– Mobility is the practice of increasing your capacity to move your body through greater ranges of motion with control and without pain.

– Your potential to build muscle, burn fat, and stay healthy depends immensely on your ability to move properly.

– Use the exercises in Shoulder Complexes A, B, and C to improve range of motion and prevent injury.

– In the accompanying shoulder mobility program, exercises should be done 5 days a week, 3–5 times per day, for 3–5 sets of 3–5 reps.

Shoulder Mobility For Strength and Injury Prevention

When you start on the path to a fitness goal, you’re bound to learn some things about your body along the way. A new workout or activity places new demands on your system, and whether you were previously inactive or extremely active, it can become painfully obvious early on that your body is having trouble keeping up with what you’re asking it to do. For example, you start a new running program and your knees begin to hurt, or you get a set of kettlebells, and now you notice that one arm feels strong while the other can’t even lock out the elbow when pressing overhead. 

Regardless of what your ultimate fitness goal is—be it ripped abs, stronger lifts, running your first marathon, etc.—increasing the amount and quality of movement you’re capable of is one of the most important and yet oft overlooked factors in reaching it. Improving movement skills—mobility training—is a must for being able to perform the type of exercise you love pain-free, and at the highest level possible.

First, I’ll explain why better mobility could be the corrective step that helps you smash plateaus that may have derailed or discouraged you in your training in the past. I’ll also detail how it can help you come back from injuries that may have plagued you for years, and prevent injury that could be just around the corner due to poor training habits. Then I’ll lay out an easy-to-follow plan for improving mobility in your shoulders—a commonly tight and injury-prone area—so that you can make the New Year one of pain-free workouts and high performance.

What Is Mobility Training?

I define mobility training as the practice of increasing your capacity to move your body through greater ranges of motion WITH control and WITHOUT pain. It’s these two qualifiers that distinguish mobility from the more commonly known term “flexibility.” Most people are flexible enough to move a joint from point A to point B, but that doesn’t mean they can do it while keeping the body in a safe anatomical alignment. Mobility requires mastery of another term you may have heard of—stability—which is the ability to control your body position and avoid unwanted movement.

It’s important to realize that mobility isn’t another word for stretching. Because of its stability component, it’s stretching AND strengthening all at once.

Just what the hell am I talking about? Let me illustrate it with an example.

Picture doing a bodyweight squat. You may be capable of squatting all the way down to where your butt touches your calves (that’s flexibility), but if you have to rise up onto the balls of your feet and bend forward in your lower back to do it, you really aren’t demonstrating that you have the mobility to squat. In other words, you’re moving, but you’re not moving correctly or safely. You don’t have stability/strength in your spine or the range of motion in your hips and ankles to squat soundly.

Now imagine if you could squat deeply while keeping your head, spine, and pelvis stacked vertically, your heels anchored to the floor, and your knees lined up with the first two toes on each foot—and the movement felt natural, comfortable, stable, and smooth. You would be squatting perfectly, and demonstrating optimal mobility in your hips and ankles, and stability throughout your spine. It takes not only flexibility in the muscles and joints to move that way, but also the strength to control that movement and avoid moving in ways that break that good body alignment.

That’s the kind of movement that translates to performance in the real world. To get it, we only need to practice a few drills per day that challenge us to explore new ranges of motion while keeping sound body mechanics. It’s not as complicated as it sounds!

Benefits of Mobility Training

Good mobility unlocks the body, and by extension, its potential. For one thing, if you lack mobility, gaining more will allow you to achieve greater muscle activation, which leads to better muscle and strength gains. It also means that the right muscles will be engaged, so the muscles and joints that aren’t supposed to be so involved in a movement don’t kick in to compensate for a lack of mobility. That can go a long way toward preventing injury. For instance, if you’re doing an overhead press (with a barbell, kettlebell, or anything else), and your thoracic spine (mid back) can’t extend enough—i.e. you can’t stand up straight like your mom told you to growing up—you won’t be able to press the weight in a straight line overhead. You may end up hyperextending at your lower back to compensate, and that places tension on the low back muscles and spinal disks that can lead to injury. If you’ve hit pressing plateaus in the past, this is a likely reason why. It’s not that your shoulders weren’t strong enough to lift heavier weights, the problem was you couldn’t maintain the right body position that makes it possible. Poor mobility causes form to break down!

In addition to letting you perform your exercises as intended, having good mobility creates more energy expenditure, so you can burn more calories. That goes a long way in helping you lose weight, i.e. see your abs. A person who can squat ass to grass is going to get his/her heart rate up higher than someone who can only manage half-squats.

In short, your potential to build muscle, burn fat, and stay healthy depends immensely on your ability to move properly. You simply won’t reach your highest level of performance without it, or be able to avoid the aches and pains that come with years of hard training and threaten to sideline your fitness.

Unfortunately, most of us have serious mobility deficiencies. When we become aware of how to move properly, we often see that getting into the ranges of motion we need for certain exercises while using the correct body mechanics is a big challenge. None of us are born tight and achy, we just lose range of motion and function in certain joints and connective tissues over time. Prolonged sitting is a surefire way to let the hips tighten up, and slouching over a desk in front of a computer will lock up the shoulders and thoracic spine. Previous injuries also play a factor. If you sprained your ankle in high school, or tore a hamstring lifting weights last year, these events can affect the way you move going forward—especially if you didn’t rehab them properly.

Even when the pain of injury goes away, you’re often left with compromised joints and tissues that can’t handle what you ask of them when you undergo a rigorous training regimen, and it’s only then that you recognize the problem and see you have to correct it in order to make progress. But, as you begin to mobilize tight areas, you’ll see your technique and range of motion improve on your exercises, and you’ll feel greater control over your movements. Activating the correct muscles takes burden off ones that were compensating for poor movement patterns, and that often resolves pain issues. It’s also the best prehab work you can do to bulletproof the body.

Where Should I Start With Mobility Training?

When introducing mobility training to anyone that has yet to experience it, my advice is to keep things simple and focus on what is most practical and accessible. Once you gain an understanding of how impactful mobility training can be, it’s easy to take it up a notch with more mobility exercises and more challenging drills. Your entry point into mobility should require no investment in equipment, take up minimal space, and demand very little of your time to see results.

When training clients in-person, I take them through a full-body mobility routine at the onset of EVERY session. That is a non-negotiable, as it allows me to see how the person is progressing day after day. You and I may never train together, but I recommend that you perform some mobility training daily as well. It’s a great way to measure your progress, as well as assess your capacity to move and perform on the given day (if you plan to work out or play some sport/participate in an activity afterward).

With that said, I understand that asking you to spend 15 minutes or more mobilizing the whole body, joint by joint, is too much for most busy people. But fortunately, that isn’t necessary either. In an effort to minimize the time and energy required, I suggest targeting just one area of your body and focusing your efforts on getting a measurable improvement in range of motion there. As this region loosens up, you’ll begin to see the value in what you’re doing, and you’ll be motivated to step it up even more. The area you choose should be whichever one you feel is the tightest and most injury-prone.

