You've looked at yourself in the mirror and decided that
no, you're not fat. There just seems to be a bit of a belly
and some flabby arms that won't go away. You know that you
need to do some resistance training for your belly and arms
but how can you ever fit it in? You do it at home!
First, what I am about to tell you will only work on flabby
arms and a pokey belly when used with a total approach to
getting in shape. That means proper diet, cardio and
resistance training as a system.
Lets talk about the flabby arms first. The easiest thing
you can do to tighten up flabby arms and a droopy chest is
the press up. I know you may have difficulty with them but
that's because they are hard, but they also work VERY well.
We will call the press up a pushup from now on just because
that is the term that most people use. The pushup has many
variations and I am sure that one of the ones I give you
will be well within your ability to do until you get to the
full military pushup variation and beyond.
You want to keep your core tight. What you do not want to
happen is that when you push up, you look like you are
peeling yourself off the floor. I call this worming. A lot
of people do it when they get tired. First you will see
them raise their heads, then their chest and finally their
hips leave the floor. What should happen is that you
contract your core so that everything from the base contact
point (feet or knees) is lifted off at the same moment.
The first and easiest version of the pushup is the wall
pushup. This is simply standing face into a wall and doing
your pushups by pushing against the wall until you are
standing straight. You lower and push over and over. If you
can do 15 to 20 reps of these two to three times then it is
time to go onto the second version.
The second version on the scale of difficulty in pushups is
the box pushup. Instead of pushing against the wall, you
will push against something that is 1-2 feet off the floor.
You should probably do these with your base being your
knees instead of your feet like in the full military
pushup. The couch will work and so will the coffee table.
Make sure you position yourself so that when you touch the
couch (or whatever) in the bottom position your lower chest
is the contact point. Aim for the nipples if you want an
exact spot. After you can do 3 sets of 15 on this version,
you are ready for the next step in your pushup evolution!
The third version on the scale of difficulty in pushups is
when the pushup is done on the knees. Everything about this
version is the same as the regular full pushup except that
your knees do not leave the ground. This cuts out the extra
weight from the knees to the toes making the pushup a
little easier than the full version. Again, when you get 3
sets of 15 repetitions, you are ready to move on.
The fourth version in your journey to a full pushup is the
knee pushup with a full pushup negative. Now we are getting
somewhere! The trick with this version is to do your pushup
as in the above version and lower yourself in the regular
full pushup version. The reason you do this is because you
are always stronger in the negative or lowering portion of
the movement than in the positive or raising portion. So we
do the heavy full pushup negative and the easier knee
pushups to raise your self up. When you feel comfortable
with the movement, try this to tighten up the flabby arms.
Three rounds of:
Pushups x max repetitions combined with
Dips off a chair x max repetitions
Now What About That Belly?
You'll hear a lot of experts jumping on the bandwagon
saying the crunch isn't the most effective ab exercise.
It's not if you are a gymnast or you have been training for
years. If you can't do a couple of sets without your abs
burning though, it's a great place to start without killing
yourself!
Place your hands behind (support, but don't pull) your
head. I like to support my head by using the fingertips to
cup the ears. It's a light support but it keeps you from
cranking your neck forward. From here, curl your upper
torso forward. As you do this you want to keep your lower
back in mind and push it into the floor. Three sets of
crunches for 20 reps a set is a nice place for a beginner
to start. You can rest anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute
depending on how hard of an effort that was for you.
If that's not a problem then superset each set of crunches
with the next exercise called planks. Superset is just a
fancy personal trainer term for no rest. This means then
that the first set of crunches is immediately followed by a
brief 30 second rest to let the burn fizzle a bit.
NOW STAND ON ONE FOOT AND PAT YOUR HEAD. Just Joking!
If you watch your diet and do your cardio along with your
full body workout, you will see that six pack come out. The
last step is to add in the plank. This is basically a
pushup position but you don't rest on your hands, you rest
on your forearms and just hold it for 30-60 seconds. Don't
let your lower back sag! Keep a slightly inverted c posture
like your trying to pull your hips toward your chin.
Now to combine these two belly busters into an abdominal
workout you can do at home and get a little sweat on.
3 Supersets With No Rest:
Crunches x20
Planks for a 30-60 second hold
So there you go. If used with proper diet, cardio and full
body training this will tighten up flabby arms, a saggy
chest and a pokey belly in the comforts of your own home.
----------------------------------------------------
Ray Burton is a an ISSA-certified personal trainer,
bodybuilder and author of the best selling Fat to Fit
Program. To watch personal training videos and get your
free e-course on losing weight and getting in shape, visit:
Free
e-course====>http://buildingbodies.ca/factsaboutfitness.shtm
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