B11
@EpochFit
September 15–21, 2016
TheEpochTimes.com/EpochFit
Forearm Plank
Basic Position. Get into plank with
your elbows on the floor. In order get
the right tension in a forearm plank,
pull your elbows back to engage your
lats, which are large triangular muscles that extend from your sacrum up
the spine in your lower back and then
across to your armpits. Your elbows
won’t actually move, but you will create the feeling that they are moving.
Progression. Lift one arm off the
floor for a moment while maintaining proper alignment (your hips must
stay level). Start with one-second alternating holds, and work your way up
to five-second holds. Do as many as
you comfortably up to five on each side.
Hollow Body
Basic Position. Start by lying on your
back, feet flat on the floor at a comfortable distance from your glutes, with
your hands by your sides.
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Basic Position.
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Side Plank
Basic Position. Start by lying on your
side. Then raise your chest and prop
yourself up on your elbow. Keep your
legs straight and glutes squeezed. Now
raise your hips as high as you can while
keeping a neutral spine.
Fat-Loss Tip
Progression 1. Lower just your hips
as close as you comfortably can to the
floor. Then return back to the top of
your side plank. It is important not
to allow your shoulder to sink as you
lower your hips.
Also, be sure you maintain all of the
other checkpoints throughout the process: navel drawn in, glutes engaged,
legs straight. Do 2–3 sets or as many
as you can while maintaining proper
form for a maximum of 12 sets.
Progression 2. Lower and rise as you
just did for progression 1, but at the
top, do a hip abduction, which means
lift your top leg about 2–4 inches away
from the bottom for about a second. To
start over, put the top leg back down
on top of the bottom and repeat. Do the
same number of sets as in the first progression.
There are regressions (easier versions)
of all of these exercises, so if you find
yourself unable to do these, reach out to
a fitness professional who can help you
prepare for these moves without injury.
There are two very popular sayings in the fitness community
that directly correlate to the goal of weight and fat loss: “Abs
are made in the kitchen,” and “You can’t out-train a bad diet.”
These sayings are both true, and here is why: There are 3,500
calories in a pound of fat, so if you want to lose a pound of fat
in a week, you would just have to burn an average of 500 calories a day more than you consume.
That means if you eat or drink 2,000 calories a day, you have
to burn 2,500. If you eat or drink 5,000 calories a day of pizza
and soda, but you burn 5,500 calories a day, you will also lose
fat. I am not saying you will be healthy, but you will lose weight.
However, most people are not in the position to burn these
kinds of calories. They sit at a desk for many hours a day, then
they sit in a car or train, and then sit again to watch TV. All
this sitting in addition to an unhealthy diet just won’t let
you shed any pounds. So hold yourself accountable for what
you consume.
Progression 1. Lift your legs and bend
your knees so they make a 90-degree
angle. Note that your back should
remain completely flat on the floor
throughout the exercise. Most people
will arch their back (an anterior pelvic
tilt), so you can scoop your tailbone to
keep a neutral spine.
Progression 2. Lift your head off of
the ground as though you are trying
to look at your belly button. (This helps
to make sure your chin stays tucked so
that you can support your neck properly.) Your shoulders will come off the
floor slightly, but not as high as if you
were doing a crunch or sit-up.
Raise your arms, making sure your
shoulder blades are retracted (pinched
together) and depressed (down). Your
hands should be slightly off the floor
as well.
Progression 3.
Next, straighten your legs. As you get
stronger, you can gradually lower the
height of your legs until you can hold
them right above the floor. Again,
make sure that your back is flat and
your navel is drawn in toward
your spine.
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Progression 4. Extend your arms
overhead, keeping them as straight
as possible and slightly off of the floor
as well.
Hold each progression for 5–10 seconds followed by a 5–10 second rest. As
you progress, the hold should be closer
to 10 seconds, and the rest closer to 5
seconds. Repeat the whole set of progressions six times, with a one-minute rest after each set.
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