Slept in on a rainy day? Make it up with these Core Exercises

From Men’s Health Magazine

Plank with Diag­o­nal Arm Lift
Assume a mod­i­fied pushup posi­tion with your feet shoulder-width apart, fore­arms on the floor. Keep­ing your torso steady, raise your right arm for-ward and to the right, so that it points to 2 o’clock. Hold for 2 sec­onds, then lower and repeat with your left arm, rais­ing it to 10 o’clock. That’s one rep. Your elbows should be bent 90 degrees and directly under your shoulders.

Side Bridge
Lie on your side with your fore­arm on the floor under your shoul­der to prop you up, and your feet stacked. Con­tract your core and press your fore­arm against the floor to raise your hips until your body is straight from ankles to shoul­ders. Hold for 15 to 45 sec­onds, then repeat on the other side. Con­tract your abs and butt mus­cles force­fully to keep your body straight.

Single-Leg Low­er­ing
Lie on your back with your legs extended straight up. Keep­ing your legs straight, lower your left leg until your foot is 2 to 3 inches off the floor. Return to the start­ing posi­tion, then repeat with your right leg; that’s one rep­e­ti­tion. Think about push­ing the bot­tom of your heel away from your hip as you lower your leg. Don’t point your toes; keep your foot flexed toward you. Lead with your heel.

App Thursdays: Pushup Warrior

Andy Abend, this one’s for you!

Descrip­tion
Pushup War­rior is the most chal­leng­ing push-up app in the AppStore. With over 120 dif­fer­ent push-up vari­a­tions and 60 work­outs to choose from, you will be sure to burn fat, build mus­cle and get fit.

Key Fea­tures

• Pushup of the Day
  Each day you can spin the wheel to see what your pushup of the day will be. This is a great start or fin­isher to every workout.
• Help Videos
  Watch as Mar­tin Rooney shows you how to do over 120 dif­fer­ent kinds of pushups. Instruc­tional text is also fea­tured with each video.
• Track Your Progress
  Every rep is recorded to your per­sonal pro­file. As you reach mile­stones, your belt color will change to reflect your pushup war­rior status.

Com­pata­bil­ity
iPhone
iPod Touch
iPad

Cost
$0.99

Learn more →

Urban Hikes:
Midtown Romp

BY LAUREN

When the weather starts to warm, I get a han­ker­ing for one of my favorite activ­i­ties: hiking.

It’s always nice to find time to enjoy one of the many lovely trails we have avail­able around Atlanta. The quiet, hilly trails through wooded areas pro­vide time to reflect on life and an excel­lent car­dio challenge.

But you don’t always have to get out­side the city to find a great hike. Some of my favorite hikes are the urban hikes that high­light Atlanta’s his­tory and diverse population.

One urban hike that you intown­ers can try out this week­end is the Mid­town Romp. The Mid­town Romp tours the mid­town area of Atlanta, includ­ing the High Museum, Mar­garet Mitchell House, Geor­gia Tech, Pied­mont Park, and the Atlanta Botan­i­cal Gardens.

This hike is a 7 mile loop that begins on Atlanta’s first road, Peachtree Street. It is con­sid­ered an easy hike with very few hills. Aver­age hik­ing time is 7 hours, accord­ing to the hik­ing guide, 60 Hikes within 60 Miles — but it can be com­pleted much faster if you keep a good pace.

You will enjoy the scenery of urban land­scapes, nice, long-distance views of the city from Pied­mont Park and Atlanta Botan­i­cal Gar­dens, and of course, the springy green­scape of Pied­mont Park.

Some of the high­lights of the Mid­town Romp include:

• High Museum
• Wynn Park
• Atlanta Botan­i­cal Gardens
• Mar­garet Mitchell House and Museum
• Fox The­atre
• The Var­sity
• Bobby Dodd Stadium

Take an urban hike this week­end! Get the com­plete Trail Guide for the Mid­town Romp »

Do you know of some fun urban hikes? Share your hik­ing tips by click­ing the “Com­ments” link above this post.

Author’s note and Trail Guide credit: As a mem­ber of Trails​.com, I have access to Trail Guides for thou­sands of hikes in Geor­gia and beyond. The Trail Guide for the Mid­town Romp is cour­tesy of Trails​.com. If you are inter­ested in explor­ing more hik­ing trails, I highly rec­om­mend Trails​.com for accu­rate and valu­able information.

Movin’ on Up

Got any fun week­end work­out ideas? How about this one? Stairs pro­vide a quick and read­ily avail­able work­out that can be easy or intense; and a high calorie-burning aer­o­bic exer­cise option.

Read more at Suite101: The Stair Climb­ing Work­out: Stairs are Every­where and They Pro­vide a Great Workout