Everyday Paleo (47 page)

The start position for the knee push-up is exactly as the classic push-up, except you place your knees on the ground rather than your toes.

While keeping your body as rigid as possible, begin to push yourself up. Your gaze should be directed down, just a few inches above your hands. Do not let your fanny rise up in the air like a mountain or let your tummy sag down. Keep those abdominals tight.

Continue to push yourself up until your arms are fully extended. It is important to notice how my fanny is down, and that you could draw a straight line up from my hips to the top of my head.

Begin to lower yourself slowly back to the start position by bending at the elbows.

Once your chest and thighs are again touching the floor, you may begin the pushup again.

Plank Hold

The plank hold is an excellent movement to help strengthen the core, glutes, and leg muscles. This is one of those sneaky exercises that appears easy enough, but after practicing a few, you become well aware of your abdominal muscles the next morning when you roll out of bed.

MUSCLES USED: Spinal Erectors, Abdominals, Quadriceps, and Gluteals

To begin this exercise, place your toes and elbows on the ground. It is important to notice that my elbows are spread roughly shoulder width apart, and my hands are positioned directly beneath my chin. Once you have achieved the proper positioning with your arms and feet, straighten your body into a plank. This will require you to tighten your tummy, fanny muscles, and quads. Hold for 10 to 30 seconds, rest, and then repeat. If this is your first go at the plank hold, you can also modify by supporting your weight on your knees instead of your feet.

Plank Push-Up

The plank push-up incorporates the benefits of both the plank hold and the push-up. This movement can also be modified from the knees or even against a wall! However, make sure you are comfortable with the classic push-up and the plank hold from the toes before you try this movement.

MUSCLES USED:
Spinal Erectors, Abdominals, Quadriceps, Gluteals, Pectoralis, Deltoids, and Triceps

As described in the plank hold, begin this movement in the plank position—remember, everything should be tight and strong from head to toe!

Shifting your weight onto your left elbow and activating your core to stabilize your body, push up with your right arm until your right hand is on the ground.

Push up off of the ground using your left arm until both arms are fully extended. This should place you in the top of the push-up position.

Keeping your tummy, glutes, legs, and back tight, slowly lower your right elbow back toward the ground.

Slowly lower your left elbow back to the ground. This puts you back into the plank position and you are now ready to repeat the movement.

Body Row

Now that you’ve had some practice with pushing movements, I’ll move on to pulling movements. In this sequence, I demonstrate the body row. Performing this exercise will help increase scapular, core, and arm strength, as well as help you move toward achieving a pull-up. I know full pull-ups might seem like an impossibility, but I have witnessed countless people progress from the body row shown here to eventually being able to perform numerous pull-ups in a row—myself included! To get started, you are going to need a set of rings or TRX strength bands, which can be found online at
www.cathletics.com
. When the equipment arrives, make sure it is safely and properly secured per the instruction manual before use. I know investing in equipment might seem like a hassle, but this exercise is definitely worth incorporating into your routine.

MUSCLES USED: Biceps, Latissimus Dorsi, Rhomboids, and Trapezius