Continuing with the theme from my last post, here are five exercises that you should include in your lower body workouts (but not at the same time):

1. Deadlift: Although this exercise strengthens pretty much the entire body, I recommend including it as a hip dominant exercise in your lower body routine.

2. Squat: One of the best overall strengthening exercises for the lower body.

3. Split Squat: Great unilateral exercise for strengthening the legs and improving stability at the hip. (back foot can be on the ground or bench as shown)

4. Glute Bridges: With the prevalence of hip flexor tightness and subsequent inhibition of the glutes, this is a great exercise to activate and strengthen this muscle. (can be done single leg as shown or double leg)

5. Multi-Directional Lunge: This is a great multi-funtional strengthening exercise that can be used as a great dynamic stretch as well.

(Bonus) 6. Romanian Deadlift, Single Leg: Because I’m partial to RDL’s, I couldn’t leave this one off the list.  Great hamstring/hip movement.

Maintaining muscle balance and posture should be at the forefront of your exercise routine. Including the following five exercises in your routine will help combat common postural and muscular balance issues.

1. Push-Ups: Most individuals performing the majority of their pressing movements with their backs pinned to a bench.  This restricts protraction of the scapula and may result in underdevelopment of the serratus anterior.  Including push-ups in your routine will promote a better balance of the muscles that act on the scapula.

2. Prone Cobra: This is a great postural exercise that helps knock out several common postural faults, including excessive internal rotation of the humerus, forward head posture, and thoracic kyphosis.

3. Face Pull: A functional external rotation exercise that helps correct muscle imbalance between the internal and external rotators of the humerus.

4. Wall Angel: This is another exercise that is helpful in maintaining the integrity of scapular muscular and posture.

5. Dumbbell External Rotations from Knee: This is a great exercise to help isolate and strengthen the external rotators of the humerus.  It is particularly useful for those who spend a lot of time doing bench presses and its variations.

The benefits of interval training are pretty common knowledge these days…increased fat loss, improved VO2, etc.  However, the proper way to perform them is not.  When most people I talk to tell me they’re doing intervals, they usually describe something along the lines of: 5 minute jog on the treadmill followed by 5 minutes at a higher speed/elevation, followed by 5 minutes at an even higher speed/elevation etc.  While technically this is “interval training,” there is a more effective way to go about it.

I like to keep the work intervals short, usually in the neighborhood of 30 seconds.  This will allow you to train at super high intensities.  Due to the inverse relationship between intensity and duration (the longer the interval is, the less intense it can be due to the body’s inability to sustain high intensity exercise), extending intervals to 2-3 minutes or more is just too long.

There are different ways to perform intervals, from tabatas (20 seconds work, followed by 10 seconds rest), to 1:1 or 1:3 work/rest ratios (high intensity exercise for 30 seconds followed by 30 second low intensity exercise, etc).  They can be performed using resistance training exercises or through performing sprints on a track or cardiovascular equipment (ie. treadmill, bike, elliptical).

However you choose to incorporate intervals into your workouts, keep the high intensity portion short (to ensure the intensity really is high) and total duration to 30 minutes or less. This will allow you to experience the true benefits interval training has to offer.

Here is a simple tri-set for the lower body that can be done at home.  It’s sure to get your thighs burning and help melt away the unwanted fat!

1. Reverse Lunge: Perform for 60 seconds and without resting move to exercise #2.

2. Lateral Lunge: Perform for 60 seconds and without resting move to exercise #3.

3. Squat: Perform for 60 seconds.

After completing the Squat, rest for 60 seconds and repeat the sequence two more times.  Your legs will be begging for mercy!

What I am about to share is pretty basic knowledge for those in the fitness industry. However, I realize not everyone who exercises (strength training specifically) puts in a decent amount of time educating themselves on how to go about it (hence the reason I have a job!).  So, for those who are not up to speed on the training effect of a specific repetition bracket, let’s get you caught up.

First, what is a repetition?  A repetition is the act of performing a given exercise.  Take push-ups for example.  When you lower yourself to the ground and push yourself back up, that is a repetition.  Repetitions influence the adaptations you get from an exercise session.  Generally speaking, the training effect for a given repetition bracket is as follows:

• Rep Bracket: 1 – 5
• Training Effect: Increase in muscular strength

• Rep Bracket: 8-12
• Training Effect: Increase in muscular size

• Rep Bracket: 15+
• Training Effect: Increase in muscular endurance

While this is a very basic understanding of repetition brackets, it is a good place to start….especially if this idea is new to you.  Armed with this information you should be in a better position to train for your goals and achieve better results in the gym.

One thing that comes up quite frequently when discussing obesity and weight loss is the role our genetics plays.  Most people are quick to point the finger and say, “It’s my genetics” or “it’s in the genes” when figuring out the determining factor in our weight issues.  While some people may disagree with me, I’m telling you it’s not our genetics!

While genetic makeup may predispose you to being overweight, it is not the determining factor of whether or not you will become overweight.  Genetics are heavily influenced by environmental factors (ie. diet & exercise).  I think we can all agree that genetics have changed very little since the early 1900’s, yet incidence of obesity/overweight, and the chronic diseases which accompany it (ie. heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc.), has skyrocketed!  Why?  Our nutrition (mainly) and exercise habits.

Since we have migrated from whole foods to processed foods, coupled with the food industry’s love of inexpensive high fructose corn syrup (check the labels, it’s in EVERYTHING!), our waistlines have expanded out of control.  And any study that says we’re just as active today as we were 50 years ago should give back the money they used to fund it.

If our own epidemic isn’t evidence enough, just look to other countries who are now allowing McDonald’s to set up shop on their street corners and see how their body weight, and health, has changed.  Should we point the finger at their genetics, also?  Nope.

While I’m not claiming that genetics has nothing to do with our obesity epidemic, I am saying it is not the determining factor of whether you will become obese/overweight or not.  This should give you hope that no matter what hand you’ve been dealt by your genetics, there is something you can do about it.  Just keep pushing forward and don’t give up!

Many people believe that their lack of knowledge is what holds them back from reaching their fitness goals. While this is true to some extent, I find the number one reason for failure is the lack of consistent effort. You can have the most profound fitness plan at your disposal, but without putting forth a good effort on a consistent basis the plan is rendered useless.

Consistent Effort = Results