Whole body with emphasis lower

[7Wannabe5]

Can somebody recommend a good, simple exercise that is whole body and can be performed in sets like push-ups or lifting weights from floor to over head, but with more emphasis on lower body muscles? IOW, something that is closer to being the opposite of a push-up but with some upper body strength needed. I am primarily interested in increasing muscularity to protect knees and hips.

[Ego]

viewtopic.php?t=6588

[pukingRainbows]

I'm assuming you don't want to use any equipment.
I would suggest walking lunges. Big long strides and let the rear knee graze the ground if you can.
If you want to incorporate the upper body, you could hold something heavy away from your body as you do them.

[jacob]

Best choice: Burpees (see thread Ego linked)

Runner up: Frog jumps ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvTeWVyJKNE ... option: add upper body intensity by touching the floor in the squat position (arms straight down) and swinging the arms almost all the way up to vertical (like a stretched out frog)

Beginner's choice: Mountain climbers .. traditional or standing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5JeA4b7nQk

Advanced: Switch kicks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STAd-wtRg1A ... suicidal option: add upper body intensity punch straight forward or up with the opposite arm for each kick. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MBwUaN63o0

[7Wannabe5]

I think the walking lunges are the closest to hitting the mark. I probably didn't describe what I am seeking very well, which would be greater emphasis on building or maintaining quads and glutes vs. cardio/aerobic conditioning. I am willing to make some investment in equipment, but I don't want to have to go to the gym, and I have low compliance with attempting to learn or master long, complicated routines.

Okay, imagine that you are a personal trainer and your client is somebody whose current health/fitness/phenotype profile is some mix or middling of what you might assign to these two women and she wants to be more like the first in terms of appearance (although likely to remain hopelessly like the second in terms of social behavior.) Would you advise so much jumping? What would you suggest?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1YfxB8_PSk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFmr_TZLpS0

[jacob]

Well, if you mostly want big ass/thighs, I'd recommend power jacks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKtCqo_fYrc (*) ... You can do more of those before running out of air than burpees. However, now you're missing the hips, midsection, and shoulders which the burpees would give you. Compared to those two, walking lunges will mainly give you thighs/quads and not to the same degree either.

(*) Low impact version at the end of the vid. When I do them, I keep my arms straight and swing them down behind the knees

I understand that you hate burpees, but it's really the optimal exercise for what you're asking for.

The only case where I would recommend not immediately "jumping" into burpees and to some extent power jacks is if you have weak/unused knees in which case I'd substitute some mountain climbers and build up. Note that you can do burpees without jumping. The main plyo stress is not so much from the landing as the take-off, so instead of jumping up, just stand up slower.

[tommytebco]

I am personally in awe of black booties. I believe they must be hereditary.

On a lighter note, I love how you carry on. It makes the time fly.

[tommytebco]

I should add that I don't at all mean to denigrate your content, just that your lightheartedness and joy are pleasant. Plus, I'm from there and remember the area pre-armegeddon.

[7Wannabe5]

jacob said: I understand that you hate burpees, but it's really the optimal exercise for what you're asking for.

Well, I was being a little bit "green eggs and ham" about them because I know the number I could do of push-up version would either be 0 or 1, and I refuse to compete in the realm of burpees unless the other contestants agree to attach heavy bags of sand on low hung belts until their center of gravity is equal to mine. I gave it a try yesterday evening when I was tired and after I had eaten too many jelly beans and I was able to do 15 in a minute, and the jumping was fine, but I don't think it is a good idea for me to try to rapidly, repeatedly jump back into plank position like that because you are supposed to keep your hips up in good form and I have a very long torso and heavy hips, so the exercise is asking much more of me in terms of core strength than V shaped people, and I do not want to become a more V shaped person, because I wish to retain my estrogen fat reserves.

Since I turned 50, I seem to have developed a tendency to momentarily catastrophize every minor thing that goes wrong with my body. My 19 year old niece is a professional dancer and she was trying to teach me some burlesque moves and one of my knees suddenly started hurting. So then I was like "Oh no, osteoarthritis. My fun life is over now." But I did the knee test in Men's Health and I was able to hop around in circles without a problem, but I am still kind of worried.

