Lets get back to basics!
Exercise… does it ever intimidate you? What you should be doing? How much exercise is needed to lose weight? Should you be lifting weights? How do you get strong?
There is so much information out there that even I can get overwhelmed. We live in a world where we have literally hundreds of workouts out there that all promise to whip us into the best shape of our lives.
Today, I’d like to get back to some fitness fundamentals. Specifically, I want to reintroduce you to 3 moves that have been around for decades before Zumba and P90X we’re even dreamed up!
Drum roll please…
- PUSH-UPS
- PLANK
- SQUATS
I can hear you groaning with disappointment already:) These moves sound simple enough but are hard for most people which is why we tend to hate doing them.
We’ll start with push-ups – a classic exercise that trains your core, chest, shoulders and arms.
Make sure you place your hands wider than your shoulders and as you go down into your push up, maintain length in your neck and keep your shoulders away from your ears! You can always start with modified push ups (from your knees), then when you feel strong enough, you can go to the full version.
Now onto plank. Plank works all four levels of your core primarily, and activates accessory muscles in your entire body.
Set up with elbows under your shoulders and forearms flat on the ground. You can plank keeping your knees on the ground or go straight to your toes. You want to keep you tail bone reaching towards your heels and navel pulling in to your spine.
Be aware of your breath. Inhale to expand and exhale to contract your core muscles. Plank does wonders for strengthening your abdominal muscles and activates a lot of accessory muscles.
Lastly, let’s talk squats! Squats are great for building strength in your legs and glutes as well as your core. They also do wonders for reving your metabolism and improving the look of your backside! It really is the best bang for your buck exercise you need to be adding to your lifeJ
Focus on range of motion and technique when starting. Go as low as you comfortably can, then engage your glutes and push through your heels to rise up. Adding weights is a great way to keep challenging yourself once you are comfortable squatting without.
YOUR WORKOUT
So now you’ve got the exercises, let’s look at how to use these three foundational exercises in a workout.
Here’s a simple way to get started:
1) Download a tabata timer onto your phone (just search TABATA TIMER in the app store). You just turn it on and it keeps track of your intervals. They are eight 20 sec intervals with a 10 sec rest period between each to make up 4 minutes.
2) Start with push ups, turn on the tabata timer and perform as many push ups keeping proper form until it beeps at you to rest. If you are a beginner you might only do 2 or 3 push-ups in the 20 seconds but that ok, because you will get stronger! After you have done the 8, 20 secs intervals of push-ups the timer will stop, (it even congratulates you) and you’re done with push-ups.
3) Next, turn the tabata timer back on and repeat the whole thing but this time you’ll do plank instead of push-ups Again, you might not be able to hold plank for the whole 20 seconds and that okJ. Just keep going, doing your best until the 4 minutes are over.
4) Finish with squats. Turn your tabata timer back on for the final exercise and squat for 20sec and rest for 10 seconds for the 8 rounds. You’ll be amazed how quickly the workout flies by!
The beauty of this workout is you can modify to your own level. If you’re more advanced you would add variations to the push ups and plank and weights to the squats.
I know this will help you see that exercise doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective. Simple moves for amazing results.
Let me know how you enjoy this workout and how you felt afterwards.
xoxo
Rebecca