It's a new year and with that comes a chance to resolve yourself to trying new things! Switching up your fitness routine with different exercises can help you bust weight loss plateaus, build new muscle groups and kill routine boredom. Here are 11 exercises to try in 2018: Abs/Core 1. Windmill: Lie on your back with your arms extended out to the sides at shoulder height. Raise your legs until they're perpendicular to the floor. Lower your legs to the left side of your body so you meet the floor a few inches away from your left hand, then bring them back to center. Repeat, lowering your legs to the opposite side. 2. Plank Toe Taps: If you can fit your body onto the ground, you can hold a plank! Get into high or low plank (low plank will be more challenging) and then tap one foot out then back to starting position. Then switch feet. This exercise strengthens the deep postural muscles supporting the abdominal wall and engages multiple muscle groups at once for an effective use of time. Legs 3. Box jumps: Use a plyo box at the gym, or a sturdy bench. Make sure to clear the surrounding area just in case you slip. Jump onto the box or bench and land with soft knees. Step — don’t jump — back down to the floor. 4. Single-leg squat: Try this exercise with or without weight. First, balance on your right foot. Bend the left leg and reach it behind you. Keep your shoulders back and your core engaged. Now, bend the right knee into a squat position. Execute this squat as carefully as if you were trying to set down a full glass of water and then pick the same glass up. 5. Incline work: On the treadmill? Stair machine? Elliptical? Outdoors? No matter where you are, find that incline! A 20-minute walk, hiking through the mountains adapting to terrain, changing incline levels from 3 to 15 on the treadmill are all so beneficial for your calves, quadriceps, and hamstrings. Glutes/Your Money Maker 6. Glute bridges:
7. Squat & overhead press: Begin in a standing position with a dumbbell in each hand. Clean the dumbbells to shoulder height. Your palms should be facing each other and elbows pointed forward. Look directly forward, chest up, and feet shoulder-width apart. Squat down - flexing the knees and hips to lower your body, and maintain good posture. As you start rising up to a standing position, simultaneously press the weights overhead . Return weights to shoulders before repeating. 8. Lunge & twist: Hold a medicine ball in front of you with elbows bent about 90 degrees. Step forward with your left foot in a lunge position. Be sure to keep your knee over your left foot; don't twist at the knee. Then come back to starting position. Then switch legs and repeat. Great for your core too! Shoulders 9. Plank shoulder taps: Come into a static plank position, again with the hands just underneath the shoulders. Your core, quadriceps, and shoulders should all be engaged. Without rocking your hips side-to-side, touch your right hand to your left shoulder and then place it back to the floor. Then tap your right shoulder with your left hand and bring it back. Another awesome exercise from my 30-Minute Badass Bodyweight Workouts that you can do ANYWHERE, anytime and require no gym and no equipment! These make the perfect travel workouts too! 10. Walk-Outs: From a standing position, bring your hands all the way to the floor in front of you. Locking out your arms. Walk your hands out until you are in a push-up position with your hands directly underneath your shoulders. Brace your core. Walk the hands back until they are at your feet and then stand all the way up. Add a push-up after the walk-out to make it more difficult! 11. Pike Push-Ups: Come back into your plank position. but this time, push your hips up toward the ceiling and keep your spine long. If you do yoga, you’ll know this position as downward-facing dog. Keep your entire body active and your neck relaxed, and bend the elbows as if you were about to head-butt the floor. How much you bend the elbows is up to you, but your head should never actually reach the floor. Step your feet closer to your hands to intensify this move. This is one of my FAVES!!! Lastly... fuel up after your workout with an adequate amount of protein to help muscles recover. Vital Proteins Dark Chocolate & Blackberry Collagen Peptides are easily digested and soluble in cold or hot liquids and TASTE SO DAMN GOOD. Adding a scoop or two of these collagen peptides to food or beverages gives you the boost you need to support healthy hair, skin, nails, bone and joint health, digestion, muscle recovery, and more. Plus, collagen is anti-aging! And God knows none of us are getting any younger!!!
Get your Vital Proteins Collagen TODAY by clicking here!! I'm pumped for what 2018 will bring to my life and those of my clients. Remember, I'm always here to help you with your fitness and nutrition, so hit me up on Instagram, Facebook, or on my website. Cheers to an amazing 2018! xoxo, Amy
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