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10 Body Weight Exercises You Can Do Almost Anywhere

on January 29, 2020 by Caden Mayfield

Body weight exercises are simple to do, and can be done at a park, your house or even a hotel room. Besides being convenient and inexpensive, these compound exercises will engage multiple joints, different muscle groups and can increase your flexibility. Endurance athletes usually have underdeveloped supporting muscles, so simple body weight movements can re balance and strengthen muscle groups that need extra attention.

Body weight exercises can be done as a single exercise or you can group multiple exercises together and knock out a circuit-training workout. When it comes to your workouts, you’re only limited by your own creativity.

These are my 10 favorite body weight exercises that you can do almost anywhere.

  • Calf Raises – Stand up straight, then push through the balls of your feet and raise your heel until you are standing on your toes. Then lower slowly back to the start.
  • Push -Ups – Begin with your chest and stomach flat on the floor. Your legs should be straight out behind you and your palms should be at chest level with the arms bent out at a 45-degree angle. Exhale as you push from your hands and heels, bringing your torso, chest, and thighs off the ground.
  • Pull-Ups – Begin from a dead hang: arms fully extended, hands about shoulder width apart (palms facing out for pull-ups, facing you for chin-ups), elbows straight, chest up, shoulders back and tight, eyes trained on the bar above. Pull yourself up toward the bar, leading with the chest and keeping your eyes focused on the bar. Drive your elbows toward the floor. Clear the bar with your chin. Lower yourself in a controlled fashion.
  • Sit-Ups – Lie down on your back. Bend your legs and place feet firmly on the ground to stabilize your lower body. Cross your hands to opposite shoulders or place them behind your ears, without pulling on your neck. Curl your upper body all the way up toward your knees. Exhale as you lift. Slowly, lower yourself down, returning to your starting point. Inhale as you lower.
  • Chair Dips –  Sit in a chair holding onto the edge with both hands, knuckles pointing forward. Slide your bottom off the seat and hold yourself up with straight arms, keeping your body close to the chair. Slowly lower your body for two counts as you bend your elbows (they should point directly behind you, not out to the sides); straighten your arms for a count of two. Make sure your arms (not your feet) are supporting your weight throughout the motion.
  • Tricep Push-Ups – Begin in plank position with the arms and body straight, shoulders over the wrists. Keep the core engaged. Bend the elbows behind you and lower your chest to the floor. Keep your upper arms tight to your body so your elbows are against your ribs on both sides. Straighten the arms, coming back to plank position.
  • Squats – Set your feet shoulder-width apart, toes slightly turned out. Pull in your lower abs, and keep your eyes forward. Slowly bend at the knees and drop your hips to lower your body. Keep your heels flat on the floor.  At the bottom of the exercise pause for a moment and strongly push back up to the starting position, mirroring the descent. Keep your back as straight as possible throughout the movement to avoid strain or injury.
  • Jumps – Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and hips back, as if you were just beginning a squat. Now spring up into the highest jump possible, bringing knees to chest. Land softly on toes in the starting position.
  • Mountain Climbers – Start on your hands and knees. Bring left foot forward, directly under chest, while straightening right leg. Keeping hands on the floor and core tight, jump and switch legs. Your left leg should now be extended behind you, with your right knee forward.
  • Planks – Assume a modified push-up position with your elbows bent 90 degrees and both forearms resting on the floor. Position your elbows directly underneath your shoulders and look straight toward the floor. Your body should form a perfectly straight line from the crown of your head to your heels.

Benefits of Dumbbells

on January 24, 2020 by Caden Mayfield

There are so many great benefits of using dumbbells that there is no way we can list them all. Here are 5 amazing benefits of adding dumbbells to your gym or workout routine.

  1. Greater Stabilization – This forces your muscles to use more muscle fibers to stabilize the load which in turn makes the lift more effective in producing overall strength and power gains.
  2. Unilateral Training – Everyone has a weak side and bilateral training allows your dominate side to compensate. Since dumbbell training trains limbs unilaterally it can help you strengthen both sides equally with no compensation from your stronger side creating a better balance of strength.
  3. Variety – Variations in your routine is highly necessary to keep you from getting into a rut and losing focus. Let’s face it, barbell exercises are awesome but can be somewhat limiting compared to the greater number of dumbbell exercises you can perform.
  4. Safety – Some exercises performed with dumbbells can be much safer if something goes wrong. If you lose your balance at some point it’s much safer to drop a pair of dumbbells than risk being crushed by a barbell.
  5. Cost – If you workout out of your home, dumbbells are an excellent low cost option for both strength and metabolic training. Because of the variety of movements that dumbbells offer they are great addition to your home gym with a low cost and they take up very little space especially if you opt for adjustable dumbbells.

Fun Fact: In a letter to his son, Benjamin Franklin once wrote “I live temperately, drink no wine, and use daily the exercise of the dumbbell.”

Burn Calories With Battle Ropes

on January 5, 2020 by Caden Mayfield

One of my favorite ways to burn calories and build muscle at the gym is with Battle Ropes. This may be one of the most unknown and underutilized pieces of equipment in the gym. Which is great in a way because they are almost always available and your gonna get a killer burn. On average you can burn up to 10 calories per minute during a Battle Ropes session. Here is a great Battle Ropes workout to get your heart pumping and your muscles burning.

Perform each movement for 30 seconds followed by 30 seconds of rest before moving onto the next movement. After completing all 6 movements, rest for 2 minutes than repeat. Complete 4 rounds of all 6 movements.

  1. Alternating Wave – Stand with your feet a little more than shoulder width apart and bend your knees into an athletic position with chest up and shoulders slightly back. Alternate movements up and down with your arms causing the ropes to make a wave pattern down both ropes. 
  2. Double Arm Slams – Holding the ropes with both hands, bring both ropes above your head then with both arms slam them to the ground creating a wave pattern down both ropes.
  3. Alternating Wave Lunges – This is the same movement as the alternating wave with an added lunge movement. As you perform an alternating wave movement lung laterally (right to left) at the same time.
  4. Burpee Slams – This is more difficult version of the double arm slams. This time, jump as you raise your hands above your head and slam the ropes as you land. Perform 3 jump slams then a burpee and repeat.
  5. Circles – Standing in the same athletic position as the alternating wave, hold both ropes and perform arm circles rotating outwards with both arms for 15 seconds, then switch to inward circles for 15 seconds.
  6. Jacks – Hold both ends of the ropes and take a couple steps towards the anchor so you have some slack. While holding a rope in each hand perform standard jumping jacks.

Give this Battle Ropes workout a try and let us know what you think!

Don’t have access to Battle Ropes? Try out a Club 24 near you with a free 7 Day fit pass. We have Battle Ropes available at all locations.

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