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What Are The Benefits of Leg Raise Exercises

A workout involving leg raises offers many benefits to different muscle groups as well as the overall strength. While there are different types of these leg raises which you can do, they most emphasis on different muscle groups. To get good results from these exercises, you would want to make sure you start with proper form while using the right technique and finish. In addition, make it regular to do the exercises. Since these moves are not easy to perform, you would want to consult with a Port Coquitlam fitness trainer to assist you in grasping the movements and doing them proper.

In leg raises, they are typically executed when one is lying on floor or alternatively hanging from chin up bar. You may also perform them from a raised curve bar. These different ways will provide different benefits in body and especially the lower abdominal muscles. The positioning and form during the exercise are very important. The leg raise exercises will work on the following group of muscles;

  • Lower back muscles- With regular execution of leg raises, it will help in lowering the risk of experiencing a back injury, strain, or pain when you perform other routines or daily activities. The focus of this exercise may not be on the back muscles but because it is a form of abdominal and core exercise, it will offer increased support for your back. The lower abdominals are the main focus in leg raises. Therefore, the exercises will support lower back and enhance stability and strength.
  • Abdominal/core muscle– The primary group of muscle that benefits from leg raises is the lower abdominal muscles. Hanging leg raises will fatigue both the lower and upper abdominals but for the floor leg raises, they will primarily work the lower abdominals.
  • Hip flexors- One thing about all types of leg raise exercises is that they will increase agility, flexibility, and strength of hip flexors. It will require hip joint movement when you do both bent knee as well as straight leg raise exercises. People with bad hips or suffering from arthritis may want to talk to their doctor before indulging in this exercise.

For the beginners or those who have under-developed or weak abs, they may find it hard to do the moves. It might even take some months or many reps before one could see results.


Doing Toe Tapping As An Abdominal Exercise

Most of the abdominal exercises including the standard floor crunch will work on the abs with active contraction. The muscles will contract or shorten in order to perform the movements. However, with toe tap exercise, it is designed to offer a basic abdominal movement, which works on abs isometrically and statically. While abdominal muscles may not be the primary movers, they will engage when you do the toe tapping exercise. Since the movement can be a bit difficult, you may want to involve a Port Coquitlam fitness trainer to help you learn the tactics. Here is how you can execute the toe tap moves;

  • Lie on the floor with your back and have the arms placed on side and the palms facing the floor.
  • Now position the hips and knees to be at 90 degree angle by lifting the feet and bending both the knees. Ensure the thighs are perpendicular to floor while the lower legs are parallel to floor. Throughout the movement, make sure you maintain these joint positions.
  • Slowly and quietly begin to tap the left toes to floor and then pull the leg back up so that it gets to the start position. Repeat with the right and alternate the tapping feet. If you feel some pain on lower back, do not bring the toes all way down. Continue alternating side until you do the desired number of reps.

During this exercise, the abdominal muscles will not actively contract and shorten. The hip flexor muscles are the primary movers here. These are the muscles that connect the hip bone to the thigh bone. Flexor muscles are responsible for pulling thighs toward the hip.

During the toe tap, the rectus abdominis, which is the main ab muscle, will isometrically contract in order to stabilize the torso as you do this exercise. If you want to increase difficulty of the exercise, you can lower both feet at the same time. The abdominal muscles will work harder to maintain stability of the torso against the movements induced by both legs when compared to one leg. Alternatively, you may want to toe tap when seated on a bench


Using Elliptical Machine to Torch Calories

As the weather turns unbearable, many people will head to gym and one machine they will use is the elliptical trainer. Elliptical machine is a gym equipment that provides workouts easy on joints. This grand cardio and total body exercise machine can be boring and repetitive especially if you do not know how to tailor the workouts to target different muscle groups and body parts. As a Port Coquitlam fitness trainer takes you through a series of workouts, you can find that there is more to get from this machine through the moves.

Elliptical machine is a great calorie burner able to burn about 371 calories in an individual who weighs about 160 pounds if he or she exercises for 45 minutes at a moderate to intense rate. Exercising on elliptical machine will give you a workout that decrease stress on knees, back, and hips since both feet will remain grounded all the time.

Since most of elliptical have handles resembling skip poles, they are also able to work the upper body too. Because the equipment might be boring with repetitive moves, you may want to vary the workout to challenge different groups. You can do a booty workout which targets glutes and hamstrings with a tweak of the incline on elliptical machine. This exercise can help you tone the backside and get a good cardio exercise.

Focus on keeping the heels down when you are on the machine. A core workout can be done by not using the handle in the elliptical as it engages the muscles of core because you are working harder to remain in balance on the machine. As you go faster, you will work the core more. The same way you exercise in a treadmill, you may also use the elliptical to do workouts that mimic the run you do on a treadmill.

In order to feel like you are on a treadmill, just leave alone the handles of the elliptical and instead place your arms as you do in a running position. Instead of spending some mindless 30 minutes on elliptical machine, you can maximize that time by performing such workouts.


