“How To” Exercise Videos

How to do Barbell Deadlifts

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

If you feel that your muscle groups have reached a plateau from doing body weight squat holds, it is time to up the challenge by adding the appropriate weights and doing barbell deadlifts. This is one powerful exercise that turbo charges your body’s strength and endurance.

However, if you do this exercise wrong, barbell deadlifts can go the other way and turn into barbell deadly. For instance, if you forget to keep your back flat and tight during the entire execution, this can seriously damage your back instead of strengthening it, which barbell deadlifts are actually designed to do, specifically targeting your lower back. In effect, you will be unable to gain the real benefits of this exercise when done in poor form.

The additional weight of the barbell from barbell deadlifts also increases resistance among your quadriceps, glutes, hamstring and calves from the time you push to the ground and go all the way up then back again.

Because of the various muscle groups barbell deadlifts can strengthen in just one repetition, it is often called as the king of all exercises. And truly it deserves this title, especially when you talk about intense training for your lower body.

Instructions

Preparation

  1. Place your barbell on the floor.
  2. Squatbehind the barbell with your legs shoulder width apart and knees bent all the way so they touch your chest, but make sure they don’t go beyond your toes.
  3. Hold on to the bar securely with both hands, keeping your arms straight at all times.

Execution

  1. Carefully lift the barbell off the floor as you stand upright.
  2. Keep your feet flat, arms close to your body, and upper body straight.

Return

Slowly go back down to your original position.

Repeat
 
Have other tips to doing this in mind? Feel free to share them by adding your comments below.

How to do Abs Pull downs

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwwF_v6v7TQ[/youtube]

Preparation

1.       Sit with your knees on the ground and your face towards the pull down machine.

2.       The hand attachment of the pull down machine should be in front of your face.

Execution

1.       Hold the hand attachment with both hands and pull it down so that your elbows get close to your knees.

Return

1.        Slowly take your body back to the initial position.

Repeat

 
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How to do Back squat jumps

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

Preparation

1. Find a raised platform

2. Stand straight with your back towards the raised platform and your hands straight on your sides.

Execution

1. Jump backwards on the raised platform. Jump as high as possible. When you land, bend your knees to absorb the impact and stretch out your hands so that they are parallel with the ground.

Return

1. Jump back on the lower ground and come back to your initial position.

Repeat

 
Have you tried squat jumps before? Share us your experience by adding them through the comment box below.

How to do Ball Pikes

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXizXr49VtQ[/youtube]

Instructions

Preparation

1.       Putyour exercise ball on a flat surface on the floor.

2.       Stand with the ball behind you.

3.       Put your palms flat down on the floor as you would with a regular push up.

4.       Place your ankles on top of the ball one at a time while keeping your balance.

5.       Keep your arms perpendicular to the ground and the rest of your body parallel to the floor.

Execution

1.       Raise your hips toward the ceiling while rolling your legs on top of the ball so that your body forms a right angle at the pelvis.

2.       Keep both your legs straight.

Return

Press your hips down and roll back the ball with your legs until you’re back to your arms are perpendicular to the floor and your body is parallel to the ground again.

Repeat

 
Have ball pikes been effective for your abs training? Share us how by leaving your comments below.

How to do Ball Crunches

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvb4hCtF5Bc[/youtube]

Instructions

Preparation

  1. Find a nice, open spot in the room and place your exercise ball on the floor.
  2. Sit on the ball and inch your feet forward. Stop only when your lower back is resting on the ball.
  3. You can either touch the tips of your ears lightly with your fingers or keep your arms crossed in front of you.

Execution

  1. Lift your upper body while keeping your core muscles taut.
  2. Stop midway when you’ve reached a challenging angle. That’s approximately 45 degrees. Hold that position for a few seconds.
  3. Engage your abdominal muscles by keeping your neck and shoulders as relaxed as you possibly can.

Return

  1. Slowly bring yourself back down and lie on the ball.
  2. Stay in that position for about 1-2 seconds.

Repeat

 
Do you do your ball crunches a bit differently? Tell us how by entering your comments below.