Everyday Paleo (48 page)

1)
Stand with your feet directly in between the rings, making sure that the rings are evenly adjusted and that the tops of the rings line up with your armpits. Hold tight to the rings.

2)
While holding on tightly to the rings, tighten your tummy and legs and slowly begin to lower yourself back. Keep your gaze focused directly up through your hands in order to keep your neck in a neutral position.

3)
Continue your controlled decent until your arms are fully extended.

4)
Reverse the movement by first squeezing your shoulder blades together and then bending at the elbows to pull yourself back up to the rings, making sure to keep you body tight and straight like a plank. Tighten those tummy muscles and leg muscles! If this is easy for you, walk your feet forward a couple of steps to increase the difficulty. If this is too difficult, walk back a few steps to decrease the difficulty level. As you get stronger, you can attempt this movement with your feet elevated on a box.

Sit-Up

Gone are the days of crunches. In this sequence I demonstrate how to perform a slightly modified sit-up, which when performed correctly will not only work your abdominal muscles, but also your quads, hamstrings, and glutes, providing you with a full-body workout! Be ready to sweat and feel your heart rate go up as you tackle this new way to perform the old-school sit-up.

MUSCLES USED: Abdominals, Gluteals, Quadriceps, and Hamstrings

1)
Lie flat on your back with your knees bent. Your feet should be about 2 feet away from your fanny. For the beginner, have a partner secure your feet or you can tuck your feet underneath a couch or a set of heavy dumbbells for added support. Place your arms overhead and flat on the ground.
2)
As you swing your arms forward to generate the momentum needed to sit up, begin to bring your chest toward your knees.
3)
Reach your chest upward, avoiding rounding your spine to the point that you are no longer engaging your tummy muscles. Make sure that your chest touches your thighs at the top of the sit-up, and quickly pump your arms back by bending at the elbow. This provides you with the last little bit of momentum needed to completely raise yourself to a seated position.
4)
As you begin your return to the floor, quickly pump your arms straight up over your head. This will move your arms back to the overhead position and prepare you for another repetition.
5)
Return all the way back down flat to the ground and repeat the movement. Using your arms is not cheating. It allows you to perform more reps at a faster pace, which works more muscle groups, raises your heart rate, and increases the intensity of this movement. If you use support for your feet and your arms to help you sit up, even beginners should be able to perform at least a few repetitions.

Hollow Rock

The hollow rock is another fabulous core strengthener. Although the movement varies from the sit-up in that it focuses more on the abdominal muscles, it is still a full-body movement when performed correctly. The key to all of the movements I demonstrate is to maintain a tight body! When you focus on tightening and stabilizing your entire body during these exercises, you train your body to be more aware of how it should move and work, which transfers to real life. If you isolate your muscle use, it inhibits the normal and natural flow of your movements.

MUSCLES USED: Abdominals

Begin on the floor in a “hollow position.” Your pelvis should be tilted up and arms positioned overhead. Your legs should be tight, positioned together, and raised about a foot above the ground.

Using your tummy muscles, stay tight and rock by raising your hips off the ground.

Alternate the movement by lifting your shoulders off the ground and letting your hips drop downward. It is important to note that you should rock smoothly. There should be no back and forth thumping of your spine and butt. If you are unable to achieve a smooth rocking motion, modify the position by bending your knees and bringing your arms down to your sides. Use this modification until you are strong enough to perform the hollow rock with straight, outstretched legs and your arms positioned overhead.

Super Woman

This movement can make you feel silly, so I suggest doing it with the kids so that you can all have a good laugh and feel like superheroes together! However, make sure not to laugh too hard because as with all of the previous movements I have demonstrated, you want to maintain muscle tightness, especially with your glutes. When performed correctly, this is a great exercise for strengthening the fanny, hamstrings, quads, and back muscles.

MUSCLES USED: Spinal Erectors, Gluteals, Deltoids, and Hamstrings

1)
Start lying face down on the ground with your legs together and arms outstretched overhead.

2)
Tighten your glutes and raise your legs, chest, and arms off of the floor at the same time. And when I say tighten your glutes, I mean really squeeze your fanny!

3)
Return your legs and arms simultaneously to the ground and repeat.

Jumping Squat

The jumping squat is an advanced movement and should only be performed if you are strong enough to achieve a full-depth squat and you have been working out using a cross-training method for longer than six months. Furthermore, you should not attempt this movement if you have any injuries or orthopedic issues with your knees, hips, or spine. If you fall into the category of being able to try this movement, hold on, because these get really fun really fast! Not only does this movement strengthen the same muscle groups as the regular squat, but the jumping squat is a very explosive movement that will get your heart rate up quickly and your legs burning—in a good way,

MUSCLES USED: Gluteals, Hamstrings, and Quadriceps

1)
Start in a squat stance with your feet under your shoulders and arms outstretched in front of you for balance.
2)
Reach your hips back and down, keeping your chest upright and the weight in your heels.
3)
Continue to squat down to full depth, making sure that your hips are lower than your knees.
4)
Without resting at the bottom of your squat position, push up quickly through your heels, using your arms to give you more momentum.
5)
Bring your arms down quickly by your side as you jump into the air.
6)
Land with bent knees onto your forefoot and then transfer your weight back to your heels. Do not land on your toes and avoid letting your knees track forward. As you land, go immediately back into a squat and jump again. Repeat a few times and notice how quickly this movement starts to turn up the intensity!