Exercise is absolutely vital for everyone, whether your goal is to run a marathon or simply to maintain good health. There just is no way around it. A lack of exercise will produce a lack of results, regardless of how closely you monitor what you eat. However, just doing any exercise whenever you feel like it will only get you so far as well. When it comes to “effective” exercise, the two key words are consistency and focus. Inconsistent routines will only leave you frustrated and most likely will cause you to quit altogether. I’ve had people tell me that they worked out really hard for one week, then skipped the next two weeks and wondered why they saw no improvement. Well duh…it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. If you are going to work out that sporadically, then expect sporadic and inconsistent results. You’ll stay on a rollercoaster of up and down, which is not good for your body or your mind.

Likewise, in order for exercise to be effective, it has to be focused. In other words, you have to think about what you are doing. If you just kind of go through the motions without focusing on that part of your body, then your results will be haphazard. A good example of this is when I work my core. I dedicate one day each week to a full hour of nothing but focused work on my core area, and with each exercise, I am thinking the entire time about my core, remembering to engage those muscles with each discrete movement. If I don’t, then I’ll end up moving all over the place only getting about half of the exercise right. Again, this will produce ineffective results that will leave you frustrated to the point that you will probably stop working out altogether, and we don’t want that.

So, in the pictures below, I am showing you some of the exercises that have worked very well for me over the past two years. While this is just a very small sampling of what I do on a weekly basis, my hope is that it will provide you with a good foundation of some key exercises and stretches for various parts of your body. I will continue to expand this section of the website so that you can continue to mix up your routines and add variety to what you are doing, but again, what I have posted so far should serve as a nice beginning for some of you and perhaps a change of pace for others. You can click on any picture to get a magnified view of the proper form for each exercise.

Bridget

CORE

Banana Hold

Plank

Lie face down lifting yourself onto the forearms and push off the floor. Tilt your pelvis and tighten your abs, making a straight line from your shoulders to your ankles. Hold for a full minute; return to a rest position and repeat 3 – 5 times.

Plank (3) - Make sure your elbows are directly below your shoulder.

Side to Side + High Knees

This exercise involves making a “lunging” motion, alternating from left to right, swinging your arms as you move forward 4 times.

Move backward with 6 high knees. Keep your back straight and raise your knees as high as you can, alternating back and forth.

Balance Lunge

Lean forward and bring weights to your side. Continue the motion bringing weights out in front of you to form a “launch” pose. Slowly lower weights and repeat motion on opposite side. Do this for a total of 25 reps.

Woodchopper

Use a light weight and start in a downward motion. Lift weight and twist to opposite side creating a lunge motion. Repeat in 30 second intervals per side for a total of 2 minutes.

Squats

Begin with knees bent pointing out over your toes and in one motion bring weights over your head forming an “X”. Repeat 30 times.

LEGS

Wall Squats

Start at just above 90 degrees and hold for 15 seconds. Drop down to exactly 90 degrees and hold for 15 seconds. Repeat in 15 second intervals for a total of 2 minutes.

One Legged Wall Squats

Make sure you are in a 90 degree position, raising one leg and holding for 15 seconds. Alternate between both legs in 15 second intervals for a total of 1.5 minutes.

Chair Pose

Bend over touching your toes and then bend your knees. Slowly raise your hands in an upward motion and remain in a chair pose for 30 seconds. Relax with your head down and repeat for another 30 seconds.