Exercise at Home!

Our Fitness Instructors show you how to exercise at home.

PUSH UP - Place yourself in a horizontal position balancing on the hands and toes while facing down, then pushing through your arms to raise and lower your whole body.

The Push Up primarily targets the chest (Pectoralis Major) along with the shoulders (Deltoids), Arms (Triceps Brachii) and the Abdominals.

Benefits - Push ups help you develop stability that will help you avoid lower back pains or injuries to this area.

Progressions-

1.     Knuckle push up, performing push ups on the knuckles of the fist, rather than with palms of the hands on the floor.

2.     One Arm push up, carry out the push up with one arm instead of two

3.     Additional weight push up, have someone place a weight on your back or wear a weighted vest to the push up position.

                                                    Fitness Instructor Kyran demonstrates a Push Up.

PLANK – Laying on the floor, raise the body so that your weight is supported by your forearms and toes. Keeping a flat back, engage the abdominals and glute muscles and hold the position for as long as possible. Maintain an equal weight distribution on each forearm and foot, whilst keeping the straight alignment in your posture.

The Primary muscles used during the plank are the : Rectus Abdominis (Abs), Transverse Abdominis and the Erector Spinae (Group of Back Muscles). It’s a great exercise for all round core stability but also for a flatter tighter stomach.

                               

                                 Fitness Instructor Anthony demonstrates the plank. 

SQUATS – To perform the squat keep the legs hip to shoulder width apart and simultaneously bend the knees and hip. Keep the chest up and a flat back (natural curvature of the spine). Brace the abdominals, keep the heels flat on the floor and lower the hips as if you were sitting back in a chair. Lower the squat until you lose form or to a point of range that is pain free. Push up through the heels and return to your standing position.

Squats are a great exercise for strengthen and toning the whole lower body. They can be performed anywhere with no equipment or you can progress your squat in the gym using a barbell, dumbbells and much more.

                                                      Fitness Instructor Julian demonstrates the squat.

LUNGES - Lunges are an exercise which predominantly work on the lower body and also the core muscles. They’re popular and highly effective for an array of fitness goals from gentle toning to building muscular size and strength. As they use multiple muscles and joints at once, they are known as a compound exercise. This uses more energy which as a result burns more calories, leading to greater fat loss when incorporated with a well-balanced diet.

Lunges work the thighs (Quadriceps and Hamstrings) also the calf and gluteals. Because of the balance required for lunges they are a great exercise to improve core stability.  

Benefits: Lunges help build strength and muscular endurance in the thighs and posterior. They are easy to perform and require little or no equipment or space. They can be adapted for most ability levels from static lunges to dynamic and weighted lunges. 

                                                            Fitness Instructor Sarina demonstrates a lunge.

Tricep Dip

This exercise does not require special equipment: if you don’t have a bench, you can always use the ground or a chair.

Steps

1. Position your hands shoulder-width apart on a secured bench, stable chair or bed.
2. Slide your forward off the front of the bench with your legs extended out in front of you.
3. Straighten your arms, keeping a slightly bend at the elbows to keep tension on your triceps and off your elbow joints.
4. Slowly bend your elbows to lower your body toward the floor until your elbows are at about a 90-degree angle. Be sure to keep your back close to the bench.
5. Once you reach the 90-degree angle, press down into the bench to straighten your elbows, returning to the starting position. This completes one rep.

Progression

1. Because this exercise uses your body weight, by bending your knees you will have less weight to carry therefore making it easier.
2.  You can either elevate your legs using another bench or chair to rest your feet on, or add extra weight by balancing extra weight around your waste (eg. Weighted vest, dumbbell, barbell)

                                            Fitness Instructor Pedro demonstrates the Tricep Dip.