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cardiothe wings of fire is a great warm up exercise to get oxygen into your lungs and upper extremities and to get your heart pumping this exercise requires a type of breathing called breath of fire this is a very quick and deep breath taken in from your belly through your nose and then forced out quickly again through your nose 1 start with your feet shoulder width apart and arms up sort of like the chicken dance 2 breathe in quickly through your nose using your belly 3 bend your knees and bring your arms down to your side during this motion breathe out through your nose 4 repeat quickly this is a very quick motion almost like you re a bird flying this squat alternative is nice on the knees and great for the heart start with feet shoulder width apart squat down into a catcher s stance with your hands out in front of you to balance breathe in lift up your butt to the ceiling and touch your toes breathe out squat back down into a catcher s stance with your hands out in front of you to balance breathe in 5 stand up and bring your hands to your side breathe out 6 repeat these are called starting blocks because when you bring your knees forward you look like a sprinter in the blocks these are great for your entire body for flexibility and for your cardiovascular system also known as mountain climbers 1 2 3 4 5 begin is the standard pushup position with your upper body stationary rapidly alternate bringing knees to your chest this should be like running in place every other knee to chest equals one repetition repeat 1 2 3 4 you ve probably seen them do squat thrusts in military movies like full metal jacket these are tremendous for a nice full body workout and a cardiovascular builder do these until you can t do anymore and it s just as good as a couple of laps around the track 1 start standing up with your feet shoulder width apart 2 drop down to a crouching position with your hands on the ground 3 thrust your legs out behind you 4 5 6 7 jump back to a crouch stand up repeat breathe normally add a pushup to the squat thrust and you have a serious whole body workout if you can do 100 it s like a marathon for all your muscles though 6-10 is extremely sufficient 1 2 3 4 5 start by standing feet shoulder width apart ball at your waist drop to a crouch placing the ball on the floor lower your chest to the ball just like a pushup push back up spread your legs.

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6 7 8 9 bring your legs back together return to crouch stand up repeat merry-go-rounds are fantastic for your entire body they work your hamstrings back arms abs and hip flexors they also can get your breathing a little heavy don t do too many of these the first day you ll know why the next day 1 start with your legs spread and your hands in front of you touching the ground your knees should be barely bent 2 inhale as you swing your entire body to the right keeping your hips facing straight ahead 3 continue your swing to the back leaning backwards and letting your neck stay loose at this point you will not be able to inhale anymore 4 exhale once you pass the middle point and move your swing to the left 5 come back down to the start the jump of fire is a great warm up exercise to get oxygen into your lungs and lower extremities and to get your heart pumping this exercise requires a type of breathing called breath of fire this is a very quick and deep breath taken in from your belly through your nose and then forced out quickly again through your nose 1 2 3 4 start with your feet shoulder width apart and arms up in the air breathe in quickly through your nose using your belly jump during this motion breathe out through your nose repeat quickly this is a very quick motion almost like you re cheering for your favorite band at a rock concert star jumpers are fun to do they get your energy flowing and workout your legs arms and cardiovascular system you can even add some voice to this one when you jump up give a big yeaaaaa i guarantee your physiology will change 1 2 3 4 5 begin standing with knees slightly bent lower into a crouching position explode into the air and extend hands toward the sky land back in starting position repeat these also really get our heart rate up for maximum results 1 2 3 4 5 6 make a box with four objects stand in the middle start by jumping with both feet to the front left object jump to each of the other objects in a clockwise motion breathe naturally when the time is up do the same thing but reverse your direction knee taps are great for warming up and getting your blood flowing they are also a great active stretch which means that you are stretching while you are moving 1 2 3 4 5 6 stand with your arms parallel to the floor run in place with your knees lifting just high enough to touch your hands make sure that your arms don t drop to meet your knees every other tap is one repetition repeat breathe naturally the dive is a great way to warm up to the ball and warm up your body it is very easy and can kinda make you feel like a kid again 1 start lying belly down ball with your feet out wide behind you 2 push off your feet straitening your legs and pointing your toes as they lift off the floor.