Part of the problem is that I just hate the aesthetics of calisthenics (for me.) I have never had any desire to participate in any branch of the military or any team sports, and I greatly dislike the look of most athletic clothing(for me.) But, I like being fit enough to do fun things like hike all day and then slide down a mud bank and go swimming. Anyways, I was thinking that functional fitness means being fit for the functions you wish to enjoy, so then I searched around and my new, better question is whether you all think either of these would constitute a good overall workout inclusive of glute and quad development. If so, I will commence a new practice inclusive of fun burlesque dance workout in the morning and fun water aerobics class in the evening most days, plus all the manual labor I do at my garden, plus all the walking I do for transportation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4vMD2QI1vQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2ARtMxxga0

tommytebco said: I am personally in awe of black booties. I believe they must be hereditary.

On a lighter note, I love how you carry on. It makes the time fly.

Yeah, but us Polish-heritage girls do okay too. I am always happy to offer amusement, even when it's not fully my intention

[jacob]

Awright ... the best kind of exercise FOR [the individual] YOU is ALWAYS the kind you like because it means you'll enjoy doing regularly(*). It's rarely the kind that feels like a job or a sacrifice. Point being, if you want the particular kind of effect/body you requested, then burpees it is (skip the push up). However, it's a choice between boring burpee torture and fun dance workouts, pick the latter. Because likely you'll do much more of the latter than the former.

There are plenty of dance workouts out there. They go all the way from pedestrian ballroom style to strength oriented B-boy stuff that requires good health insurance. If you like those youtube videos you listed, go for it. As long as you don't expect it to get you the booty of the preferred vid, it'll get you in sufficient shape for "fun stuff". Another point I'd like to make is that it's a good idea to seek out a coach (even if your coach is yourself) that inspires you. Different strokes for different people. Do you like competitive(**), encouraging, fun, matter-of-fact, ... everybody has a different motivator.

(*) This is with the caveat that we [of the human race's physiology] do like to see some sweat and some heavy breathing (to the point of not being able to carry out a monologue while exercising) for some 20 minutes per day. Hardcore/suicidal people can get away with less.

(**) I bet my mom can kick your ass No, seriously ... I'd put money on that.

[jennypenny]

@7W5--Have you tried an old school step workout? That would work on your legs and it can be kind of dance-y. Lots of videos on youtube (like this one). If you want to make your own step, any wooden box will do--just attach a doormat to the top so your feet don't slip off of the box while exercising.

[Scott 2]

I think you're looking for a split squat:

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Qua ... Squat.html

You can add core / upper body work by putting holding a weight overhead while squatting. Even 5lbs might be enough. Use the arm opposite your standing leg.

[7Wannabe5]

jacob said: Another point I'd like to make is that it's a good idea to seek out a coach (even if your coach is yourself) that inspires you. Different strokes for different people. Do you like competitive(**), encouraging, fun, matter-of-fact, ... everybody has a different motivator.

I've been trying to figure this out for years. I sometimes think of myself as being too much of a soft slacker, but then sometimes I think that is because I ask too much of myself in terms of solitary self-directed activities because I want to be independent. I mean there is a reason why most people go to school, work, gym/class and church. It's difficult to summon up the energy/internal discipline to overcome dislike or even simple inertia and direct yourself through a variety of activities throughout your day without some external structure or authority wielding sticks and offering carrots at intervals through set course. For instance, when my sister and I purchased an all-you-can-use membership to a hot yoga studio under justification that it was the health program for our small business, I was able to summon up enough discipline to get myself to the studio most days, but there is no way that I would have been able to make myself do that workout at home by myself.

If I am being motivated externally, something like "If/when you are able to do 24 burpees in one minute in good form, then I will take you to see that musical theater production." would likely work best, but it's too easy for me to cheat if self-motivating with carrot, UNLESS reward is truly natural consequence of behavior. For instance, "If you lost 10 lbs. then it would be easier for me to throw you around." was something someone once said to me that worked. However, if there is any room for rational debate on the likelihood of the natural consequences then it won't work. Since I currently seem to be well able to attract partners who attended college on football scholarship and regularly make use of rowing machines, it is only fear of a bleak future in which the failure of my knees results in a complete inability to "drop it like it's hot" and/or freely squat in my garden to weed that is motivating. I am willing to work on both my addiction to sugar treats and my dislike of strength training in order to avoid that fate.

I like my free water aerobics class which starts up again next week. Most of the other women in the class are very heavy, but quite muscular middle-aged African American women or older Eastern European immigrant women. It's a very rowdy group, so quite fun, but it is too easy for me.

