Strength Workout #5: Power Pushups

This workout contains a variety of pushups so make sure to warm up your arms, shoulders, and chest muscles. Also, don’t forget to stretch these same muscles after your workout.

The workout – “Power Pushups”
** take at least 1 min rest between pushup sets
** the number of pushups are designed for a male. As a female, half the number of pushups is a good challenge for me.

plank (45 sec)
side plank (45 sec each side)
20 pikes on a yoga ball
20 pushups with a twist
20 plank pushups (10 pushups leading with each hand)
20 spiderman pushups
10 stationary inchworms with a pushup and a twist at the bottom (instead of the normal plank position at the bottom of the inchworm, do a pushup with a twist before walking your hands back toward your feet)
20 bird-dogs
20 pikes on a yoga ball
10 leaning planks on a bosu ball (invert the bosu so the flat side is facing upward. Grab the sides and assume a straight-arm plank position. Lean to the left so that your weight is primarily on your left side, roll back to center and then roll to the right and back to center. Repeat 10 times slowly.)
20 side tricep pushups (10 each side)
20 triangle/diamond pushups
20 pushups with an arm raise (10 with each hand)
6 min abs (pick 6 ab exercises and do each one for one minute with no rest in between)

** Pushup challenge: Regular pushups to exhaustion. Remember to keep track of your progress!

Strength Workout #4: Bosu Challenge

Again, all these exercises can be done without the use of a Bosu ball so don’t fret!

Active Warmup. Focus on warming up your hip flexors with some leg swings and hip rotations (among other things)!

The Workout – Bosu Challenge:
20 regular pushups
20 regular crunches with your heels raised
20 leg lifts
boat pose (30 sec)
20 shoulder dips
20 shoulder shrugs
20 leg lifts from a shoulder shrug position (i.e., with your butt hanging off a chair and all your weight supported by your arms, raise each leg in sequence. You only need to lift your leg a couple inches to get the benefit. This will target your hip flexors!)
20 chops with a medicine ball
20 chops with a medicine ball while standing on a bosu ball
20 pikes on a yoga ball
20 supermans
20 bird-dogs
20 pushups with a twist (Watch the video… but bring your knee to your opposite elbow while you are lowering into the pushup – instead of while in the plank position. Keep your twisted knee off the ground and raise back up. Switch legs. We’ll make our own video of this at some point.)
side planks (each side, hold for 45 sec and do 10 leg lifts during that time)

10 single leg squats on a bosu ball (each leg; with opposite leg balanced behind, i.e., not a pistol squat)
10 lunges on a bosu ball (each leg)
**Challenge**:
Balance on one foot on a bosu ball for as long as you can. Record the amount of time for each foot so that you can compare when you get stronger!
Do as many regular pushups as you can. This means to exhaustion (i.e., you fall on the floor because you can’t push up or lower yourself down, you absolutely can’t do anything else, and after you collapse you have to roll over to get yourself up to a sitting position because your arms are too tired to help push you up). Keep a record for later comparisons.
Cool down. Stretch with focus on your hip flexors, hamstrings, quads, and also on your pecs. If you have a foam roller, pay that baby a visit!