Exercises to prepare for shorts season
Tuesday June 24 2008
By Ross O'Donnell
In a recent class, I canvassed some of the ladies as to what they felt they wanted to focus on for getting ready for the summer months? Getting rid of “the jigglies” on the legs was mentioned as a priority.
This is a problem area and common concern expressed by many women, and especially now with shorts weather here. Keep in mind that spot training will not remove the fat from only one area of the body; fat is decreased uniformly over the entire body though certain exercises can be devoted to work particular muscle groups. In this case light weights or even no weights should be used as the goal is to reduce size and re-shape or tone. Try some of these exercises to improve your leg “jigglies” battle:
Start with one set of eight to 12 repetition of each exercise with no weights and work your way up to two to three sets of 12 to 15 repetitions.
To ensure good form and prevent leaning forward or slouching, you may want to invest $20 to $30 in a stability ball.
1. Adductor squeeze: Sit on a stability ball with your knees slightly bent, until you are seated with the ball between your knees; your feet should be flexed. Squeeze your legs together against the resistance of the ball as hard as you can, making sure to keep your knees bent slightly, use your inner thigh muscles not your knees and keep the pelvis pushed forward, open back to the starting position and repeat. (Targets inner thighs)
2. Squats: Lean your back against the stability ball or the wall, keeping the back straight, lower your rear until the bottom of your thighs are parallel to the floor and then, pushing from the heels, raise back up again. Changing foot position will work slightly different areas. The three best positions work every area are; feet close together, feet shoulder width apart and toe pointed away from the body 45 degrees. (Targets front and back of thighs)
3. Step-ups: Start with using a step on your stairs at home, (work your way up to a chair). Step up and down keeping your toes and knee in line with the hip, step up with your right leg onto the stair, bring your left leg up, making sure that both legs are straight as well as your back. Then lower your right leg down again, followed by your left leg. (Targets front and back of thighs, the butt and calves)
Be sure to stretch each muscle group worked and hold the stretch for 15 seconds. Now go reward yourself with a summer shorts shopping spree.
Ross O’Donnell, author of The Ultimate Fitness Boxing & Kickboxing Workout, is a certified Can-Fit-Pro PRO-Trainer and owner of Fitness Kickboxing Canada Inc. He can be contacted at 519-942-1625 or info@fitnesskickboxingcanada.ca.
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