Resistance, Part 1

Resistance training is an integral part of a fitness regimen; a great way to begin is by engaging in "body weight" exercises.  These exercises are helpful because  the weight of the body is used to tone your muscles; this sort of training also establishes balance and coordination, which translate into everyday activities (i.e. lifting objects properly, etc.).  Individuals who are extremely overweight or obese should avoid body weight exercises when beginning a resistance training program, as it could cause injury to joints.  Today I'd like to give you some ideas for how to train the upper body using body weight as resistance.

Push ups: when performing push ups, it is important to tighten the muscles of the buttocks and abdominal muscles; this keeps the lower back from "sagging" towards the floor, which causes pain and possible injury.  As a general rule, the elbows need to bend to at least 90 degrees of flexion while performing the downward phase of the push up.

Examples of basic push ups: regular push ups, decline push ups

 






 Regular                                                                                                      Decline


Example of advanced push ups: push up to a side plank position

 Push up to side plank




Tricep dips: when performing tricep dips, it is important to put approximately 80% of the body weight in the arms and only use the feet to stabilize the body for balance.  As the arms bend, the abdominal muscles must remain tight in order to protect the lower back muscles.

Examples of basic tricep dip: hands and feet on the floor with knees bent

Basic tricep dip


Examples of advanced tricep dips: hands on a chair or bench and feet on the floor with legs bent, hands and feet on a chair or bench and legs straight

  

hands on chair/feet on floor                                                                  hands/feet on bench


Abdominal Curl-ups with an Exercise Ball: when performing abdominal curl-ups, I highly recommend using an exercise ball because this requires extra balance to perform the exercise and engages the obliques as well as the rectus abdominus.
Finding the right size exercise ball: 
Height                                                                     Ball Size
less than 5'0"                                                           45cm (18in.)
5'0" to 5'5"                                                              55cm (22in.)
5'6" to 6'1"                                                              65cm (26in.)
6'2" to 6'8"                                                              75cm (30in.)
6'9" and up                                                              85cm (34in.)

Abdominal curl with Exercise Ball

Back Extension with an Exercise Ball: This is a great exercise to tone the lower back, a trouble spot for many people.  It is important to keep the neck and spine in line during the exercise; one way to do this is to look at a spot on the floor directly in front of you.  Looking straight in front or up towards the ceiling can put excess strain on the neck and cause injury.

Back Extension on Exercise Ball