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sorry, but your basic squat isn't cutting it.

11/21/2019

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Click to learn squat stance variations and how to squat correct form. Sumo squat, narrow squat, standard squat. Learn how to lift weights women beginners
I know, I know, that was a bit harsh...  but it's true.  Squatting in the same way every week just isn't going to cut it in the long run.  After reading this post, you'll learn how to change up your squat form to activate all the muscles  in your legs! 

One option to mix things up is to change your set and rep ranges...

​You can learn more about that by clicking the button below:
WHAT THE HECK ARE SETS AND REPS?

but you will also want to change your stance:

Squat stance?  Huh?  The way you place your feet during a squat (and a deadlift) can totally change the muscles worked.

You are probably most familiar with a standard stance, with your feet about shoulder width apart.  This a great stance to take (if you have good form) but by changing the distance between your feet, you can mix up your workout routine even more, that way you make sure to hit all the muscles in your legs.

So, what are the three stances I use with my clients?  Keep reading to learn!
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Sumo squats how to do, narrow squats how to do. Squat variations to build muscle lose fat women

"SUMO"

A sumo stance places your feet far apart (wider than shoulder width) and your toes pointed out.  This stance lends itself to being the deepest of the squat variations, because the wider your feet are, the easier it is for your calves to stretch and let you get down low.  In a sumo stance, you tend to feel more engagement on the inside of your thighs.

"NARROW"

A narrow stance places your feet closer together (hip width or narrower) with your toes pointed straight ahead.  This stance makes it a bit harder to get deep into your squat because it requires the most flexibility of your calves.  With a narrow stance, you tend to feel more engagement in your glutes.

"STANDARD"

A standard stance falls somewhere in the middle of the two, with your feet about shoulder distance apart and your toes aligned with your knees.  Please note that in ALL the stances, your toes should ALWAYS align with your knees.  In a standard stance, you get a great mix of the other two variations.

putting it all together:

So now that you know the different types of squat stances, it's time to put them into practice into your own workout routine.

If you want to take the guess work out of when to incorporate these squat variations, click the button below to check out workout programs that actually help you progress through harder movements over time.  After clicking, you'll see why a tried a true workout plan will help you achieve your fitness goals!
CLICK FOR WORKOUT ROUTINES THAT HAVE THIS ALL MAPPED OUT FOR YOU

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Sumo squats how to do, narrow squats how to do. Squat variations to build muscle lose fat women
Click to learn squat stance variations and how to squat correct form. Sumo squat, narrow squat, standard squat. Learn how to lift weights women beginners
Squat stances explained, squat variations explained. How to do squat variations glutes and quad exercises.
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good morning!  here's how to do one at the gym

10/9/2019

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Are you new to exercise?

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​Yes?  Welcome!  Before you skip ahead to the tutorial, I highly advise you download my free Exercise Guide, designed specifically for the woman who hates exercise, like I used to!

After downloading it, you'll learn about the 5 basic types of exercise and learn how often you need to incorporate each type for maximum results.
DOWNLOAD NOW
Yes, there is an exercise called a good morning!  This exercise helps to strengthen your entire posterior chain and works similar muscles as a deadlift.  We also need to keep in mind those same skills that a deadlift needs:
  1. keeping a straight back
  2. keeping your butt out
  3. keeping your chest up
A good morning requires a decent amount of flexibility, so if you're feeling a stretch, that's ok, but make sure to stop if it gets to be too much.  Your flexibility will improve over time with this exercise, I assure you!

this is a "functional movement"

All the exercises I explain in my exercise library are what trainers like to call "functional movements".  This means that they require a whole muscle GROUP to be activated, rather than just isolating one muscle.  These exercises tend to get your heart rate up more, and they help to burn more fat and build more muscle!

I use these functional movements as the primary exercises in my workout plans.  If you want a workout plan that is quick, effective and works well at building your curves and confidence, then make sure to check my workout plans out!  There's routines for every schedule, and you will never get bored from doing the same thing each week!

If you want the workouts PLUS in depth coaching for other areas of your life like confidence, healthy habit creation, goal setting and mindset, make sure to check our my confidence coaching that includes the workout plans along with everything else!  
CLICK HERE TO START MY FUNCTIONAL MOVEMENT BASED WORKOUT CYCLES
CLICK HERE TO ENROLL IN CONFIDENCE COACHING AND KICKSTART YOUR HEALTH JOURNEY

here's how you set up your good morning:

How to do a good morning exercise with correct form to strengthen your back and glutes.  Build a strong back and butt with a good morning exercise.  Weight training for women
First, if you have never performed this exercise before, take a second to watch the video above.  When it comes time to do it for the first time, PLEASE try it without any weight.  Alright, here we go!

What I would like you to do is stand with your heels towards a wall, about a foot away from it.  With your hands folded on your chest, hinge your hips back in space and try to touch the wall with your butt.  It's farther back than you think right?  This hinging movement is the basis of the good morning.

Did you keep a gentle bend in your knees?  If so, awesome!  Proceed on to the next step.  If you didn't, try to touch the wall without bending your knees a ton and without locking your knees.  You should feel your weight mostly in your heels rather than the front of your feet.

Try to perform this exercise in front of a mirror to help check your form.  Ideally, you would be able to see something written on the front of your shirt in the mirror as you go up and down.  You do this by keeping your chest up, your shoulders back, and your butt sticking out.  By activating and tightening all those muscles, the entire back side of your body gets strengthened. 

