Coupling Up: Work out with your Partner

Do you work out with your partner? Or do you want to work out with your partner and are not sure how? The benefit of working out with another person is that you tend to push yourself harder than you usually would, and you can get your body in positions that you may not normally be able to because you have someone to hold or push you.

Or maybe you’ve been looking for a way to get that man or girl of yours to the gym. Well, Eights & Weights is here with some ideas for partner workouts that you could always suggest. Bat those eyelashes, say you need this and cannot possibly do them without him/her, and pat yourself on the back as you help them also melt some of their fat away. It’s pretty much genius, isn’t it? Well, unless he/she doesn’t step back in after the first workout. Then, I’m not sure I can help you…

Wall squat (For your butt, thighs, and core) 

Do a wall squat with the other person as the wall with your backs to each other. Hold for 1 minute. Make it more competitive by squatting lower and lower and seeing who can go the lowest with your knees still behind your toes and your backs still touching each other. Consolation prize for the loser? A butt to butt workout. Need I say more?

Partner push-up (For your chest, arms, and core)

Face each other in an upper push-up position with about an arm length of space between you. Both lower into a push-up, and then come up. When you come up, both use your right hands to give each other a fist bump, and then lower back down. Obviously, you have to both move at the same pace or someone would be left hanging with his/her fist bumps. And we wouldn’t want that.

Floor chest press (For your chest and arms)

You’ll need dumbbells for this one. Lie with your back on the mat and your feet facing your partner’s feet. Both lift your feet off the mat and bend your legs until your knees are at a 90 degree angle. Now, rest your feet on your partner’s feet like it is a wall, so you both form like a rectangular shape with the floor. Lift your 2 dumbbells (at least 5 pounds) straight up over the chest with one in each hand, palms facing out. Bend the elbows and lower the arms down all the way to the floor and then raise again. The image above does not exactly describe the move, but it is close enough.

Medicine ball sit-ups (For your core and arms)

You’ll need a medicine ball. You should both lie with your backs on the mat and your feet on the floor. Your toes should be touching your partner’s toes. Hold the ball to your chest with both hands and come up into a sit-up position. Your partner does not have a ball at this time, but he/she comes up into a sit-up as well. As you are both up, throw the ball to your partner. He/she catches does a full sit-up, and then throws the ball back to you. Do as many as you can, with at least 20 reps.

Moving lunges (For your core, thighs, and butt)

Stand facing your partner with about a leg-long space separating you. Both move into a lunge with opposite legs (if you do right, the other person does left). Step back and do it with the opposite leg. Then take one step left (your partner takes one step right), and repeat. Keep going until you’ve taken 10 steps in one direction, and then switch and take 10 steps in the other direction. Again, the image above does not exactly describe the move, but it is close enough.

Don't forget to use the opportunity to *ahem* do some "feel up on me" stretching :)

Of course, if all else fails, you could bring your boxing gloves home and make your partner hold the pad so you can punch away. Just say you need to get your aggression out one way or another.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Photo credit: crossfitfw.com, sandiegokaiafit.com, sparkpeople.com, lvrj.com

Exercise and the Importance of Proper Form

Sometimes, it seems like fitness professionals are always yelling about keeping your core tight, your shoulders down, and your knees behind your toes when you do exercises. It's not just because we like yelling (I know you thoroughly doubt this statement but just go with it), but because your posture is very very very important to your exercise routine.

Why? Because posture could be the difference between hurting yourself or not getting the most out of your exercise, and staying fit. What are the most common form flaws?

Shoulders up: When we run, do yoga, or do other exercises that require an upright position, many people tend to spend their energy unconsciously lifting their shoulder to their ears. If could be because most of us are now used to slouching over computers or because we feel it reduces pressure on other muscles, but it really makes us use less of our energy in the right place because we are busy using it in the wrong place. Think about it. The next time you exercise, just roll your shoulders back and out and your chest out, and feel the difference. We don't even realize we are doing it.

Core tight: To keep your body upright, you need great core muscles. A lot of men do exercises with a slouch, and a lot of women do exercises with our butts out, both putting pressure on the lower back. To maximize your output, always keep your core tight. It helps build those great abs too!

Knees in front of toes: Now, it is important to be really really careful about this one.A lot of folks bounce up and down in their squat without paying attention to where their knees are. If your knees go beyond your toes, you are putting a lot of pressure on those knees, and not working your bum enough. And that's supposed to be the point, right?

Landing hard on the heels: When you run or do plyomteric exercises that require a lot of jumping, it is easy to just let your feet fall on the ground with each step. But it is important to make sure you land on the balls of your feet, and not on the heels or the sides. Landing badly can hurt your ankles in the long run. In the short term, it reduces the impact to the right places (like your legs), and puts all the impact on the places you don't really want to be working hard (like your ankles and knees). Additionally, about a third of runners get hurt at least once in their lives, so it is important to be careful so you don't become one of that third.

Overstretching the knee: Have you heard your yoga instructor say "Don't lock in your knees"? What they mean is that you should always keep an internal softness around your joints. Don't jerk into positions because rather than give your muscles a workout, you are giving your joints a workout. Muscles need that contraction and relaxation motion to get the maximum effect, but it you are over-jerking, you are not allowing them get that motion, and you could potentially hurt your joints.

There are many other form mistakes people make, but these are the biggest ones I've seen. Stay safe folks! If you aren't doing it right, you're probably not getting the most out of it.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Photo credit: Ratemyarms.com

Train Like an Olympian: Beach Volleyball

No one needs to convince you that those beach volleyball players are fit. When your sport requires that little clothes... well, need I say more? 

