Reverse Lunge With Elevated Front Leg
You can also vary your reverse lunge by elevating your front leg. This means you can get a deeper lunge.
One Side Leg Crossovers
- Lie on your side with your hands in front of you and your legs extended on the floor.
- Keeping your core tensed, raised your legs off the floor.
- Keep your legs extended and elevated and move them up and down, crossing them over as shown. Each crossover is one rep.
Balance Ball Crunches
This variation on the crunch adds difficulty with a balance ball by removing some of your stability.
- Get into a normal crunch position, but place your lower legs on top of a balance ball. Remember not to pull on your neck or head.
- Keeping your lower back on the floor, tense your abs to lift your torso up, whilst tensing your glutes to pull the balance ball in towards you. Hold for 2-3 seconds. This is one rep.
Boxing Jabs
- Get in the boxing stance. We’ll use the left jab throughout this article — for the right jab, everything is reversed. So for now, place your left foot in front of your right, right angled out a bit, pointing toward your opponent. Put your hands up to protect your chin, tuck your elbows in, chin down, and make sure your hips are above your feet.
- Lean forward with your elbows in and your right hand a little higher than your left. Your right is protecting your chin, playing defense, while your left is up, waiting to strike. If you are taller than your opponent and it is unlikely that he will pull off a straight right to your face, you can keep it low for greater power and visibility. Otherwise, keep it at your chin ready to parry or block.
- Transfer your weight forward and jab. Simultaneously shift off your back (right) foot (but don’t let it come off the ground) and put your weight onto your left, while throwing your left arm into a quick, powerful jab. Twitch your entire left side forward while ever so slightly lifting the heel of your left foot. As your hand comes forward, your body’s weight should come forward at the same time.
- Be sure to rotate your palm down. When your hands are held at your chin, your thumbs are facing you. But when you go to jab, rotate your hands so that your palms are facing down, thumbs slightly lower than perfectly horizontal. Think of it like a slight corkscrew motion. It’s in that twist that there’s power — kind of like the cracking of a whip.
Lateral Lunge
- Start with your feet hip width apart, place your hands on your hips. Keep your back straight and your shoulder blades pulled together.
- Send one leg out to your side, squatting down on it whilst providing support with your stationary leg and hands. Hold for 2-3 seconds.
- Push back off your bent leg, returning to a standing position. This is one rep.
- Repeat on the other side.
Squat Dumbbell Oblique Raises
This is a great dynamic movement to hit your whole body whilst working to tone your arms.
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand in front of you. Place your feet shoulder width apart and squat down. This is your starting position.
- Tense your glutes to explode up, using some of that momentum to raise the two dumbbells over your head in front of you. As you do this, twist to the side by tensing your obliques (side abs).
- Slowly reverse the motion, bringing your hands back down and squatting into the start position ready to do the same on the opposite side. This is one rep.
Side Plank Crunches
You can spread the work across more of your ab muscles by adding a crunch to your side plank.
- Lie on your side and place your lower forearm on the ground. Make sure your elbow is below your shoulder.
- Either; stack your feet on top of each other, scissor them so both feet are on the ground, or place your lower knee on the ground (to make it easier).
- Lift your hips up to get into the side plank position and brace your core muscles. Keep your spine and neck in a neutral position.
- From the side plank position, tighten your abs, circling your raised elbow towards the forearm you’re supporting yourself with.
- Return your arm to its initial position. This is one rep.
- Repeat on the other side.
Side Crunch Kicks
- Start in a high plank position. Lift one arm off the ground and rotate your body onto your side placing that arm on your hip, supported by your other arm. Place your feet together. This is your starting posititon.
- Kick your lower leg out in front of you, focusing on your lower abs to bring your leg out. Keep your leg an inch or two above the ground as you do this. Hold for 1-2 seconds.
- Return your leg to it’s initial position below you. This is one rep. Repeat on the other side.
Bodyweight Pistol Squats
The pistol squat is the king of lower body, bodyweight exercises. It’s very difficult to master, but amazing at building leg strength and size without weights. Plus, it’s a great party trick!
- Stand on one leg, getting you balance and making sure your weight is through your heel. Put your arms out straight in front of you, and raising your other leg so your knee is bent. Your raised leg will form a counterbalance to give you stability.
- Really squeeze your core and the leg you’re standing on. Slowly bend the leg lowering your torso downwards. Take it slow.
- At the lowest, your butt should be an inch or two off the ground and your other leg should be extended out straight in front of you.
- Squeeze your leg again, slowly raising your body upwards again. This is one rep (congratulations)!
- Repeat on the other leg.
Clapping Push Ups
Clapping push ups are a great way to work on explosive chest and tricep power. At the bottom of your push-up, explosively contract your chest and triceps to elevate your torso in the air enough to clap once (or more) before you place your hands back. Be careful not to hurt your wrists when you land from this.
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