For most people, the big three to choose from will be the shoulders, spine, and hips. And for the rest of this article, I’ll discuss the shoulders, as they tend to get a very high return on investment in a short period of time. If you feel good about your shoulders and want to prioritize another area, check out the Morning Mobility Series in our new Onnit In 30 library of digital fitness products.

Shoulder Mobility Exercises

Modern lifestyles wreak havoc on the shoulders. Interfacing with computers and hand-held devices encourages a hunched, round-shouldered position that causes a shortening of the muscles on the front of the shoulder and an overstretching of the ones on the back. If you add a bunch of pressing exercises to the equation, done without an even greater amount of pulling exercises that strengthen the back of the shoulder, you’re really lighting a fuse that burns down to a shoulder injury. 

The following mobility drills will go a long way toward restoring balance to the shoulders and upper back, and expanding their ranges and stability. Perform the exercises slowly, focusing on exploring the ends of your range of motion. That is, move your shoulders as far as you can in each position with maximum control, being aware of how far you can comfortably go. Integrate your breath to help your body relax into greater ranges (more on this below). As you do the exercises, take note of two things:

1. Any discomfort or pain you may feel

2. Any differences in how you’re able to do the drill on one side versus the other

If a movement creates noticeable discomfort or pain, shave off the range of motion that creates that response, and explore what range you can access safely. Realize that any movement that causes irritation when done without load will surely feel worse when loaded, so be sure to adjust any shoulder training you’re doing accordingly. Using your mobility practice to create awareness around your current pain-free movement capacity helps guide sound decisions around what movements we should or should not include in our training, and allows us to problem-solve whatever may be causing the issue. 

As you explore your movement, you’ll probably become more aware of asymmetries—differences in how you move on one side versus the other. So long as these differences do not cause the type of discomfort or pain discussed above, you simply want to take note of them and think about how they might be affecting your training. Are they negatively impacting your ability to develop a skill you’re working on? Is the discrepancy forcing you to compensate by relying more on one side than the other side? You may decide to spend more time doing mobility work for the lagging side, and favor it in your workouts.

It’s important to look at mobility training as an intentional practice that leads to a greater awareness of the body. It’s not something you should do casually, mindlessly checking off the sets and reps until it’s over. Using your mobility training time to check in with the current state of your body and make note of daily changes helps inform you of whether you’re moving in the right direction with your training or not.

Directions

Begin performing the following mobility drills on a daily basis. You can perform them before a workout, at the end of a workout, or any other time of day (I’ll explain more about this in the next section). The exercises are organized as complexes—a pairing of two moves that are done back to back. Complete 3–5 reps for the first exercise, and then do 3–5 reps of the next one right away. That’s one complete complex/one set. Rest a few seconds, and repeat.

Shoulder Complex A: Push-Pull Drill and Flexed Lateral Roll

This complex helps free up the scapula (shoulder blade) to access both retracted and protracted positions, which contributes to greater activation of the stabilizing musculature necessary to build strength around the shoulder girdle. Coordinating the movements with your breath, inhaling and exhaling as directed, will allow you to push the range of motion deeper on each rep, as breath mobilizes the rib cage and helps to relax overly tight muscles.

1. Push-Pull Drill

Reps: 3–5

Step 1. Stand tall and inhale deeply as you draw your elbows as far back as possible with palms facing up.

Step 2. Exhale fully as you push your palms away from you, and rotate them so your fingers point up. Spread your shoulder blades apart as you do so, rounding your upper back. That’s one rep.

2. Flexed Lateral Roll

Reps: 3–5 each side

Step 1. Beginning in the end position of the push-pull drill (back rounded, arms extended), tilt your torso to the left, stacking your right shoulder over your left. Inhale through your nose as you direct your breath to the right side of your ribcage. Exhale to deepen the stretch.

Step 2. Inhale as you return your torso to the starting position, and then repeat the tilt on the opposite side. That’s one rep.

Shoulder Complex B: W Neck Tilt and Arm Screw

This simple sequence will help to increase stability in your scapula when it’s locked down—a strong and safe position used for virtually all pressing exercises. As you hold the depressed scapular position, you’ll free up the sides of your neck, which can get very tight after hours of playing on an iPhone.

The arm screw looks (and feels) like you’re twisting a sponge, and it will literally wring out the tension throughout the shoulder girdle, helping you to move the shoulders more freely. This is a great combo drill to use before shoulder pressing workouts! 

1. W Neck Tilt

Reps: 3–5 each side

Step 1. Stand tall and reach your arms out to your sides. Now bend your elbows slightly and turn your palms up so your arms form a W shape. Pull your shoulders down and back as you tilt your head toward your left shoulder and exhale.

Step 2. Inhale as you bring your head back to center, and repeat on the other side. That’s one rep. Avoid shrugging your shoulders! The goal is to keep your shoulders pulled down and retracted while your neck moves freely.

2. Arm Screw

Reps: 3–5 each side

Step 1. From the beginning position of the W neck tilt (arms in the W position, shoulders down), inhale as you lift your right shoulder toward your ear. Turn the front of your right shoulder toward your chest and rotate your arm inward. This will cause your torso to twist to the left.

Step 2. Continue rotating your right arm, twisting it like you’re wringing out a sponge until your right palm is facing upward (or as close as you can get it). Exhale. At the same time, reach your left arm out, palm facing up. Allow your torso to bend to the left as you reach.

Step 3. Return to the starting position and repeat on the other side. That’s one rep.

Shoulder Complex C: Bow Draw to Rear Reach and Backstroke

These two drills are all about being able to rotate your thoracic spine, which is an important part of maintaining optimal shoulder function.

1. Bow Draw to Rear Reach

Reps: 3–5 each side

Step 1. Stand tall with both arms extended in front of you and palms together. Inhale as you draw your right elbow behind you as far as possible, as if drawing back on the string of a bow, and keep your left arm reaching forward.

Step 2. Allow your torso and head to turn back in the direction your right arm is reaching. Slowly extend your right arm and reach your fingers as far back as possible while your left arm reaches as far forward as possible. Try to create one straight line with your arms, pulling your upper back and shoulders apart. Feel the stretch!

Step 3. Reverse the movement, and repeat on the opposite side. That’s one rep.  

2. Backstroke

Reps: 3–5 each side

Step 1. From the starting position of the bow draw to rear reach, raise your left hand overhead as high as possible and allow your torso to twist to the left. Simultaneously reach your right arm forward to stretch your back and shoulders again.

Step 2. Maintain the intention of keeping your fingertips as far apart as possible as you raise the right arm up and draw the left one down in a backstroke motion.

Step 3. Continue the arm movement until you have rotated to the opposite side, reaching with both arms. That’s one rep. 

The Shoulder Mobility Program

Improving your mobility comes with practice—the more you do it, the better you’ll get. You wouldn’t expect to learn to play the piano by practicing just once a week, or perfect your golf swing by hitting the range every now and then, and mobility works the same way: you need to make time to do it regularly.

