Step Up
There are lots of great exercises that strengthen you legs and hips. One seems to get lost in the shuffle, but is great for the glutes and some of the stabilizer muscles in your legs.
Set up a step, platform, box or other object that is stable for you to stand upon. This should be tall enough to challenge you, but so tall that you cannot maintain good technique. A simple rule of thumb is to have the object come up to just below your knee cap.
Grab a barbell (dumbbells will also work) and put the barbell resting on your shoulders and upper back. Place one foot on the raised object with your entire foot, not just the toes and mid-foot, on the object. Push through the heel of the elevated foot so that you use your hamstrings, glutes and quads and stand up tall. Lower yourself back down under control and repeat for 10-15 reps per leg. Rest a minute or so and do 10-15 reps on the other leg until you have done 3 or 4 sets on each leg.
Brandon Henry, Owner/Coach, Performance Strength & Conditioning
Get ready to show off those great legs this summer in some cute sun dresses. Make May your month of action. What did you do today to get yourself swimsuit ready?
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 →
We’ve been kicking it up a notch in the month of April to begin preparations for swimsuit season! Our experts have met the challenge by providing us with the most effective ab exercises to incorporate into our workout routine. Here is a collaboration of last week’s most popular “great abs” articles that will give you a challenging workout and a gorgeous tummy.
Plank Variations for Great Abs
Plank with Alternating Leg – This is a challenging movement that will get your lower body involved while building a stronger core in the process. Begin by getting into the prone plank position with your heels up and your elbows bent with your forearms stabilized on the floor.
Next, bring one leg up about one-two inches above the floor and hold for 10 seconds. Keep your leg and knee that are in the air locked to recruit more muscle fibers in your glute and hamstring.
Lower the leg and switch to the other, again holding for 10 seconds.
Repeat, alternating legs for three complete rounds totaling 30 seconds per side. Perform these three rounds twice for a successful challenge.
Shaun Zetlin, Founder, Zetlin Fitness
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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 →
Bicycle Your Way to Great Abs
My top ab exercise is a bicycle crunch done with legs in a table top position: Lying on your back, position knees directly above your hips (table top position). Hands behind your head, elbows open lift your shoulder blades off the mat, this is start position. Lift and twist right shoulder towards left hip at the same time extending your right leg, the left leg remains at table top position. Return back to start position and hold then lift and twist left shoulder up and over towards right hip, extending left leg. Repeat slowly 8 times per side, then quickly for and additional 8.
Remember to maintain tabletop position; when one leg moves the other is completely still. Keep your lower back connected to the mat and your abdominals engaged. Avoid pulling on your head/neck, instead use your abdominals to lift and lower. To make this exercise less intense extend leg towards the ceiling and to make it more intense extend the leg parallel to to mat.
Keri Cawthorne, Owner, Iron Mountain Movement
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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 →
Hula hooping is one of those exercises that makes you feel like a kid again! SO much fun!
Rach was excited when we told her she would be hula hooping as one of the ab exercises this month.
I LOVE hula hooping! My sons and I do it all the time in the summer. We have competitions and try to make each other laugh by walking while spinning the hoop or trying to do more than one hoop at a time. The day after we do this – my core is always sore, so I know that it’s a great workout!
Note: Laughing while doing this is a requirement!
The Knowing Flow – The Complete Package 
Race Day Domination: Obstacle Expert Package (Digital Product) 
Kettlebell Total Body Conditioning (DVD) 
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