Butt: Work on Your Glutes with a Bosu Ball

Deadlifts are great because they really work your glutes if they are done right. Many a day have a been in pain from deadlifting the day before. But I digress...

There are ways to build your balance, build core strength, and work on isolating your glute muscles at the same time. On of these ways is to do a one-legged deadlift on a bosu ball. It challenges your focus a lot. Note that it may be important to start with lighter weights and build up as your body gets used to the exercise. Why? Because it is tough to balance on one leg on an unstable surface, with a heavy dumbbell pulling you down.

Not sure what the heck I'm talking about? Watch the video below for more details.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

One-Legged Deadlifts

It is important to push your body to get the maximum impact. So here I am doing some deadlifts on one leg. This really tests your balance, as well as the other parts of your legs and glutes that deadlifts work as well. Try it out. I used only one arm and did lighter weights to really focus on balancing before I gradually increase. How about 4 sets of 12 reps?

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Leg Work: Single Leg Deadlifts

Compound exercises that work a variety of muscles are great, especially for runners as we need a strong core and strong legs. The single leg deadlift works your core as it forces you to balance, but it also works your legs and your glutes with the weight that you are lifting. Check out the video below for how to do this exercise.

Try this with light weights first and progress. As you do this exercise, lift your leg slowly. A lot of people make the mistake of speeding through, which may not put as much emphasis on the muscle they want to attack. So go slow. It hurts a little more, but you can do it :)

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Leg Day Routine

It's leg day! Here is a great routine you can do with minimum equipment. You just need dumbbells for the stiff-legged deadlifts. 

• Standing kickout (15 each leg) 
• Donkey kick (15 each leg) 
• Stiff-legged deadlifts (15) 
• Elevated lunges (15 each leg) 

Do 4 rounds! This should burn. If you have ankle weights, use them for the first 2 exercises.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

April Booty Challenge Day 9!

Let's really target and kill the glute muscles today. There are 4 exercises in this video: 

• Deadlift variation 1 (standing)
• Side hip lift 
• Wall sit 
• Deadlift variation 2 (bending knees)

Do each for 1 minute, break for 1 minute, and repeat 4 times. With the side hip lifts, make sure you are twisting your whole body to the side and straightening your leg. You'd be shocked at how much this works your glutes. 

With the deadlifts, looking forward helps to make sure you are using your lower not your upper body.  But don't raise your head and strain your neck. Just use your eyes. Another alternative is to look down to the part of the floor in front of you (not your legs!).

Cheers Eights & Weights!

It's Leg Day! And We're All About Our Deadlifts :)

I try to incorporate many different kinds of deadlifts in my workouts, but the two in the video below are the ones I spend a lot of time on. Why? The first one really torches your ab and glutes, while the other one really torches your glutes. Try them today. Do about 3 sets of 15 reps of each, and do not skimp on the weights you use.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Dumbbell February: Deadlifts

Well, we've begun Dumbbell February! Let's talk about the deadlift because it is one of my favorite weighted exercises :) Deadlifts help to tone your butt (and depending on the type you choose, your abs and thighs as well).

Abductor and Adductor Exercises

Sometimes you learn things the hard way. But we don’t want you to! So this is why I thought it was really important to get you prepared to protect your body against injury as you work out. Lately, we have been talking about a lot of power and plyometric exercises, running, Insanity, that sort of thing. And I had said how some of these types of exercises can be hard on your joints, especially your knees and ankles.

We put a lot of pressure on our joints as we exercise. And ironically, our joints have no muscles of their own. Thus, in order to protect them, we have to work on strengthening the muscles around the joint so that the impact of our exercises would be captured by those muscles rather than the joints.

A classic example is our knees. The knee seems to be one of the most bruised and battered joints in the body. When we jump around, they feel the pressure. When we do squats and the kind, they feel the pressure. When we run, they feel the pressure. And yet, the knees are very sensitive. So what can you do to protect them? Work one of the largest muscle groups that help support the knees – the abductors and adductors.

Abductors
The abductor muscles in your legs are the upper thigh muscles used to pull the legs away from the midline of the body and away from one another. So remember those machines at the gym where you sit and open your knees with weights? That’s what they are meant to work on. If you don’t have strong abductors, you transfer the pressure to your knees and ankles when you perform exercises that require you open and close your knees. One great example of an exercise that may require opening your knees? The jumping jack.

