exercise instructions

How to do Incline Push Up

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

Instructions

Preparation

  1. Lie face down in front of a bench or step.
  2. Touch your toes to the floor and rest your hands on the platform, shoulder width apart, so your body is at an angle with the floor.

Execution

  1. Push against the palms of your hands while lifting your whole body off the platform and farther from the floor as you exhale.
  2. Maintain straight knees and back at all times.

Return

Carefully lower yourself back down to your original position as you take in a deep breath.

Repeat

How to do Bicycle Crunch & Medicine Ball

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KGMKIRFBbk[/youtube]

 

If you have done bicycle crunches in the past as part of your six pack abs exercises routine, you would know how effective it can be in getting your abdominals to work.

Add a medicine ball to this exercise as a variation and to increase the effectiveness of your routine. Like the regular bicycle crunch, the bicycle crunch and medicine ball exercise also targets your abs, mainly the obliques muscles, transverse abdominal muscle and rectus abdominus but with added intensity.

With the various abdominal muscles involved, you get a full workout for your torso. And because of the pedalling motion you do with this exercise, your quadriceps also get into action.

As in all abs exercises, form takes precedence over the number of reps when doing the bicycle crunch and medicine ball. You have to feel your abs muscles contracting to assess whether you are targeting the right set of muscles.

Since execution is relatively easy, both beginners and expert alike can benefit from this exercise. You too can do this to jumpstart your goal of burning belly fat and building great looking, washboard abs.

To be certain you are getting the form right, watch the video on bicycle crunch and medicine ball below with step by step instructions.

Instructions

Preparation

  1. Lie flat on your back and bend your knees.
  2. Take a medicine ball and hold it up over your chest with both hands

Execution

  1. Lift your knees alternately toward the direction of your chest, mocking a cycling motion in the air.
  2. Lift your torso off the floor and twist your shoulder toward the direction of the opposite knee so they meet in the middle and keep doing so alternately.

Return

Bring your feet back to the ground and lower your upper body to the floor.

Repeat
Have you tried this routine? What can you say about it? Leave your opinions below.

How to do Barbell Squat

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Barbell squats may seem a bit intimidating for the beginner at first but you can watch this video below to help you correctly carry out this intense exercise with much confidence and better success.

Barbell squats are often referred to as a powerful leg exercise and for very good reasons. They work out mainly your quadriceps as you lift the barbell up but as you repeatedly do a squatting motion, this training also adds resistance to your glutes, hamstring and calves.

While barbell squats mainly strengthen your lower extremities, they can also be considered highly effective six pack abs exercises due to the core stabilization and balance required while performing this exercise. Hence, they have become an exercise of choice for most bodybuilders because of the overall full body strength barbell squats can provide.

Combine the load of weight lifting on your entire body and the muscle contraction on your legs as a result of squatting and you can just imagine what this exercise can do to your fat burning and metabolism boosting efforts!

As in any weight lift training, focus on perfecting the form first then slowly increase weights once you have mastered the proper techniques for this exercise.

Instructions

Preparation

Set up a barbell with your desired weight and carefully place it on your shoulders, just behind the neck.

Execution

  1. Squat down as you would when you’re about to sit on a chair.
  2. Stop as soon as your thighs are parallel to the floor. Make sure that as you look down, your knees don’t bend over the tip of your toes. Also, keep your back and shoulders straight.

Return

Carefully go back to your original position.

Repeat
Add your personal strategy when doing barbell squats by leaving your comments below.

How to do Wide Push Ups

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQj-w1LIFiQ[/youtube]

 

In your daily activities, there are only very few tasks that exert pressure on the chest area, making it a largely ignored body part. Hence, when doing your six pack abs exercises, this is where you need to put your focus on. And performing wide push ups may just help you do the trick.

The push up still remains to be one of the most effective upper body exercises, even with the advancement of new and more sophisticated equipment. With wide push ups in particular, greater intensity is added to shoulders, abs and triceps apart from your chest, as you lift your upper body. The higher number of reps you are able to do, the more you strengthen your chest and force your abs muscles to contract. Unlike regular push ups, wide push ups engage your chest and abs more than just your arms and shoulders. This helps you improve your core strength and firms up your chest in ways that normal activities cannot simply do. Because of this, more calories are also burned in the process.

Check the video below as a way of helping you do your wide push ups in excellent form and achieve maximum benefits from it.

Instructions

Preparation

  1. Lie flat on the floor, face down.
  2. Position your palms on the floor directly under your bent elbows and flex your feet so your toes are touching the ground.

Execution

  1. Push against the palms of your hands and your toes while lifting your whole body off the ground. Stop when your elbows are straightened out.
  2. Maintain straight knees and back at all times.

Return

Carefully lower yourself back down to your original position.

Repeat
Add to or modify the steps mentioned above. Leave your comments below.

How to do Exercise Ball Pikes (JackKnife)

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

Instructions

Preparation

  1. Put the ball on the floor.
  2. Place your ankles on top of the ball and hold the rest of your body up with your palms flat on the floor so your body is parallel to the ground.

Execution

  1. Lift your hips up until your upper body is perpendicular to the ground.
  2. Allow the ball to roll closer to your arms. Keep both legs straight at all times.

Return

Slowly lower your hips back down until you reach your initial position.

Repeat
 
What other workouts do you know of that make use of exercise balls? Add your insights below.