Power Walking: Core Exercises

Here we have another series of 4 core exercises.

Reaches

Lying flat on the floor, bend at knees, lift your heels. Activate core muscles - this means you pull your belly button towards your spine, and keep that muscle contraction during entire exercise. Lift both arms in front of you so they are in line with your shoulders.

Raise your head and shoulders from the floor, only by contracting your abdominals.

Lower under control, repeat. Keep the movement rhythmical.

Power Walking: Reaches

Crocodile crunch

Lying on the mat, lift both legs towards you. Activate the core muscles.

With your head and neck off the floor, raise the upper torso and bring the legs towards you, then reach. Lower under control and repeat the movement.

Power Walking: Crocodile Crunch

The plank

Activate your core muscles, drawing your navel to your spine. Resting on your forearms and toes, hold your body up. Keep your elbows under your shoulderblades with forearms facing forward.

Power Walking: The Plank

Hip abductions

Lying on your side, position one leg over the other, bending the lower leg. Do not point the toes. Lift the higher leg so that it is in line with the hip and return to the start position. Perform 6 repetitions.

Continue the same scissors like movement from hip line until the foot gets to the level of the shoulder. Repeat 6 times.

Without stopping, perform a full range  -shoulder to starting position - movement; repeat 6 times.

Change the side.

Power Walking: Hip Abductions

Repeat each exercise at least 2 times X 10 repetitions each side (where is the case).

Reference: 

Mark Anthony (2006) - "Once a week work-out, Transform your body in 12 weeks", Collins and Brown Publishing

Power Walking: Week 5 - Core exercises

For week 5 we will work on following exercises:

1. Hundreds

Lie on your back with your knees in the air, directly above your hips, making a 90 degree angle with your lower leg. Keep your arms by your sides.

Contract your abdominal muscles to lift your shoulders off the floor. In this position beat your hands up and down slowly breathing in and out for a count of ten. Repeat until you get the hundred :-).

If you feel any strain in the neck, place one hand behind your head to support it and then alternate arms until you've finished.

Power Walking: Hundreds

2. Scissors

Lie on your back with both legs raised, toes pointing to the ceiling and knees slightly bent. Contract the abdominals.

Slowly lower your left leg down towards the floor. As your left leg reaches the floor, start lowering the right leg, while slowly raise the left leg.

Power Walking: Scissors

3. Side leg lifts

Lie on your right side with your legs extended. Rest your left hand on the floor in front of you and support the side of your head with your right hand.

Contract your abdominals.

Raise your left leg towards the ceiling as far as is comfortable. Hold briefly, then slowly release.

Perform 6-8 repetitions and repeat on the other side.

Power Walking: Side leg lifts

4. Dog

Start on all fours with hands under your shoulders and knees under your hips, hip distance apart. Tighten your abdominal muscles.

Curl your toes under, press back into your palms and bringing the balls of your feet onto the floor, lift your hips towards the ceiling and straighten your legs until you are forming an inverted V shape.

Hold briefly, then come down again on all fours.

Perform 6 repetitions.

Power Walking: Dog

Do your exercises slowly, controlled in 10 minutes sessions.

Try to do the core exercises at least every other day (if not enough time every day).

Important note: the core exercises do not replace the 5x30 minutes power walking weekly sessions :-)

Reference:
"50 Best Fitness Exercises, A step by step guide to the best toning exercise" - Parragon, 2011

Power Walking: Week 4 - Core Exercises

I apologise for posting these exercises so late..but they are good for future reference :-)

1. Bridge with leg point

Lie on your back on the floor with knees bent. Contract your abdominals.

Start to lift slowly your hips up using your abdominals, until the shoulders (on the floor), the hips and the knees are in a straight line.

Extend one leg straight outwards, keeping the knees together and the abdominals contracted.

Lift the leg from the hip and point the toe, then lower again.

Slowly lower your upper body down to the floor, using your abdominals to control the movement.

Power walking: Bridge with leg point

2. Ab curl

Lie on your back and lift your legs so that the knees are above your hips and shins parallel to the floor (90 degrees angle at knees joint).

Support your head in your hands and curl your upper body off the floor, making sure that only the abdominals work. Don't use the shoulders muscles to do the crunch.

Power Walking: Ab curl

3. Side leg lifts and extensions

Lie on your side, with your knees bent in front of you. Keep feet and knees together and lift your feet off the floor.

Keeping the feet together, extend the upper leg, then bring it back.

Turn onto the other side and repeat.

Power Walking: Side leg lifts and extensions

Repeat each exercise 6-10 times on each side, 3 sets.

Make sure the movements are slow and controlled.

Reference:
Joanna Hall, 2005 - "The weight Loss Bible" - SB Publishing

Power Walking: Core exercises for week 2

Here we have the first sequence of 4 exercises for our core training sessions:

1. Toe Touch

Lie on your back, with arms by your side.

Pull your knees up and hold them in the air, making a 90 degrees angle at your hips and knees.

Hold one leg in position, the lower the other foot and touch the toe lightly on the floor before returning to the start position.

Repeat with the other leg.

Toe Touch

Repeat 10 times

2. The Cat

Position yourself on all fours with your weight evenly distributed between hands and knees and the back long and straight.

Contract all of the muscles surrounding your abdomen and breathe normally.

Without collapsing the supporting hand, extend your left leg directly backwards and right arm directly forwards and hold for 5 seconds.

Return to the start position.

Repeat the above with right leg/left arm.

The cat

Repeat 5 times

3. Shoulder Bridge

Lie on your back, hands by your side and knees bent with feet shoulder-width apart.

Roll your hips to the ceiling until you are resting on your shoulders with a straight line from shoulders to hips to knees and hold for 10 seconds.

Return to start position.

Shoulder Bridge

Repeat 5 times

4. Lower back

Lie face down with arms out on the side and elbows bent at 90 degrees.

Lift right arm and left leg, hold for 5 seconds.

Return to start position.

Lift left arm and right leg and hold for 5 seconds.

Lower Back

Repeat 10 times

This sequence should not take you more than 5-6 minutes, so I suggest repeating it twice for a complete core training session.

Reference:
Greg Whyte (2008)  - Get fit not fat, 150 ways to build fitness into your life