Through YouCanShape, we have met a lot of people who want to live a healthier lifestyle and have a stronger body. One of the things we teach our customers right off the bat, in addition to eating healthier, is strength training. This form of exercise is suitable for almost everyone, and can really give you momentum towards your goals whether it is to be injury-free, lose weight or perform better. In this post, we will touch on why you should focus on getting stronger and how you can easily get started with strength training.
There are many health benefits to strength training. To begin with, a stronger body will be able to perform all the everyday tasks more easily, and reduce the risk of you getting injured. Getting stronger can also improve your posture, provided that you exercise properly based on what your body needs. If your goal is to reduce your fat percentage, strength training is a must! Getting stronger and bigger muscles means that your body can burn more calories at rest and a high-intensity strength workout will have an effect on your metabolism long after the session itself is over.
Finally, strength training is also effective on the way back from injuries and aches, and we have many customers who no longer have joint and back pain after making strength training a part of their everyday life.
When it comes to strength training, there are an unlimited number of exercises you can do. With certain types of isolation exercises you can train very specific muscles and you also have the choice of training with fitness equipment or with dumbbells. The possibilities are limitless. But, like most of us, you may also have limited time, while wanting to spend your time off on other things than just workout. That is why YouCanShape focuses only on super-effective training that you can do in a very short time. The exercises we have chosen do not require any equipment and can be done from home. But, if you want, you can also do these at a gym.
The exercises you want to learn are exercises that activate large muscle groups. This will give you the most results on the time you put in and will at the same time increase your metabolism more than training the smaller muscles. In addition, these are exercises that can be done at a higher pace and that gives you the opportunity to get a proper high pulse workout. This is incredibly effective for fat burning in addition to being really healthy for the heart.
We have picked out some of our favorite exercises which you are guaranteed to enjoy mastering.
The exercises are:
* Frog jump
* Glutebridge
* Mountain Climber with twist
* Push ups
* Superman
It is not uncommon to want to give it your all in the beginning to see results as quickly as possible. It is completely understandable that you want progress, but rushing often works against its purpose. By focusing on learning the right technique early, you will also be able to do the exercises correctly when you increase the speed and intensity, and that will lead to far better results than if you slouch through the exercises. Lay a good foundation in the beginning, it will pay off in the long run.
Frog jump: Start by sitting down in a squat position with a focus on pushing your knees out to the side and placing your fingertips or palm on the ground. Then try to jump as high as you can. As soon as your feet hit the ground, return to the starting position as quickly as possible. Focus on having an activated back so that the chest is pushed forward. The back should not be vertical, but in an forward tilt at about 45 degrees.
Glute bridge: Lie on your back with your knees bent so your feet are firmly on the ground. Push off into the ground through the heels and slowly lift your butt off the floor. Tighten your buttocks as much as possible. The focus is not to get as high as possible, and make sure that it is not the lower back that takes over the lift. You should not get a rounded back like when you do a bridge. Focus on tightening your stomach, it will help you keep your back straight. When you get as high as you can without the lumbar spine taking over, tighten the buttock muscles as hard as you can for 2-3 seconds, before slowly lowering yourself again. Focus on the buttocks throughout the movement. If you feel that you are training the back of your thighs, try to put your feet a few inches closer to your body.
Pushups: Start in a pushup position where your hands and toes are on the ground. Make sure your body is in a straight line from your shoulders to your feet. Then take a deep breath and hold your breath before lowering your upper body toward the floor. How deep you should go depends on what you feel you can do properly. If pushups are a heavy exercise for you, it is better to go halfway down to complete the exercise correctly. If you can, you can go so deep that the upper arm is in line with the upper body. When you get up, you exhale and take another big breath that you also hold in, before you start to lower yourself again. Focus on pressing your elbows against your body throughout the movement.
Mountain climber with twist: Start in the same starting position as push ups. Then move one knee towards the upper body as far as you can in the direction of the opposite shoulder, while the other leg remains straight, before putting it back in the starting position. Do every other leg. Focus on pushing your upper body off the floor so you do not hang from your shoulders. As you master this exercise, you can increase the speed to get your heart rate up.
Superman: Start by lying flat on your stomach, with your arms stretched past your head and legs straight. Then you should tighten your back and buttocks to lift your upper body and legs off the ground. Then lift your right arm and left leg as high as you can, without bending them. Hold in the top position for 2-3 seconds before lowering them so that the palm and toes touch the floor. Keep them there while lifting your left arm and right leg in the same motion.
The training program
Now that you know how to do the different exercises, we can put them together into a training program that gives you both an intense workout and is completed in less than 30 minutes. Try to go straight from one exercise to the next, and only do a break after Aquaman.
Glutebridge x 20
Frog jump x 10
Mountain Climber with twist x 20 pr leg
Push ups x 10
Superman x 10 per side
30 second break
Repeat 4 - 6 rounds.
Now you have some incredibly effective exercises that will definitely help you get stronger. When you increase the pace of these, you will also increase your fat burning and fitness, and therefore this is an optimal way to exercise for you who want a fitter body.
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