We all know the routines. Chest day is bench press, maybe some machines and maybe some free weights. Arms day is a lot of dumbbells and barbells. Legs day is probably squats, maybe some leg extensions or work on the leg press machines. Same routines, same exercises. But how about working out your chest or your biceps.while you increase your squat. And no, Im now asking you to do dumbbell curls while you squat. Im asking you to unlock dozens of muscles throughout your body to intensify your workout and increase all of your exercises. Everyone wants to up their bench press.but when was the last time anyone asked you: Hey, how much do you single leg, stiff leg deadlift?
How many stability ball sit ups can you do?
When you use the Airex pad, how many touchdowns can YOU do?
How many chest flyes on the stability ball can you do?
My guess is never. Exercises such as chest flyes on the stability ball will greatly decrease your chance of injury, improve your workouts, and yes, even improve your squat. Youre probably saying chest flyes on the stability ball is clearly for your chest and it will obviously increase your bench pressbut your squat? Working on a stability ball puts your body in an unstable environment. This will work out dozens of other muscles, meaning you can increase your squat while you do your chest flyes. These muscles you are unlocking are in your legs, and you are using them every time you use the stability ball.regardless if youre doing chest presses or sit ups! Try it. Do some flyes on the stability ball, and you will see what I mean, When you do this exercise, you will notice that you are now working out your ankle, knee and hip complex as your body tries to stabilize itself. And what muscles are major players in your squat? Thats right, your knees, ankles and hips. By putting your body in an unstable environment, you can work dozens of muscles you didnt even think about working out. This will literally triple your workoutand youll actually be decreasing your weight in a lot of cases. How is that the case? Well, when you put your body in an unstable environment, you need to slow down your reps, and that will force you to concentrate on your form. Try doing a cable chest press on one leg, and see how slow you have to go. Since your body is unstable (and now working your legs), you cant go as fast as you did on two feet. You might try to do the same weight and go the same speed, but you will quickly fall over and back on two feet. Eventually you will give in, decrease the weight, and triple the effectiveness of your workout. All the other hypothetical exercises I mentioned earlier are all focused on your core, which is crucial to your physical development and overall health. Working out your core will drastically decrease your chance of injury, and in the next issue I will discuss why this is, and simple exercises that will work out your core! |
