VIDEO
Knees to Elbow
- Core
- Biceps
- Shoulders
- Quads
- Hamstrings
Level:Intermediate
Trainer:Brad Cooper
Equipment:No Equipment
Knees to Elbow
- Core
- Biceps
- Shoulders
- Quads
- Hamstrings
Level:Intermediate
Trainer:Brad Cooper
Equipment:No Equipment
Get to a tall plank position with your hands approximately shoulder-width apart. And from this position make an attempt to touch your knees to your elbows. Repeat for the desired amount of repetitions. This is a core, shoulder-stability exercise.
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Blog
СWorking on the core muscles is not only essential for good looks, but also for your health. In this article, we will talk about core muscles and how to develop them. So without any further ado, let us begin.
Core Muscles: What Do They Consist of?
To put it simply, core muscles consist of two main groups, which are central and peripheral. The central muscles resemble a sac that protects internal organs by covering the abdominal cavity. In other words, we need these muscles to keep the vital organs safe. In fact, if we didn’t have these muscles, a slight kick in the abdominal area would cause significant damage to vital organs. Central muscles can be divided into several parts, which are:
Front - abs
Lateral parts - oblique muscles and the surrounding muscles
Back - the muscles that support the spine
Upper wall - diaphragm
Lower wall - pelvic floor muscles
The second group of core muscles, the peripheral muscle group, consists of the trapezius, the latissimus dorsi muscle, the pectoralis muscle, the buttocks, and the muscles of the shoulder girdle. These muscles are essential for our posture and back health, which means that developing those is rather important for everyone who wants to be healthy and look beautiful.
Both central and peripheral core muscle groups are extremely significant for our health, posture, as well as the way we look. Therefore, in the next paragraph, we are going to talk about the best exercises for strengthening these muscles.
Best Workouts for Strengthening Core Muscles
So we made it pretty clear that developing core muscles is important for pretty much everyone. So what exercises can you do to strengthen these muscles? Well, here they come:
High plank
Supine toe tap
Hollowman
Bird Dog
Crunches
Bicycle crunch
Superman
Warrior crunch
Supine leg lifts
Elbow to knee
Bridge
Mountain climber
V-sit
V-ups
Side plank
Plank shoulder taps
Turkish get-up
Elbow plank twists
As you can see, there are many workouts that will no doubt help you develop core muscles and eventually become healthy and fit. So why don’t you grab your fitness mat and try at least some of these useful exercises to see their effectiveness yourself?
Wrapping Up
Not only are core muscles essential for beautiful abs, but also rather important for your back health and posture. Furthermore, these muscles protect your internal organs, which is a pretty important feature. Therefore, if you regularly train but you always avoid core exercises thinking they are not as important as the workouts for your legs or arms, you better stop doing that because core muscles are perhaps the most important muscle group in your body.
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Gorgeous abs are perhaps the biggest dream of all fitness enthusiasts as well as professionals. However, not many people know how to get abs and pretty often make a lot of mistakes while trying to work on their abs. Therefore, in this article, we will talk about abs and how to get them quickly and stress-free
Your Abs Are What You Eat
Not many people know it, but your diet is extremely important for achieving relief abs. Of course, it doesn’t mean that you have to starve yourself or follow weird diets, but working out is definitely not enough to achieve such a goal. The thing is to build muscles you need protein, which means that you have to include more protein into your diet. At the same time, high qualities of sugar and Natrium (salt) provoke swelling that sort of hides the relief of the muscles even if you don’t have much belly fat. Thus, to get the six-pack, you have to make your diet healthier as well as drink enough water, and together with exercising, it will help you get the body of your dreams.
Don’t Overestimate Your Abilities
Many people think that the more they exercise and the less they eat - the better. Obviously, it’s not true. You have to adequately evaluate your abilities and consider those while working out and dieting. Trust us, starving yourself and exercising for 3 hours every day won’t bring better results. It will only damage your health, both physical and mental. So don’t worry if you cannot see the results after a few weeks of training and healthy dieting, just keep going and you’ll surely reach your goal.