If you do the jumping jack and find yourself twisting your knees inward rather than outward, and if you are not landing softly on your knees (slightly bending when you land), you may need to work harder to strengthen your abductors.

How do you do that? Besides the machines, here are a couple of exercises to help:

Bridge: Lie flat on your back with your feet on the floor and your knees bent and open slightly. Keep your arms straight beside you with your palms down. Slowly lift your butt off the floor using your outer thigh strength. Be careful that your knees do not start to open up or fall slowly to the side. Stay up for about 3 seconds and lower down. That is one rep. Repeat as many times as you can.

Hip abduction: Stand tall with your palms on your waist. Transfer your weight to your left leg, bend the left knee slightly, and raise your right foot off the floor. Slowly, extend your right leg to the right side of your body using your outer hip. It is not as easy as it seems. Keep your weight in your left thigh, while keeping your left knee loose and keeping your right leg lifted. Bring your right knee back toward the left without having it touch the floor. That is 1 rep. Repeat as many times as you can, and then switch sides.

Alternatively, you could do this exercise lying on one side propped up on your elbow, or standing and holding a chair.

 

Adductors
If the abductor muscles are used to pull the legs away from the midline of the body and apart, then who can guess what the adductors do? They are used to pull the legs towards the midline of the body. So remember the inner thigh machines you see? These are the muscles that are being worked on. Runners are usually very affected when they have poor adductors because the knees are beginning to poke to the sides when they run. This can cause major damage.

If you find yourself struggling to keep your knees together in certain poses, meaning they kind of slump if you’re not actively managing the pose, then you may need to work on your adductors.

Here are a couple of exercises you can try:

Squat: You all know how to do a perfect squat by now, right? Stand with legs shoulder-width or wider apart. Lower your butt into a squatting position while keeping your upper body upright. Your but should be as low as possible, while you still try to keep your knees behind your ankles. Pushing your knees in front of your ankles might help you get lower, but it might also hurt your knees. As you go low, tighten your butt and try to imagine your hips squeezing tight towards each other. Stand and repeat.

To work these muscles better, try single-leg squats or wall sits. This works the adductors harder because it adds the balance factor.

Deadlift: Stand with feet slightly apart. Lower your upper body slowly down as if you’re reaching for your toes. Keep the knees slightly bent (just slightly). As you get closer to your toes, you’d notice you start feeling it in your lower back. Slowly come back up and repeat. Try to also squeeze the thigh muscles as you lower down and come up.  You can do this exercise with or without weights, but weights definitely work the adductor muscles much harder.
 

 

To make this work harder for you, lift one leg backwards as you go down.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Photo credit: Sportsmedicine.about.com, Womenshealthmag.com, Fitbie.msn.com, healthyliving.azcentral.com

Stiff-Legged Deadlifts

The deadlift is also one of my favorite exercises (I know I say that every day), if you do it right. I found a video of someone I think has great form. Note that while she is using a barbell, you can use one or two dumbbells instead. This works your lower back and your butt. Enjoy.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Getting Bored? New Exercises to Keep your Juices Flowing – For Women

I did promise that this week would be for the females. And so this week, we’ll go over some new modifications to old routines for women. As I said last week, if you realize that you have been doing the same things for about a month, then it’s about that time to put something new in.

If you tried any of the exercises from last week, I’d really love your feedback.

Plank Jack

This exercise incorporates the plank and the jumping jack, working on your arms, core, and legs. By now, we should all know how to do the two types of planks, either on your elbows or on your palms. Now, for the plank jack, start in the plank on your palms (also called the upper pushup position). Make sure your body is in a straight line, and your hips are not sagging towards the floor. Then start the motion of opening and closing your feet, like you would do in a jumping jack. Make sure you make the motion fast, and put some power into it so you actually feel your heart rate come up.

