Month: March 2010

How to do Hanging Leg Lifts

by

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANcLxTven0k[/youtube]

Instructions

Preparation

  1. Stand directly under a pull-up bar and grab on with both hands. As an alternative, you can bend your elbows and rest your lower arms on each side of a captain’s chair.
  2. Allow your feet to dangle freely.

Execution

  1. Lift your legs in front of you at the same time without bending at the knees. Never rely on momentum.
  2. Keep your legs straight as possible and your abdominal muscles tight.
  3. Hold that position for a few seconds.

Return

Lower your legs back to their dangling position.

Repeat
 
What do you find most exciting with hanging leg lifts? Share your thoughts by leaving your comments below.

How to do Side Crunches

by

One of the best things about crunches aside from their effectiveness in toning your stomach muscles is their versatility. You can easily vary your position and movements in order to focus on areas you need to work on. With side crunches, your obliques are given primary importance and play the biggest role when performing them.

If you are a novice, side crunches are good starting point to exercise your obliques without engaging any complicated moves or adding weights first. Your abs also gets a good workout in the process as you lift your upper body during the execution. Just be sure to refrain from moving your hips and lower body to gain maximum benefits from this exercise.

By training your obliques, you are also improving your overall flexibility and reducing any risk of spinal injury. Not to mention, obliques are responsible for developing curvy, well shaped upper body among women.

Because of the various ways side crunches can benefit your six pack abs goal, feel free to incorporate them in your six pack abs exercises and together with healthy eating, you can surely see those love handles go away in no time.

Check the video below for detailed instructions to doing side crunches correctly.

Instructions

Preparation

  1. Lie down on the floor, facing the ceiling.
  2. Bend your knees.
  3. Bend your elbows and place your hands on the side of your head or cross your arms and rest them in front of you.
  4. Twist your lower body to one side and lay your legs on top of each other so that your knees are buckled to the side.

Execution

Lift your upper body off the floor toward the ceiling until you reach a challenging angle. Refrain from moving your lower body.

Return

Slowly move back downward to your original position.

Repeat

Repeat several times and do the same when you twist your lower body to the other side.

Add or modify a step based on how you do it. Tell us by sending your comments below.

How to do Double Crunch

by

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7AYuXy2U64[/youtube]

You have heard of the crunch and how it can help you sculpt well defined abs. You have also heard of reverse crunches and how they can condition your abs muscles, specifically your lower abs. What if you combine the effects of both to double their impact? It is possible with the double crunch.

Because you are essentially hitting two birds with one stone, the double crunch allows you to save time with your abs exercises while still giving your abs the maximum strengthening it needs to give you great looking washboard abs.

Aside from working out most of your abs muscles, your lower back and hip flexors also receive appropriate training as you roll upwards during the process. It is an ideal exercise then, whether you are one looking to build a flatter stomach, or to cure back problems or just simply one who just wants to burn more calories.

The double benefits of the double crunch ensure it is targeting deeper layers of your fat and not just those you can pinch.

If you desire to triple the effect, then you can move on to adding resistance machines to ramp up the challenge, but only do so once you have perfected the double crunch on a flat surface.

Instructions

Preparation

1.       Lie flat on your back, keep arms on each side at all times, and bend at the knees.

2.       Lift your feet a few inches off the ground.

3.       Lift your shoulders until you feel tension in your upper abdominals.

Execution

Pull your knees inward as you lift your torso further up, keeping your abdominal muscles taut.

Return

Lower your feet and shoulders without them touching the ground.

Repeat

 
What other ways can you do the double crunch? Let us know by adding your suggestions below.

How to do Divebomber Push Ups

by

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGyCglWMWRQ[/youtube]

With such an interesting name for an exercise, you would think that divebomber push ups do something special to your upper body to deserve an intriguing label. And indeed they do. They are a fascinating variation to the regular push ups and to a large extent, are more effective in working out more muscles. This is because divebomber push ups have an extended range of motion as you assume movements like those of a diver during the execution.

As you try to do divebomber push ups, you will realize why this multi-purpose exercise hits your chest, shoulders and triceps right on target. In the last part of the procedure, you also give your lower back a good stretch. Likewise, your hamstrings are trained accordingly during the first part of the exercise when you are in an inverted V position.

Take note of these muscle areas divebomber push ups target the most and deliberately get them to work while perfecting your form for this exercise. To increase effectiveness, it would be good to do these in front of a mirror so you can check once in a while whether you are still in proper form even as you do them continuously.

Instructions

Preparation

1.       Lie face down on the floor, palms flat on the ground on each side of your chest, feet straight out, toes touching the ground.

2.       Push against the floor with your palms and extend your arms until you are in a push-up position.

3.       Inch your feet inward so your body forms a right angle at the hips.

Execution

1.    Slowly lower shoulders as you push your torso downward and forward, gliding close to the mat but still keeping the rest of your body a few inches off the floor.

2.    As your lowered shoulders pass between your hands, extend your arms while lifting your head toward the ceiling, slightly arching your back.

Return

Bend your elbows, lower your shoulders, and glide your upper body in reverse motion, so that you go back to your original position.

Repeat

 
Do you have other strategies to doing divebomber push up’s? Tell us by adding a comment below.

How to do Decline Push Ups with Dumbbells

by

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNmrr4IimFs[/youtube]

Decline Push Ups with Dumbbells works in a quite similar way as your regular push ups but with notably 2 major differences: one is the presence of additional dumbbells to increase the challenge and the resistance and second is that your feet are in an elevated position as you do them.

In fact, it is often recommended that you regularly change your push up routine to make it more effective and also so your muscles will not easily adapt to the stress any exercise gives that makes them effective. To get all around core training for your six pack abs, you have to keep your muscles pumped up all the time. And decline push ups with dumbbells is one way to add a bit of variety to your training.

Like any other push ups, decline push ups with dumbbells works on your chest and shoulders for the most part. The use of dumbbells also ensures that your triceps receive additional strength training.

Because of your elevated position, more pressure is applied to your upper body as you lower yourself to the ground. So all the more you need to avoid the temptation of bending your back while doing this exercise.

Instructions

Preparation

1.       Kneel in front of an elevation or exercise bench.

2.       Bend over and position your hands on the floor, shoulder width apart or slightly wider.

3.       Prop yourself up with a heavy dumbbell in each hand.

4.       Put both feet up on the elevation or bench, arms extended and feet flexed, so your body is parallel to the floor and only your toes are touching the bench.

Execution

1.       Bend your elbows to lower your body to the floor while still maintaining a straight body.

2.       Slightly pull your head back to descend fully between dumbbells.

Return

Push your body up until your arms are back in the extended position.

Repeat

 
Do you know of other steps to performing decline push up’s? Share them with us by entering your comments below.