David Week Three
Monday 28 April 2008
Paid your gym membership yet you don't find yourself getting there as often as you'd like? Think that you need to spend a few hours there each time to see rewards?
I'm a great advocate of daily workouts to achieve best results for lifting/toning/sculpting and to aid weight loss and boost vitality. For those days when you don't think you have time to head out to the gym for a full workout try one of my Ten Minute Express Workouts for home or office, as featured in The Ultimate New York Diet.
Remember, the golden rule for efficient workouts is 'mindful training' ie: connect your brain to the body part you are working on. Zone into yourself. Don't waste a second of your time being mediocre.
Plié Squat with Hammer Curl into a Shoulder Press
1. Stand with your feet slightly wider than hips’ distance apart. Turn your toes out and your heels in. Grasp a dumbbell in each hand, holding your hands at your sides, palms facing your hips.
2. Bring your body weight back into your heels as you bend your knees and squat down while pushing your butt out.
3. As you squat down, curl your arms up toward your shoulders, keeping your elbows close to your sides.
4. Hold the plié squat as you press your arms overhead without fully locking out the elbows. Lower your arms in the reverse order that you raised them. Extend your legs and return to the start.
5. Complete 20 to 30 biceps curls and presses as you squat.
David’s Ultimate Shadow Boxing
1. Grasp a dumbbell in each hand. Stand with your abs tight and your back fl at. Punch your right fist out diagonally, ending at torso level in front of your left ribs, completing a crossover punch.
2. Pull back as you bend your knees into a squat, as if you were ducking an incoming punch. Repeat on the other side as you extend your legs, driving up through your heels and butt. Repeat 20 to 30 times on each side.
3. With your right elbow against your ribs and your knuckles turned up, punch in an upward motion, as if you were punching someone in the jaw under their chin with an uppercut punch, trying to lift him off the ground. (When done correctly, the uppercut really engages the abs and obliques.) Pull back as you bend your knees, sitting back onto your heels. Repeat with the other arm as you extend your legs. Repeat 20 to 30 times on each side.
4. Bring your bent right arm up so it is parallel with the fl oor. Throw a hook punch, as if you were trying to knock someone on the side of the jaw. Pull back as you bend your knees, sitting back onto your heels. Repeat on the other side as you extend your legs.
5. Repeat the entire sequence for one minute.
Incline Dumbbell Press/Fly/Pullover on Stability Ball
This exercise helps to really shape the chest, but if you don’t have suffi ciently heavy dumbbells, consider substituting this exercise with push-ups with your hands either on the stability ball or on the floor.
1. From a seated position on your stability ball, walk your feet forward and slide your torso down the ball until you come into a bench press position with your upper back and head against the ball, knees bent 90 degrees, and
feet on the ground. Grasp a dumbbell in each hand with your arms extended toward the ceiling from your chest.
2. Bend your elbows out to the sides as you lower the dumbbells toward your nipples. Press the dumbbells up to the starting position.
3. Lower your arms out to the sides, keeping your elbows slightly bent. Stop once the dumbbells reach the plane of your body. Press your hands back together, as if you were hugging an oak tree.
4. Keeping your hands close together and your arms extended, lower the dumbbells overhead.
5. Rise, take a moment to rest, and repeat the sequence 15 times.
Bench Dips on Stability Ball
1. Sit on the fl oor. Place your heels or calves against the top of the stability ball. Place your palms on the fl oor behind your hips with your fi ngers facing toward your butt.
2. Press your body weight into your palms as you extend your elbows and lift your buttocks off the floor. Bend your elbows as you lower your buttocks toward the fl oor without touching the floor. Then extend your elbows and repeat 20 to 30 times.
3. Ultimate challenge: strength permitting, try doing this move with only one leg on the ball, lifting the other a few inches off the ball.
Wide Dumbbell Rows on Stability Ball
1. With your tummy or chest against the ball and balls of feet on the ground, grasp a dumbbell in each hand. (For greater stability, you may place your feet against the wall.) Place your hands on the ground below your
shoulders.
2. Bend your elbows out to the sides as your raise the dumbbells, as if you were rowing a boat. Lower to the starting position.
3. Lift the dumbbells again, but this time keep your elbows in close to your torso. Alternate these positions for a total of 15 to 20 repetitions in each position.
4. Repeat the entire sequence at least once, for a total of 10 minutes.