To Your Health
February, 2011 (Vol. 05, Issue 02)
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continued...

Reverse Lunge

  • Stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Brace your abs and contract your glutes as if you were squeezing something between them.
  • Step backward with the left leg, resting the toe on the ground. Then squat straight down with the right leg supporting your body weight. Lower yourself until your right thigh is parallel to the floor.
  • Return to the start position by pushing with the muscles of the right leg. Focus on pushing with glutes and hamstrings. Repeat for 10 reps.

One-Leg Elevated Lunge

  • Place the laces of one foot on a bench. Step forward with the other foot, taking a slightly larger than normal step (split squat stance).
  • Contract your glutes, brace your abs and keep your spine in a neutral position.
  • Lower your body until your front thigh is parallel to the ground. Keep your upper body upright and your lower back flat.
  • Push up to the upright position. Stay in a split-squat stance. Perform all reps (10) for one leg and then switch.

Pulling Exercises

Inverted Rows

  • Set a bar at hip height in the Smith machine or squat rack. Lie underneath the bar and grab it a few inches wider than shoulder-width apart.
  • Row (pull) yourself up the top position with your upper back and lats. Keep the abs braced and body in a straight line from toes (knees) to shoulders.
  • Slowly return to the start position. Repeat for 10 reps. (For beginner inverted rows - keep feet on the ground.)

Dumbbell Renegade Row

  • Start in the push-up position with your hands wrapped around two light dumbbells.
  • Keep your abs braced and row (pull) one dumbbell up to your rib cage. Slowly lower under control and alternate sides. Repeat for 10 reps.

Hope these twists on some original exercises get you excited and ready for a new, better you in 2011. I have been incorporating many of these exercises into my routines and find my clients get great results and more importantly, enjoy being challenged. After all, having an arsenal of exercises that you can do safely and effectively is the only true way to lose weight, gain strength and stay healthy in the long term. Now go out there and get started! Remember to talk to your doctor before beginning any new exercise routine, particularly if you have a health condition that could impact performance or safety.


Complexes: Another Way to Turn Ordinary Into Extraordinary

exercise - Copyright – Stock Photo / Register Mark There is no simpler and more effective way to burn belly fat, crank up metabolism, and tone and tighten your whole body than the training style referred to as "complexes." Complexes allow you to get a maximum amount of work done in a short period of time and a small amount of space, making it the perfect fit for home and travel workouts.

Complexes Defined:

Choose two or more exercises using the same implement or load (for example, 15 lb dumbbells) and then perform each exercise for either a certain number of repetitions or for a certain period of time. The key to properly performing complexes is to perform each movement/exercise back-to-back without any rest between exercises. In other words, you should not put the implement or load down at any point until completing all exercises within a given complex.

Like anything in fitness, progressive overload is the key to building lean muscle, burning belly fat and improving conditioning. Complex progression is accomplished in any of the following ways:

  • Increasing the number of exercises within the complex: Moving from a two-exercise complex to a four-exercise complex and then to a six-exercise complex.
  • Increasing intensity: Using heavier loads and/or more advanced exercise variations within each complex.
  • Increasing density: Completing more reps with a given load within the same work period or completing the same reps or more with a given load while employing shorter rest and transition periods.

Sample Dumbbell Complex:

  • Beginner:  Dumbbell squat to curl to press
  • Intermediate: Dumbbell burpie (standing position to squat to push-up and back up to your feet) to push-up row, to curl to press
  • Advanced: Dumbbell burpie to push-up row to curl to press, to overhead lunge

For the above sample complex, try to perform 2 minutes of continuous work followed by 45 seconds of rest for up to five total rounds.


Chelsea Cooper, MPA, CPT, is certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine as a personal trainer, performance enhancement specialist, and rehab and exercise specialist. To learn more, visit www.trainwithchelsea.com.