Jump Lunge
  

You do the lunge regularly? Awesome! Now, let’s incorporate some cardio into that lunge, so that you’re not only working your glutes and inner thighs, but you’re also working your whole body as you push off the floor. Stand with your feet about hip-width apart and your arms hanging by your sides. Step forward with your right leg and lower your body until your right knee is bent at least 90 degrees and your left knee nearly touches the floor. Jump and switch the position of your legs, bringing your right leg back and your left leg forward. Continue switching from one leg to another. Be sure not to lift up like you would do with a regular lunge. Rather, jump up as you switch legs. You should definitely feel like you’re getting some cardio in.

Straight-leg Deadlift
 

This exercise really works your glutes. But in addition to that, it helps build your core and develop your balance. Start in a standing position. Lift your right leg in a straight line behind you as you lower your torso and arms, bringing your body (from torso to raised leg) into a straight line. Bring the leg and torso back to the center so you are in a standing position, but do not let the leg touch the floor. Lift the leg back again and repeat. When you are done with one side, switch legs. To make it even more difficult, hold one dumbbell in each hand and lift your arms forward as you lift your leg.

Six Inch and Hold
 

You’re used to sit-ups to work on your abs? Try adding in some hip lifts to target your core. Lie flat on the floor with your hands by your sides. Place your palms on the floor right under your butt for support. Make sure your palms are facing the floor. Keeping your legs straight, lift them up until they are about 6 inches off the floor. Keep your legs raised this way for as long as you can. Relax and repeat.

Side kick squat combo

If you’ve ever tried kickboxing or seen anyone do martial arts, you know the side kick. Make it more difficult by incorporating a squat between kicks. Start in the standing position with your arms beside you. Balance your weight on your right leg, and kick to the side with your left leg. The kick should be as high as your leg can go. Make sure your abs are tight, and your back is straight. As you bring the leg down, widen your stance and lower into a squat. Lift back into standing position, and repeat with the other leg.

It is not easy to change up your workout regularly because we all get really comfortable. But in order to tone up your muscles and reach your goals for your body this year, you need to go outside your comfort zone. You can do it ladies!

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Getting the Perfect Booty

Well, it’s the holiday season, and most of us will probably end the season with butts two times the size of a basketball without the shape. I’m just being honest since I anticipate all the food my eyes shall see this season. So rather than lie on your back and let your booty turn to mesh, what exercises can you consistently do or consistently avoid over the holidays to keep your bum in tip-top shape?

• Stop watching infomercials. That guy didn’t really get his butt that tight by using a butt-blaster (or whatever it is called) machine. Focus on tried-and-true exercises.
• One such exercise is the squat. You simply cannot go wrong with the squat, as long as you do it right. As you go low, make sure your knees are not going past your toes. So if you look down in the squatting position, you should be able to see your toes. Why is this important? Many people bend forward when they squat putting pressure on their knees, when they should be lowering their butts. Here is a picture of what a squat really should look like.

• A couple of weeks ago, I posted a video of how to do a lunge. The lunge is one of the best lower body exercises. Also make sure you knees are not going beyond your toes, and make sure you are keeping your upper body straight when you do the lunge. Here is the video as a reminder of what the lunge should look like.

• The dumbbell dead-lift is another great exercise for your butt. Start in a standing position holding the dumbbells in front of your hips. Lower down (from your hips!!) with your back flat and your legs straight. Lift back again the same way your came down. You should feel it in your butt as you go down and come up. You want to work your butt, not your back, so it is important to keep your back flat. Here is a great picture of what it should look like.

• One you may see all the time, but may not actually do, is the hip extension. This really really works on your butt so there’s no way you wouldn’t feel it after your workout if you’re doing it right. Come on to your elbows are knees. Lift one knee up and behind you, and then bring it back to the starting position without letting it touch the floor. Two very important things to remember when doing the hip extension – Your back should remain flat or you won’t be working the right muscles; and you should be lifting from your knee, not your foot. Here is what a hip extension should look like.

I hope these help to burn those derrieres into shape this Christmas! But remember, as I always say, strength training does not work on its own. You have to pair it with cardio exercises to lose the layer of fat while you sculpt your body. And of course, food holds equal importance. Try to balance what you eat this time of the year so you don’t negate your exercise program.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Photo credit: Women'sHealthMag.com and FitnessGuruSam.com, AllWomenstalk.com