your source for no nonsense fitness

In this weeks exercise of the week I have a great calorie burning exercise that will incorporate your upper and lower body all at once.  Check it out in the video below!

I’m a huge fan of the exercise ball.  I use it with almost every workout with my in studio clients and my online workout program is based around all the different exercises you can do at home with the ball.   Give me a tiny room, an exercise ball, and a couple sets of dumbbells and I’ll give you a really intense and effective workout!

A lot of people are scared at first if they have not used the ball before but trust me the more you use it the more comfortable you will get with it.  Two of the main benefits of using the ball are:

-Instability-The body responds to the instability of the ball to remain balanced and it engages more muscle fibers than doing the same exercise on a stable surface.

-Versatility-There are so many variations of exercises, just by changing your position on the ball you can switch up how the muscles are used.  The exercise ball is a “Total Body Home Gym” that is really affordable and a space friendly piece of equipment!

If you are doubting that you can get a great workout on the exercise ball try out my blog post from last week’s 8 Must Have Moves and try them out!

I decided to switch things up a bit this week and write out my blog instead of posting a video.   This weeks topic is 8 Must have moves in your strength training routine.   No matter what your goals are it’s so important to have balance in your routine so you are not overlooking any areas and opening yourself up for injury.

I also point out that full body strength training is so important in weight loss/body fat loss goals.   Most people have certain areas of their body that they want to improve upon, but remember the golden rule that YOU CAN NOT SPOT REDUCE BODY FAT!

For example if you wanted to lose body fat in your stomach doing a bunch of crunches and other ab exercises will not necessarily help you lose body fat in your stomach.  You will have a killer six pack covered in body fat if you do not burn the fat off first!  Body fat is Body fat and muscle is muscle so you need to burn that body fat off before you can see the toned and sexy muscle.

That being said it’s so important to get strength training into the mix because it can really help fire up your metabolism and remember muscle burns more calories than body fat so the more muscle you have the more calories you burn throughout the day even when you are not working out.

Remember you should always be switching up your routine so your body does not get stuck in a rut, but here are my top 8 moves that should definitely be in the mix.

8 Must have exercise moves

-Squats-

-Ball Push ups-

-Hip lifts with the ball(you may have to work up to these if you are a beginner)-

-Rows-

-Reverse Fly(Rear Band Pulls)-

-Ball Crunches-

-Reverse Low Back Extensions-

-Alternating Shoulder Press-

Also remember that there are tons of variations of each these exercises and by no means are these the only ones that you can do!   If you are an “in studio” or “online” client of mine these should look very familiar.    If you are getting some workouts in on your own make sure to always have some sort of variations of these in the mix!

Hope that helps you keep your routine going and remember if you need a “guidemap” every week on what to do with video’s, pictures, and full exercise descriptions join my weekly online workout program www.GetLeanin15.com !

Make sure you are getting the most out of your workouts by getting

in proper nutrition afterwards.  Take a look at the video below for five ideas for post workout nutrition.

Trainer Pete is an expert at providing quick and effective workouts to shed body fat, lose weight, and overall help you get healthier.  If you have any questions for him please leave comments here or on his “Trainer Pete” Facebook page.

Check out how to use a band for some quick cardio.  Use this move if you don’t have access to a machine or in the mix of a great circuit style workout.   Watch the video below: