At Home Workout

Happy 4th of JULY!!! Hope you all had a great Independence Day. Wish I could be there to join in the celebrating of our wonderful country.

As you know, I'm here in Mexico where you would think things would be cheaper, right? WRONG!! The gym here is $150 per month plus $8/hr for child care. I would be paying $300+, and that's U.S. dollars not pesos, just to hit the gym. So I've had to get creative with my workouts. I thought I would at least have a big ball here to work with but AJ took a knife to the ball in the first hour that we were here. Ball died. So all I have is a band and maybe I'll get a ball later after I hide the knife. But for now I'm doing exercises you can do at home with no equipment. And I thought I would pass these exercises on to you too. I tried to incorporate a whole body workout by hitting all the major mucsle groups.

The Exercises

Push-Up (chest/shoulders)
Start by laying on the floor face down. Put you hands on the floor horizontal with you chest, keeping your body in a STRAIGHT line push your body into the air.

Variations: To make it easier drop to your knees. To target different aspects of the chest and shoulders vary your hand spacing, closer together or farther apart. To intensify add weight, maybe let one of you kids sit on your back. Mine love this kind of ride.

Hand Stand Push-Ups (deltoids - shoulders)
For this exercise stand on hands and place feet against a wall. Next perform a push-up motion. I'm not very good at this one yet. I use a corner putting one foot on each side of the wall helps to stable me. A couple of books, to place hands on, will increase the range of motion when you get really good.
Front Raises (delts - shoulders)
For this exercise you need a child (or something else with weight). Hold you baby straight out in front of you. Slowly lower and lift keeping your arms straight.





Dips (triceps - the flabby part on the back of your arm)
Using two chairs facing eachother about two - three feet apart. Sit on one chair facing the other chair. Put your feet on the chair you're facing. Now place your hands on the edge of the chair you're sitting on. Lift yourself off the chair and in front of the chair you were sitting on. Bending at the elbows lower yourself down until your elbows are at a 90 degree angle. Then push yourself back to starting postition.

Variations: To make it easier put your feet on the floor. To add intensity, use weight on your legs. A child works well for this one too.

Crunches (abdominal region; lower and upper)
This exercise can be done with the feet raised or tucked under a bed or up against a wall. The key is to keep the tension on the abbs throughout the entire range of motion. 100 reps is a good target.

Free Standing Squats (glutes/quadriceps/hamstrings - butt and legs)
Free standing squats can be done with the arms folded across the chest. Definitely go below parallel as the lack of weight will enable this, provided correct squatting form is used. Since squatting is probably the number one exercise of them all, it should always be included when is unable to train in the gym. Aim for a lot of repetitions (100+).

Variation: To add intensity stand upright and keep hands to the side. Raise heels off the ground during descent, and touch backside to calves. Then, explode up. Or use weight like one of your kids on your shoulders.

Plie Squat Calf Raises (Glutes/Legs/Calves)
Hold onto a chair for balance, and position your feet wide apart, knees tracking over turned out toes. Keeping your knees pressed back and open, with heels flat on the floor, lower into a wide squat as far down as possible, without allowing your torso to rock forward (keep chest lifted). Holding that low position, lift up onto your toes as high as possible, hold, then lower heels, and press back up to a standing position. That’s one rep.



Variations: Place a loaded backpack or child on your back to add resistance as you get stronger.

Lunges (glutes/quads/hamstrings - butt and legs)
Stand in a split stance, with feet about 3 feet apart. You want both knees to be at about 90-degree angles at the bottom of the movement, so adjust accordingly. Bend the knees and lower the back knee towards the floor, keeping the front heel down and the knee directly over the center of the foot. Keep the torso straight and abs in as you push through the front heel and back to starting position. Don't lock the knees at the top of the movement.

Variations: There are a lot of different ways to do lunges. You can do a simple lunge like this one or step into the lunge or do a walking lunge or kick up your back leg. The key is to find one that you like.

Step ups (glutes - butt)
One of my favorites! It's a very basic but very effective exercise. Use a small bench or a chair or even stairs if you have them. Starting with both feet on the ground step one foot on the step then push up so both feet are on the step. Return to starting position and repeat on the other side.

Try it out. Turn up the music. Let the kids join in and have fun!