Tool Talk Thursday!

Well after an unplanned hiatus over spring break, Lighten Up Fitness is back and ready to inspire! So we'll dive right in with Tool Talk. Today's tool is the swiss ball.

So here's the scoop on why I love the swiss ball.

It's fantastic for improving core strength. All those stabilizer muscles get challenged to the max with a variety of different exercises. Try doing a crunch on the floor and then try it again on the ball, and you'll feel those deep muscles firing to keep you stabilized.

It's cheap. This is another piece of equipment you can pick up for your home gym for under $30.

It's a great multi-tasker. You can get a tough workout for you back, butt, abs, triceps, chest,  and back. Pretty much you name, you can tone it with the swiss ball.

It's useful for flexibility training. Not one that I use all the time in this area but the ball is quite effective in helping to stretch out the back, chest, abs, and obliques.

One thing to note is that you do want to get the correct size ball for your height.  Here are the sizing guidelines..

Height                                       Ball Size
4'8" - 5'5"                                 22 inches (55cm)
5'6" - 6'0"                                 26 inches (65cm)
over 6'0"                                   30 inches (75cm)

This coming week I'll have a few exercises on Move it Monday to make up for the past few weeks and be sure to look for the swiss ball!

Have a great day:)
Sarah    

Tool Talk Thursday! The chin up bar!

Happy Thursday everyone! I'm so sorry for the long hiatus. Life was crazy and now I've been down with the flu all week:( I'm heading to the walk-in clinic this morning to figure out if I have an ear infection as well. Honestly this year has been the year of bugs in the Bruneski household. I don't normally get hit by weird things so this has been quite humbling! Hopefully today's post will be coherent.

Our next tool of the trade that I encourage people to get is a chin up bar. For some reason this piece of metal is quite intimidating to the average female but most definitely has a lot of practical uses in the home gym. 

First of all there are a few different types of bars that you can purchase so let's go through them...

Up first, the door installed bar...

This is the type that I personally use at home. The main reason? I don't have standard doors in our house. These are great because they adjust well to wider or even narrower doors with ease. Very easy to install. Trust me, if I can do it so can you:) The flaw, it's always there so probably not something you'd put up between your dining room and kitchen door. These are best if you have a dedicated space to work out. Cost is approx: $30

Next is the portable bar. This is the one that's getting all the attention lately.

These are great because you can easily take them up or down, move them room to room or even bring them with you to a friends house. I have this one as well more for working with clients or using at bootcamps.  The only downside is if you don't have standard doors they aren't an option. There are a few companies that have extension pieces but check into that before purchasing. Cost is again around $30-$45.

Lastly is a wall mounted option.

This is great if you have a set aside workout area but honestly I would go with the other two first just to keep the integrity of your walls intact. The wall mount units when installed properly can also handle a heavier load then the door mount options.

So why do I love these? Well basically because they are so multi-functional. Besides chin ups and pull ups you can do ab work through hanging knee raises. You can also use the bar as an anchor for those wonderful resistance bands that I talked about a few weeks ago to perform exercises like lat pull downs, tricep press backs, chest flys etc... If you have the removable door mount pictured second you can also mount it lower in the door for further ab exercises as well as use it free standing on the floor for push-ups. 

Now many of you may already have a chin up bar at home but have been hesitant to use it and to this I say : Courage my Friends!  Pull out a stool for an assist and give it a go.  Use the stool or chair to help you bring your body weight up. Honestly getting a pull-up done is an upper body all over super blaster so don't discount this cost efficient piece of strength training equipment!

See you tomorrow!
Sarah