FitSugar

Gear Review: Perfect Pushup

FitSugar — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:00:00 PDT

One of the random benefits of having house guests is getting to play with the toys they accidentally leave behind. My cousin's fiancé is working on his upper body so he can wow us all at their upcoming wedding. One of the tools in his traveling fitness arsenal is the Perfect Pushup ($40). His forgetfulness was my chance to try this "as seen on TV" gizmo, which meant I did many reps of push-ups.

By gripping the handles, the Perfect Pushup definitely protects your wrists. Since you are also slightly elevated off the ground, you work your center in a different way too and this makes the push-up seem more challenging. Since the discs rotate, you can twist your shoulder joints you press back up to the plank, but trying to keep the discs still emphasizes the core engagement of the push-up. I liked using them, but for $40 bucks (plus shipping and handling) I think I will stick all my push-up variations and wrist stretches. What about you?

If you want to see how everyone's favorite trainer Danny Bonaduce uses the Perfect Pushup, well then just

Inversion Issues: How to Remedy Common Shoulderstand Complaints

Jenny Sugar — Fri, 25 May 2012 00:14:27 PDT

You're loving your yoga class from Half Moon to Pigeon Pose, but as soon as you get to Shoulderstand, you're less than psyched. Although a basic - challenging, but basic - pose, Shoulderstand can put you at risk of strain and injury when done incorrectly. Turn this pose into your favorite by checking out these common complaints and ways to remedy them.

"I Can't Breathe"
If you're well endowed or carry extra weight in your belly, then gravity causes added pressure on the lungs and throat, making it tough to take in a deep breath. A supportive bra and fitted top can help, but if you still have trouble breathing, then changing how you do the pose will make a huge improvement. Instead of stacking your pelvis and feet directly over your shoulders, hinge at your hips slightly, pressing them away from your face so your feet extend slightly behind your head.

Still can't breathe? Try the Legs Up the Wall variation; rest your lower back on your mat or, to give your hips a little lift, rest your lower back on a folded-up blanket or flat bolster.

Continue reading to learn how to alleviate neck pain and feelings of imbalance while in Shoulderstand.

Strike a Yoga Pose: Fierce

FitSugar — Fri, 18 May 2012 19:28:00 PDT

After learning Ashtanga Yoga's Sun Salutation A, it's time to learn the poses in Sun Salutation B. It begins with a pose called Fierce, which may look easy but is a killer move for your thighs and glutes when done correctly. It also strengthens your core and stretches your calves, so it's an essential move for runners and high-heel wearers alike.

Sanskrit Name: Utkatasana
English Translation: Fierce Pose
Also Called: Chair Pose

Stand with your feet together in Mountain Pose. Bend your knees and lower your hips as you raise your arms overhead.
Focus on sitting back into your heels to relieve pressure from your knees and to target the thighs and glutes. Tuck your tailbone in and engage your abs, keeping your spine straight. Roll your shoulder blades back and down away from your ears to release any tension in the neck or upper body, and gaze up toward the ceiling.
Stay like this for five breaths.

Know Your Basics: How to Do a Lunge

Leta Shy — Tue, 01 May 2012 03:07:30 PDT

Lunges are a quintessential exercise; you can do them anywhere and the effects can be seen in no time, in the form of shapely, toned legs and backside (just in time for bikini season!). If you're planning on incorporating lunges into your routine, however, make sure you're not doing more harm than good. Find out how to do lunges correctly below.

The basics: It's important to do lunges properly so you don't put unwanted strain on your joints. Here's how to perfect your form:

Keep your upper body straight, with your shoulders back and relaxed and chin up (pick a point to stare at in front of you so you don't keep looking down). Always engage your core.
Step forward with one leg, lowering your hips until both knees are bent at about a 90-degree angle. Make sure your front knee is directly above your ankle, not pushed out too far, and make sure your other knee doesn't touch the floor. Keep the weight in your heels as you push back up to the starting position.

Challenge your muscles: Now that you have the basics down, you can modify your lunge workouts in many different ways in order to work different muscles. For example, Crunch gym personal training manager Tim Rich recommends reverse lunges (stepping back instead of forward) as a good way to complement the forward movements in your daily life. "We always move forward," Tim says. "Moving in a reverse direction requires more skill and helps regain some balance and athleticism." Here are more recommended lunge variations to try:

Do a bicep curl with dumbbells while you lunge to work your upper body while you strengthen your legs.
Do this walking forward lunge workout to further challenge your balance.
Change it up with side lunges so you can work your lower body muscles in a different way than you normally do. Find out the correct way to do a side lunge here.

