Full Circle Fitness Coaching

1/2 kneeling single-arm cable push. The 1/2 kneeling position is great for increasing hip mobility, increases core stability and improves balance and coordination, just to name a few benefits. Add 1/2 kneeling exercises to your routine particularly if you sit at a desk all day.

Push ups with your feet on a stability ball. In addition to adding more resistance to the upper chest muscles, this will activate your abdominals, low back and obliques, challenging your core.

Finding ways to exercise and keep our social distancing. Thankful to be in San Diego, where we are able to be outside. Hang in there peeps.

Split stance squat on bosu ball with bottoms up kettlebell hold. Legs, glutes, core. This exercise has a little something for everyone.

A series of mobility drills I often use before pushing and pulling. Oftentimes inadequately establishing range of motion prior to pressing/pulling results in compensatory patterns that can increase likelihood of pain. No need to do excessively long warmups just learn to be efficient and effective!

The gymnastic rings are incredibly versatile and effective for strength training. The instability of the rings leads to bigger gains more quickly; they are adjustable, allowing for customized workouts; they're portable (take them to the park for an outdoor workout); and because they strengthen the smaller, stabilizing muscles, they help prevent injury.

The half-kneeling kettlebell windmill is good for shoulder stability and upper back flexibility. Start off in a half-kneeling position with a kettlebell pressed up with the same side leg in front. Raise the kettlebell over your head, then do a hip hinge, pulling your hips back placing your opposite hand on the floor. Hold for 3 seconds, exhale and drive your hips back through to return to starting position. repeat.

When you need a change of pace from barbells and dumbbells, try the cable machine. With a variety of stations and handles, you can do just about everything with cables that you can do with free weights. Plus, since the weight stacks are all there, it's also a time-saver. If you're not already using the cables regularly, add them into your routines.

The Russian Twist on Mobility Ball is a great exercise for hitting the abs, glutes, hamstrings, hips and back. Lie with your back on the ball, feet flat on the floor. Clasp the dumbbell with fingers interlaced and hold it out in front of you. Rotate from one side to the other, stopping on each side when arms are parallel with the floor.

Resistance bands may be more versatile and useful than your realize. In addition to offering assistance for pullups and dips, you can use them for other exercises, like a banded good morning, a face pull, band pull apart, even a biceps curl. Add them in for a change of pace.

In addition to working your chest and triceps, the single-arm bench press helps with muscle activation and it engages your core and hip muscles to promote better stability.

The incline rear delt raise is a great way to target this muscle group. The incline isolates the rear delt, making it work harder. The bench also supports your lower back, promoting stability.

If you're not using kettlebells in your workout, you're missing a great opportunity to build strength, endurance and flexibility. They may seem intimidating if you've never used them, but because of their shape and the off-center placement of the bell, you use your muscles in a way that more closely mimics everyday movements than you do with machines and barbells.

A stability ball is a perfect way to add an extra degree of difficulty to your workouts. In addition to crunches, you can use the ball for chest presses, shoulder presses, pushups and hamstring curls, just to name a few. Get on the ball!

The ring dip requires upper-body strength, stability and control. You can practice just holding yourself at the top when you first try them. After you master that, you hinge at the hip and lower yourself until your arms are at a 90-degree angle. Then raise yourself back up. Ring dips improve your balance, coordination and body control. They also strengthen the stabilizing muscles around your shoulder joint.

Machines, cables, barbells all have a place in your workout. But don’t forget about dumbbells. Dumbbells are great for a lot of reasons, but one of them is negative resistance. Negative resistance is the stress you put on your muscles during the lowering, or negative, phase of an exercise. With dumbbells you can add extra negative resistance. Once you’ve done all the biceps curls you can do with one arm, use your other hand to help lift the weight one more time, then lower it back down using only the arm holding the dumbbell. That way you can squeeze a couple extra reps and get that much more benefit to the exercise.

Always best to start the spider pushup with a smile. Start in your normal pushup position, hands under your shoulders, elbows rotated externally. As you lower yourself, bring one knee to your elbow. Raise yourself back to start position. Lower yourself and bring the other knee in. Repeat until smile turns to grimace. 😀🙂😐😣

The lateral lunge is an important exercise for the stabilizer muscles for your hip. Adding this to your workout will build strength and stability in each leg and help you improve your balance.

1/2 kneeling single-arm cable push. The 1/2 kneeling position is great for increasing hip mobility, increases core stability and improves balance and coordination, just to name a few benefits. Add 1/2 kneeling exercises to your routine particularly if you sit at a desk all day.

Push ups with your feet on a stability ball. In addition to adding more resistance to the upper chest muscles, this will activate your abdominals, low back and obliques, challenging your core.

Wishing you a happy and healthy 2020.

Split stance squat on bosu ball with bottoms up kettlebell hold. Legs, glutes, core. This exercise has a little something for everyone.

Merry Christmas!

The gymnastic rings are incredibly versatile and effective for strength training. The instability of the rings leads to bigger gains more quickly; they are adjustable, allowing for customized workouts; they're portable (take them to the park for an outdoor workout); and because they strengthen the smaller, stabilizing muscles, they help prevent injury.

When you need a change of pace from barbells and dumbbells, try the cable machine. With a variety of stations and handles, you can do just about everything with cables that you can do with free weights. Plus, since the weight stacks are all there, it's also a time-saver. If you're not already using the cables regularly, add them into your routines.

The Russian Twist on Mobility Ball is a great exercise for hitting the abs, glutes, hamstrings, hips and back. Lie with your back on the ball, feet flat on the floor. Clasp the dumbbell with fingers interlaced and hold it out in front of you. Rotate from one side to the other, stopping on each side when arms are parallel with the floor.

The half-kneeling kettlebell windmill is good for shoulder stability and upper back flexibility. Start off in a half-kneeling position with a kettlebell pressed up with the same side leg in front. Raise the kettlebell over your head, then do a hip hinge, pulling your hips back placing your opposite hand on the floor. Hold for 3 seconds, exhale and drive your hips back through to return to starting position. repeat.

The Benefits of Better Breathing - Full Circle Fitness Coaching

How's your breathing? If you're like most people, it's not great. Check out our blog for tips on breathing better. You'll be amazed at the benefits!

The Benefits of Better Breathing - Full Circle Fitness Coaching Breathe, Breath, Breathing.Inhale. Exhale. Inhalation. Exhalation. Inspiration. Expiration. Do you breathe? I know, I know, a rhetorical question. You breathe, but do you breathe well? When you inhale, do your shoulders rise, does your breath last longer than 5 seconds? What about the belly, does it...