But that doesn’t mean it has to take up a huge chunk of your day. The trick is to do a little here and there, frequently, so that it never feels overwhelming but adds up to a lot of work overall. I learned this concept, called Greasing The Groove (GTG), from strength coach Pavel Tsatsouline. Basically, you maximize the volume of your work by doing a little at a time—fewer repetitions than would create fatigue done many times throughout the day snowballs into a lot of cumulative practice. This way, your shoulders will never feel tired and you’ll never have to set aside 10 or 15 minutes or more in one block to train mobility, but you’ll end up doing a huge amount of mobility training by the end of a week.  

Perform the shoulder complexes I gave you above as follows.

Frequency: 3–5 times per day, 5 days per week

Sets: 3–5 of each complex

Reps: 3–5 for each exercise

For example, on a busy work day, you might perform 3 sets of 3 reps of the exercises in Shoulder Complex A in the morning after you get up. During your lunch break, you could then do 3 sets of 3 for Shoulder Complex B, and then, when you get home after work and have a little more time, you might tackle 4 sets of 5 reps for Shoulder Complex C. None of the complexes should ever take more than 10 minutes to complete, and most of the time, they’ll take closer to five.

This framework provides a lot of flexibility when it comes to how you tackle the five-day assignment, while at the same time making sure you still get enough volume to see noticeable results.

Make sure to comment on social media (@onnit) and let me know how this program works for you. I am looking forward to hearing from you!

P.S.: If you are interested in a more comprehensive mobility practice that you can do daily to get your whole body moving better, make sure to check out the Morning Mobility Series from our new Onnit In 30 workouts. You get 10 follow-along mobility workouts, led by me, for under $10.

You can also try one of the workouts before you buy!

The post Shoulder Mobility For Strength and Injury Prevention appeared first on Onnit Academy.

Conventional physique programs that focus solely on building your muscles and “blasting your abs” only take you so far. Sooner or later your back hurts, your knees ache, you plateau on your exercises, and you wonder what all your hard work is for.

And then what happens? You quit. Time passes, you feel guilty, and you tell yourself you’ll start again in the New Year and give it all you have.

Well, it’s 2021, and it’s high time you stopped making the same mistake.

You CAN have abs, and athleticism, and greater overall health and fitness—without spending considerably more time at the gym—by taking an optimized approach.

Our approach.

Take on our 12-Week Fat Loss Workout Plan, and you’ll not only get in the best shape of your life but know how to keep that shape for the rest of your life.

Who Is This Fat Loss Workout Plan For?

The former athlete looking to get back into fitness, or men and women who have been working diligently for months (or years) but are disappointed with their results. These workouts consist primarily of body-weight exercises, but don’t read that as “easy.” Even an experienced and especially strong lifter will be humbled by them.

What This Fat Loss Workout Plan Will Do For You

You know the conventional approach to getting ripped all too well. Hit one or two body parts at a time, do three sets of 10 reps, isolate the muscles, blah blah blah.

We don’t mean to knock those methods and they certainly have their place, but we feel they present a very one-dimensional view of training, and they limit the potential of what your body can do and even how it can look.

Have you noticed how guys who blast their chests tend to end up with bad posture? How lots of bench pressing hurts your shoulders and crunches make your lower back sore? And it’s probably occurred to you that spending a whole day training your arms means you’ll need to spend another on your back, another on your legs, another on your deltoids… It gets awfully time-consuming, and what good is having a great body if you never have time to do anything else with it?

We say: scrap all that. Start training your body like the integrated system that it is rather than a disjointed collection of parts, and you’ll see better, faster results without side effects.

1. Improved Mobility

First, you need to work to offset the muscle imbalances and limited range of motion you’re no doubt suffering from (perhaps without even realizing it) due to living in the modern world. Only then will you be able to get the best results—from our program or any.

Onnit’s workouts don’t begin with the “first exercise.” The days of doing a few shoulder circles, cracking your knuckles, and loading up the barbell right away in your workout are over. Today, smart coaches know the value of doing a thorough joint mobility warmup first. Each session, we ask that you take five minutes to do a series of mobility drills including neck glides, Egyptians, and lateral hip rooting (shown below). It’s designed to help correct the problems that result from sitting in front of a computer screen, driving in a car, and other activities that tighten the hips and weaken the upper back and core.

This warmup will prepare you to perform the exercises in the main workout more efficiently. It will improve your ranges of motion, and help to prevent injury when you start loading up heavy weights and blasting through circuits—don’t skip it.

2. Strength, Muscle, and Fat Loss

Second, we want you to work the whole body each session, which burns more calories and activates more muscle than body-part splits (much of it in your core). This will automatically have you training each muscle group more frequently. The more often you can train a muscle the faster it will grow, provided you can recover from the previous session. Short, intense, frequent workouts allow you to train hard, recover well, and make gains fast.

The workouts feature a strength superset, which serves as your “meat and potatoes” training—the work that will give you the majority of your results by challenging your muscles with heavy loads that tax your whole body. It’s worth noting that we’ve built some mobility in here as well: we opted for the Romanian deadlift because it’s safer for the lower back than the conventional version, and teaches you to hinge at the hips properly—a fundamental movement skill. This is paired with the dumbbell pullover, which opens up the lats while sparing the elbows, which are often irritated by chinup exercises.

In Workout B, you’ll focus on hanging from a bar in the bottom of a pullup position. Simply holding on and letting your own body weight stretch you is enough grip and core training to qualify as serious strength work, and you’ll see what it does for your ability to do full range pullups down the road.

After the strength superset, you’ll hit a conditioning circuit, in which you’ll perform a series of body-weight exercises that will burn calories and force you to stabilize your body in ways that you can’t while lifting weights. You’ll do as many rounds as you can in 20 minutes one week and Tabata intervals the next. It puts conventional cardio to shame.

3. Better Gains Long-Term

Lastly, you’ll use a decompression circuit (“cool down”) to end each session. This consists of static and dynamic stretches (downward dog, hip flexor stretch) that pull the tension out of your muscles to promote recovery and further improve mobility. As with the warmup, it only takes five minutes, and will help to re-acclimate your body to life outside the gym, and keep you healthy and fit to train for as long as you choose to.

Directions

The program goes for 12 weeks. The workouts for Part 1—Weeks 1–4—appear here (come back in February for Part 2). While the exercises for the first four weeks remain the same, the way in which you perform them will change slightly on a weekly basis. See the “notes” on each week at the bottom of the page.

Perform each workout (Workout A and B) twice per week. An ideal schedule would be to do A on Monday, B on Tuesday, rest Wednesday, do A again Thursday and B Friday. Perform some kind of light recreational activity (walking, biking, swimming, sports, etc.) the remaining days of the week. Repeat the cycle for four weeks.

Begin each workout with the prescribed mobility warmup, and then do the strength superset, conditioning circuit, and decompression.

Each workout should take 45 minutes or less.

