3 Progressive Ab Exercises

Today I want to safely guide you through 3 different exercises you can do to strengthen your abs and core before moving on to traditional crunches.

A good example of a level one exercise to master is the "plank." It's a powerful static exercise to engage your entire mid-section and tighten your waistline.

After you master the plank I would move onto an exercise called a "chop." This adds a little bit more of a dynamic movement where you're resisting rotation and as a result strengthening your core.

Once you master both of those you can try a more challenging traditional ab exercise called "reverse crunch" or leg lift.

Although I don't believe you need to do crunches or sit-ups to get great abs you should be more balanced through your core and lower back after mastering the previous 3 exercises and will now be more equipped to safely handle these types of crunching movements.

Don't Just Work Your Abs!

I know you want to work your mid-section to flatten your stomach, but did you know all those ab exercises can be bad for your back?

Every time you do a sit-up or crunch you are flexing your spine and potentially putting your back at risk. This doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t work you abs, but there is a right way to do it to stay safe.

One tip I like to give my clients is to choose an abdominal exercise to complete first and then immediately follow it up with a lower back exercise. That way there you will strengthen both the front and back of your mid-section and create a healthier and stronger core.

In my next post I'll show you 3 ab exercises to work your way up safely from beginner to advanced!

Bridging Workout for Your Glutes

In my last post I explained how to do a static bridge to strengthen your glutes and posterior chain muscles and today I want to give you a few variations on how to do that exercise:

Static Bridging:
• Hold for 30-60 seconds
• Rest for 60 seconds and repeat 1-2 more times

Dynamic Bridging:
• Lift your hips off the floor and then lower them to 1 inch above the floor completing 10-15 “up and down” repetitions
• Rest for 60 seconds and repeat 1-2 more times

Dynamic Ball Bridging:
• You can use the same form and technique as the static or dynamic bridge except you are keeping a stability ball under your shoulders and head while completing the exercise
• Complete either variation on the ball and then rest for 60 seconds and repeat 1-2 more times
• You can keep your arms by your sides, overhead, or folded across your chest

Enjoy the bridging workouts and feel free to add them to any warm-up or use them at the end of a workout when you’re exercising your ab and core muscles!

Exercise of the Week: The Bridge

The exercise called the “bridge” is a great posture to help realign your hips from sitting all day. It’s also fantastic for strengthening your glutes, lower back, and other posterior (back side) muscles. I often use this exercise as part of a dynamic warm-up to “wake up” the glutes and get them firing.

Here’s how to complete the bridge:
1. Lie flat on your back
2. Pull your feet into your hips
3. Lift your hips high off the ground into a full “hip extension”
4. Squeeze your glutes and hold for 30 – 60 seconds

Tips to remember:
1. Keep your feet, shoulders, and head flat on the floor
2. Make sure to keep your feet under your knees and not too far out in front of you
3. Breathe naturally throughout the exercise
4. Concentrate on squeezing your glutes together and lifting up
5. Start by keeping your arms by your sides stretched out straight – eventually you can fold your arms across your chest

This is an example of how to do a “static” bridge where you are not moving up and down. It’s the best way to start to activate your glutes and hip muscles. Once you advance up you can get into more dynamic bridging movements. In my next post, I’ll be back with a bridging workout you can do 1-2x a week!

The Most Effective Workplace Wellness Programs Do This

After studying about 38,000 participants researchers have found that employee wellness programs do work. It was discovered that employees were able to lower their cholesterol, decrease stress, improve absentee days, and increase their fitness levels through these programs.

The trick, through, is making sure they stick.

Here are the 3 most effective ways to make sure the program has the best chance of succeeding:
1. The exercise center must be on the workplace premises
2. The program must have strong company participation
3. Employees must have the ability to exercise during the work day

If your workplace has been thinking about developing a wellness program or looking to revamp an old one, I hope these tips allow you to make it more effective!

Read the full story here

Exercising Keeps Visceral Fat from Returning

After a year long study by exercise physiologists it was found that only those who continued exercising kept visceral fat from returning.

These results were tracked after participants went on a strict diet and lost an average of 24 pounds. They split the study participants into 3 groups of aerobic exercisers, resistance exercisers, and non-exercisers. After seeing great results in weight loss maintenance from the exercising group, the achievements of the non-exercisers were discouraging.

The group that did not exercise after losing the initial 24 pounds averaged a 33% increase in visceral fat within the next year. The point of the story is that exercise + diet is the key to long term success – not dieting alone.

Source: University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Human Studies

Stay Safe by Using Proper Form when Lifting

I was doing some online research when I came across one of the best examples of a popular lifting technique broken down into easy tips that anyone can follow. There is also an image on this webpage clearly depicting proper form in a 3-step fashion when lifting an object from the ground.

This isn't just a skill you need when in the gym… if you plan to keep your back healthy when doing chores around the house or at work, you’ll want to follow these safety tips and bullet points:

• Keep a wide base of support.
• Squat down,
• Maintain good posture
• Lift slowly
• Hold the object close
• Use your feet
• Lead with your hips
• Set it down slowly

The website also gives one of my favorite reminders to "avoid turning or twisting your body while lifting or holding a heavy object." These tips and photos will hopefully serve as a reminder of how to stay safe by using proper form when lifting an object up from the ground!

For the full article visit Central Health

Healthy Exercise Tips (part 3)

It's time to debunk a long held myth…

Healthy exercise tip #3:

If you follow the "no pain, no gain" formula for getting results in the gym I want you to think long and hard about what you're doing to your body. You only get one body to work with and by abusing it during your workouts isn’t going to reward you in the future.

You can get just as good of results if you follow a steady progressive exercise program without causing your joints, muscles, and tendons unneeded stress and inflammation. So the next time you go to push past the point of failure, lose form, and put your body at risk for injury ask yourself “is this going to be good for me in the long run?”

I hope you enjoyed this 3 part mini-series on healthy exercise tips and if you missed part 1 or 2 just click the links below to review them!

Part 1: Progressive Overload
Part 2: Proper Form

Healthy Exercise Tips (part 2)

I’m convinced that the reason my clients and I stay injury free is because we focus so much on every repetition of every set. What I mean is that we make sure that every rep counts and that it’s done with impeccable form. If the form breaks down we stop the set and take a rest.

Healthy exercise tip #2:

Use proper form. If you run or lift incorrectly you can quickly take an activity that is supposed to be good for you and turn it into a potential health risk. Don’t worry yourself into not doing anything at all, but don’t be afraid to ask for help and find the answers you need.

In my last post on healthy exercise tips, I will debunk a long held myth when it comes to getting results. Stay tuned!

Healthy Exercise Tips (part 1)

Yesterday I posted a blog on the unfortunate deaths of 3 marathon runners during the Detroit Marathon.

Since there is no confirmed cause of death, I’m not sure we can really learn anything from this situation to ensure it doesn't happen again.

However, I did want to leave you with 3 tips that you should implement into any weight loss training program to minimize your risks and increase your chances for success. So, over my next 3 posts I will explain each of these practices in depth.

Here's the 1st tip:

Start out slow and progress each week at a steady pace. It's always better to start one level below where you think you are and then just move right to the next stage once you feel ready. I know many people feel that they aren’t moving fast enough towards their goals, but once you remember that you are creating life-long healthy habits you’ll realize that a few extra precautions will only help you in the long run. Plus, the cautious start will allow you to ease into a healthy lifestyle and stay consistent.

In my next post, I’ll take you through my 2nd healthy exercise tip which will keep you safe inside and outside of the gym!