How Can Cycling Help You In Shedding Fat?

The moment you begin workouts, you will discover that there is plenty you can do. From swimming, jogging, pushups, squats, deadlifts, to cycling, these are exercises, which can help in transforming your body. The cornerstone to your fitness training is the fitness goal you want to achieve. If you are losing weight, you have to understand that intensity and duration will play a big role in your workouts for you to see results. You can get results by consulting with a Port Coquitlam fitness trainers.

Cycling as well as stationery bikes produce exercises which are easy on joints. Recumbent exercise bikes may be better for the beginners since they provide more support for the back. Here is what you expect from a cycling exercise but remember that as with walking, the intensity will matter.

  • A person who weighs about 160 pounds in body weight could be able to burn as much as 290 calories if they cycle at a rate of about 5.5 mph in a duration of one hour. This is an estimate figure but it shows what you would expect to get from a workout involving cycle.
  • If you make the workout more intense, you could see an improvement. The more you cycle also means that you are able to burn more calories.
  • You may consider group cycle classes since you get motivation for the workout. When you work out in a group environment, you can easily push yourself to the limit since you are seeing other people do it. You do not want to be seen as the unfit one in the group.

Nonetheless, you also need to be careful especially if you are beginner. Some of these group training or classes may be too vigorous for the beginners. If you are doing your first cycling workouts, you may want to cycle at a pace that feels comfortable instead of trying to keep up with what others are doing, since it could result to injury or overworking of the body. As you progress, you may find that you have build both strength and endurance to take over the vigorous biking.


A Few Office Workouts You Can Perform To Keep Fit

For those who spend extended time sitting on their desk at work, they put themselves at risk of suffering from conditions like obesity, heart failure, diabetes, or early death. Sitting may also affect your posture and core stability. When you sit for too long, it causes the body to shut down meaning the metabolic level is really low. The circulation slows down, which implies that the body burns few calories. You can talk to a personal trainer who provides Coquitlam group personal training to discover which exercises you could do right in your office.

Since your schedule could be an obstacle to finding time for the gym, you may want to spare some little time and do a few exercise that can work on different muscle groups and help in your fitness.

Forearm exercises

Exercises like wrist extension and flexion will target the forearm muscles, and they may be done easily at your desk with use of resistance band. In performing wrist extension, you make a loop using the resistance band. You do this by tying ends together. Now, you sit on your chair and holding the knotted end using the right hand, then you step on loop with the right foot.

You begin by resting the forearm on the thigh while the palm faces up. Then bend the wrist and curl the hand toward the body. Take a pause and slowly lower the hand to the start position. Switch arms after 15 minutes. If you want to perform wrist flexion, you start like you did with the wrist extension but this time with the palm facing the floor. Now bend the wrist backward so that you draw the back of the hand toward you. Again, after 15 seconds, you can switch the arms.

Lower leg exercise

Holding on to the desk or chair, stand straight with the feet placed hip width apart. Now slowly lift the heels off floor and raise up to the balls of the feet making sure you go as far as you can. Ensure you hold for about 2 seconds and slowly lower the back to floor. You can continue for about 30 seconds.

These are just a few of the exercises you could do in your office and they take pretty little time. In as short as 5 minutes, you could work out your body and stay fit.


Is a 10-Minute Workout Really Useful?

The amount of time you take in performing an exercise has some impact on the outcome, but this is relative to the kind of intensity or load you lift. One may ask; is a 10 minute exercises able to produce any results? If you are exercising to lose fat, you will need to work out more, probably 30 to 60 minutes of cardios or aerobic exercises each day for several days in a week. However, if your goal is to tone and strengthen your muscle, as little as 10 minutes of workouts may be just be what you need. Discuss with your personal trainer during a Coquitlam group personal training and see which exercises you can do within a short time and still get considerable results;

Cardio workouts

Increasing the duration and intensity of exercises will provide the most benefits. A 10 minutes of doing cardio will probably not get you to fat burning zone for a long time, but if you engage in moderately to vigorously quick cardios for about 10 minutes, you may burn some calories and enhance your mood. You may consider exercises like jogging, jumping, belly dancing or brisk walking, which are cardio workouts that you could do anywhere.

 

Calisthenics workouts

If you want a quick but dirty way of getting toned and stronger muscles, you can consider calisthenics. Military style calisthenics could break a sweat in just a few minutes while using every muscle of your body. You may want to do a circuit of moves such as jumping jacks, crunches, pushups, lunges, and squats in order to cover a large group of muscles and get the blood pumping for enhanced circulation and metabolic rate.

 

Core workouts

During those times you have a hectic day or you feel lazy, a 10 minutes exercise targeting the abdominals and lower back may make you feel like you have accomplished something while also giving you some energy boost to get you through the rest of the day. Using resistance band or stability ball, can make the most of your 10 minute core exercise. Your body weight is also good in working the core.


