The last couple months we have focused on a number of exercises to improve our bikini bods and have us ready to hit the beach this summer. But, without finding the motivation to take action, those exercises won’t do us a bit of good. Learn how to accept your challenge for a Pretty Hard Workout and find your motivation to exercise using these tips from our expert guest blogger:
Practice the Pallof Press for a Tight Tummy!
Training the Abdominal area or “The Core” is unfortunately, one of the most misunderstood muscle groups to train. Everyone wants to train the core with crunches, twists, bends, and other movements, when in fact, the core is actually designed to resist movement! That’s right… your core was designed to resist flexion and extension, resist rotation, and resist lateral flexion.
That being said, here is one of my favorite exercises to really work the core the way it was supposed to be worked! It’s called the Pallof Press and it’s a fantastic anti-rotation exercise.
- Stand with your feet about 6 inches apart with a cable machine about 1-2 feet away to your right.
- Grab a handle that’s around waist height and extend your arms out from your body. The weight will be pulling you to the right but you must resist. Keep your abs tight, your shoulders back and down, your chest out, and your glutes tight.
- Hold it for 3 seconds and repeat 8-10 times.
Here is a great video of the Pallof Press, although I personally prefer a narrower stance than what is shown, as a more narrow base of support forces you to engage your abdominals more.
Molly Galbraith, Owner, J&M Strength and Conditioning
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Swimsuit Ready Challenge
This exercise is part of our Swimsuit Ready Challenge (April 2-30, 2012). Do this exercise and comment below “I did this!” to be entered to win our $100 and $50 giveaways. You may enter up to one time per day through April 30th.
Also – be sure to share this on Facebook, Pinterest and other sites to let your friends cheer you on or – better yet – join in on the challenge so they can hang out on the beach with you this summer! read more →
Great Abs Without Doing Any Ab Exercise
Burpees, burpees, burpees! Burpees are one of the best all-body exercises that also work your abs without you even knowing it. Best of all, you can do them anywhere without any equipment. Start from standing. Squat down and then go to the ground and do a push up. After coming up from the push up, go back to squat position and jump up. That’s one rep.
Do 30 reps as fast as you can, or do as many as you can in 5 minutes. To add variety, after the push up, you can do knees to elbows, or fingers to toes. Instead of just jumping up, jump onto a step or a bench, or do a jumping jack, or even a pike jump or split jump. In our Victory Karate class, we add kicks onto a heavy bag after coming up out of the squat.
Erik Akutagawa, Head Instructor, Victory Karate
For further demonstration, check out this tutorial we found on Youtube.
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Swimsuit Ready Challenge
This exercise is part of our Swimsuit Ready Challenge (April 2-30, 2012). Do this exercise and comment below “I did this!” to be entered to win our $100 and $50 giveaways. You may enter up to one time per day through April 30th.
Also – be sure to share this on Facebook, Pinterest and other sites to let your friends cheer you on or – better yet – join in on the challenge so they can hang out on the beach with you this summer! read more →
Are you guilty of sucking in your stomach when you look in the mirror – or pulling in that belly when you’re out and about and see someone walk by?
C’mon – we all do it!
As today’s guest blogger tells us – keep it up! Just lie on your back and suck in that gut – it is a real exercise that actually builds muscle!
Romanian Split Lunge
This exercise will provide a deep stretch for your hip flexors and quadriceps while strengthening the glutes. It works your glutes intensely, and stronger glutes are critical for proper function for anyone who exercises regularly.
To start, prop the toes of one foot onto a flat surface that is about one foot in height and placed about two feet behind you (therefore creating a 120-degree angle in your leg). While keeping your bent leg and toes secure, stabilize your standing leg on the ground for support. Place your hands crossed and flat against your chest. Next, slowly lower your torso and lunge downward, bending your back knee as low to the ground as possible. Pause at the bottom of the lunge for a solid second while keeping optimal posture without leaning forward.
Then, rise up from the lunge to the starting position to complete the exercise. To make this more of a challenge, try to have your bent knee touch the ground gently with each lunge. On the other hand, if your balance is not quite there, use a pole or the wall to help with stabilization. Executing four sets total of two sets on each side performing 12 repetitions should be a great goal.
Shaun Zetlin, Founder, Zetlin Fitness
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Photo credit: Australian Women’s Health
Swimsuit Ready Challenge
This exercise is part of our Swimsuit Ready Challenge (April 2-30, 2012). Do this exercise and comment below “I did this!” to be entered to win our $100 and $50 giveaways. You may enter up to one time per day through April 30th.
Also – be sure to share this on Facebook, Pinterest and other sites to let your friends cheer you on or – better yet – join in on the challenge so they can hang out on the beach with you this summer! read more →
No need for machines, gyms or even time! All you need is your body and a wall to tone your booty, thighs and abs in one simple move. Dawn Dolobowsky tells us how:
Tone Your Booty & Thighs
My favorite rear-end exercise (which also tones up the thighs & abs!) is this:
Lay on your back about a foot away from the wall. Bend your hips & knees to 90 degrees and place your feet flat on the wall. Push into the wall and contract your glutes to lift your bottom off the floor. Return to the start & repeat.
For an added challenge, raise one leg straight in the air (so it’s not touching the wall), and do the exercise one-legged. Make sure to get both sides!
Dawn Dolobowsky, CSCS, Triathlon Coach, Running at Dawn
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Swimsuit Ready Challenge
This exercise is part of our Swimsuit Ready Challenge (April 2-30, 2012). Do this exercise and comment below “I did this!” to be entered to win our $100 and $50 giveaways. You may enter up to one time per day through April 30th.
Also – be sure to share this on Facebook, Pinterest and other sites to let your friends cheer you on or – better yet – join in on the challenge so they can hang out on the beach with you this summer! read more →
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