Quick Fitness Part 1.

Fitness doesn’t mean that you have to be an Olympic athlete. There are many different levels of fitness one can achieve. Becoming fitter than you already are is a noble decision and can be simpler than one might think. Whether you are trying to re-discover past fitness or if you’re starting from scratch, there are very simple exercises you can do to vastly improve your fitness and strength from home and without any fancy equipment. In this series of Fitness reports you will be taken through a number of simple exercises as well as a number of very easily put together home workouts.

The first simple exercise is the classic Press Up. The Press Up has a few variations but let’s start with the classic set up.

Find a flat surface in your home and clear a space wide enough to fit your body lying on the floor stomach down, arms stretched out.

Place your hands flat on the floor, your fingers should be pointing forward and your hand placement should be a bit wider than your shoulders.

Keeping your feet together and your toes anchored to the floor, push your body up with your arms whilst maintaining a straight back and looking forward.

Push through your palms, not your fingers, all the way up until your arms are almost fully extended and hold for 1 second. Then slowly lower yourself down using the opposite motion, again keeping your back straight and looking forward. When your chest/sternum touches the floor that is 1 ‘repetition’ or 1 Press Up, this is when you repeat the exercise until the set is finished.

The Press Up is a very effective exercise for improving strength and fitness, even for the seasoned sportsman. This is because it requires both a lot of muscular contraction as well as Cardio Vascular support. Both contribute brilliantly to overall fitness, strength and health. The muscle groups involved are the Chest, Shoulders, Arms and Abdominals. What is great is that advancements in the exercise happen very quickly.

The Split:

3 Sets of 10 Repetitions for the 1st workout.

Increase the Repetitions by 1 every consecutive workout.

e.g. 2nd workout would be 3 Sets of 11 Repetitions.

Do 4-5 Press Up workouts per week.

Stay tuned for Part 2 next week, where we will be discussing the ins and outs of abdominal exercises and how core strength can be the source of insane man strength.

Note: Be responsible when exercising – do not try and do too much at the start, especially if you are a novice. Follow a realistic program and carry out the suggested exercise splits. Over doing it can lead to extreme muscle soreness and injury, which will set your goals back. Look to improve on every past workout and work towards your personal goal.