Wellness Adds Up
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Strength
Power exercises for strength and cardio vascular fitness.
The “5 Big Basics”, these are 5 basic exercises you can do every day to improve your overall health. The first four exercises will help you with your power, strength, and core stability, and the fifth exercise is simple walking or running, that you can do throughout the day.
The lunge is one of our 5 Big Basic exercises. In the video, Aileen wanted to intensify the lunge and fire up your core muscles while you balance your body as the leg sweeps from back to front. This is a great exercise that will help fine tune balance and proprioception.
Many people ask John for advice on what’s best for their abdominals, because they’re tired of crunches. Crunches are great for building that bulges that become a six-pack, on those who are lean enough to show those bulges. It’s rare that you’ll ever need to crunch your abs during your daily activities however. It makes a lot more sense to do abdominal exercises that help hold your posture erect, and keep the organs of you belly from spilling over your belt. So today John recommends that you try an Ab Balance exercise that will fire up that core and help your posture.
You don't have to go running, or go to a gym to get some cardiovascular training. Kali recommends that you try a move that isn't as deep or intense as the previous lunges that we've shown you. That means that you can do it for a longer period of time, for cardio training. This also lightly engages the muscles of the back as you lean over to "punch" towards the ground. It's probably best to combine this with some of the other Power Up exercises to challenge the body in different and more comprehensive ways, and to make it more interesting.
John recommends that you try Planks. If planks are part of your regular workout routine, John will give you some challenging variations to this basic core exercise. A good way to measure your progress is to time how long you can hold your planks. Planks build endurance in the Abdominals, Erector Spinae, Quadriceps, Glutes, External/Internal Obliques, Deltoids, and Triceps. It's probably best to combine this with some of the other Power Up exercises to challenge the body in different and more comprehensive ways, and to make it more interesting.
This is a high intensity move that helps improve cardiovascular fitness by incorporating an explosive jump with multidirectional movement. It is primarily a lateral movement, which Kali thinks many people overlook in their fitness programs. Maintaining lateral strength and proprioception become more important as you get older, to prevent injuries from falls. It's probably best to combine this with some of the other Power Up exercises to challenge the body in different and more comprehensive ways, and to make it more interesting.
For those of you who love working your abs, John recommends what many consider the best exercise for the abs. Bicycles are more dynamic than crunches because they’re multi-directional and engage the internal and external obliques. This differs from most abdominal exercises, because the abs are used to stabilize the core during the movement. Focus on keeping the spine in place while the legs and shoulders move.
Kali loves the High Knee Elbow Cross. She recommends that you start by lifting your knees only to a level that's comfortable to you. This is primarily a cardiovascular exercise, but it also improves strength in the hip flexors, and flexibility in the hamstrings. It's probably best to combine this with some of the other Power Up exercises to challenge the body in different and more comprehensive ways, and to make it more interesting.
Every Sunday morning, Aileen makes Switch Lunges part of her workout. Today she wants you to share that joy. Lunges are great for the large muscle groups of the legs, but this quicker version adds plyometric power and is an intense cardiovascular interval. It's probably best to combine this with some of the other Power Up exercises to challenge the body in different and more comprehensive ways, and to make it more interesting.
John recommends that you try the Hamstring Glute Sweeps. In another video, Aileen showed you Knee Lift Lunge sweeps, which fire up the front of the hips. John loves this exercise which fires up the back of the hips. The great thing is that your gluteus medius will fire on the weight bearing leg, and the gluteus maximus and hamstrings will fire on the working leg. It also improves your core strength, agility, and balance. That's why John loves it. It's probably best to combine this with some of the other Power Up exercises to challenge the body in different and more comprehensive ways, and to make it more interesting.
Everyone knows jumping jacks. Aileen has a fun way to power up the intensity to make jacks a plyocardio interval: Air Jacks. Make sure you're warmed-up before you start these intense jumps. It's probably best to combine this with some of the other Power Up exercises to challenge the body in different and more comprehensive ways, and to make it more interesting.
Combining breathing with your abdominal work helps engage the transversus abominus and helps focus the mind. Today John recommends that you try Rolldowns and Rollups. It's probably best to combine this with some of the other Power Up exercises to challenge the body in different and more comprehensive ways, and to make it more interesting.
CrissCross Lunges are a great cardiovascular exercise to help improve agility and proprioception. Today Aileen recommends that you try CrissCross Lunges. It's probably best to combine this with some of the other Power Up exercises to challenge the body in different and more comprehensive ways, and to make it more interesting. If you'd prefer to do another exercise from our library, enjoy that.
John recommending that you try Pendulum Power. This is a simple cardio exercise that highlights the hip adductors and abductors. It also has a rhythm challenge which is beneficial if you need to improve your coordination. It's probably best to combine this with some of the other Power Up exercises to challenge the body in different and more comprehensive ways, and to make it more interesting. CrissCross Lunges are a great cardiovascular exercise to help improve agility and proprioception. Today Aileen recommends that you try CrissCross Lunges. It's probably best to combine this with some of the other Power Up exercises to challenge the body in different and more comprehensive ways, and to make it more interesting. If you'd prefer to do another exercise from our library, enjoy that.
John wanted to make sure you got a good exercise to strengthen your back. This is the only exercise in our series that requires any equipment other than your own body weight. You can use a towel, as we do, or anything that connects the foot with the hands. If you have access to a pull-up bar, that's a more complete back exercise, but this is a good one too. It's probably best to combine this with some of the other Power Up exercises to challenge the body in different and more comprehensive ways, and to make it more interesting.
Aileen designed this full body workout to engage the entire body in a short amount of time. This complete workout incorporates a chair, so you can do it in your office, at home, or anywhere you have access to a chair.
Aileen designed this full body workout to engage the entire body in a short amount of time. This complete body workout can be anywhere you have steady ground to stand on.
Aileen designed this full body workout to engage the entire body in a short amount of time. This complete body workout requires space on the ground. You can do it on a hard surface, like we do, or on a carpet.
John wants to give you a workout for the entire body that you can do in a few minutes. This complete body workout is done standing, and emphasizes the lateral and medial movers of the body, which most people neglect. As most people age, their neglect of the lateral muscles make them more stiff, and they start to shuffle instead of stride. Enjoy this short workout.
Try this combination from John, who wants to give you a workout for the entire body that you can do in a few minutes. This full body workout emphasizes the abdominals, back muscles, and core muscles. This is a great little workout to improve your torso endurance and posture.