Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Changing Your Body

I get asked a lot on what is the BEST exercises to do to lose weight and get toned.
Now I would be biased and say - Kettlebells and Power Yoga of course! And CrossFit workouts sure are body changing too.

But I do realize not everyone wants to take classes, or has the time or money.
For those of you who do take classes - spinning, step, muscle conditioning, kick boxing, etc, are you getting the results you want? And if not, WHY are you still taking those classes?!

If you really want to change your body perform exercises such as push ups, pull ups and squats. Do you REALLY think taking Spinning 3 times a week is going to change your body more than if you could do multiple push ups, pull ups and squats? (Not that there is anything wrong with Spinning or other such classes, but it just should not be your only workout program). You don't need any equipment or weights at all to do these exercises.

You just need your own body weight. Start with push ups on your knees and then do one on your toes, then two, etc, etc. Once you get good at push ups you can really mix it up - Hindu Push ups, Spiderman Push ups, T Push ups, Handstand Push ups, One arm, you get the drift!

Same with Pull ups - this is where most people stop and say forget it - I'll never be able to do a Pull up. STOP that line of thinking. What if you could? Imagine how strong you would be and what your body would look like? You can start with just hanging from a bar. You can jump yourself up into a pull up and slowly let yourself down. Even if you can't jump yourself up into a full pull up, keep at it and you WILL. And watch your body CHANGE. I'm ready to start practicing weighted pull ups. I never thought I'd say that!

And again, same with squats - you can start slow. Sitting up and down off of a chair if you have to. Start with wall sits, then progress into squats and try to get lower and lower so your hips go BELOW parallel. Then you can do things like jump squats, speed squats, Hindu Squats, split squats (lunges), 1 legged squats, and more.

Just these 3 exercises alone can give you endless workout variations and get you into the BEST shape of your life.

Happy 2012 - and look forward to getting your best and strongest body yet.

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