Kerri Walsh plays beach volleyball for the US in the Olympics. She is about 33 years old, unlike some of the other teenage and under 25 Olympians we have seen, but she is obviously terribly fit. What does she do to stay in shape to perform?

According to Kerri, she spends a lot of time doing interval, plyometric and isokinetic training. Interval training involves going hard for a few minutes, and then resting for a seconds over and over. Plyometric training really just involves powerful movements at high speeds to improve performance and build muscle strength. Isokinetc training involves doing movements at the same speed with variable resistance, so for example, spinning where you try to go at the same speed but move the resistance up and down. As you can tell, these are pretty intense types of workouts.

Beach volleyball players need strong core, leg, and shoulder muscles. The leg muscles help them run around a lot on the beach, the strong core muscles help them stay upright and move vertically, and the strong shoulders? Well, then have to hit that ball. 

Legs: To keep the legs strong, my go to exercise is the squat (If you've been reading this blog, you'd know I love the squat). But including variations of the squat is really important too for interval or plyometric training. Check out one intense variation here: The Squat Jump Tuck. Other leg exercises include: Lunges, Wall sits, Kicks, etc.

Core: Yoga is a great core workout, even though it doesn't always seem so. And anything that requires balance helps build your core strength as well. To build the muscles though, I always say you can get a core workout from almost any kind of workout; just keep your abs tight as you do them. But of course, if you want to focus on the core, you can do the pushup, the plank, bicycles, and other floor crunches.

Shoulders: Again, the pushup is great for your shoulders. But other exercises like arm circles, lateral raises, and tricep rows work on your shoulders as well as your arms.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Photo credit: Glamour.com

Getting Rid of the Dreaded Arm Jiggle

Women know about this all too well. We put on weight, and we get the jiggle. We lose a lot of weight and we get the jiggle. It's like we can't win. Well, all hope is not lost. There are exercises you can do to get rid of that arm jiggle.

Dumbbells and machines are great, but I am a much bigger fan of exercises you can do without equipment. Why? Because you can do them wherever whenever. So I will list both exercises you can do with dumbbells and those you can do without so you have options. Here are a few "arm jiggle" exercises you can incorporate into your routine:

Triceps overhead extensions:

All you need is a dumbbell (something you can feel when you lift). Stand up straight and hold the bar of the dumbbell over your head with both hands like in the picture below. Keeping you upper arms (underarms to elbows) straight and squeezed in towards your ears, bend your lower arms (elbows to wrists) down behind you towards your shoulder blades. Lift back up. Continue this up and down motion and you should feel it in your triceps.

Tricep dips:

All you need here is a chair or some sort of elevated surface you can balance on. Sit on the chair with your palms on the seat on either side of your thighs. Your fingers should be facing forward. Extend your feet far in front of you still on the floor. Shift your bum out of the chair and lower in front of the seat like in the picture below. So now, your arms are holding you up. Lower down using the strength in your arms and raise back up, almost like you are doing a pushup but on the other side of your body. To make it harder straighten your legs out or lift one leg at a time as you do this.

Tricep row: 

Bend forward, but keep your back straight with your arms extended beside you holding dumbbells. Lift your arms behind you while managing to keep them straight from shoulder to elbow. You should also be using your upper back to push your two upper arms towards each other, but try to keep your shoulders down and your abs tight. Take a look at the image below as a reference.

Pushup:

Oh, the pushup. It just seems like it comes up all the time, right? Well, it is good for your arms as well. In fact, it does work on a ton of muscles in your upper arms, back and shoulders, so you should definitely try it. Check out my post on how to do a proper pushup here: Proper Pushup Form.

There are so many more exercises, but start with these for now to build those beautifully cut arms.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Photo credit: Fantasiefitness.com, 110pounds.com, martamontenegro.com

Proper Pushup Form - Eights & Weights Video

Another day, another video :) I promised I would make a few more videos showing the proper form for popular exercises because the last few ones I did got a lot of positive feedback.

Today, it's the dreaded pushup. Most people that start a fitness regimen don't start being able to do multiple pushups, and definitely don't start being able to do it absolutely right. But the pushup is one of the best exercises out there because it works so many muscle groups (they call these types of exercises "Compound exercises") - the arms, shoulders, upper back, and core. Not only does it work many muscle groups, it also helps you to gauge how far you've come from when you started working out.

So here are some key tips:

• Lower yourself as close to the ground as possible without compromising your form. Even if you don't get too far down, you are still working out.

• Use your abs to hold your body up for a core workout.

• Do not sag your butt down or raise your butt up. Try to keep your body straight.

There you have it! And a video to help you out! I would love your feedback on the videos so I can give you more tips that help you. I know the quality of the one below is not that great, but we'll continue to work on that. While you are checking the video out, check out our other exercise videos on our Eights and Weights Youtube channel.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Bosu Ball Pushups

Challenge yourself to build a better, stronger, and leaner upper body with pushups. Do them all the way, half way, or on your knees. Though the degree of difficulty may vary, you'd still be working your upper arms, chest, and back. 

The Bosu ball pushups work the same muscles that pushups do, but they also help work on your balance. Try doing some today.

• Balance on the Bosu ball in the upper pushup position gripping the sides of the ball.
• Do a complete pushup the way you would do one on the ground.

You can add your own twist and do it on your knees as well. Remember, it is not only important to challenge your body by pushing yourself with the exercises you are used to, it is even more important to make slight changes to your exercises to confuse your muscles a little bit.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Photo credit: Stack.com