Core and Back Muscles Are Essential
Probably 90% of people who would like to get abs usually forget about the core muscles and work only on their abs. This is a huge mistake. As a matter of fact, to have relief abs, you have to work on your core muscles simply because these muscles are close to each other, moreover, abs are a part of the core, so it’s impossible to get relief abs without working on the core. Therefore, working on your core will significantly boost the entire process. In addition to that, you shouldn’t forget about the back muscles. You see, our posture heavily influences the way our belly looks. You have probably already seen skinny people with weird and unproportioned bellies. Well, that happens because they have weak back muscles and their spine is curved in the way that makes their bellies sort of come forward. So in order to avoid that, make sure to strengthen your back muscles too.
Best Workouts for Abs
To wrap up, we would like to list some of the best workouts for abs, core, and back. So here they come:
Plank
Diagonal twists
Deadlift
Pushups
Bent-over row
Plank push-ups
Pull-up
Crunches
TRX suspension row
Leg lifts from lying position
Lat pulldown
Final Thoughts
A stunning six-pack is the biggest dream of many fitness enthusiasts and, luckily, it’s totally possible to make it come true. So consider the things we talked about in this article and start moving toward your goal now.
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People often underestimate hamstrings. Often, focusing on training the quadriceps and calves, hamstrings seem less important. However, you should remember that neglecting any muscle has aesthetic and medical consequences that can be avoided if you work it properly. The reason you shouldn't ignore these muscles is not just about the symmetry and appearance of your body. Hamstring weakness is one of the most common causes of injury in most professional athletes.
The best way to strengthen your leg muscles is to work them out properly. So let's have a look at the exercises.
Barbell 90
The main advantage of this exercise is that you don't need much equipment, just a simple barbell. Starting in a standing position and holding the barbell on your shoulders, keep your back straight. While bending your knees slightly, tense your hips, and bend forward 90 degrees. Then return to the starting position inhaling. Except for hamstrings, this exercise will also strengthen your hips and back.
Hyperextensions
Hyperextensions are a great workout for your hamstrings as well as the lower back and glute muscles. Sit on the hyperextension training machine comfortably with your heels pressed against the platform at the bottom of the trainer. Place your arms crossed in front of your chest or behind your head. Slowly lower yourself down until you inhale and feel the stretch in your lower back and leg muscles. Without stopping at the bottom point, straighten up to the starting position and exhale. Return to the beginning position then. Maintain your head in line with your torso, keeping your back straight throughout the exercise.
Tights Up
This exercise can be done on the playground with two pull-ups or simply by placing your feet on a chair or bench. We will present a variation of the home exercise.Choose a sitting position on the floor with your feet on a chair. Lift your torso with your hands so that the tights are in the air. Bending your knees, raise the tights so that your body is paralleled to the floor. Perform 7-8 repetitions.
Single-Leg and Dumbbell
The exercise requires a good sense of balance and gives you good results. With a dumbbell in your hand, bring one leg back and keep it on the floor until the end of the exercise. Then return to the previous position. Repeat this exercise several times before you have tired.
Final Words
Hamstrings may look insignificant, but that has nothing to do with the fact that you can skip working these muscles. As a matter of fact, stronger hamstrings prevent you from many injuries. Therefore, don't delay and start exercising these muscles now.
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The quadriceps is a large and strong muscle that acts as the primary extensor of the knee joint. Because the knee joint carries most of the body's weight, the quadriceps is the main muscle of the lower thigh. Weakness of this muscle, in fact, would simply make it impossible for people to maintain an upright posture. Quads are made up of the four coronary muscles: the straight, inner, outer, and middle muscles. In spite of this, during various exercises, the load falls completely on this muscle. Sure, strengthening your quads is important, so let's give a quick look at a few of the best exercises for them.
Barbell and Dumbbell Lunging
You can do lunges in many different ways. You can do this either with a barbell, or dumbbells, while walking around the gym, or from a stand-up position. Let's consider a variation where the athlete stands in a position using a barbell or dumbbell. This position is similar to the squat position with a barbell on your back. Take a step forward with your right foot. The lunge should make the thigh of the working leg to be parallel to the ground at the low point. Simultaneously, the knee of the left leg almost touches the floor, also forming a 90-degree angle. Back to the previous position. Change legs - take a step forward with your left leg.
