Category: Lifting

how to do a "windmill"

1/26/2019

pin this video showing how to perform a windmill to strengthen your shoulders and strengthen your obliques! Lift your LIFE with LAURA

A "windmill"?

What the heck?

You can do that at the gym?

YES. A windmill is a great way to strengthen your shoulders and test their mobility! On top of that, this move REALLY works your obliques. Keep reading to learn how it's done!

If you want to get right to the video, scroll to the bottom of this post. If you like the leggings I'm wearing, make sure to check out KORA Fitness and use my code to get 15% off your order!

a windmill 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 SPEED UP YOUR WELLNESS JOURNEY

first:

Start with your feet wide and toes pointed slightly out. Turn your right foot all the way out and keep your left foot as it was.

Next take a dumbbell in your right hand and extend your left arm up. The goal here is to keep that left arm always pointing up towards the ceiling, don’t let it fall forward/backward/sideways.

finally:

Finally lower the dumbbell down to the ground on the inside of your right leg. Once you’ve reached as far down as you can go, pull it back up! Then repeat on the other side!

note:

You can also perform this exercise with the dumbbell in your raised hand! This makes the exercise work your shoulders more, but you will still feel it in your obliques.

pin this step by step guide of how to perform a windmill exercise to strengthen your shoulders and strengthen your obliques! Lift your LIFE with LAURA

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If you're a bit lost on how to incorporate this and any other exercises into your workout routine, make sure to check out my workout cycles and travel workouts, they take the guess work out of it!

8 Comments

When are you ready to increase your weights?

12/28/2018

21 Comments

Click to learn the signs for when you are ready to increase weights at the gym. Learn how to lift weights for women by a certified personal trainer! Lift your LIFE with LAURA

listen to your body:

Being able to interpret how you're feeling is an important part of working out. Listening to your body and paying attention to certain cues will help you perfrom exercises safely and in the most effective way. After reading this post, you'll learn when an exercise is too hard or too easy for you and how to make adjustments!

If you're like a lot of my clients...

Increasing your weight on exercises can be a scary thing to do on your own. Honestly, most of my clients have told me they don't feel confident enough to do it on their own, and they like to have me there to guide them. The reality is though, I don't set the rules... THEY DO. All I do is watch for their cues and interpret that information for them.

Signs something is too easy:

you can reach 20+ reps with no fatigue
you can breathe normally after a set
you can perform a timed exercise for over 90 seconds

Signs something is too hard:

you cannot complete two reps with good form
you find yourself holding your breath throughout a movement
you cannot hold a timed exercise for even 10 seconds

my general rule of thumb is:

If you can perform an exercise for 20 reps with good form, increase your weight by 2 - 10 lbs and see how many reps you can do well."

Yes, 2 - 10 lbs is a pretty wide range...

That's because weighted exercises can vary SO MUCH. Think about it: increasing by 2 lbs on a dumbbell curl is way harder than increasing by 2 lbs on a barbell squat. In general, you can increase:

by 2 (ish) lbs on upper body, one armed exercises
by 5 (ish) lbs on upper body, two armed exercises
by 5 (ish) lbs on lower body, one legged exercises
by 10 (ish) lbs on lower body, two legged exercises

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What about non-weighted and timed exercises?

You got it, we need to increase difficulty on non weighted exercises too! Whether you are holding side plank, doing pushups or performing TRX rows, you need to increase the difficulty of your modification once things get too easy. The same rules apply here as stated above. If you can hold side plank with bent knees for over 90 seconds, it's too easy and it's time to pick a harder modification. If you can perform 20 beautiful pushups from the wall, they're too easy and it is time to decrease your angle. If you can perform 20 awesome TRX rows, they're too easy and it's time to walk your feet closer to the anchor point.

STILL WANT MORE HELP? TRY OUT A PRE-PLANNED WORKOUT ROUTINE:

EASY BUTTON workout plan

Conclusion:

Hopefully this post has given you some extra confidence to kill it in the gym! Here are some final words of wisdom before you go off on your own though:

Increase weight SLOWLY."

Do not rush through increasing weights. The faster you go, the easier it is to get injured.

Never increase weights without proper form."

Although increasing weight is an amazing feeling, I never want you to sacrifice form just to hit a new PR.

Do NOT train in only one rep range."

All the ranges have their benefits so it is important to train in each range. If you want a week to week guide for this, try one of my workout cycles! Each week of my workout cycles has a different rep range goal and tells you exactly how to group exercises together!

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Pin to learn when to increase weight lifting pounds. Learn how to lift weights for women. #liftyourlifewithlaura #liftweights #strengthtraining #strong #workouttip #fittip

Learn how to lift heavy for women. Learn when to increase weights. You are ready to to lift heavy, learn how to increase weights at gym.

21 Comments

BLOG

how to do a "windmill"

a windmill is a "functional movement"

first:

next:

finally:

note:

When are you ready to increase your weights?

listen to your body:

If you're like a lot of my clients...

Signs something is too easy:

Signs something is too hard:

my general rule of thumb is:

Yes, 2 - 10 lbs is a pretty wide range...

What about non-weighted and timed exercises?

Conclusion:

Pin now, save for later!

Author

Categories

work with me

contact

BLOG

how to do a "windmill"

a windmill is a "functional movement"

first:

next:

finally:

note:

When are you ready to increase your weights?

listen to your body:

If you're like a lot of my clients...

Signs something is too easy:

Signs something is too hard:

my general rule of thumb is:

Yes, 2 - 10 lbs is a pretty wide range...

Thank you!

What about non-weighted and timed exercises?

Conclusion:

Pin now, save for later!

Author

Categories

work with me

contact