Exercise of the Week Archives - Kingdom Running Club

Squat

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 21:33:08 +0000

The Squat

The Squat builds strength and muscle in your lower body.

Benefits

Promotes mobility and balance which makes it a functional exercise that makes real life activities easier.
Prevents injury by strengthening the stabilizing muscle, ligaments and tissue.
Boosts your athletic performance you can jump higher and run faster.

Proper Form

Stand with a comfortable stance. Plant feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart with toes turned out at a slight angle.
Lower yourself by reaching back with your butt while maintaining a strong lower back. Keep your knees aligned with your toes and your toes on the ground.
Chest up, upper back tight, eyes looking forward and slightly down, head in a neutral position. Maintain a nice cohesive line along your spine.
Go just below parallel, so that your butt drops below your knees.
Come back up by pushing through the heel.

Things to Remember

Don’t let your knees bow inward. Think of actively shoving your knees outward on the descent so that they track over your toes.
Visualize driving through the heel, try lifting your toes off the ground the first few reps.

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SMR

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 21:26:51 +0000

Self Myofascial Release

Self Massage Using a Foam Roller

Benefits

Foam rolling reduces aerial stiffness
Enhances range of motion
Done before a workout can increase strength and performance

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Shoulders

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 20:56:15 +0000

Shoulders

Our shoulders bear a lot of weight and work such as grocery hauling, handbag carrying, office chair slouching, bra wearing….in addition if you are active you can develop tendinitis or a torn rotator cuff and along with some simple aches and kinks. These can start showing up as early as your 30’s and into your 40’s. You want to keep your shoulders strong and loose!

The #1 problem is tendinitis/bursitis which is basically inflammation in your shoulder complex.

Shoulder Exercises

Jab/Cross

Holding free weights palms each other twist torso to left as you punch right arm across your body to the left. Repeat on the other side.

Shoulder Push Up

Looks like a modified dive bomber

Half Moon

Stand tall with free weights, arms at your sides, palms facing forward. Raise arms upward in a 1/2 circle until the dumbbells touch above head (think shoulder press) lower and repeat

Tree Hug

Raise arms to the side until parallel to the floor. Bring your arms forward until free weights touch (arms slighting rounded, not locked) bring back and repeat.

Row

Hinge forward at waist with arms hanging down (do this balanced on 1 leg in a hinge), palms facing each other. Lift arms until parallel to the floor, shoulder height while squeezing shoulder blades together, lower and repeat.

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Short Sprints

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 20:50:34 +0000

Short Sprints

Sprint training gives back in many ways.

Benefits

Fat Oxidation
Build Muscle
Increase Endurance
Improve Heart Health
Improve Energy Use
Improves Circulation
Improves Brain Function
Builds Mental Toughness

Don’t Give Up!

Sprints are hard and may hurt. There may be moments of doubt when you are in the middle of a sprint workout. The pain and uncertainty in your ability to finish your workout is all in your head. You have to dig in and not give up. By pushing through the physical discomfort and pain, your will build confidence in your physical and emotional abilities.

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Push Ups

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 20:44:21 +0000

Push Ups

The push up is a classic exercise used to target the muscles of the chest, shoulders, and triceps. What most people don’t know is that push ups also recruit other muscles groups, such as the glutes, thighs, abdominals, biceps, and back, to help keep your body stable throughout the movement.

The best part is, with pushups, you don’t need any resistance to build muscle, just your body. It’s no wonder why personal trainers consider the push up to be the best exercise for a full body workout.

Targets

Chest, shoulders, triceps, glutes, thighs, abs, biceps, and back

Equipment Needed

None

Instructions

Trainer’s Tips

Keeping your body erect, hover facedown against the floor on your toes and hands. Keep your feet apart and your hands underneath your shoulders. Tighten your abs to avoid sagging in the hips and lower back.

Descend in a controlled manner until you’re a few inches off the ground. Then, press yourself up.

If this move felt a bit difficult, the wide pushup might be a better option for you. If this was easy, try one of the more challenging pushup exercises.

Resist making this a bouncy movement. Instead control the movement throughout.
Be sure to squeeze the calves at the top of the movement.
Make sure to drop the heel as far as possible to achieve the greatest stretch.
Keep your legs straight throughout the movement.

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Ladder Agility Drills

Wed, 03 Apr 2024 19:04:48 +0000

Ladder Agility Drills

In order to be a more well-rounded athlete and more balanced individual we need to work on our agility, quickness, coordination and reactivity. Agility is our bodies’ ability to change body position or direction efficiently and requires the integration of multiple skills, including balance, coordination, speed, reactivity, strength, power and endurance.

Targets

Agility

Equipment Needed

Skill Cones and Ladders

Level

Beginner

Benefits

Multi-planar coordination
Boost heart rate and blood flow throughout the body
Increase mind-body connection: In order to train these skills cones and ladders are used to acquire our bodies’ awareness. When we are executing agility drills we are cutting and curving with our bodies.
The coordination and body awareness you will gain from ladder training will transfer into improved running speed and mechanics.

Proper Form

When cutting you want to push off the outside leg and position the inside leg in the direction of the plane you want to move your body through.
For cutting you want to drop the inside shoulder and arm toward the floor/ground on cutting runs, step through the inside leg and then explode through with the outside leg.

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Exercise Ball Abdominal Crunch

Wed, 03 Apr 2024 17:00:41 +0000

Exercise Ball Abdominal Crunches

This is one of the most effective ways to strengthen, flatten and tone the abs. Doing the exercise using a Balance Ball or stability ball eliminates the impact of a hard surface on the spine, which helps you perform the movement more precisely.

Targets

Abs and lower back

Equipment Needed

Exercise Ball

Benefits

It helps increase lower back strength, support the spine, promote better posture and prevent lower back injury.

Instructions

Begin in Positive Seated Posture; roll out until lower back is resting comfortably on ball.
Place feet flat on floor, shoulder-width apart.
Position hands behind head to support its weight, elbows pointing directly out to sides.
Raise head even with torso and gaze straight up.
Inhale deeply; on exhale, contract lower abs.
Hold the flex and inhale; on exhale, slowly curl torso forward, flexing middle and upper abs to raise chest up and toward pelvis. Allow head to follow chest. Do not force or pull head forward. Allow abs to do the work.
Raise chest until you feel abs completely contracted; hold for 3 to 5 comfortable, deep breaths.
Release slowly, allowing head and chest to drop back down to torso level. Breathe.
Repeat 10 to 12 times. Add more repetitions as you become stronger.

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Calf Raises

Tue, 02 Apr 2024 21:38:07 +0000

Calf Raises

The Calf Raise develops the size and strength of the lower leg.

Benefits

Calf Raise develops the size and strength of the lower leg.
Increases the strength and range of motion in the ankle.

What To Avoid

Resist making it a bouncy movement. Instead control the movement throughout.

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Bridges (Hip Raises)

Tue, 02 Apr 2024 21:32:41 +0000

Bridges (Hip Raises)

The basic bridge isolates and strengthens your gluteus (butt) muscles and hamstrings (back of the thigh). When done correctly, the move can also enhance core stability by targeting your abdominal muscles and the muscles of lower back and hip. It is also a good warm-up exercise and a basic rehab exercise to improve core and spinal stabilization.

Also Known As

Hip Raises, Glute Bridge

Targets

Glutes, abs, and hamstrings.

Equipment Needed

Mat if desired

Level

Beginner

Benefits

If you’re looking for a move to add to your routine that works your core and your butt, the basic bridge is a great place to start. For this move, the target muscle is the erector spine, which runs the length of your back from your neck to tailbone. A basic bridge stretches the stabilizers of the posterior chain, including your hip abductors, gluteus maximums, and hamstrings. As antagonist stabilizers for the bridge move, the rectus abdominis, oblique’s, and quadriceps get a workout as they maintain stability.

Your overall strength will improve as these muscle groups get stronger. A strong core will also improve your posture and can help ease lower back pain. In fact, as long as you have good form, bridge exercises are generally safe for people with chronic back problems and can aid in pain management.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Lie on your back with your hands at your sides, knees bent, and feet flat on the floor under your knees.
Tighten your abdominal and buttock muscles.
Raise your hips to create a straight line from your knees to shoulders.
Squeeze your core and pull your belly button back toward your spine.
Hold for 20 to 30 seconds, and then return to your starting position
Complete at least 10 reps.

What To Avoid

Avoid raising your hips too high. Hyperextending your lower back can lead to strain. Keeping your abdominals engaged will ensure you don’t arch your back excessively.
If you find your hips are dropping as you try to hold the bridge position, lower your pelvis back down to the floor. When you’re first starting out, you may need to hold the bridge position for only a few seconds at a time until you build up strength. It’s better to hold the correct position for a shorter time than to stay in an incorrect position for a longer time.

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Bends and Thrusts

Tue, 02 Apr 2024 21:21:44 +0000

Bends And Thrusts

The bend & thrust is a full body, strength training exercise. With each repetition, you’ll work your chest, arms, front deltoids, thighs, hamstrings, and abs.

Benefits

Fat burning. Because you’re using your full body when doing bend & thrusts and because they’re such an intense workout, the bend & thrust is one of the best exercises to burn fat.
Studies have shown that high intensity exercises, like bend & thrusts, burn up to 50% more fat than conventional strength training exercises.
They’ve also been shown to speed up your metabolism which helps you burn more calories throughout the day.
Conditioning: bend & thrusts are an effective exercise for developing conditioning and endurance.

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