For a nutrition plan to accompany the workouts, CLICK HERE.

Fat Loss Workout A

Mobility Warmup

Perform 5 reps of each exercise (on each side, where appropriate) in sequence. Repeat the series for 3 total rounds.

A. Forward/Backward Neck Glide

Stand tall with soft knees and tuck your tailbone slightly so your hips are level with the floor. Think “proud chest,” drawing your shoulder blades back and down. Brace your core and place your hands on your belly to draw awareness to any movement in your torso during the drill (there shouldn’t be any), and slowly extend your neck straight forward. Avoid tilting your head up or down—move it forward as if it were sliding on a straight path. Go as far forward as you can and then retract your head straight back until you feel you’re making a double chin.

B. Double Backward Shoulder Roll

From the same tall standing position described above, allow your arms to hang at your sides and begin rolling your shoulders backward. Make big circles, moving only at the shoulders, drawing them back, down, forward, and up again. Move your shoulders as far as you can in each direction.

C. Egyptian

Raise your arms out 90 degrees, actively reaching them apart as far as you can. Rotate purely at the right shoulder, twisting your arm so your palm faces behind you. Allow your head and torso to rotate to the left as you twist. Unwind your right arm and repeat on the opposite side.

D. Lateral Hip Root

Stand with feet between hip and shoulder-width apart and tilt your pelvis backward. Keeping a “proud chest,” drive your hips back to one side, allowing your knees to bend as needed. Bend as far as you can, reaching your arms out straight for balance. Squeeze your glutes and tuck your pelvis back under as you come back to standing and repeat on the other side.

E. Hacky Sack

Bend one knee 90 degrees and raise that leg up so your thigh is parallel to the floor. Keep your balance and rotate your lower leg in toward the midline of your body as far as you can. Reverse the motion and rotate the leg outward as far as possible.

Strength Superset

Complete one set of 1A and then 1B before resting.

1A. Romanian Deadlift
Sets: 4
Reps: 8
Rest: 0 sec.

Place a loaded barbell on a power rack or mats so that it’s at about mid-thigh level. Grasp the bar with a shoulder-width grip and pull the bar out of the rack so it hangs at arm’s length in front of you. Step back a few feet to clear the rack and stand with feet between hip and shoulder width apart.

Imagine screwing your feet into the floor—twist them out and apart—but not to the point where they actually move. Just activate the muscles on the sides of your hips and feel the tension you’ve created in your lower body. Take a deep breath into your belly and draw your shoulder blades back and down (think of Superman pulling his jacket open to reveal the “S” on his chest). Tilt your hips back.

Begin lowering your torso toward the floor, pushing your hips back as far as you can until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings. Allow your knees to bend as needed. You should feel your weight on your heels.

Keep your spine long from your head to your pelvis. As you bend, keep the bar pulled into your legs the entire time, firing the muscles in your back and keeping a “proud chest” position.

When you’ve gone as far as you can safely, squeeze your glutes to come back up to standing.

1B. Dumbbell Pullover
Sets: 4
Reps: 10
Rest: 120 sec.

Hold a dumbbell by one of its bells with both hands and lie back on a bench, suspending the weight over your chest. Take a deep breath and begin lowering the weight behind your head while keeping your elbows straight.

When you feel a stretch in your lats, pull the weight back up to the starting position using your back muscles.

Conditioning Circuit

Perform the following exercises back to back for 20 minutes. Do not rest in between exercises; work at your own pace. Complete as many rounds (exercises 1A–1D) as possible without stopping and record the number you complete. Try to beat this number in Week 3.

1A. Body-weight Squat
Reps: 20

Stand with your feet between hip and shoulder-width apart and toes turned out slightly. Look straight ahead, take a deep breath, and screw your feet into the floor as you did in the Romanian deadlift.

Drop down as if sitting in a low chair, spreading your knees apart as you descend. Go as low as you feel comfortable while keeping a long spine from your head to your pelvis—your head, back, and hips should form a straight line and your torso should be very vertical. Your knees should line up with your big toes. Drive through the middle of your feet to stand back up.

1B. Pushup
Reps: 10

Place your hands on the floor at shoulder-width apart and extend your legs behind you in a straight line. Your feet should be about hip-width apart. Breathe into your belly and brace your core. Pull your shoulder blades down and together.

Think about twisting your hands into the floor to create tension in your shoulders. Begin lowering your body toward the floor by pulling yourself down with your upper back. Stop when your chest is about an inch above the floor and press back up, continuing to push until your shoulder blades are spread wide apart.

1C. Bicycle Crunch
Reps: 10 (each side)

Lie on your back on the floor and clasp your hands behind your head. Extend your legs in front of you. Crunch your torso off the floor and twist to your left while simultaneously raising your left knee to your chest until your knee and elbow meet. Lower your torso and leg and repeat on the opposite side. You’ll look like you’re pedaling a bicycle. Each twist is one rep.

1D. Hip-Opening Mountain Climber
Reps: 10 (each side)

Get into pushup position and draw your right knee up to the outside of your elbow, pulling the leg inward while driving the arm out so they touch each other firmly. Drive it back and bring the other knee up. Alternate in a steady rhythm (each knee drive is one rep). Keep your core engaged and resist any rotation at the shoulders or hips. Fight to keep your “proud chest” position—try not to let your upper back round forward excessively.

Decompression

Perform each exercise for 60 seconds (30 seconds per side where appropriate).

A. Standing Forward Fold

From the tall, “proud chest” position, bend your hips back and reach behind your ankles. Pull your legs toward you with your arms while simultaneously trying to extend your hips. Keep the tension and feel your lower back open up.

B. Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch

Kneel on the floor in a lunge position and stack your head and spine directly over your hips. Allow your front knee to drive forward but maintain your upper-body position. You should feel the stretch in the front of your trailing leg. As your hip opens, allow your knee to drift further forward and your hips to stretch more deeply.

C. Kneeling Inverted Pushup Hold

Get on all fours and rest the backs of your hands on the floor directly underneath your shoulders. Keep a “proud chest” position with your spine and hips aligned as you straighten your elbows to feel a stretch on your wrist extensors (in the forearm). Turn your biceps to face forward and hold the position.

D. Downward Facing Dog

Get into a bear crawl position with hands on the floor at shoulder-width apart. Push your feet and hands into the floor to raise your hips into the air. Allow your knees to bend as neeed to keep your head, spine, and hips aligned. Hold the position while actively driving your hands into the floor.

E. Floor Scorpion

Lie on your chest on the floor and spread your arms out 90 degrees. Bend your left leg and drive it up off the floor and over behind your right arm. Plant it flat on the floor and drive it actively into the floor so you feel a stretch in your hips. Allow your shoulder to come up as you turn but try to drive it back down.

Note that the way in which this workout is done changes slightly week to week. Above is what you should do for Week 1. See the “notes” on the bottom of the page for instructions on Weeks 2–4.

Fat Loss Workout B

Mobility Warmup

Repeat the warmup from Workout A.