Leg Press
The leg press takes as much of the work out of your back and hips as possible. At the same time, it allows you to train with a much heavier weight than a deep squat. In order to place the load on your quads, your feet should be shoulder-width apart while doing the leg press.
Just follow the right workout technique. Press your back and head firmly against the bench, with your legs almost completely straight and resting on the frame and your hands firmly gripping the handles. Bending the knees, form a straight angle between the thighs and calves. Lower the legs back to the previous position.
Single-Leg Squat
Make single-leg squats if you can't go to the gym to train with training machines. It is a perfect way to get your quads workout done. Because it allows you to load your legs without using extra weight. Start in a standing position, extending one leg slightly forward. While squatting down, extend the leg forward and straighten it. Get back to the previous position. Repeat at least 10 times for each leg.
Kick Squat
Standing with feet shoulder-width apart and toes slightly to the side, place your hands at your waist or cradle them in front of your chest. Focus on the center of your feet. Squat down horizontally at the hips, remembering to keep your back straight. Stand up shifting your weight to one side. Lift your knee to a horizontal position and make a kick with your foot. The kick should be done in one movement.
Squats With Fitness Ball
Position your feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart with your toes out to the sides at a 45-degree angle. Grasp the fitness ball, keeping a tense and natural bend at the waist, straight shoulders, and neck. Holding the exercise ball, raise your arms up to shoulder height. As you inhale, begin to bend your knees to your sides, making sure they don't stick out past your toes. Your hips should go down first. Your weight is on your heels. Bring your back slightly forward as you squat down and extend your arms to lift the exercise ball over your head. Perform 30-50 repetitions.
Final Thoughts
Every person dreams of having beautiful legs, and luckily, getting great quads isn't that hard if you know what to do. So why don't you try these exercises?
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Many people mistakenly believe that developing shoulder muscles is not important. Well, obviously, it’s not true. So why is it important to work on the shoulder muscles and how to improve them is the topic of this article.
What Are Shoulder Muscles?
Shoulder muscles are basically the muscles that provide shoulder movement. These muscles are voluntary, meaning we control their work. The main functions of the shoulder muscles are the following:
Holding the shoulder joint and its bones in place
Allowing your shoulder joint to rotate
Providing the ability to move your arms forward, up, and down
Shoulder joint protection
As you can see, these muscles are extremely important for performing basic things such as lifting objects or holding something. In addition to that, these muscles are rather important for certain sports that require lots of jerky movements in the shoulder area. For example, dancers, basketball players, tennis players, swimmers, and others. All in all, shoulder muscles do a lot of work, which is why we have to develop them.
Why Do I Need to Work on My Shoulder Muscles?
We have already partly answered this question above, but we’ll give you a more detailed answer just to make things clear. First of all, strong shoulder muscles are a must for many athletes, dancers, and fitness enthusiasts who actively involve arms and shoulders in their activities. The thing is, these muscles are rather fragile, and jerky movements can lead to an injury. At the same time, if one works on these muscles regularly, they significantly lower the risks of possible injuries. But what about people who are not professional dancers or athletes? Well, even if you are not a pro athlete, you still need to go to the gym at least a few times a week to maintain your health, and simple workouts can also cause an injury if you have weak shoulder muscles. So as you might have already understood that working on the shoulder muscles is a must for everyone.
Exercises for Improving Shoulder Muscles
So what workouts can you do to improve your shoulders? Well, why don’t you consider the following ones:
Push-ups
Barbell overhead press
One-hand push-ups
Half-kneeling landmine press
Dumbbell shrugs
Arnold press
Sideways dumbbells
Push press
Barbell press
Wide-grip seated row
Final Thoughts
Stronger muscles minimize the risks of having severe injuries while working out or even doing your regular chores. So no matter if you are a pro athlete or dancer or just a regular person, you should consider working on your shoulder muscles.
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