Guest Blog- Workout With Elisa
This week we welcome guest blogger and certified personal trainer Elisa Sutherland to give us five workouts you can try at home. Be sure to check out her video below for the visual of the moves! Elisa can be found at the Newton Centre FT- Fitness Together. Enjoy!
Having the confidence to wear fewer clothes in the summer is a challenge for most of us. As a personal trainer, I hear many stories of changing room meltdowns as clients prepare for a beach vacation. They want to focus on their abs and will change what they eat and how they workout in order to have the desirable flat stomach. In reality, bellies of every shape and size can be beautiful, but what can really bring you the confidence to pull off the cover up is building strength and shape in the most powerful muscles of the body - the gluteal muscles. There are three gluteal muscles: the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and gluteus minimus. All three have different functions and must be strengthened in different ways to create the beauty of a strong and capable body. Not only will you look great, but building strong glutes will often eliminate back pain.
These five movements target all the gluteal muscles. I do them every day as a warm-up before running or weight lifting and always before heading to the beach. All you need is a mini- band.
1. Feet Elevated Glute Bridge - Place your mini-band above your knees. Lie on your back with your feet pushing into the edge of a box, bench, couch, chair, or whatever you have! Push your hips as high as possible and then bring your butt down to the floor for just a second before going back up. Focus on pushing the knees away from each other and squeezing the glutes at the top. Complete 25 repetitions.
2. Quadruped Fire Hydrants - Keeping the band in the same position as the first movement, support your body on your hands and knees, belly facing the floor. Raise one leg out to the side and then slowly bring it back to the other. Repeat 10-15 times on each side.
3. Lateral Band Walks - Move the band down to the ankles. Stand up and, leading with the heel, step to the side. Keep your body in a squat position and take 10 steps to the right, then 10 steps to the left, then 8 steps to the right and 8 steps to the left, then 6 steps to the right and 6 steps to the left, then 4 steps right and left, then 2 steps right and left.
4. Banded Deep Squats - Move the band up to just below the knees. Keep your legs and knees slightly wider than your hips and slowly sit back into your heels. Imagine that there is a low stool behind you and sit as low as you can. On the way back up, don’t let the band pull the knees back together. Repeat 15 times.
5. Wall Sit Abductions - Keep the band where it is, right below the knees and hobble over to a wall. Sit with your upper back, shoulders, and head against the wall and your legs at 90 degrees. Prevent your tail bone from tucking under by keeping the lower back away from the wall. Bring your knees together and then really push them apart. Do this 20-30 times or until you turn into jello!
Make sure to tune back next week to see our favorite picks for workout gear from Legit Activewear! Have a great week!