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Video by Tee Major Fitness
Strength Training
The Benefits Of Doing Spiderman Pushups
Doing pushups can be a good way to work on your upper body strength, but there are many variations that you can do besides the basic exercises that you learned in P.E. classes in school. For example, doing Spiderman pushups can be a good way to get more out of your workouts.
Learning how to do these pushups is simple, and you can include them in your daily workouts. By doing them on a regular basis, you can expand your repertoire and have more options open to you when you are working out. This helps keep you from getting bored with the same few exercises.
To do this type of pushup, start in the familiar plank position. Your feet should be together and your legs held straight. Put your hands on the floor a bit farther apart than your shoulders. Be sure to keep your back straight, and do not let your rear end stick up in the air.
Lower yourself to the ground, as in a normal pushup, by bending your elbows. However, when you are at the lowest point of the movement, do not simply raise yourself back up to the starting position. Instead, lift your right foot off the ground and bring your knee forward until it reaches your elbow.
Hold this position for a moment, and then return your right leg to its initial position. Push yourself back up to the plank position. Repeat the same movement, but this time bring your left knee forward to your left elbow. Continue alternating sides for as many reps as you want.
The advantages of doing a Spiderman pushup are that it helps your chest and arm muscles work harder. When you move your leg forward, it shifts your weight, which means that your muscles have to adjust to the new position. This helps to work different muscle groups, increasing the resistance and helping you strengthen your muscles more quickly.
As with most forms of pushups, a Spiderman pushup mainly works your pectoral muscles, your deltoids, and your triceps. It is an excellent form of upper body workout. It also can engage your core muscles and helps to strengthen them.
Since you are only supporting yourself on three points of contact when you move your leg forward, this means that your abdominals and other core muscles have to work harder to maintain stability. Moving your legs forward and back also helps to work your lower abs since it mimics the movement used in many abdominal exercises.
These pushups are an excellent addition to any exercise regimen, especially if you are an athlete or outdoor enthusiast who needs to maintain a strong upper body. Because they also work the abdominal muscles, they let you strengthen multiple muscle groups at the same time, making your workouts more efficient.
Learning how to do Spiderman pushups gives you more options when you are working out. Start to incorporate these and other variations on the basic pushup into your daily exercise routine.
Benefits of Ab Crunch Machines
Trying to get those flawless washboard abs, but unsure about the right exercises to achieve such a look? It is difficult to get that six pack without having the right approach to working out the muscle. This is where quality ab crunch machines can assist in getting the job done. This machine is designed to streamline the movement of crunching and ensuring the muscle is targeted with greater effect. Let’s take a glance at the benefits associated with the equipment and why it is adored by many.
Full Range of Motion
The user is provided with a full range of motion that otherwise might not have been possible. This is essential for those who want to see quality results that will last for a long time.
Getting a full range of motion makes sure each crunch that is being done is maximized for its true potential. Most individuals without the machine will not be able to achieve those desired results because their form is bad.
This machine helps streamline the movement to ensure the ab crunch is being done properly every single time. For those who want to see results, this is essential.
Appropriate Stress
Another reason why most individuals are not able to see gains with their abs has to do with the stress being placed on the muscle.
If the movement is not stressing the muscle and causing it to fatigue (in a good way), the muscle will never grow.
The muscle needs to be put to the test in order for it to recover and grow bigger. This is where the six pack lies because without placing stress on the muscle, the chances of seeing the abs grow are slim to none both in the short and long-run.
Comfort
This benefit is often overlooked, but it does play a role for most users. The intrinsic comfort associated with this machine is imperative for those who do not want to feel pain in their neck and back after the workout.
The machine is designed to alleviate these concerns and ensure the movement is being done only for the abs and not hurting other parts.
Comfort comes through the form of the movement being done properly every single time. This makes sure the abs are the only thing being worked out and not the neck and/or back.
Easy to Use
The final benefit associated with the ab crunch machine comes through its ability as being an easy to use option.
Doing crunches is difficult because the toes start lifting up or the neck starts pinching in. The crunch has to be done properly to see results that are meaningful.
The machine is easy to use and one will not have difficulty setting it up and begining working away towards that six pack.
The six pack does not have to be elusive any more because it is designed to get the job done in a manner that is effective. The user immediately knows how the machine functions and that’s the beauty of the entire exercise.