Strength Superset

Complete one set of 1A and then 1B before resting.

1A. One-Arm Dumbbell Row
Sets: 4
Reps: 8 (each side)
Rest: 0 sec.

Hold a dumbbell in one hand and rest the opposite hand and knee on a bench. Think “proud chest,” drawing your shoulder blades down and together, and row the weight to your side until your upper arm is in line with your torso. Complete your reps and repeat on the opposite side.

1B. Pull-up Bar Hang
Sets: 4
Reps: Hold as long as possible
Rest: 120 sec.

Grasp a pullup bar with hands outside shoulder width and palms facing away from you. Draw your shoulder blades down and try to pull them together. Pull your ribs down. Think about keeping your head, spine and hips aligned and making your spine as long as possible. Hang from the bar as long as you can.

Conditioning Circuit

Perform the following exercises back to back for 20 minutes. Do not rest in between exercises; work at your own pace. Complete as many rounds (exercises 1A–1D) as possible without stopping and record the number you complete. Try to beat this number in Week 3.

1A. Split Squat
Reps: 10 (each side)

Lunge forward with one foot so your feet are staggered. Keeping your torso upright, lower your body until your rear knee nearly touches the floor. Come back up. Complete all your reps on one leg and then switch legs and repeat.

1B. Twist And Sit
Reps: 10 (each side)

Get into a bear crawl position—on the balls of your feet with your knees under your hips and hands under your shoulders. Rotate your body to the right, pivoting on your right foot and turning until your left hip can touch the floor—hold for a moment and feel the stretch. Reverse the motion and repeat on the opposite side. Keep your shoulders square to the floor the whole time.

1C. V-Up
Reps: 20

Lie on your back on the floor and raise both hands behind your head. Extend your legs. Take a deep breath and brace your abs. Sit up all the way, raising your legs simultaneously. Your body should form a V shape at the top.

1D. Alternating Tripod Extension
Reps: 5 (each side)

Sit on the floor with hips and knees bent 90 degrees and feet flat. Twist your torso to place your left elbow inside your right thigh and rest your right arm on the floor behind you. Think “proud chest” and take a deep breath. Brace your core.

Drive through your heels and bridge your hips up until your body forms a straight line from your head to your knees. As you rise, reach your left arm to the ceiling. Reverse the motion and repeat on the other side. Both sides equals one rep.

Decompression

Repeat the cool down from Workout A.

Note that the way in which this workout is done changes slightly week to week. Above is what you should do for Week 1. See the “notes” below for instructions on Weeks 2–4.

Week 1 Notes – Set Your Pace:

Don’t compete with yourself too hard this week. Your main goal is to determine what loads to use and make sure your form is precise. If you have to reduce the weight you’re using between sets, so be it. Keep a log, recording the weights you use and how the workouts feel. In a few weeks, you’ll be able to look back and see how far you’ve come.

On the conditioning circuit, try to find a comfortable pace that allows you to keep moving for the full 20 minutes. If you need to take breaks because your muscles are fatigued, take note of which body parts are fatiguing faster than others. If it’s your lungs that need the break, slow down and focus on breathing between each rep of every exercise. You’re welcome to perform your reps with a bit more time in between them. Each rep should be done with crisp technique. You will be able to pick up the pace each week.

Week 2 Notes – Compress The Workload:

Now that you’ve found the appropriate weights to use for your strength exercises, aim to get the same amount of work done with them in less time.

The rest period at the end of the superset now drops to 90 seconds.

This can have a significant effect on how you feel in the last few sets, so make sure not to increase the loads you’re using until you’re sure you can complete all the prescribed reps for them while respecting the rest time.

The format of the conditioning circuit changes too. You’ll now perform each exercise not for reps but for time. You’ll work for 20 seconds and then take 10 seconds off (you may know this as the “Tabata Protocol”) and repeat for 8 total sets before moving on to the next exercise. Note that, technically, this is not a circuit anymore but straight sets. For example, you’ll do squats for 20 seconds, then rest 10, and repeat for 8 sets. Then you’ll go on to do pushups, bicycle crunches, and mountain climbers in the same fashion. Rest one minute between exercises.

This change-up will increase the endurance demands on your muscles dramatically, so be sure to do your reps at a conservative pace. Make note of the reps you can do each set for each exercise. Afterward, add the lowest score of all your sets for each movement. This is the number you want to beat the next time.

Week 3 Notes – Turn Up The Volume:

This week returns to the format used in Week 1.

The strength supersets will continue to be done with 90 seconds rest but the number of sets will increase. Do 5 sets each for the pair.

One set may not sound like much but it represents a 25% increase in workload. It should feel substantially different than last week even if you use the same weights.

The conditioning circuit returns to reps instead of work and rest intervals, and you’ll complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes again. Try to beat the number you recorded in Week 1.

Week 4 Notes – Test Yourself:

Reduce the rest for the strength superset to 60 sec. Perform the conditioning work as a Tabata again and try to increase your score by one rep on every exercise.

The post New Year’s Resolution Series: 12-Week Fat Loss Workout Plan for 2021 appeared first on Onnit Academy.

Our goal wasn’t just beach muscles but balance between all the components that help you look, feel, and perform optimally. I.E., the exercises we chose should be helping to reduce your aches and pains from old injuries and muscle imbalances while improving your conditioning and overall strength, in addition to helping you cut out a sharp set of abs and pumping up your trophy muscles.

Part 2 of the plan builds on the gains you made in Part 1 (and if you missed it last month, get started HERE). You should find that your range of motion in certain movements is greater and comes more easily.

You’ll continue with the same format: supersets of heavy strength exercises that maximize muscle growth, followed by conditioning circuits that burn off calories and improve your endurance. Each week, the way in which you perform the workouts will vary slightly, so be sure to see the “Notes” sections at the bottom of each workout for additional directions.

Check back here in March for the final four-week phase of the program. If you’ve been following the 12-week diet plan we offered to accompany the training, see the second part of that series HERE.

12-Week Fat Loss Workout Plan

Workout A

Mobility Warmup

Perform 5 reps of each exercise (on each side, where appropriate) in sequence. Repeat the series for 3 total rounds.

A. Lateral Neck Tilt

Stand tall with feet shoulder-width apart and place your hands on your belly to draw awareness to any movement in your torso. Brace your core and draw your shoulder blades back and down as you tilt your head to one side. Move it gently but try to touch your ear to your shoulder—without letting your head move forward, back, or twist in any direction. Repeat on the opposite side. Keep your shoulders down.

B. Alternating Backstroke

Extend one arm toward the floor and raise the other overhead. Keeping both elbows locked, begin rotating your shoulders backward as if performing a backstroke in water. Keep your core engaged and avoid rocking or twisting your torso.

C. Lateral Spinal Glide

Stand tall and bend your elbows, placing one palm over the back of the other hand in front of your chest. Keeping your core engaged, move your torso to one side as if it were sliding straight across the floor—don’t bend it; your elbows should stay level with the floor. Go as far as you can in each direction without losing alignment.

