Lunge touchdown alternating legs strengthens and conditions the lower body. This exercise develops and strengthens basic motor patterns. The lunge touchdown is a bodyweight exercise that can be performed at home or in the gym. Adding dumbbells or a medicine ball will increase the difficulty of the exercise.
The rocker board side reach is good for developing core strength and balance. If you don’t have a partner to throw the ball to you, you can throw the ball to yourself by bouncing it off a wall. The real key to this exercise is not to fall off of the rocker board. This exercise is good for basketball, football and other exercises that involve catching a ball and maintaining your balance.
The single arm push up is not for the weak. This exercise challenges your chest, shoulders, triceps, core, and mental toughness. The single arm push up is a favorite of athletes in mixed martial arts (MMA) and wrestling. The single arm action loads the abdominals and hip flexors for stabilization.
The Single Dumbbell Overhead Squat is a very challenging exercise. It requires a lot of coordination, flexibility and strength. It will also improve all of those qualities.
The spider crawl strengthens the shoulders, chest, arm, torso, thighs, and calves. This is a great calorie burning exercise that can be performed at home or in the gym. This is a fun, effective exercise to add to your workout. Challenge your friends to a spider crawl race off.
The Squat Thrust is a whole body exercise that taxes the shoulders, arms, and core muscles. This is a great exercise to improve the anaerobic system. Try performing as many reps as possible in a set duration (e.g., 30 seconds). Team up with a training partner for extra motivation.
The push up test is a way to test chest, shoulder, arm and core strength. To start, balance on your hands and knees with your body straight. The goal is to do as many as you can in one minute. Tests like this are a good way to see how fit you are now. When you do it again in the future it will show you how much progress you have made.
Doing push ups with your feet elevated is more challenging than regular push ups. To perform this you simply put your feet on a step, bench or chair. This engages your deltoids more. As your prop gets taller, the exercise gets more challenging. Eventually you may be able to work up to a handstand push up.
The push up with your hands elevated is a beginner version of the push up. As you get stronger you can move your hands down, closer to the ground. The goal is to eventually do regular push ups on the ground. This is a good exercise for beginners or people that have a hard time getting down to the ground.
The push up is a great upper body and core exercise. It does not require any equipment and it can be done anywhere. The push up is a favorite of many military exercise program. Even if you aren’t in the military the push up is a great exercise for over all fitness and conditioning.
The reverse lunge is a great way to shape and strengthen you legs. It is also a great way to change up your routine. The reverse lunge works the muscles in your legs in a different way than the regular lunge. It is a good way to maintain muscular balance. There is no equipment necessary so this exercise can be done anywhere.
The rocker board high side reach is good for developing core strength and balance. If you don’t have a partner to throw the ball to you, you can throw the ball to yourself by bouncing it off a wall. The real key to this exercise is not to fall off of the rocker board. This exercise is good for basketball, football and other exercises that involve catching a ball and maintaining your balance.
The line drill develops speed, agility and quickness. During play, athletes are frequently required to start, stop, and change direction and speed. The line drill is a great conditioning exercise and can be used as part of your dynamic warm up. The line drill also increases body control and awareness.
The Long Jump Burpee complex develops explosive power in the legs while providing a challenging anaerobic workout. You may perform this exercise for a set distance or duration. This is a great exercise to perform outdoors, in group classes or with a friend.
The dumbbell supine fly performed on the ball is an advanced exercise requiring a strong core. By weighting the body on one side it forces you to work harder to stabilize the movement. The surface of the ball provides for more range of motion and therefore recruits more muscle to perform the action. If one side of you chest is stronger than the other this exercise can help even out development. Bodybuilders like to use this exercise as a “finishing” movement on their chest day.
The reversion extension on the swiss ball is a great exercise to strengthen the muscles of the back and glutes. By using the swiss ball you activate more muscles than if you perform the exercise on the floor or on a bench. The reverse extension on the ball is ideal for anyone looking to improve their back and glute strength. Hold the contraction for a second or two to get the most out of this exercise.
The trunk extension on the Swiss ball develops low back and glute strength. Performing this exercise with you feet against a wall will add support and make it easier to perform. Once you’ve mastered this exercise with your feet against a wall try it in an open space. By keeping you feet together you will recruit more of the core. As you extend your back you will feel the ball shift underneath you and this movement will require more muscles to stabilize your body.
The narrow stance barbell parallel squat is a good exercise to develop all of the major muscle groups of your legs. Only going to parallel lets you use a little more weight than squatting all the way down. Using more weight helps develop the ligaments and tendons as well as core strength. For added challenge try doing these from the bottom up.
