Hello all! As you guys may know, quality workouts and form are imperative in order to reap the benefits of personal training and prevent injury. That’s why we’ve strung together a collection of videos on our youtube channel to help guide you in the right direction. These cover personal training tips and tricks for key exercises, which create a full-body workout.
However, first things first, is an effective warmup.
Tips And Tricks # 1: Warmup
Here at HOKALI, we believe full-body dynamic stretching is the best way to get the endorphins flowing before a workout. Give this unique, safe warm up routine a shot.
Step # 1: First, marching and jogging in place is an extremely effective exercise to loosen up the entire body. Plus, you might develop a quick sweat, which means you’re ready to jump right into your session! This is exactly what you’re looking for before a workout!
Step # 2: While this exercise does cover the entire body, the jogging action has a higher focus on the legs. So, we decided to intensify the workout to utilize a greater section of the upper body! To create a bigger role for the arms, shoulders, and back, roll your shoulders, swinging your arms in a circular motion for full range like our athlete in the video!
Step # 3: Lifting your knees up to meet your opposite hand is a great way to ease into explosive action. With this exercise, you take the first step to getting your body prepared for intense leg workouts, which is a hidden, but very necessary trick. If you ever have attempted a leg workout without warming up the legs, you know just what I’m talking about. If not, you dont wanna find out! 🙂
Step # 4: Jumping jacks are a widely-recognized, efficient exercise to get your body ready to rumble. They demonstrate a lateral movement with the arms and legs, which you never want to skip over. Workouts should always include lateral movement. Therefore, it’s important to prepare this part of your body for what’s to come.
Step # 5: Make sure you’ve completed enough reps of these exercises to put your body in position for a personal training session. If so, let’s get this workout going!
Tips and Tricks # 2: Push-Up
Push-ups are a progressive exercise which you can do anywhere, anytime. Not to mention, they work an array of body parts and are great for toning.
Step # 1 and 2: To do a correct push-up, you must first put yourself in the proper position. In a planking position, with your palms facing the ground, make sure your hands and feet are shoulder width apart. Why should they be shoulder width apart? For starters, shoulder-width apart is the standard form. The standard push-up is the best way to go for effectively targeting the pectoralis major and triceps brachii.
Step # 3: Next, you want to lower your chest while you’re looking straight ahead, not down. As you lower your chest, your arms and legs will naturally lower themselves as well.
Step # 4: Keep those elbows away from your body! We’re following the standard form. Elbows touching your body can interfere with the flow of your push-ups.
Step # 5: With your elbows, press up and repeat. The upwards motion is where you reap the rewards of push-ups. It makes sense when you consider you’re utilizing the strength of muscles throughout your entire body.
Tips and Tricks # 3: Forward Lunge
Forward lunges are a magnificent exercise for core and back stabilization. More significantly, they also hit various muscle groups in your legs, like the hamstrings, quadriceps, hip flexor muscles, gluteus maximus, and adductor muscles in your inner thighs. Here are the steps to doing a clean lunge:
Step # 1: Begin the action by taking one long step forward with your right leg, for example, and slightly bend both knees.
Step # 2: Now, we want to fully bend both knees, with your left knee bending down into the ground. To maintain proper form, keep your back straight. Keep in mind, the right knee will bend roughly into a 90 degree angle.
Step # 3: It’s important not to miss this step. In order to reach the highest level of utilization of your muscles for forward lunges, shift your weight into your front leg.
Step # 4: Your back heel will naturally lift off the ground, making you stand off the toes of your back leg. Just make sure your heel is lifted when doing the exercise!
Step # 5: When your back knee is on the ground, explode up with your back and forward thigh. Also, find power off the toes of your back leg and from the foot of your front leg. When you find yourself in a standing position. Repeat these steps with the other legs, as shown in this video where our athlete demonstrates perfect form.
Tips and Tricks # 4: Squats
Squats are a go-to lower body exercise which targets key muscles and have an extensive list of benefits. In my opinion, squats are one of the most important exercises to include in a workout.
Step # 1: In shoulder width position, point your feet slightly outward. This is critical for knee stabilization and will make the squatting action easier.
Step # 2: With your back straight, extend your hands out in front of you. Give a slight bend in your knees to prepare yourself.
Step # 3: Keeping your back straight and head forward, sit your hips back. Both knees will naturally bend lower.
Step # 4: Squat as low as you can. The lower you go, the more you work your muscles and further you have to explode back up. I recommend at last squatting down to the point where your body is at least at a 90 degree angle.
Step # 5: From the balls of your feet and thighs, explode up as quick and powerful as you can. As you raise, you can lower your arms. Make sure to finish strong by thrusting your hips forward at the completion of the rep.
Repeat.
Tips and Tricks # 5: Cool Down
Our athlete demonstrates some great, post-workout exercises in the following clip. Stretching after exercise helps prevent injury, relaxing your muscles and reducing the accumulation of lactic acid throughout the body.
Step # 1: Neck circles are always helpful, as they create relaxation.
It’s time to rest and cool down. So, close your eyes and relax your body, releasing the tension from your muscles.
Step # 2: The good old standing quad stretch. Loosen those thighs up; they deserve it! Keep the body straight, and looking at one object on the ground is a good strategy to maintain your balance. There’s another tip!
Step # 3: Sitting on your butt with your legs in front of you, bend forward and touch your toes. This will stretch your hamstrings, calves, and lower back.
Step # 4: Twisting your torso will help stretch your back even more! Just make sure you’re not twisting too aggressively, especially following a workout.
Step # 5: A standing side-bend will stretch the side of your body, and arms. Make sure your arms are fully extending in the air to get the full experience!
Check out this blog post to discover what to eat before training!
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