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3 hold your arms straight out in front of you shoulder width apart stop the forward motion by planting your hands on the floor trying not to let the center of your palms touch bend your elbow nearly kissing the floor 4 push off with your arms to bring you back to starting position 5 repeat everyone knows the jumping jack well guess what it s a great exercise for your cardiovascular system and for some reason or another the last time we did a few was in middle school gym class if you want to really turn up your workouts do jumping jacks between sets instead of just resting you can also do half jumping jacks to strengthen your arms and legs all you have to do is only bring your arms up and legs out half way instead of all the way 1 2 3 4 5 stand up straight feet touching at the ankles jump up simultaneously spreading your legs and touching your hands over your head jump again and return to the starting position each time your hands touch equals one repetition keep going lower bodythis exercise is like the tablemaker but is harder the stretcher will also bring you a little bit of soreness the next morning in places you never knew existed 1 start by sitting up with your legs out in front of you your feet should be shoulder width apart 2 in one motion lift up your hips and try to push them up to the sky keeping your legs straight squeeze your butt and push your feet into the ground 3 hold for a few seconds 4 come back down to the first position and then repeat skaters are fantastic for your lower body stabilizing muscles these are the muscles that help you stay balanced 1 start standing comfortably 2 jump to your right landing on your right foot and swing your arms to the right just like a speed skater would 3 jump to the left landing on your left foot and swing your arms to the left 4 repeat quickly breathing normally the duck walk is one of the many animal walks we ve included for you to use each animal walk including the duck walk uses different muscles and helps with balance circulation cardiovascular health and digestion/elimination make sure you breathe normally during this and all animal walks 1 2 3 4 get into a squatting position with your hands at your sides step forward with your left foot then with your right foot keep walking like this until you can t go any further breathe naturally this squat is a fantastic exercise for all parts of your body it is also a great stamina builder we ve borrowed this one from the martial arts and most recently matt furey we don t expect many of you to be ready for combat but this will certainly get you in great shape if this exercise is hard for you then start with the wall chair or the regular squat then move up to this one.many people will say not to do this exercise because it is bad for your knees what we say is that if you already have bad knees then yes don t do this exercise if you do not have bad knees then go ahead and do them your body is meant to bend at the knees if it were not meant to do so you wouldn t be able to do it just take it slow and you ll find that the strength in your legs will increase tremendously with this exercise 1 begin with your feet shoulder width apart and your toes pointing straight ahead your hands should be pulled in tightly to your chest.

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2 keeping your back fairly straight lower your butt until your thighs are parallel to the floor 3 as you lower your butt make sure your hands are behind your back as you drop to the ground 4 as you are moving toward the ground you should simultaneously raise your heels from the ground 5 then swing your arms upward and push off your toes raising your body to a standing position 6 as you raise your body make sure your hands are in front of you and level off at your chest 7 once you reach the up position bring your arms in like you are rowing a boat 8 you should inhale when you bring your arms in and exhale as you drop down during this exercise we are convinced that wall walking works every muscle in your body do this exercise and you will begin to increase your energy levels right away by opening up your spine loosening years of muscular stress 1 2 3 4 stand with your back to a wall or tree or anything else you can wall walk down make sure you are about 3-4 feet away from the wall this depends on your height lean backwards and place your hands on the wall behind you slowly move your hands down the wall until your hands hit the floor arch your back and come up to your tippy-toes as you move further down 5 option 1 turn to your stomach and repeat 6 option 2 walk back up the wall single leg pickups are great for strength in your legs your core and your arms do a bunch of these and you will no longer have to worry about losing your balance if you loose your balance during this exercise don t get frustrated recognize when you loose it and concentrate more on being centered you ll get it we promise 1 start with the ball at your chest your right knee up so that your thigh is parallel with the ground 2 bend at the waist and reach down across your body with your arm 3 tapping the bal to the ground to the left of your left foot and straighten your right leg behind you 4 come up slowly bring the ball back up to your chest 5 repeat 6 switch legs inhale down exhale up the spiderman walk is a great walk for the hips legs back and arms do these with a combination of some of the animal walks for a fantastic cardiovascular workout all the walks are great for your heart and increase stamina 1 start in a crouch with your feet and your hands on the ground 2 bring your right hand forward 3 lift up your right leg and bring it up to meet your right hand make sure you keep your butt down and don t lift it up too much 4 now bring your left hand forward 5 lift up your left leg and bring it up to meet your right hand 6 continue this until you can t go any further!

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p. 5

lunges build strength in your lower body as well as give you a great cardiovascular workout you can do these standing in place by returning to where you are starting or you can do them on your way to anywhere lunge on your way to the refrigerator to a colleague s office to your car it s a great way to squeeze in a mini workout for a couple of points any day of the week 1 stand with your feet shoulder width apart 2 inhale as you lunge forward with your left leg make sure your right knee does not touch the ground 3 exhale as you push back to start if you are doing this as a walking lunge instead of pushing back to start stand up with your left leg and bring your right to meet it so you are standing again only a few feet further from your start 4 switch legs and do the same motion 5 repeat until you can t do any more 6 inhale down exhale up jump squats are for explosiveness you ll strengthen your quads and hips in no time with these guys just a warning start with only a few they get hard really quickly 1 2 3 4 5 begin standing with knees slightly bent lower into a squatting position explode into the air land back in the squat position repeat the flying one leg squat will not only work on your hamstrings quads and lower back it will also give you a great sense of balance this exercise is a spin off of the standing reaches 1 stand with your right knee up thigh parallel to the ground and your arms up and out to your sides 2 bend at your center kicking your leg back behind you until you are just past parallel to the ground 3 squat with your left leg trying to keep the rest of your body very straight 4 come back up to the past parallel position and then repeat 5 when you are finished come all the way back up to standing and switch legs 6 breathe in on the down squat and exhale on the up front cross leg lift isolates your inner thigh muscles it also helps with your stabilizing muscles and your butt these are more difficult than they look for a variation of the description below you can spin your suspended leg clockwise or counterclockwise instead of just lifting 1 2 3 4 5 6 lie sideways on the ground with your elbow and forearm supporting your upper body bring your upper leg in front of you and put your foot on the ground lift up your back leg as far as you can bring it down making sure it does not touch the ground repeat this motion breathe naturally front standing leg lifts are great to isolate your quadriceps front leg muscles and to increase your balance you can do a full set of these or you can alternate between front back and sideways to mix it up 1 2 3 4 5 start with your hands on your hips and right leg up kick forward slowly bring back to start and repeat switch legs inhale on kick exhale back to start.

