Tia’s Top 5 Exercises

14 February 2018 by Tia Dewick in Training

Hey guys here are my top 5 exercises, make sure to give them a try and let us know how you get on with them.

• Glute bridge – the glute bridge is a perfect starter exercise for your session. This exercise activates the legs, glutes and core and has many variations for all abilities. You can use body weight, resistance bands, free weights and barbells. You can also do this exercise with your shoulders stabilised against the ground or you can perch your shoulders and upper back on a bench. By perching yourself on a bench there will be greater muscle recruitment and it also reduces the risk of developing a head rush!

 

• Superman plank – this exercise is great for the core and it puts your stability to the test! A strong core is essential for daily life to stand tall and maintain balance. The most basic version is just raising one arm, the next stage is just one leg, and then opposite arm to leg and the toughest one of all is the same arm and same leg! Less than 1% of the population can maintain balance with the same arm and same leg in the superman plank. With frequent training and commitment this can definitely be achieved! Do you want to take on the challenge?

 

• Trunk rotation – The trunk rotation can be produced with a resistance band, cable and free weights! When people train their core they quite commonly forget about their obliques and this is the perfect exercise to activate those obliques. These are the muscles that run alongside your abdominals and give that fantastic stomach definition. This movement will also allow strengthening of the back muscles too. Muscular balance is essential to reduce the risk of injury and to maintain a good posture; and this exercise strengthens both the core and the back to maximise this balance! 2 in 1 J

 

• Lateral raises – this exercise is predominantly produced via the use of free weights. There are two forms in which this can be executed. Firstly, you maintain a right angle at your elbow and abduct your arms so that your arms become parallel to the floor. Alternatively, you can keep your arms straight and raise them directly out the side and keeping the same alignment as the body. What’s the difference? By maintaining a right angle at the elbow you bring your centre of gravity towards the front and so you will also engage your pectorals and biceps so it becomes less isolation and more of a compound movement. By keeping your arms nice and straight the centre of gravity remains central and the focus remains at the shoulders.

 

• Tricep pulldown – this provides fantastic arm definition! With this exercise you want to ensure that you pull your arms out to the side at the bottom once you reach the full extension to approximately hip width. This allows for a full contraction of the triceps to maximise the benefits of training. Many weight training and team sports require a lot of strength and power from the biceps so you need to make sure you’re keeping a nice balance between the two.