists are less likely to buckle when you deliver a punch. Now, make solid fists, assume push-up position and balance your weight on your first two knuckles. I recommend that you do this exercise on a softer surface or place a towel between your knuckles and the ground. I like to cross my right foot over my left; this does not significantly impact the exercise. As you go down, try to make your nose come as close to the floor as possible (if you have shoulder pain or any discomfort, you may want to discontinue the the exercise). Now, DO SOMETHIN’!

Alright folks, let’s hit the legs. Here is a quadricep exercise that is good for toning and strengthening: jumping squats. Start with your legs about shoulder width apart and squat until your legs form about a 120 degree angle. If squatting this deep doesn’t work for you, squat to a comfortable point. If you feel any pain or discomfort in your back (or anywhere else), I recommend that you don’t do this exercise. Look up as you squat to prevent yourself from falling foward and make sure that your weight is centered over the heels of your feet. I like to keep my hands up as if I had a barbell across my shoulders. As you come up from the squat, jump up. You don’t have to jump your highest but enough to get your feet off the ground. So, use good form and make those quads burn. Got it? DO SOMETHIN’!

Let’s hit the shoulders today! This time we are going to work the sides of our deltoids with this exercise. I prefer to do this exercise sitting so that I focus on only my shoulders doing the work. When standing, I might be tempted to use my legs to help swing the weights up when I get tired. Also, sitting helps those who may have a history of lower back pain (like me). So, get your chair and get your weights. Hold your weights in each hand with your arms extended along the side of your body. Raise yours your arm outward until your arms are parallel to the floor. Control the weights on the way down so that your shoulders continue to do the work; don’t rely on gravity. Now, your excuse to not exercise is gone. DO SOMETHIN’!

Here’s a tricep exercise that good for tone and definition. You’ll need a weight for this one. If you like working out from home and you have not invested in some dumbells, you might want to consider getting some. But, finding objects to use around your place will suffice in the mean time. Lean over a chair (or on the floor) supporting your body weight on one arm and both legs while holding your weight at your side. Extend your arm back in a smooth, controlled motion. Focus on keeping your arm steady so that the tricep is doing all the work to move the weight. Remember to work both your left and your right arm. Ok? MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Alright folks, while we work on that “8″ pack, we can’t ignore the obliques. Here’s an exercise that will help give your obliques more definition and tone. Let’s start from a standing position and work one side at a time. To work your obliques on the right side, balance your weight on your left leg by slightly bending your left knee. Then tilt your head and torso to the right and bring your right leg up towards your right side. You should feel this in your obliques while you improve your balance (an added benefit of this exercise). Work both the left and right side. Got it? So, you have no excuse to not exercise now. DO SOMETHIN’!