Injury prevention: Even though lunges are one of the best ways to work your lower body, some people tend to avoid lunges because it can put too much strain on the knees. If you feel pain, Tim recommends you take smaller steps as you lunge. "Reducing the range of motion will still develop good strength and alignment," Tim says. Slowly increase your lunge distance as your pain gets better. Some people also find that doing a reverse lunge instead of a forward lunge also helps reduce knee strain.

Do you like doing lunges?

7 Ways to Challenge Your Plank

Jenny Sugar — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 03:08:00 PDT

If you want to work your core, plank position (top of a push-up) is a great move. You'll not only feel it in your abs, but it works your back, arms, shoulders, and legs. Here are seven variations to make it even more challenging.

Get low: Instead of balancing on your hands in a straight-arm position, bend your elbows and lower onto your forearms into dolphin plank. This plank variation targets your core and arms even more. Be sure to engage your abdominals to prevent straining your lower back, and if it's too intense, lower one or both knees to the floor.
Get up, get down: Instead of holding in a straight-arm position or an elbow plank position, alternate between the two. To do the up-down plank exercise, begin in the basic plank position with arms and legs straight. Lower your right forearm to the floor, and then your left (now you're in elbow plank), then come back onto your right hand, and then onto your left. Repeat this for 10 reps, and then reverse directions, lowering the left forearm first and then the right and so on for 10 more reps. To effectively work your arms and core, keep your torso as still as possible and avoid rocking too much from side to side.

Keep reading for five more ways to challenge your plank.

5 Ways to Challenge Your Tree Pose

Jenny Sugar — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 07:38:15 PDT

In celebration of Arbor Day this Friday, I can't help but think about the peaceful and majestic Tree pose. If you've mastered the basic pose already, here are some ways to challenge your Tree.

Arch: When doing the traditional Tree pose, balancing your torso straight over your standing leg allows you to stack your bones on top of each other to create a stable pose. Make balancing on one leg harder by leaning toward your bent knee, resting your forearm on your thigh, and gazing up toward the ceiling. Aside from strengthening your legs, you'll also feel a deep stretch on the side of your torso.
Twist: While in Tree pose, twist toward your bent leg, resting the opposite hand on the outside of your knee. Extend your other hand behind you and gaze over your shoulder for a nice spinal twist.
Stretch the upper back: Traditionally, the palms are pressed together in front of your heart center, or the arms are lifted overhead. For a variation, cross one elbow over the other and then bring your palms together, just as in Eagle pose. This variation offers a wonderful stretch for the upper back and shoulders.
Turn your Tree on its side: The next time you're in Sage (side plank), balancing on your hand and the outside edge of your flexed foot, lift the leg that's on top into the air, bend the knee, and - you guessed it - come into Tree. This variation, appropriately named Sage Tree, targets your upper body, core, and hips all at the same time.
Close your eyes: While in regular Tree, or while trying one of the above variations, try closing your eyes. It allows you to bring your awareness inward and focus on your breath, which can help you stay balanced.

Headstand? Ugh. How to Stop Hating Inversions

Jenny Sugar — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:18:56 PDT

As beings who walk with their heads stacked over their feet, it's no surprise that going upside down in your yoga class scares the om out of you. Fear of falling, neck or other pains, and the sheer oddness of seeing the world from a whole new perspective can make inversions lowest on your list of faves. If you get upset whenever your teacher suggests headstands, forearm stands, or handstands, here are some tips to help you start loving these beneficial inversions.

Get Buff
When you first learned to walk, you practiced leaning on objects and walking along furniture to build your leg strength before you were able to walk upright on your own. The same needs to happen if you want to hold yourself in an upside-down position. Since our upper bodies aren't used to supporting the weight of our lower bodies, it's important to strengthen your core, upper back, shoulders, arms, and even the muscles in your hands and wrists to feel strong and stable enough to take a stab at a headstand or handstand. Target these muscles on your mat by doing these upper-body toning yoga poses, like Sage and Crow, and using these arm-strengthening tips during your next class.