D.Lateral Hip Root

Stand with feet between hip and shoulder-width apart and tilt your pelvis backward. Keeping a “proud chest,” drive your hips back to one side, allowing your knees to bend as needed. Bend as far as you can, reaching your arms out straight for balance. Squeeze your glutes and tuck your pelvis back under as you come back to standing and repeat on the other side.

E. Tootsie Roll

Bend your hips back and place your hands on your knees. Keeping a long spine, bend your knees outward and roll on the outside edges of your feet as you make a big circle. Draw your knees close together to complete the circle, rolling onto the balls of your feet and then the inside edges. Each full circle is one rep.

Strength Superset

Complete one set of 1A and then 1B before resting. Perform for the prescribed number of rounds (see “Notes” at the bottom) and then repeat the process for 2A and 2B.

1A. Incline Dumbbell Fly
Reps: 8

Set an adjustable bench to a 30- to 45-degree angle and lie back on it with a dumbbell in each hand. Turn your wrists so your palms face each other. Press the weights straight over your chest and then, keeping a slight bend in your elbows, spread your arms open as if you were going for a big bear hug. Lower your arms until you feel a stretch in your pecs and then bring the weights back together over your chest.

1B. Dumbbell or Kettlebell Hang Squat to Toes
Reps: 15

Hold dumbbells at your sides and stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Twist your feet firmly into the floor so your toes turn out a bit and sit down as if lowering into a chair. Push your knees apart as you descend and keep your torso as vertical as possible. Go down until your hands are below your knees and then come back up. Raise your heels off the floor (perform a calf raise) at the top.

2A. Incline One-Arm Dumbbell Press
Reps: 8 (each side)

Set up a bench as you did for the incline fly and lie back against it with a dumbbell in one hand at shoulder level. Brace your core and press the weight overhead—don’t allow your torso to twist off the bench to any degree.

2B. Staggered One-Arm Dumbbell or Kettlebell Row
Reps: 8 (each side)

Grasp a kettlebell in one hand and stagger your feet so the toes on your trailing foot line up with the heel of the lead one. Tilt your pelvis backward and bend your hips back to draw your torso down to where it’s almost parallel to the floor. Brace your core and, keeping your shoulders square to the floor, row the weight until your upper arm is in line with your side.

Conditioning Circuit

Perform the following exercises back to back for the prescribed amount of time or number of rounds (see “Notes” below). Do not rest in between exercises; work at your own pace.

1A. Speed Squat
Reps: 20

Set up as you did for the squat to toes but without dumbbells. Drop down as if sitting in a low chair, spreading your knees apart as you descend. Go as low as you feel comfortable while keeping a long spine from your head to your pelvis—your head, back, and hips should form a straight line and your torso should be very vertical. Your knees should line up with your big toes. Drive through the middle of your feet to stand back up. Perform the movement as quickly as possible, throwing your arms forward to generate momentum as you stand and backward to help you descend.

1B. Mountain Climber
Reps: 10 (each side)

Get into pushup position and draw your right knee up to the outside of your elbow, pulling the leg inward while driving the arm out so they touch each other firmly. Drive it back and bring the other knee up. Alternate in a steady rhythm (each knee drive is one rep). Keep your core engaged and resist any rotation at the shoulders or hips. Fight to keep your “proud chest” position—try not to let your upper back round forward excessively.

1C. Ice Skater
Reps: 10 (each side)

Stand on one leg and bound laterally a few feet to land on the opposite leg. Allow the leg you pushed off to swing behind the landing leg so it looks like an ice skater moving forward. Immediately bound back to land on the starting foot.

Decompression

Perform each exercise for 60 seconds (30 seconds per side where appropriate), and repeat for 3 total rounds.

A. Chest Opener w/ Neck Roll

Stand tall with feet between hip and shoulder-width apart. Reach behind your back and clasp your hands together. Roll your shoulders back to push your chest out. Retract your neck (think of making a double-chin) and stand as straight as possible. From there, with shoulders drawn down, roll your neck once in each direction. That’s one rep.

B. Angled Child’s Pose

Kneel on the floor and reach your arms out in front of you. Walk your hands to your right side and feel the stretch on your left side. Now rotate your left shoulder toward the floor to increase the stretch.

C. Sleeping Pigeon

Sit on the floor in a shin box position—bend both knees so that your front leg’s heel touches your trailing leg’s knee. From there, extend your rear leg directly behind you and rotate the leg so that the top of the knee and foot are in contact with the ground. Keep a long spine and feel the stretch in your hip.

D. Three-Legged Dog

Get on all fours and drive your palms into the floor to push your hips backward and into the air. Extend your knees so your heels come off the floor, and then extend one leg behind you until it’s in line with your head and spine. Hold the position while actively driving the hands into the floor.

Workout A Notes

Week 1

Perform 3 rounds of each strength superset, resting 90 seconds between rounds. For the conditioning circuit, do as many rounds as possible in 10 minutes.

Week 2

Perform 3 rounds of each strength superset, resting 60 seconds between rounds. For the conditioning circuit, do as many rounds as possible in 8 minutes and record your number.

Week 3

Perform 4 rounds of each strength superset, resting 90 seconds between rounds. For the conditioning circuit, do as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes.

Week 4

Perform 4 rounds of each strength superset, resting 60 seconds between rounds. For the conditioning circuit, do as many rounds as possible in 8 minutes and record your number—try to beat your performance in Week 2.

Workout B

Mobility Warmup

Repeat the warmup from Workout A.

Strength Superset

Complete one set of 1A and then 1B before resting. Perform for the prescribed number of rounds (see “Notes” at the bottom) and then repeat the process for 2A and 2B.

1A. Dumbbell or Kettlebell Push Press
Reps: 15

Hold dumbbells at shoulder level and stand tall with feet between hip and shoulder-width apart. Your forearms should point straight to the ceiling. Brace your core and keep your torso vertical as you quickly dip your knees. Use the momentum to help you press the weights overhead to lockout.

1B. Dumbbell or Kettlebell Reverse Lunge
Reps: 10 (each side)

Hold a dumbbell in each hand and step back, lowering your body until your rear knee nearly touches the floor. Keep your torso vertical.

2A. Hanging Knee Tuck
Reps: Perform as many as possible in 30 seconds

Hang from a chinup bar with hands shoulder-width apart. Bend your hips and knees 90 degrees, and raise your knees up to your chest, rounding your lower back and fully contracting your abs.

2B. Dumbbell or Kettlebell Rack Squat
Reps: 10

Perform a squat as described above but with dumbbells held in the rack position—at shoulder level with elbows pointing forward.

Conditioning Circuit

Perform the following exercises back to back for the prescribed amount of time or number of rounds (see “Notes” below). Do not rest in between exercises; work at your own pace.