How to Do Dumbbell Lunges
Dumbbell lunges are a great exercise that strengthens your quadriceps and also offers some exercise to synergistic muscles such as the gluteus maximums, adductor magnus and soleus. Because this exercise is performed using free weights, rather than a machine, you are forced to recruit stabilizing muscles too. The stabilizing muscles recruited in your legs include the hamstrings and gastrocnemius. In addition, your core is employed to help you keep the right posture, recruiting the erector spinae, upper and lower trapezius, levator scapulae, tibialis anterior, obliques, gluteus minimus, gluteus medius, and quadrates lumborum. As you can see, if you perform these lunges correctly and with an appropriate weight you will find that it strengthens and tones your entire body
Performing a Lunge Correctly
To perform a lunge correctly, take two equally weighted dumbbells, and stand with them grasped by your sides. Lunge forward with one leg, landing on your heel and rolling down onto your forefoot. Lower your body slowly by flexing the knee and hip of your front leg, drop your weight slowly until the knee of your rear leg is almost touching the floor. Hold there for a second or two then raise yourself back up to a standing position by extending the hip and knee joint of your front leg. Repeat the motion by stepping forward with the opposite leg. This counts as one full repetition.
Be sure to keep your torso upright while you are performing the lunge. Keep your leading knee pointing in the same direction as your foot throughout the motion. Lower your weight slowly so that you don’t damage your hip flexors. Choose a weight that will leave you fatigued after 10-20 repetitions, but that is not so heavy as to impair your posture.
Progression for Dumbbell Lunges
These lunges are a good exercise for beginners because they place less stress on your knees than a full squat, while still offering a good workout. If you have not done any exercise before, you can start by doing unweighted lunges, and then gradually working up to performing the exercise with a weight in each hand. If you have tight hip flexors, warm up and do some gentle stretching to loosen them up before you try this exercise.
You can target different muscles with dumbbell style lunges. A long lunge puts stress on the gluteus maximus, while a shorter lunge places the emphasis on your quadriceps. If you do not feel comfortable working with a lot of weight, you can perform the exercise with a lower weight and walk up and down the mats as you lunge. To build stamina, try holding the position at the bottom of the lunge for as long as you can.
Once you feel confident in your strength performing these lunges, consider moving on to squats, deadlifts, leg curls or other exercises that involve slightly more weight. Always warm up before performing any exercise that involves heavy weight, and be mindful of your form. Stop the exercise if you experience any pain.
Tips for the Snatch Grip Deadlift
The snatch grip deadlift is a popular compound lift that is used in Olympic weightlifting. This lift primarily targets the hamstrings, but it also works the forearms (for gripping the bar), the glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, traps and lower back.
This deadlift is an intermediate difficulty compound lift. It is generally considered to be safer than a straight-legged deadlift, but you should still take care to perform the lift correctly because if you do not maintain good posture during the lift you can injure your back. The snatch grip can be used as a one-off lift, or as an accessory for training the strength of the first pull of the snatch.
How to Do A Snatch Grip Deadlift
To correctly perform this lift, stand in a wide snatch grip with the barbell placed on the platform. Start with a light weight that still allows the barbell to be at the right height for you to grab. You may need to use rubberized bumper plates to be able to achieve the right set-up. Make sure that your feet are directly underneath the bar. It is common for people to not stand “deep” enough, and this leads to poor posture.
Squat down towards the bar, being sure that you keep your back extended with your head up and looking forward. Under no circumstances should you ever round your back when performing a deadlift.
To start the lift, drive down through your heels and raise your hips. Keep your back at the same angle throughout the first portion of the lift, do not allow your back to round.
Once the bar passes your knees, drive your hips forward through the bar and lay back. This will straighten your back and complete the lift. Do not try to “hitch” the bar up your legs. If you feel the need to do this then the weight you are lifting is too heavy.
Return the bar to the floor by reversing the motion you have just performed. If you feel that you cannot safely do this, and you are lifting in a gym with bumper plates and a deadlift platform, you may be able to simply drop the weight. However, this is often frowned upon because it can damage metal plates, damage the floor, and even potentially injure bystanders of the weight rolls or bounces. Try to stick to a weight that is heavy enough that you are tired after five repetitions, but light enough that you can pick it up and put it back down in a safe and controlled fashion.
A deadlift repetition involves picking up a weight then putting it back down and allowing it to come to rest on the floor. Do not bounce the weight up and down off the floor between repetitions. Stop after one repetition, take a moment to address the bar again and perform the next repetition correctly. Deadlifts are best performed as a heavy lift for a low number of repetitions.
