No Equipment? No Problem!

No Equipment? No excuses! I am here to share with you the value of using your body as a training medium and gaining full benefits from functional strength training! Whether you are a busy mother with children, working gal, or just plain "caught up in the whirlwind of life!" you will be able to complete basic strength training exercises to tone muscle, lose fat and love yourself while on the journey!



Let's start with what exercises you can complete that will increase your overall strength, utilize your whole body and take little time to complete. Whenever you have a minute throughout the day, or during a tv commercial, while at the park, or on your lunch, you will be able to complete these 5 movements. Always begin in proper posture, standing tall, shoulders back and down, activated abdominals, eyes looking forward, chin retracted and ears, shoulders and hips aligned. These movements have been desigend through PTN Trainer Online, a program DeGrace Energetics is proud to utilize for all of our clients on a daily basis. We offer our online trainer program internationally and welcome you to contact us for more information! It offers the benefits of having a personal trainer in the comfort of your own home, workout on your own time (not the trainers schedule) and save money (fraction of the cost of in person training).



1. Squat


Preparation :
Stand in proper alignment , at shoulder width, with hands behind the head, fingers interlocked (DO NOT PRESS INTO THE HEAD/NECK).
Movement :
Draw your belly button inward toward your spine.
Allow yourself to lower to a squat position (think sitting down on a chair!) under control without compensation.
Extend your hips, knees and ankles to a standing position.

Busy Mom out for a Walk? Why not make a commitment to yourself and your body....the next time you are out for a walk try doing squats
consecutively while waiting at a stop light, or every few blocks!?



2. Lunge Forward


Preparation :
Stand in proper alignment with hands on hips
Place feet straight ahead and shoulder width apart

Movement :
From optimal postural alignment, draw your lower abdomen inward toward your spine (activating the deep stabilizing mechanism)
While maintaining optimal spinal alignment, step forward and descend slowly by bending at the hips, knees and ankles
During the descent maintain weight distribution between the heels and mid-foot
Do not allow the feet to cave inward or shift outward
The knees should track between the first and second toes
Perform downward reps slowly and concentrate on the descent and the alignment of your body
Only descend down as far as you can maintain optimal alignment throughout the entire kinetic chain
Keep upper torso erect. Leaning forward is potentially injurious to the spine, knee and ankle. Note: Leaning forward may be a result of poor hip joint flexibility and a weak core
While maintaining tone in the lower abdomen (transversus, etc.) and optimal kinetic chain

Busy Mom at the Sports Game?! Whether you are chasing one of your little ones around in the park, or have the opportunity to sit and watch your child play why not take one quick time around the field doing forward lunges?! You will be glad that you took the 5 minutes to complete the exercise and feel invigorated!

3. Standing Calf Raise


Preparation :
Stand in proper alignment with hands on hips and feet straight ahead.
Ensure ideal scapular position by an adequate retraction and depression and chin tuck.
Grip toes on the ground.

Movement :
While maintaining total body alignment, raise heals off floor and hold.
Lower slowly and repeat.
Make sure that there is good stability in the frontal plane (no subtalar joint inversion or eversion)
Progress to calf raise off a step for more range of motion (dorsiflexion).

Busy Mom? Next time you are at the park, helping your child up the slide, or pushing them on the swing try some calf raises while you are standing!



4. Bridge


Preparation :
Begin by lying flat on floor in supine position (on your back) with knees bent, feet flat, toes pointing straight ahead and arms by sides.
Activate core by drawing navel towards the spine and squeezing the glutes.

Movement :
With core activated and glutes squeezed, lift hips off ground to form a straight line between knees and shoulders.
Hold and slowly return back to floor, touching floor momentarily then repeat.
If your hamstring (the back of your leg) is cramping, check your pelvis for correct alignment. Pelvis should be neutral (your bum and hips should not be pushed out or in, think of keeping shoulders in line with hips!) - asis and psis should be even or horizontal.

Busy Mom with a young child? Place your infant or toddler on your abdominals and hips, with their back resting on the front of your legs. As you lift your hips off the ground and come back down you become a human ride! Remember to move with control and strength.


5. Push Up

Preparation :
In a prone position (on your front), place hands at a width that will allow the forearms to be perpendicular to the floor when the elbows are flexed (bent) at 90 degrees.
Come into plank position with elbows extended (straight but not locked), make sure the entire body is in a neutral position. Activate your abdominals and do not allow your glutes to stick up.

Movement :
Flexing (bending) at elbows, lower the body, maintaining neutral spine.
Push back to starting position.

*you may place your knees on the floor, you may keep toes on the floor, or try one foot on the floor and other foot lifted off!

Busy Mom? If you have an infant you can place your child underneath you and share your kisses as you begin lowering yourself towards the floor. SAFETY FIRST!- remember to ensure you are confident and comfortable with the movement before trying with your child below! As you gain strength you can have your toddler or child lay on your back and add more resistance!


The next time you see a television commercial, need a break from reading a good book, or need some energy fit one, two, or all five of the movements above into your day. Please remember that you should be injury free and have your doctors recommendation for such physical activity before completing any movements or exercises!

Stay tuned for the next posting!

~A

Are You Missing Out?

You are probably thinking......am I missing out on what!? What is it now that I am supposed to fit into an already busy schedule, with work, family, leisure and spending time for ME! Trust me....you want in on this......it's the POWER OF STRENGTH TRAINING!

Hey Ladies! There is a very large misconception that you will gain large amounts of muscle and become bulky from strength training, however if you think of high number of repititions with a smaller weight that still challenges the muscles you will gain muscular endurance! As we begin to age we begin to lose our muscle mass that we have built up (or lack there of) over the past years. As women begin to journey through menopause your muscle mass is lost even quicker. Lack of muscle mass leads to a lower metabolism, which leads to the reason why you may be feeling a little heavier than before. Women who strength train, even 2-3 days per week, show improvement in muscle mass and an increase in their metabolism. Your metabolism is continually burning calories for you.....even when you are sitting watching tv and sleeping!

Stop running for hours on end, looking to burn calories and fat. Without adding strength training to the mix you are MISSING OUT! Think that spending time on cardio and strength training each workout will take up too much time? How about interval or circuit training. Try completing a few strength training exercises, then a cardio, followed by a few more strength training and then another cardio. Move from exercise to exercise with little to no rest. Feeling really energized? How about a strength training exercise (bicep curl) followed immediately by a few minutes of skipping, repeated a few times? WHEW!

Stay tuned for how you can add functional strength training to your day with no equipment and very little time!!!

~A