1A. Cossack Squat
Reps: 10 (each side)

Stand with feet outside shoulder width and toes turned out about 45 degrees. Squat down to one side so your trailing leg extends and toes point up. Go down as far as you can on the working leg while keeping a long spine and “proud chest”.

1B. Twist and Sit–Knee
Reps: 10 (each side)

Kneel down on the floor and place your hands down in front of you beneath your shoulders. Raise your right knee off the floor and turn your hips to the left, kicking your right leg straight out. Allow your shoulders to turn as needed and balance on your right arm. Lower your hips until the side of your butt touches the floor.

1C. Burpee
Reps: 10

Stand with feet shoulder width and squat down to place your hands on the floor. Now shoot your legs behind you fast so you end up in the top position of a pushup. Jump your legs back up so they land between your hands and then stand up quickly.

Decompression

Repeat the cool down from Workout A.

Workout B Notes

Week 1

Perform 3 rounds of each strength superset, resting 90 seconds between rounds. For the conditioning circuit, do as many rounds as possible in 10 minutes.

Week 2

Perform 3 rounds of each strength superset, resting 60 seconds between rounds. For the conditioning circuit, do 5 rounds as fast as possible and record your time.

Week 3

Perform 4 rounds of each strength superset, resting 90 seconds between rounds. For the conditioning circuit, do as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes.

Week 4

Perform 4 rounds of each strength superset, resting 60 seconds between rounds. For the conditioning circuit, do 5 rounds as fast as possible and record your time—try to beat your performance in Week 2.

The post New Year’s Resolution Series: 12-Week Fat Loss Workout Plan, Part 2 appeared first on Onnit Academy.

Make no mistake, the routines ARE intense, but by the same token, our approach is more minimalist than ever. You’ll only do one strength exercise in Workout A and one superset in Workout B.

The overall workload may be less but it won’t feel like it. The weights you’ll be lifting are the heaviest yet—the reps are down to five per set—in order to elicit the best strength gains and activate your biggest muscle fibers.

Pair these routines up alongside the nutrition plan we’ve matched it with HERE, and you’ll have abs—along with the strength, power, and stability to display them playing sports on the beach (or eating barbecue by the pool) all summer long.

12 Week Fat Loss Workout Plan, Part 3

Workout A

Mobility Warmup

Perform 5 reps of each exercise (on each side, where appropriate) in sequence. Repeat the series for 3 total rounds.

A. Vertical Neck Rotation

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and place your hands on your belly. Draw your shoulder blades back and down (think “proud chest”), and begin turning your neck side to side. Keep your chin level with the floor and turn as far as you can in one direction and then the other without moving your shoulders, torso, or hips.

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and place your hands on your belly. Draw your shoulder blades back and down (think “proud chest”), and begin turning your neck side to side. Keep your chin level with the floor and turn as far as you can in one direction and then the other without moving your shoulders, torso, or hips.

B. Standing Side Bend

Raise your arms out to your sides and bend your elbows 90 degrees with the fingers on one hand pointing up and the other hand pointing down. Begin bending your torso to one side and extend your arms to lockout in each direction. Do not bend at the hips and keep your neck in line with your head.

C. Outside Elbow Circle

Tuck your arms against your sides and bend your elbows 90 degrees. Keeping your upper arms in place, rotate your forearms outward in big circles.

D. Lateral Leg Lift

Stand on one leg and raise your free leg out to the side, keeping your knee straight and your toes pulled back. Don’t allow your shoulders to move and keep the proud chest position as best you can.

E. Alternating Cossack Squat

Stand with feet double shoulder-width apart. Shift your weight to one side and squat down, keeping your heel on the floor. Allow your opposite leg to extend and your toes to point to the ceiling so you feel a stretch in your hamstrings.

Strength Superset

Perform for the prescribed number of rounds (see “Notes” at the bottom).

1 Pushup To Renegade Row
Reps: 5

Grasp a dumbbell in each hand and get into pushup position so your hands are supported on the dumbbells. Brace your abs and lower your body toward the floor until your chest is an inch above it. Press back up, spreading your shoulder blades apart at the top.
Now shift your weight to one side and row the opposite side’s dumbbell to your ribs. Draw your shoulder blade back and down as you pull the weight up. Afterward, row on the other side—that’s one rep.

Conditioning Circuit

Perform the following exercises back to back for the prescribed amount of time or number of rounds (see “Notes” below). Do not rest in between exercises; work at your own pace.

1A. Dumbbell or Kettlebell Hang Clean
Reps: 5

Stand with feet outside shoulder-width apart holding a dumbbell or kettlebell in each hand. Bend your hips back to “hike” the weights through your hips and behind you. Try to “spread the floor” with your feet, actively driving your feet outward to fire up your hips and keep your knees apart. Maintain a straight line with your head, spine, and pelvis as well by keeping your core engaged.

Extend your hips and knees explosively, shrug your shoulders, and pull the weights up to shoulder level in one motion.

1B. Racked Dumbbell or Kettlebell Squat
Reps: 5

From the end position of the hang clean (dumbbells or kettlebells at shoulder level), set your feet at shoulder width and turn your toes out about 30 degrees. Spread the floor and squat down, keeping your torso as vertical as possible. Your knees should align with your toes and your lower back must remain flat.

1C. Dumbbell or Kettlebell Push Press
Reps: 5

From the top position of the squat, dip your knees quickly and press the weights straight overhead. Keep your ribs down and core braced. Lock out your elbows at the top.

Decompression

Perform each exercise for 60 seconds (30 seconds per side where appropriate), and repeat for 3 total rounds.

A. Standing Forward Fold

Stand tall with feet together. Tilt your pelvis back and then bend your hips back to fold your body downward. Allow your knees to bend as necessary. Reach behind your legs and grasp your calves. Now pull your legs forward while you straighten your knees. You’ll feel a stretch in your lower back. Hold this position.

B. Shinbox Tripod Extension

Sit in a shinbox position—both knees bent and your left behind you while your right points in front of you. From there, plant your right hand on the floor behind you and extend your hips and bring your chest to the sky. Reach your left arm overhead to point behind you.

C. Half Butterfly Lat Stretch

Sit on the floor with your left leg extended and the right tucked in so the sole of your right foot rests against the inside of your left thigh. Turn your left palm up and reach for your left heel. Now twist your torso and reach your right arm overhead and forward toward your left foot.

D. Elevated Scorpion

Get on all fours with your toes on the floor and place your hands shoulder-width apart. Press through your palms to drive your hips backward while extending your knees to pike your hips into the air. Keep your knees as straight as possible and your lower back flat. Now raise one leg up in the air and twist your hips, so that your raised leg looks like a scorpion’s tail about to strike. Your heel should point over the opposite shoulder. Hold the position.

Workout A Notes

Week 1

Perform 4 rounds of the pushup to renegade row, resting 90 seconds between rounds. For the conditioning circuit, do as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes.

Week 2

Perform 4 rounds of the pushup to renegade row, resting 60 seconds between rounds. For the conditioning circuit, do 10 rounds as fast as possible and record your time.

