Secrets to Living a Healthy Lifestyle » Muscles

Bridge Holds

admin — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:11:47 +0000

Bridge holds are a supplemental exercise in my Bridge Progression series. They are good to use when you are trying to focus on specific muscles, for example trying to get the glute to fire more and the hamstring to fire less.

Bridge holds are also good to use as an in between exercise when you have mastered the one exercise but are not quite ready to move on to the next.

In the video I have demonstrated the two legged and single leg floor bridge. You can also do bridge holds on the stability ball and medicine ball with both two legs and one leg. Give it a try you will definitely feel your glutes burn.

Bridge Holds

Stay Motivated,

Karen

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Cook Hip Lift

admin — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:14:11 +0000

If you ask any adult they would probably tell you they have had back pain at some point in their life. What they probably don't know is that about 80% (give or take a few percents) of all back pain can be corrected.

Over the next few weeks I am going to talk about an exercise that is very helpful in correcting some common back issues. The exercise is so good it even helps correct some common problems you may experience with your hamstring (the big muscle in the back of your upper leg).

Sometimes muscles turn themselves off and they do not fire as well as they are supposed to. When that happens a muscle or muscles somewhere else in the body have to work overtime. And as you probably guessed, if a muscle is working overtime there is most likely going to be pain involved.

As I said earlier sometimes the glute (or butt muscle) does not fire in the correct order or does not fire enough period. When this happens many times you suffer from low back pain and typically have tight overworked hamstrings.

The Bridge is a great hip extension exercise (the movement the glute is responsible for). However, sometimes when people start with a more advanced form of the exercise they are not able to fire the glute or stabilize the hips and core. That is why I like to start my clients with the:

Cook Hip Lift

Give the exercise a try the tennis ball really helps to keep the opposite leg in hip flexion. This keeps your low back from arching. As you get stronger take the tennis ball away. Really try to focus on making the movement come predominantly from the glute muscle.

Start off with 1 – 2 sets of 15 reps.

Stay tuned, because next week I will bring you the next exercise in the Bridge Progression Series.

Stay Motivated,

Karen

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Can Muscle Turn to Fat?

admin — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:43:47 +0000

"Can muscle turn to fat if I stop working out"? This was my latest most frequently asked question. And I thought it was important to share my answer with everyone. Believe it or not I get this question a lot and I think we need to remember not everybody has taken an anatomy class. I can understand the confusion as you workout muscle appears and fat disappears.Fat and muscle are two totally different things and neither can turn into the other. When you lose weight your fat cells begin to shrink (the cells never disappear completely) given you the smaller appearance. As you strength train your muscles will grow and create new muscle cells.

The Best Exercise

admin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:30:04 +0000

Recently I was asked what I thought the best exercise was. Somewhat of a loaded question if you ask me. I always answer with the obvious – the exercise you will actually do on a consistent basis. That answer was not good enough, she wanted specific exercises. Here is the list I gave her (in no particular order):

Squat
Lunge
Push-up
Pull-up
Deadlift

Of course she wanted to know more, what was my rationale for picking those exercises, why not the kickback or the leg curl? Maybe had she given me more time to think I could have added a few more exercises to the list, but one thing's for sure it would not have included the kickback or the leg curl.

Here's why – the kickback involves one very small muscle group to do the majority of the work (with a few muscles assisting). The leg curl machine is the exact same thing except this time the machine does the assisting for you. (And when is the last time you sat or laid down to activate your hamstrings in real life situations)?

Every exercise on my list involves multiple muscle groups and the exercises mimic things we do everyday in our daily routine. The more you can make your body work for each exercise the better. You can also combine exercises such as a squat with a bicep curl or a lunge-curl.

I still like my first answer best – just get moving a do what you like to do, but for those of you, like my lady who needed an answer there it is.

Stay Motivated,

Karen

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Beginner Ab Exercise Routine

admin — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:57:44 +0000

Try out this beginning ab exercise routine to strengthen those muscles surrounding the core. The exercises found here are meant to prepare the body for the more difficult ab and resistance exercises and activities of daily living that require activation of the TVA or transverse abdominus. Need more information about the TVA and core?

Read the following article:

Core Training

Use the beginning ab exercise routine if you are not accustomed to core exercises, recently pregnant, have low back problems or have not been consistently exercising. Remember, even if you are a heavy exerciser, but are neglecting the muscles of your core, begin at this level.

This exercise routine can incorporated into an existing routine. Try to place it near the beginning before the small muscles of the core fatigue. However, an important point to remember is if the core muscles are fatigued they may not be able to protect the body during other exercises where they are needed.

Perform 1 set of 20 reps for each of the following exercises. Do not move on to next exercise until you have mastered it. Once you can comfortably complete 1 set of 20 for every exercise add a set each week until you are up to 3 sets of 20. At this point congratulate yourself and move on to the next level.

Pelvic Tilt and Drawing-In Maneuver
Quadruped Opposite Arm Leg Lift
Abdominal Leg Slide
Abdominal Knee to Chest
Floor Bridge

Good luck with the workout. Check back often because in the future I will adding a video for all of the exercises I mention in my posts.

Stay Motivated,

Karen

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