How low can you get your torso?  Depending on your flexibility, you might be able to get it parallel to the ground.  If you can, that's great!  If not, that's ok too, the flexibility will come with time.  Also, I would much rather you perform a shallower good morning than one that requires you to drop your chest in order to get lower.

Once you get the hang of the hinging movement and can perform that for at least 15 reps, it's time to add some weight!  Just like in a squat, you want the bar to sit on the meaty part of your upper back - your traps.  Holding the bar there will require strength in your shoulders and a pretty good range of motion, so take your time and go slow.  Adding the weight also changes your center of gravity compared to performing the exercise without weight, so make sure to build up slowly, if you can find a small bar, that's best to start with!

​Try a few reps and see how it goes, if the weight feels stable on your shoulders, keep going!  Expect to feel soreness from this exercise all the way from your upper back down into your glutes, and even down into your hamstrings.  It really is an awesome exercise, so try it out with your next workout, or use one of my already curated plans!

How to do a good morning with weights the right way.  Good morning exercise proper form.  Good morning exercise video with correct form
How to do a good morning exercise with correct form to strengthen your back and glutes.  Build a strong back and butt with a good morning exercise.  Weight training for women
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OMG DEADLIFTS...

2/7/2019

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​Seriously, deadlifts are my absolute favorite thing to teach women how to do. I love seeing the “lightbulb” moment when they learn how to shift their hips back in space and pick up whatever weight (or object) is sitting on the ground in front of them.

but deadlifts "aren’t safe"!?!?

Actually, they aren't safe...  ONLY if you do them wrong, just like ANY exercise. The three things you need to remember with deadlifts (in order to do them safely) are...
  1. ​stick that booty out
  2. don't let your shoulders round
  3. keep your back flat
And believe it or not, that’s about all you need it know.

did you know I have a podcast?

how I coach deadlifts

As I said before, deadlifts are my favorite. They are a key exercise to learn and build so much strength in areas that the average person lacks.  If you came to me never having heard of a deadlift, I would explain it as simply picking something up off the floor CORRECTLY.  Because when it gets down to it, that’s all you’re doing: setting yourself up for a lifetime free from your back “going out” due to picking up a kid or laundry baskets with bad form.  After explaining this, I'd give you a simple demonstration without weight, pointing out the fact that I keep my back straight, chest up, shoulders back and knees soft (as seen in the video below).   

Maybe you would be one of the few people that magically “get it” on their first try.  Or, maybe you wouldn't get it on the first try (like the majority of people).  If that would happen, we would walk over to a wall for some "brain training". I am sure you know how to do a squat, so your first deadlift ever will probably look something like a squat.  That's ok!  Everyone does this.  There is a difference to them, and to learn that, all I would have you do is stand close to a wall, facing away from it.  Then, you need to "search" for the wall with your butt ONLY. This might confuse you at first, but I promise there will be a that lightbulb moment as soon as you find the wall.

After the confusion is gone, you'll be shocked about how far back you have to send your hips to hit the wall!  The wall is there to give you faith that you won’t fall over, and when you finally hit it, you WILL feel the weight in your feet transfer into your heels (as opposed to the ball of your foot), a key of deadlifting.  In my video below, you will notice that I almost "rock" back onto my heels.

something to note:

The video below demonstrates ONE type of deadlift VARIATION.  There are many types and those specific videos/posts are on my list to discuss!  For today though, we will work on a "Romanian" or "straight leg" deadlift, the kind that is most easily performed (due to flexibility restrictions).

Once you've done your "hip hinge" experiment from above, it's time to play with flexibility.  ​As you see in the video, my back stays straight and my butt stays out the ENTIRE time the bar is traveling up and down.  This means that I let the bar go down only as far as I can while maintaining that good form.  This means that when you perform a deadlift, as SOON AS you reach a point that causes your back to curl or your shoulders to round forward, it's time to stop!  The point that you just reached is how far down you should go.  Let me reiterate: I would much rather you do a "shallower" deadlift and build up flexibility over time rather than compensate your form just to get closer to the ground.
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finally:

Once you've mastered the hip hinge and keeping your back straight, it's time to add some weight!  Start off with dumbbells and slowly progress up.  The key with a Romanian deadlift is to test your flexibility with each rep...  Each stretch you feel is the stuff that will give you "leg day soreness" the day after!
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How to fix a weak peach

12/18/2018

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Click through to learn how to fix weak glutes. Workout better by fixing inactive glutes - Lift your LIFE with LAURA.
Weak glutes? You’re not alone... unfortunately most of the population has weak and inactive glutes due to the sedentary lifestyle that lots of us have adapted to. How can you fix this and work on glute activation? Keep reading because I promise you, this tip is easy and takes no extra time from your day!

First? Get in your car.

Next?  Start driving.

​Seriously... while you are commuting to wherever you need to go, clench your cheeks in time to music, stoplights, traffic, whatever! You can try holding the contraction from one stop light to the next, or even contract each side on their own! I promise you, even 10 minutes a day of this will really help you be able to turn on those glutes!
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Click through to learn how to fix weak glutes. Workout better by fixing inactive glutes - Lift your LIFE with LAURA.
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    My name is Laura and I help overly tired 20something women overhaul their lives, energy and confidence without overwhelm.

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    DISCLAIMER:
    Although I am a Certified Personal Trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and write to the best of my knowledge on fitness, nutrition and lifestyle practices, I cannot be made liable to know all information on a particular subject.  Knowledge gained through this blog is to be used at your own risk and all lifestyle changes should be discussed with a doctor before starting.
     
    I am also a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.  I do receive a small reimbursement for sales made through the links provided on my blog.


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