A Workout
For a
Night out!
Warm up!
Warming up before your workout is always a critical part of getting loose, and preventing injury during the course of your physical activity. A great way to get your muscles loose and ready to work is to hop on the tredmill and run for 5-10 minutes to jump start your body.
Squat Press.
Next, squat down so that your legs are at a 90 degree angle keeping your back as straight as possible. As you come out of your squat press the dumbells up above your head. 3 sets of 15 reps.
Lunge Curl.
As you are lunging, curl your handweights into your chest. This not only gives your legs a workout, but your arms also. 3 sets of 15 reps on each leg.
Side Bends.
Next, bend over keeping your body from bending over frontwards. You should feel a good stretch in your obliques with this exercise. Do 3 sets of 20 on each side of your body.
First place your legs shoulder width apart. Then grab two hand weights of the same weight that you are comfortable with, and hold them up by your ears.
With your handweights stand in the lunge postition. Remember that when you go down in your lunge to not let your knee go over your front toes. This can give you shin splints.
Again with your hand weights stand with your legs shoulder width apart. Set one of the weights on your hip as you let the other just hang by your side with your palms facing your leg.
Inner Thigh Squats.
For this exercise just grab one handweight that is slightly heavier than what you have been using for the other stretches. Point your toes out away from your body keeping the weight right in front of you. Squat down keeping your back straight. 3 sets of 15 reps.
Overhead Sit-up.
With this exercise you will grab just one weight again. It is best to find a bench that has an incline built into it, so that the exercise will have a greater effect on your ab muscles. With your weight lie down on the bench. First lift the weight over your head, so that your arms are completely straight. As you pull the weight back in front of you lift your body as if you were doing a sit-up. This not only works your core, but also your arms muscles. 3 sets of 15 reps.
Pull-up.
With the bar right underneath your chest place your arms on the bar about shoulder width apart. Next place your legs shoulder width apart also.
It’s important to remember during this exercise to keep your core tight, and to use your leg and butt muscles just as much as your arms. As you pull yourself up use your leg muscles also to give you extra strength. 3 sets of 10-15
Wall Sits. This exercise mainly targets your leg muscles, but with modifications it can also hit your arms also. Make sure to keep your feet at a 90 degree angle to get the full force of this exercise. The simplest way is to simply place your hands out in front of you, or if you wanted to add difficulty you could grab a handweight that you feel comfortable with. 3 sets of 1 minute.
Ab Workouts. Leg Lifts.
First place your hands underneath your butt, or you could keep them to the side to add resistance. Keep your legs straight, and as you pull them upwards lift your hips up as well. This targets your entire core instead of just sections. 3 sets of 15.
Bicycles.
Place your hands on both sides of your head. As you pull in your left leg to your chest turn your shoulders so that your right elbow is touching your left knee.
Crunches. Crunches mainly target your top abs right underneath your rib cage. To get the full effect it is best to lift your legs straight up. Then with your hands up in the air try and touch your toes the entire time you are doing the exercise. This will allow your abs to really feel the extent of the exercise. 3 sets of 20.
Then change to where your left elbow is touching your right knee. 3 sets of 30. This includes both legs.
Stretching. At the end of a workout it is incredibly important to stretch out your entire body, especially after you have lifted weights. Not stretching after a good workout can lead to your muscles bulky and sore. Just as it is important to warm up before a workout it is just as important to stretch afterwards to allow your muscles to better heal, and to prevent injury to yourself. Do stretches that target your entire body, but mainly what you worked on in the gym earlier that day.