Move Your Mat
It's perfectly commendable to tackle inversions in front of a wall and/or with a spotter, so don't be bashful about pulling your mat up to a wall or asking your instructor for a hand. This will relieve your anxiety about falling, which is often a huge obstacle that prevents people from trying inversions in the first place. Once you have some experience with safely holding yourself upside down without falling, you'll have the confidence to try it out on your own.

Keep on reading for more tips on conquering inversions.

How to Make Your Push-Ups More Effective

Leta Shy — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:38:08 PDT

Push-ups may be basic, but it takes some time, strength, and awareness to do them correctly. Once you get the hang of this simple exercise, you'll be amazed at how sculpted and strong your arms, chest, core, and shoulders will be. Here are some tips for perfecting your push-up and making it work for you.

Find your form: Before you can move on, make sure you're actually doing a push-up the right way. Be aware of these four things as you execute a push-up: your body alignment, hands, abs, and breath. Make sure your shoulders are aligned over your wrists and your fingers and palms are spread wide, with pressure focused in your fingertips. Pull your belly button in, keeping your spine straight so your body is in a straight line; make sure to connect your breath with your movements. As you lower, bend your elbows outward to the sides. For more information on how to do a push-up correctly, read this guide.

Change it up: Don't stick to boring basic push-ups. While the exercise is great for your upper body, adding props or changing the positions of your hands can make push-ups harder and will work different areas of your body. Add an exercise ball to your feet, for example, to challenge core muscles, and point hands inward to work your triceps more. We've got more ideas - here are 14 push-up variations to try.

More tips for your push-ups after the break.

No Equipment Required! Tone the Body With These Yoga and Pilates Workouts

Leta Shy — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 14:41:00 PDT

Strengthening your muscles shouldn't be limited to the weight room or machines at the gym. Tone while you stretch and flex with these five yoga and Pilates workouts.

Thigh sculpting: No need to spend hours on those adductor machines; yoga can help stretch out tight muscles while also toning for bikini season. This sequence of nine yoga poses works all the muscles in your legs while focusing on toning your inner thighs.

Leg strengthening: If you're a runner, chances are you know a thing or two about tight lower-body muscles. Yoga can help strengthen those overworked areas while increasing your hip and hamstring flexibility, helping you stay injury-free and making you a better runner. Get the 10-pose yoga for runners sequence here.

Arm contouring: Ready to rock that sundress in style? Put down the dumbbells; toned shoulders, backs, and arms can be had by taking a few minutes to add this yoga sequence for your upper body to your workout routine.

Ab defining: Holding a yoga pose often leads to engaged abs, so what better way to a six-pack than a regular yoga practice? This video of three simple yoga poses will whittle your waist for a toned midsection.

All-over toning: Pilates is a great exercise for toning all the major parts of your body. Use our guide for five specific Pilates moves to get you bikini-ready here.

7 Ways to Get Stronger Arms in Yoga Class

Jenny Sugar — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:40:35 PDT

Practicing yoga is one of the best ways to relieve stress, but since you're holding yourself in challenging positions, it's also a killer workout for your upper body. Superstrong, sculpted arms not only look good in a strapless dress, but also enable you to do more advanced yoga poses. Here are some ways you can build a stronger upper body with yoga.

Practice, practice, practice: Taking a class once a week is better than nothing, but you'll really notice a difference in your upper body when you take three or more classes per week. Choose 90-minute classes, rather than 45- or 60-minute sessions.
Skip Child's Pose: While resting is important during a yoga class, if an instructor suggests coming into a relaxing child's pose and you don't feel you need it, stay in Downward Facing Dog to work your shoulders and upper back.
Link poses with vinyasas: If you've taken an Ashtanga or Vinyasa class, you're familiar with doing vinyasas, a series of poses (like a mini sun salutation) that involves jumping back from a seated position and coming into Four-Limbed Staff (similar to the bottom of a push-up), inhaling your chest forward into Upward Facing Dog and exhaling as you lift your hips coming into Downward Dog. Here's a video demonstrating how to do a vinyasa. Doing vinyasas between poses not only strengthens your upper body, but also makes your yoga practice more like a fluid dance, increasing the meditative feel.
Hold arm-strengthening poses longer: Five breaths are the standard when it comes to holding most yoga poses, but if your instructor has you do an arm-toning pose such as Beginner's Sage, Three-Legged Dog, or Full Wheel, stay in it for a few extra breaths to really feel the burn.

Keep reading for more arm-strengthening yoga class tips.