Some Butt Exercises a Woman Can do While Laying Down

Majority of women carry weighty buttocks and they would like to tone their butt. Cardio exercises such as swimming, walking, and biking can help in burning fat in the entire body, but to strengthen and tone the rear, it requires some specific moves that targets the muscles. There are a number of exercises, which you can do in a Coquitlam group personal training to work the butt and shape it. These exercises include the supermans, stability ball roll in, hip lift progression, and side lying hip abduction.

  • Supermans helps work the butt as well as the hips. It is an effective exercise for those who would like to tone their butt.
  • Hip lift progression is designed to work on muscles in buttocks. It may also assist in easing back pain or discomforts.
  • Stability ball roll in is done using stability ball. This ball is useful in working many muscles since it helps challenge your balance. Although this stability ball roll in does not require too much time, it produces toning benefits.
  • Side lying hip abduction is a workout that challenges the muscles on the side of the butt. It is an exercise you would want to include in your butt exercises so that you get a well rounded workout.

You may want to work the muscle in butt for about two to three times in a week with some rest in between. Seeking the help of a personal trainer will ensure each move is executed properly and safely. Training in a group also creates some level of competition. To perform the supermans exercise, you lie on the stomach and have the legs and the arms extended while the toes remain pointed behind.

Keep the palms facing each other. Ensure the neck is loose and the head is in line with the backbone. While exhaling, lift the legs and arms off floor to reach about 2 to 3 inches then hold to that position for a number of seconds. While inhaling, lower the legs and arms to start position. Ensure you do not move the head and neck, and the back is not arched during the move. You can do about 10 to 20  reps.


Doing Dumbbell Step Up for Butt Flattening

Most of the women will exercise to have a slimmer and flatter backside while men will focus on lifting and firming glutes muscles. If you intend to have a flutter but firmer butt, you may want to try a number of exercises which include hip lift progression, dumbbells set up, and single sky bridge. In a Coquitlam group personal training, you can execute these exercises with aid of an experienced personal trainer to make sure you do them properly and safely. When you train alone, you do not have that sense of competition. You may think that you are doing it all fine but there is room to make improvement when you work in a manageable group with help of a fitness trainer.

Doing dumbbell step up

This exercise works the butt, hips, and thighs. It requires the exerciser to use a raised platform or step. In doing the exercise, you hold a dumbbell in each hand and stand with the feet placed at hip width apart. You also ensure that the palms face inward or on the side of the legs then pull the shoulders down and back.

By placing the right foot steady on the platform try to push off using the left leg to lift up the body onto the platform. Now, place the left foot next to your right foot, then stand upright. Continue by slowly positioning the body weight onto the right foot and stepping backward using the left foot, and place it on floor to attain its original position. At the same time, allow the body to lean forward slightly.

Now, transfer the body weight to that foot on floor and then step off with the right foot. You can repeat the exercise using the opposite side and perform about 10 reps in each side. This exercise will work the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and the calves.

Ensure you breathe as you execute that force needed to pull up the body weight onto the platform. This exercise is ideal for people who have lower back problems but they are unable to perform stiff legged deadlifts. In variations, a barbell may be used as the load for the resistance. For beginners, they may want to start with bodyweight so that they build their balance before they can add some loads.


How to do a Hip Lift Progression Exercise

In most resistance training routines, you find that the glutes, posterior chain, lower back, and the hamstrings are often neglected. Hip lifts are valuable exercises intended to work on these muscles. If you add hip lifts into your routine, you stress the muscles. Start your hip lift progression exercises in a Coquitlam group personal training and see the results you will get. For people who have lower back pain, one way to get improvement of their pain condition is the ability to extend their hip without extending the lumbar spine.

Often, gym goers will do exercises, which mainly focus on the back and rarely on the hips, and this is a problem. The repetitive movements working on the end range part of lumbar flexion and extension could be destructive to the lumbar spine. When done improperly while at the same time greatly extending the lower back, it may cause compression of interspinous ligament. And with prolonged compression of the ligament, it could result to instability. To perform hip lift exercise, you should do the following;

  • Lie on your back and have the arms placed at side with knees bend and the feet on floor. Lift the hips towards ceiling and hold for one count before you lower them back to surface.
  • Repeat the hip lifting for 60 second while squeezing the glutes and the hamstring at top of range of the motion. Ensure you do not overarch the spine as it may bring some problem.
  • To make the exercise a bit difficult, extend one of your legs at top of lift. Now keep the thighs parallel and try to hold the lifting position for close to 5 seconds.
  • While keeping the hips up, return the foot back to floor and now lower your hips. You can repeat this for 30 seconds and switch side for another 30 seconds using the other leg.

With this exercise, it will provide you with relieve of tension in the lower back and at the same time work on your butt. You may want to use a cushy mat so that you keep the tailbone from friction.