The trunk of your body or your "core" is the source of all your movement. A strong core will make your whole life easier and your derby game even more phenomenal. First of all, what does the word "core" actually refer to? Most people believe that this refers to your abs. That is only part of the answer though. Your core refers to all of the muscles in your abdominal region, your hip flexors, obliques, diaphragm,glutes, lats, traps, and all of the muscles along your spine. This is a lot of area to focus on, however, we can cover it effectively with relative simplicity. Crunches are a great exercise but they are not necessarily a core exercise . Planks, on the other hand, focus on all of the stabilizing muscles that make up the core and force them to work properly. The benefits to this kind of work out are better balance and stability, improved endurance, better posture, and more overall strength without a huge, muscley appearance. Be stronger and look better doing it; not too bad! Here is your workout for today!!!
10 min. Warm Up
Stretch
4x 30 sec. plank
4x 15 sec. bridge
2x 15 sec. side plank(each side)
4x 15 sec. double leg abdominal press
4x 10 sec. supermans
3x 10 woodchops with resistance
2x 25 torso twists with medicine ball
2x 25 ball crunches
2x leg lifts (drawing numbers 1-10)
2x 25 bicycle crunches
5 min. Cool down
Stretch
Enjoy and please feel free to ask if there are any questions!!!
J
Can you explain double leg abdominal press and woodchops?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think I am getting confused about leg lifts. Sometimes you mention doing them on both sides (when I hear that I think laying on my side and lifting one leg up while the other stays down) but today this makes me think of more laying flat and lifting both legs as one unit? Can you help clarify this for me?
All good questions. The ab press is probably the most difficult to describe.
ReplyDelete1. Lay on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor
2. Place you hands on your knees
3. using your abs, attempt to press your knees to your chest while simultaneously using your arms to press them away.
This should feel like you are fighting against your own body for fifteen sec.
Woodchops
1. Stand with a weight, medicine ball, or any other source of resistance grasped with both hands and over the right shoulder.
2. In one smooth motion with your arms straight, swing weight downward and across your body so that it finishes by your left hip
3. swing weight from hip back to starting position and repeat. ( this needs to be done on both sides)
Leg lifts
I can appreciate your confusion and will help clarify this for you. The leg lifts mentioned above are to be done on your back. The other lifts that you are mentioning are meant to be done on your side. The side leg lift can be completed either in a standing position by raising your leg laterally or by laying on your side and lifting your leg upward.
Hope that helps clarify