24-Hour Fitness: Newark Active

08/05/2015

Floor Glute-Ham Raise

1. You can use a partner for this exercise or brace your feet under something stable.
2. Begin on your knees with your upper legs and torso upright. If using a partner, they will firmly hold your feet to keep you in position. This will be your starting position.
3. Lower yourself by extending at the knee, taking care to NOT flex the hips as you go forward.
4. Place your hands in front of you as you reach the floor. This movement is very difficult and you may be unable to do it unaided. Use your arms to lightly push off the floor to aid your return to the starting p

08/04/2015

Arm Pyramid Workout

08/03/2015

Morning Power Workout

07/31/2015

6-Minute Routine: Buddy Up for a Better Body

What You'll Need:
A partner and a ball (a basketball, soccer ball, or medicine ball is best)

1. Medicine-Ball Over-and-Under
Minute: 0:00-1:00

Targets :back, glutes, hamstrings

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, facing partner from about 1 foot away. Hold ball at chest level. Squat down and pass ball to partner through your legs. Stand up and extend arms overhead; take the ball. Repeat for 30 seconds, then switch so partner passes first.

2. Tandem Squat
Minute: 1:00-2:00

Targets hips, glutes, quads

Stand facing partner, feet shoulder width apart; grasp forearms. Walk back until arms are fully extended. Lower into a squat, with upper body lifted and knees right over ankles. Hold for 5 seconds. Squeeze glutes to lift up.

3. Supported Pike Bridge
Minute 2:00-3:00

Targets: back, glutes, hamstrings

Sit back-to-back: legs out, shoulder blades drawn together, abs engaged and spine tall. Clasp hands. Press into heels and lift hips, making a diagonal line with your body; rest upper back on partner's shoulders. Hold for 5 seconds, lower. Switch. Keep alternating.

4. Single-Leg Low Fives
Minute 3:00-4:00

Targets: hips, glutes, thighs

Stand facing partner, 3 to 4 feet apart. Raise left foot; partner raises right. Bend forward at the hips, keeping backs straight. Give a "low five" below the knees, then stand tall, still on one leg. Repeat for 30 seconds. Switch legs.

5. Medicine-Ball Tandem Push-Up
Minute 4:00-5:00

Targets: chest, core

Begin in full push-up position, facing partner. Put your right hand on a ball. Lower into a push-up together, bending elbows 90 degrees. Return to start. Roll ball to partner; she puts her right hand on it. Do another push-up. Repeat on left. Continue, alternating sides.

6. Partner Straddle Stretch
Minute: 5:00-6:00

Targets: back, abs, glutes, hamstrings

Sit facing partner in a wide-legged straddle position, feet touching. Grasp hands. Have your partner lean back, drawing shoulder blades together as you bend forward at the hips. Hold for 10 deep breaths, then switch. Repeat.

07/30/2015

Dumbbell Lying Pronation

1. Lie on a flat bench face down with one arm holding a dumbbell and the other hand on top of the bench folded so that you can rest your head on it.
2. Bend the elbows of the arm holding the dumbbell so that it creates a 90-degree angle between the upper arm and the forearm.
3. Now raise the upper arm so that the forearm is perpendicular to the floor and the upper arm is perpendicular to your torso. Tip: The upper arm should be parallel to the floor and also creating a 90-degree angle with your torso. This will be your starting position.
4. As you breathe out, externally rotate your forearm so that the dumbbell is lifted forward as you maintain the 90 degree angle bend between the upper arms and the forearm. You will continue this external rotation until the forearm is parallel to the floor. At this point you will hold the contraction for a second.
5. As you breathe in, slowly go back to the starting position.
6. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Caution: There is no need to go heavy with this exercise. Too much weight will cause rotator cuff injury.

Variations: This exercise can be performed standing.

07/29/2015

STRAIGHT UP QUADS WORKOUT FOR BIGGER, STRONGER LEGS

THE MOVES:

1. Hack Squat
Keep your movements under control. Your lower body will be on fire during these drop sets, but don’t rush through the reps. The machine will help you keep your form strict, but still concentrate on keeping your lower back flat or slightly arched (not rounded).

2. Unbalanced Walking Lunge
The intention of this exercise is to train core stability and balance while also working the quads and glutes. Hold a moderate-weight dumbbell or kettlebell in one hand while you do lunges, keeping the other hand free. Focus on keeping your torso upright throughout – don’t let yourself lean to the side holding the weight.

3. Front Squat
Treat this as your big lift for the day. The 8-10-rep range is designed to promote hypertrophy, so you should be coming close to failure on all four sets. You want to be strong on every set, so don’t skimp on rest periods. Take 2-3 minutes between sets.

4. Box Jump
Doing an explosive jumping exercise further warms up the lower body while activating the fast-twitch muscle fibers you’ll be calling on for front squats. Go with a 20- to 30-inch plyo box. If you don’t have one available, use a weight bench instead.

5.The Warm up
Precede this workout with a five- to 10-minute low-intensity warm up on the cardio machine of your choice

07/24/2015

07/20/2015

Decline Bench Press

Step 1: Lie down on a decline bench and secure your legs at the end.
Step 2: Lift the bar from the rack using a medium width grip. Hold it over yourself with your arms locked. Your arms should be perpendicular to the floor. This is the starting position.
Step 3: As you inhale, bring the bar down slowly until you feel the bar on your chest. Pause slightly at this point.
Step 4: Move the bar back up to the starting position as you exhale. Use your chest muscles to push the bar. Hold for a second and then bring the bar down slowly again.
Step 5: Repeat for the number of reps in your set.
Step 6: Replace the bar on the rack when done.

07/17/2015

You've heard that high intensity interval training (HIIT) can get you seriously great, seriously fast results in the gym. It revs up your heart rate (read: torches fat and calories) in way less time than traditional cardio. But when you think of HIIT, you likely think of sprinting as fast as you can and then jogging or walking to recover. (Don't miss this HIIT 8-Minute Total-Body Workout!) What you may not know: Strength exercises can also be used as part of a super efficient HIIT routine.

A recent study in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research found that subjects who did cycling intervals reaped similar results to those who did calisthenics (body weight moves like burpees) intervals. “Calisthenics involve a whole-body functional movement pattern, which likely activates a greater percentage of muscle when compared to a stationary cycling bout of exercise,” says study author Nicholas Gist, Ph.D. Talk about multi-tasking! Plus, as Gist notes, calisthenics intervals are a great way to mix up your fitness routine. You'll ward off motivation-crushing boredom—and ensure you keep progressing rather than hitting a plateau.

Steal the workout from the study: Warm up on a stationary bike for five minutes (at any pace) followed by performing 10 squats, 10 pushups, and five burpees (check out Three Ways to Ramp Up Your Burpees) . Then, begin the interval component: Do as many burpees as you can in 30 seconds. Recover actively for four minutes by stepping in place. Repeat 4 to 7 times. (Yup, four minutes seems long, but Gist points out that recovering for longer helps you put more effort into the work intervals.) Study participants did this routine three days per week.