Archive for: November 2008

I’m going to give you 3 exercises here and let me tell you, they are going to make your body sore. So start out slowly. Actually, you probably won’t have a choice. By the way, my 5 year old grandson loves to do the first 2.

Bear crawls – Find yourself some space. Now get down on all fours and walk around like a bear. Sounds easy, right? Do this for three to five minutes and see what you get out of it. Works the entire body. Good for a warm-up, too.

Crab walk – You’re on all fours, but this time you’re facing upwards. Very awkward, and much more of a challenge to your coordination than the bear crawls. Builds strength and endurance.

Crocodile walk – You’re face down again. This time the object is to crawl along the floor with your torso as close to the floor as possible without touching. It’s hard to describe the leg/foot and arm/hand positioning. Just lay face down on the ground and figure out what works for you. Helps body control, and really develops strength.

With all of the crawling movements, just go until you feel fatigued. Track your progress by what distance you can cover or how many minutes you can handle, then keep trying to increase it.

I am a big proponent of using the swiss ball, also known as an exercise ball, in my workouts. Working on the ball brings a lot of muscles into play as you not only need to concentrate on doing your exercise, you also need to work to keep falling off the ball.

You will see a lot of different exercises on this site that use the swiss ball. I use it regularly. Get your hands on one somehow and try this.

First, get on the ground and do a regular push up. Do it 10 times.

Now, place your hands on the exercise ball, about shoulder width apart as you did on the floor, and do 10 push ups.

Notice how your arms quivered and your body had to work to keep you on the ball? Your core muscles are brought into play and are being exercises at the same time.

I believe in the advantage of a swiss ball so much that I wrote a very popular ebook on the subject. Right now I’m in the process of revamping this somewhat and will offer it again very shortly. In the meantime – I suggest you go out and purchase your own ball. They do not cost that much and I am certain you will find you are taking your exercising to another level.

You’ll find some exercises here and most balls come with a set of exercises you can start with. Basically take many of the exercise you now do and do them on the ball. It’s that simple.

Great Body Core Exercise

Two Leg Pike
Rollout on the ball until your shins are on the ball and you are forming a bridge.
Keeping this position roll your knees in towards your chest.
Return to the starting position and repeat.

The Dumbbell
Curl for building your biceps

1) Stand with feet shoulder width apart and knees slightly bent or sit in upright position.
2) Start position: Grasp DB’s with underhand grip (palms facing forward) and allow arms to hang down at sides. Elbows should be close to sides.
3) Flex at the elbows and curl DB’s one at a time up to approximately shoulder level. Keep elbows close to sides throughout movement. Return to start position.
4) Remember to keep back and head straight in a neutral position throughout movement. Shoulders should be stabilized by squeezing shoulder blades together slightly – only the elbow joint should be moving.

Turbulence Training is something I will try to devote some more time to simply because it works.

If you haven’t heard of it before, this is training that is very intense and thus can be done in a shorter amount of time. It’s not for everyone but almost anyone can incorporate some of it into their workouts.

Here’s a terrific video that shows you a little about it. After you finish this, you can head on over to Turbulence Training for some further info.