Week 3

Perform 5 rounds of the pushup to renegade row, resting 90 seconds between rounds. For the conditioning circuit, do as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes.

Week 4

Perform 5 rounds of the pushup to renegade row, resting 60 seconds between rounds. For the conditioning circuit, do 10 rounds as fast as possible and record your time (try to beat your performance in Week 2).

Use the same the weight every week for the strength sets and the conditioning circuit.

Workout B

Mobility Warmup

Repeat the warmup from Workout A.

Strength Superset

Complete one set of 1A and then 1B before resting. Perform for the prescribed number of rounds (see “Notes” at the bottom).

1A. Double-Racked Dumbbell Forward/Back Lunge
Reps: 5 (each side)

Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in each hand in the rack position—under your chin with elbows tucked. Step forward into a lunge, lowering your body until your rear knee nearly touches the floor and your front thigh is parallel to it. From there, return to the starting position and then step back into a reverse lunge with the same leg. That’s one rep.

1B. Pullup Ladder
Reps: 1/2/3/4/5

Hang from a pullup bar with hands shoulder-width apart and palms facing away from you. Pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar. Perform one rep and then rest. Perform two reps, rest, and so on up until you’ve done five reps. Rest as long as you need between sets to perform the next one with crisp form. If body weight alone is too easy for you, add weight with a belt or dumbbell, but don’t use more resistance than you’d need to perform 10 straight reps.

Conditioning Circuit

Perform the following exercises back to back for the prescribed amount of time or number of rounds (see “Notes” below). Do not rest in between exercises; work at your own pace.

1A. Body-weight Squat
Reps: 15

Stand with your feet between hip and shoulder-width apart and toes turned out slightly. Look straight ahead, take a deep breath, and screw your feet into the floor as if you were twisting up turf beneath them.
Squat down as if you were sitting in a low chair, spreading your knees apart as you descend. Go as low as you feel comfortable while keeping a long spine from your head to your pelvis—your head, back, and hips should form a straight line and your torso should be very vertical.

1B. Pushup
Reps: 10

Place your hands on the floor at shoulder-width apart and extend your legs behind you in a straight line. Your feet should be about hip-width apart. Breathe into your belly and brace your core. Pull your shoulder blades down and together.
Think about twisting your hands into the floor to create tension in your shoulders. Begin lowering your body toward the floor by pulling yourself down with your upper back. Stop when your chest is about an inch above the floor and press back up, continuing to push until your shoulder blades are spread wide apart.

1C. V-Up
Reps: 10

Lie on your back on the floor and raise both hands behind your head. Extend your legs. Take a deep breath and brace your abs. Sit up all the way, raising your legs simultaneously. Your body should form a V shape at the top.

Decompression

Repeat the cool down from Workout A.

Workout B Notes

Week 1

Perform 4 rounds of the strength superset, resting 90 seconds between rounds. For the conditioning circuit, do as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes.

Week 2

Perform 4 rounds of the strength superset, resting 60 seconds between rounds. After you’ve completed all your pullup ladders, perform 5 single reps, resting as needed between them. For the conditioning circuit, do 8 rounds as fast as possible and record your time.

Week 3

Perform 5 rounds of the strength superset, resting 90 seconds between rounds. After you’ve completed all your pullup ladders, perform 3 sets of 3 reps. For the conditioning circuit, do as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes.

Week 4

Perform 5 rounds of the strength superset, resting 60 seconds between rounds. After you’ve completed all your pullup ladders, perform 5 single reps, resting as needed between them. After you’ve completed all your pullup ladders, perform one in descending fashion—do 5 reps, then 4, and so on down to 1. For the conditioning circuit, do 8 rounds as fast as possible and record your time (try to beat your performance in Week 2).

Use the same the weight every week for the strength sets and the conditioning circuit.

The post New Year’s Resolution Series: 12 Week Fat Loss Workout Plan, Part 3 appeared first on Onnit Academy.

Everyone grew up playing frogger, and since it’s inception their has been countless knockoffs. Most have surpassed the original, but the OG will always have our heart.

While playing that beloved game, who didn’t  imagine doing it in live action mode (real life).

No we are not suggesting you stop what you are doing and run through traffic, but going through a bodyweight progression on all fours is a great way to build full body strength, along with increasing mobility in your ankles and wrists.

These 5 Bodyweight Exercises take the Frog Hop exercise and progresses it through 5 stages. Here are the 5 bodyweight exercises that will finally make you a Human Frogger.

Bodyweight Exercise #1: Frog Press

The Frog Press is a unique body weight exercise that strengthens the upper body. Most people have not heard of this exercise but it works just as well as the normal push-up. Your hands will be in the normal push-up position and your feet will be closer to your hands then the normal push-up. They should be, depending on your height, about 3 to 4 feet. Your knees will be bent at 90°.  Lower your body down until your nose touches the ground, and then push back up.

Bodyweight Exercise #2: Frog Hop

The Frog Hop is a great exercise to get the heart rate up and burn calories! Frog Hops help you strengthen your power muscles, the glutes, and your upper body so you can build explosive pressing strength and jump higher. Your body position will be the same as the Frog Press, but you will explosively launch your entire body off the ground when you push yourself back up.

Bodyweight Exercise #3: Frog Clap

Your body position will be the same as the Frog Press and the Frog Hop, but after you explosively launch your entire body off the ground you will clap both hands together before landing….yes while still in the air.

Bodyweight Exercise #4: Frog Knee Touch

Getting a little more advanced now. Your body position will be the same as the Frog Press and the Frog Hop, but after you explosively launch your entire body off the ground you will clap each hand to each knee before landing.

Bodyweight Exercise #5: Frog Toe Touch

The last and most advanced variation of playing live action frogger is the Frog Toe Touch.  Your body position will be the same as every other Frog Hop Progression but after you explosively launch your entire body off the ground you will clap each hand to each toe before landing. This is extremely hard, and even harder if you can get into a fluid rhythm.

The post 5 Bodyweight Exercises to Turn You into a Human Frogger appeared first on Onnit Academy.

This is a demonstration of the Internal Rotation Wall Stretch Bodyweight Exercise.

The post Internal Rotation Wall Stretch Bodyweight Exercise appeared first on Onnit Academy.

This is a demonstration of the Anchored Lateral Neck Roll Bodyweight Exercise.

The post Anchored Lateral Neck Roll Bodyweight Exercise appeared first on Onnit Academy.

This is a demonstration of the Double Back Shoulder Roll Bodyweight Exercise.

The post Double Back Shoulder Roll Bodyweight Exercise appeared first on Onnit Academy.

This is a demonstration of the Double lnternal/External Shoulder Rotations Bodyweight Exercise.

The post Double lnternal/External Shoulder Rotations Bodyweight Exercise appeared first on Onnit Academy.

This is a demonstration of the Band Resisted Lying Hip Flexion Bodyweight Exercise.

The post Band Resisted Lying Hip Flexion Bodyweight Exercise appeared first on Onnit Academy.