Coppell Boot Camp and Personal Trainer Tip of the week
This week’s tip is from Coppell Boot Camp Personal Trainer Cynthia Linder
Coppell Boot Camp and Personal Trainer Tip of the week – Focusing on your form:
There are many exercises performed that can always be improved. No matter how long we have been doing squats and pushups we can always get better and executing them. With this in mind below are some exercises that utilize the most muscle groups in a single movement. Getting better at these movements will help us get stronger in many other areas.
Overhead Squats or Lunges:
Any movement that requires our arms to be over our heads is going to increase the level of difficulty. When we have our arms over our heads the key component is our core. If we can strengthen our core we will be able to go deeper in this movement while at the same time keeping our torso stable and our arms close to our behind our ears. The only way to develop this movement is to go slow on the way down and really pulling those arms back while maintaining a stable strong mid-line, the areas from the top of our spine to the bottom. If you have a hard time getting low in your squat then refer to this tip that Brad provided a few months ago on how to improve your depth while maintaining a solid squat. Click Here for a great exercise you can do daily to help with hip mobility.
Burpees: CLick Here for instruction on burpees. The Final progression for this exercise is going all the way down where your chest hits the ground before starting again.
A family favorite! The wonderful full body movement is often a least favorite because it employs almost every major muscle group we have. This means it is tough to perform and gets that heart rate pumping! When bringing the legs forward really try to focus on stepping through the heels are you come up. This will engage the glutes and allow those big muscles to help you get to the upright position. If we are only stepping through our toes to get up there is much less activation in the glutes and there fore smaller muscles are being engaged. If flexibility is preventing you from getting those heels down, just focus on your form. Continue to do the best that you can and focus on the improvements you will make as time goes by. You can always get a few practice movements in at home!
Pushups:
I have seen a lot of people do a lot of pushups in my day. After watching this weekend’s “Pushups for Charity Event” I was able to really witness the difference between our boot campers’ pushups and everyone else’s. I was very impressed! We do our fair share of pushups in boot camp, but like every other movement, we can always improve. The most common error in performing a pushup is that the body moves in sections as opposed to one full movement. This often happens because of weak core muscle. Keeping the core tight while performing a pushup is what allows your whole body to move as one. This holds true whether you are on your toes or your knees. If you took a broom stick and put it on your back it should stay in a straight line as your body moves closer to the ground. If you are still working on strengthening your core then keep up the good work. It will help you improve in every exercise we do. If you feel that your body does move at the same time then think about how low you go in your pushup or if you lock your arms out at the top.
