Look & Feel Great with Weights
It’s the week after Thanksgiving and all you’ve done for the past week is eat, eat, and eat. Eat leftovers, over indulge at holiday parties, chow down at family dinners, etc. Maybe you just snacked a little in between meals, but you feel like a stuffed pig! When you are finished with all of your shopping or decorating, you should end your day with this weight routine. You’ve already done your “long” cardio from all of the browsing and shopping and decorating and cleaning……now you just need to add in these moves to look and feel great!
Turkey Day Buster:
You will need: one set of weights, a stability ball, jump rope (isn’t necessary if you don’t have one), and a step
Warm up with 5 minutes of jump roping (if you don’t have a real jump rope, substitute with jumping jacks instead)
Then, you will perform 1 minute of jump rope/jumping jacks in between each exercise. Repeat the exercises one more time for 15-20 reps each.
Squat, Curl, and Press: You will need your weights for this one. You will perform a squat, as you are standing up you will perform a bicep curl, and then move straight into your shoulder press.
Pullovers: Lie your shoulders on the stability ball with lower back raised into the air, making sure your back is parallel to the floor. Place one weight in your hands and straighten arms back over your head, so that your arms are now parallel to the floor (keeping slight bend in elbows). Pullover so that weight is directly overhead.
Walking Diagonal Lunges: As you perform a lunge, you will step out at an angle so that you are targeting your inner thigh area. Move forward with next leg and continue walking in the diagonal forward pattern.
Reverse Bridge skull crushers: You will get into the same position on the SB (stability ball) as you were for the Pullovers. Then you will raise your arms straight into the air so that the weight is overhead. Bend your elbows so that you bring the weight down to your forehead (without hitting your forehead) and then extend your arms directly back into the air.
Pop squats: Start with your feet together and your hands on your hips. Pop feet out so they are a little wider than shoulder width apart and as you are jumping out, you will land in a squat position (like shown in pic 2). When you have reached the squat position, you will return to starting position. These are done quickly as you are popping in and out.
Bent over Rows: Stand up straight and grab your weights. Then you are going to bend over into a 90 degree angle so that your back is straight and parallel to the floor, knees are slightly bent. Pull the weights up toward your rib cage, keeping your elbows close to your body and palms facing each other. Return to original position and repeat.
Side Planks with knee to elbow Raises: Start in a side plank position with one arm raised up to the ceiling. Tuck the top of your knee in and keep your back flat as you pull your knee to your elbow.
Oh yeah, and here are some reasons that weight training is AWESOME! (as if you needed all of these):
- Increases metabolic rate
- Restores and increases bone density
- Increases lean muscle mass
- Increases muscle strength, power, and endurance
- Prevents injury
- Improves balance, flexibility, and range of motion (very important for later in life)
- Decreases risk of heart disease
- Enhances performance in sport, exercise, and every day life activities
- Makes you look and feel better
- Slows down the aging process
- Reduces muscle loss and fat gain!
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