Exercise at Home
Cobra Push-Up
1. Start in a high push-up position. With your legs straight, raise your hips as high as you can and rock back with your shoulders so your head is between your arms.
2. Holding this position, bend your elbows and lower your nose to the ground.
3. Continue lowering your hips to the ground while hovering your head and chest forward into a low push-up position.
4. Finish by reversing this pattern. Push back with the shoulders to raise the hips, then extend the arms to drive the head away from the hands to finish in a downward dog pose.
What it works: Chest, shoulders, and arms
Adaptations: Execute the same movement, but put your hands on a step or a box to increase the incline which makes it easier. Wear a weight vest to make the movement more difficult.
Alt Piston Squat
1. Start by standing in front of a chair or a bench prepared to sit down. Raise one leg off the ground and keep it straight in front of your body.
2. With the leg on the ground, push your hip back and slowly bend the knee to lower down onto the bench.
3. Release your weight completely onto the bench, then engage your legs and stand back up using one leg.
4. Once you get back to standing, switch legs and execute the same movement on the other leg. Remember to squeeze the shoulders back throughout to keep good posture and keep the opposite leg straight and off the ground
What it works: Quads, glutes, core
Adaptations: Select a higher box to make the movement easier. Select a lower box or hold weighted objects to increase difficulty.
Supine Elbow Bridges
1. Lay on your back with your knees up and feet flat on the ground. Put your arms out to the side like you are holding a bar or a weight above your chest.
2. Drive your elbows down and into the floor by engaging your back muscles. With enough force, you will pull your chest up off the ground toward the ceiling. It is a very short range of motion but very effective in building the back. Get a great squeeze of the shoulder blades and slowly release your torso back to the ground.
3. In order to increase its value, use the same positioning and description but put your elbows on a few stacked books or boxes.
What it works: Upper back and shoulders
Adaptations: You can do this same movement while leaning back into a doorway and pulling your body through with your shoulders.
Towel Hamstring Slide
1. Find a smooth or slippery floor and lay on your back with knees up and feet flat. Put a towel under your feet and make sure it slides freely.
2. To start the movement, engage the glutes and raise the hips up into the air (glute bridge).
3. Then slowly slide the feet back by extending the knees while keeping the hips high.
4. Once the feet get close to straight, engage the hamstrings and pull the feet back in by bending the knees and keeping the hips high. This is extremely difficult but great activity for the hamstrings and glutes.
What it works: Hamstrings and glutes
Adaptations: If the movement is too difficult, simply start by executing the glute bridge for time until you get stronger, then you can start incorporating smaller movements at the knee to start with. To increase the difficulty, increase the friction between the towel and floor by trying different towels. You can also try executing this exercise with one leg at a time.
Plank Alt Knee To Elbow Slides
1. Assume a high push-up position with a straight body and arms extended. Keeping the body as straight as possible without raising the hips (think pull your ribs to your pelvis), hover one leg off the ground and bring the knee to the same side elbow.
2. From there, rub the knee up and down on the elbow and then replace the foot back down on the ground.
3. Repeat the same action with the opposite side. Control your hips and minimize the rotation.
What it works: Core, shoulders, chest, legs
Adaptations: If this movement is too hard, just hold the initial plank position for time until you get stronger. You may also try to touch the knee to the elbow but eliminate the slide up and down. This movement is extremely difficult, but a great exercise for the entire body. To make it tougher, load any weight that you can find onto the back and be sure to control your core throughout.