Exercise of the Week

COMPOUND EXERCISES

Huh? Well this is a way to continue Cardio training. Remember, we burn calories through Cardio training utilizing the muscles built during Resistance training. Therefore if we could do Cardio training as long as possible then we'd burn max calories -- but Cardio alone isn't enough since you have to have the muscles to burn the fat....the solution is to do compound exercises. Remember, the definition of Cardio Respiratory training is - using multiple muscles at the same time for an extended period of time. Therefore we could, technically, use compound exercises (those that use more than one muscle group) as a part of our Cardio...

Therefore you can perform traditional Cardio (treadmill, elliptical, steppers, etc) for 30-45 minutes EVERYDAY. Then you can extend this fat burn through the rest of your workout by using compound exercises. Think of it this way, we don't burn many calories during a bicep curl, because the bicep is a small muscle (it can only 'eat' so much), but if we stand on one foot while performing the curl, then we add in the core (for balance) as well as the thigh and hips. This increases the caloric burn (doing pretty much the same exercise) by an insane amount!! Speeding weight loss!

Conversely, those wanting to bulk up - need to conserve energy - burning calories is their enemy. So they need to sit with their arms braced on a bridge in order to conserve the most energy. (for the bicep curl)

Examples of Compound Exercises:

Lunges with a curl - overhead press
Squat - overhead press
1-Leg Squats
Lunge - front kick
Sumo Squat to torso twist

etc.....

Exercise of the Week

So whats so good about this series? Well it works a lot of large muscles - and since we burn calories in our muscles we burn a LOT of calories with this set. You also sculpt the entire thigh/hip - it works 360 degrees of thigh - who doesn't want that? lol.

SET POSITION: Stand with feet shoulder width apart. Tighten abdomen and roll shoulder back and down (away from your ears) You can hold dumbbells at your shoulders, or hold a medicine ball in front of your chest. When you squat - keep your knees over your ankles and your body as tall as possible; it helps to face a mirror and keep looking at it throughout the motion.

Squat Set (Narrow / Wide / 1-Leg)

Wide: Stand tall with feet wider than shoulder width. Roll your shoulders back and tighten your abdomen. Lower into a squat so your knees are over your ankles. Push through your heels to straighten your legs.

Narrow: Bring feet together. Roll your shoulders back and tighten your abdomen. Lower into a squat so your knees are over your ankles. Push through your heels to straighten your legs.

1-Leg: Lift one foot slightly off of the floor. Roll your shoulders back and tighten your abdomen. Lower into a squat so your knee is over your ankles. Push through your heel to straighten your legs.