(**) I bet my mom can kick your ass No, seriously ... I'd put money on that.

lol- Now, Jacob, I find it very hard to imagine a future world that has become so grim that your mother and I are engaged in match of fisticuffs, rather than sitting at a table in a snug kitchen drinking coffee and offering compliments on home-baked pastries, or worst-case-scenario cooperating in potato harvest to feed hungry village children. Of course, if your father is of the type to be on occasion less than completely truthful in providing information about availability under current contract, it could be possible that a moment of tension might arise, but open communication would then result in likely offer by me to assist your mother in acquiring stout stick with which to beat your father about the head and shoulders, and then your mother and I could continue with our enjoyment of shared pastry.

Seriously, beyond my lack of ability to self-identify as person likely to engage in chick-fight, I do currently find myself uninspired by most of my peers. I recognize that this is largely a matter of personal aesthetics, but it appears to me that most of my peers have either given up completely and totally let themselves fall into the state of slumped appearance much like fruit now only fit for jam-production or they have gone completely the other way and starved, gymmed, saloned, surgically-altered themselves into brittle, painted pit-hanging-on-a-twig appearance. Beyond aesthetics, it is my feeling (perhaps ill-informed) that the first group will die off first due to diabetes and heart-disease, but then the second group will all fall down and break their de-calcified hips, and a moderate approach will best ensure my survival.

[tommytebco]

This thread, with it's mention of the so called "burpee" caused me to recall a regimen called XBX (for ten basic exercises) .I followed it for a while in the late 60's. The men's version had a burpee as one of the exercises, IIRC.
A search finds it originated with the Canadian Air Force, specifically aimed at women. The thing I liked was the 12 minute time required. I remember it being hard. I don't remember it being female exclusive. Anyway, it may fulfill a need.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/07/28 ... 27392.html.

a simple search will reveal lots more discussion.

[Spartan_Warrior]

Yeah, you're looking for some variation of The Squat, the greatest of all weight-bearing exercises! (Don't start with me, deadlift people.) It is exactly what you're asking for: a full-body exercise that focuses on the lower body; strengthening hips, knees, back, and core; and building the big lower body muscles: quads, hamstrings, calves, and of course, glutes. (Let's just say that "squat butt" is a known entity. Ain't never heard of "walking lunge butt" or "burpee butt". )

Unless you work really hard and use some pretty killer gymnastic moves, IMO it will be difficult to actually increase the "size" of the muscles without weight. You can start with bodyweight to get the form and flexibility and some level of conditioning, but muscles need resistance to grow--meaning you'll need to add weight. Barbell squats are the best solution, but, in recognition of the equipment needs, you could hold a dumbbell/kettlebell/something else by your chest or shoulders with each routine.

The deeper you go in the squat, the more you will engage the glutes. You want your thighs to be at least parallel to the ground, but many aim for "ass to grass", going all the way down not necessarily to the ground, but to the bottom of your anatomically correct range of motion.

Do no more than five sets of between five and eight reps with around one minute of rest. When you can do this with perfect form, increase the weight/resistance incrementally next time. When you hit a wall and you can't advance in weight after several work outs, reset to a 10-15% lower weight and start working back up.

You'll be buying new pants in no time.

[Chad]

I completely agree with Spartan. Squats will definitely increase leg and butt size, and work everything but the very upper body. Plus, you will be able to actually get out of a bed or a chair when you are 80. Of course, I also find doing 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps at the maximum weight I can lift to be more enjoyable than 100 burpees. Burpees and other body weight exercises will get you in shape, but they won't build a ton of mass. So, it depends on your goals.

I will back up the need for new pants after squating for a while. I have only worn athletic cut or relaxed fit pants since high school. Normal straight leg pants don't come close to fighting me below the waist.

Whatever exercise you pick you won't make gains unless it's difficult. Doing 20 burpees a day or 3x5 squats for 95lbs forever only gets you to one level of fitness. Once you can do either easily you have to increase the load or you will stop making progress. For an exercise like burpees it's the number of reps, but for squats it's both sets/reps and amount of weight used. But, of course, that requires more equipment.

[enigmaT120]

7WB5, you're not completely neglecting your upper body are you? I don't want to hear about jiggly triceps! Maybe the water aerobics takes care of that. Swimming should.

[JasonR]

o

[thrifty++]

I would say multi joint leg exercises with weights.
Lunge with weights (can also be stationary with a bar bell) and squats weight weights on barbell. You will have muscular legs in no time. And while it feels like only your legs you will be working your upper body with those weights being carried up top. Have to be careful with the squat though with something called butt wink. Where your butt curls back down at the bottom due to hamstring tightness. Risky for lower back but I see it all the time.

[Ego]

Ukrainian Zumba incorporates a lot of squats...
https://youtu.be/kQlJ6hWhqdY?t=7m35s

There must be a Polish version.