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p. 6

calf raises are great for working your lower legs and your arms keeping your arms up with the medicine ball will work more than just your calves while you run through your sets of these 1 stand up straight and with ball above your head 2 lift up on to your tippy-toes and and reach up to tap ball to wall hold for a count 3 drop back down and then repeat 4 breathe naturally the wall chair is an exercise that will leave your quads burning if you have the staying power to keep at it this is an isolation exercise for your quadriceps holding this position will also help strengthen your stabilizing muscles if you are not ready for squats but even those who can do 100 squats can benefit from this exercise 1 pick a wall tree car anything that you can put your ball and back against 2 with the small of your back on the ball up against the wall or object take a few steps forward you so you are a couple of feet away from it 3 bend at the knees into a squatting position and rest your back against the ball 4 make sure your knees are bent at a 90-degree angle if you can t handle 90 try 45 until you can move down further 5 adjust your feet so your knees do not come over your ankles 6 hold as long as you can 7 breathe naturally the squat is the essential lower body exercise you do not need any weight to make this effective contrary to popular belief bodyweight squats will increase circulation and allow you to have increased stamina and energy do them without weight and don t worry about getting lower back injuries or blown out knees doing them with the ball behind your back forces you to use proper form 1 stand legs shoulder width apart small of your back against the ball which rest against the wall 2 put your hands out for balance or put them on your hips 3 inhale and squat down no more than 90-degrees making sure your knees do not go over your feet 4 exhale and come back to start 5 repeat until you can t do any more this is another variation of the squat wide squats are great for your inner thighs as well as your entire lower body with the use of the ball you all get a great stretch in those inner thighs 1 stand in squat position with your feet wider than shoulder width 2 with on leg on the ball squat down until your thighs are parallel with the floor make sure your knees do not go over your toes 3 return to start and repeat 4 repeat with other side.

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upper bodybear walks will work your arms back chest and lower body these will also get you out of breath really quickly a succession of animal walks will give you a fantastic workout 1 2 3 4 5 6 find a large area to do this exercise put all your weigh on your hands and feet bring your right hand and left foot forward then your left hand and right foot start running like this on all fours keep going you can do dips anywhere there is a place to put your palms desk countertop chair without wheels window sill bookshelf etc you can even do them on the floor if you want to modify the exercise or there is nothing in sight these work your triceps shoulders and chest 1 2 3 4 place your palms behind you on your desk chair lower your body until your triceps are parallel to the floor return to the start make sure you don t use your legs to stand up use your arms repeat the pushup is one of those universal exercises that you can use to supplement any workout thought you ve mastered the conventional form 1 place your hands on the side of the ball shoulder width apart 2 put your feet together 3 inhale as you lower your upper body being sure you don t dip your hips until your chest can touch the ball 4 exhale as you push yourself back 5 repeat supermans work your middle and lower back legs and arms they are fun because you can pretend you are flying through the air instead of thinking about how many more you have to do da dah dah daaah 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 start face down on the ground with your arms crossed in front of you bring your right arm out in front of you squeeze your butt on the side you are about to lift lift your right arm and left leg up simultaneously make believe there is a string between your butt and your shoulder blade that is being tightened when you do this exercise so you will do it with correct form lower both making sure they don t touch the ground inhale up exhale down repeat switch sides hindu pushups are borrowed from the east like the hindu squat this exercise does not only work your entire upper body it increases flexibility in the spine and increases stamina try these to replace regular pushups and see how quickly you will increase your upper body strength 1 start with your hands shoulder width apart.

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p. 8

2 your feet should be on the floor at shoulder width or wider depending on your flexibility 3 start with your butt in the air and your head looking back to your heels 4 bend your elbows and lower your body in a circular arc until your arms are straight the downward motion is sort of like a dive bomb then you swoop up to the next position which is chest up and your hips almost touching the ground 5 look up to the ceiling and inhale 6 push back toward your heels again and keeping your arms straight return to the start position 7 do as many reps as possible this exercise is done just like a regular pushup except you bring your hands in closer and balance on the ball this will work your chest as well as your triceps and shoulders vary different pushups and you ll find that you can do more and more with greater ease you can also do a modified version of this on your knees 1 place your hands on the ball thumb and pointer fingers underneath your chest in the shape of a triangle 2 put your feet together 3 inhale as you lower your upper body being sure you don t dip your hips until your chest can touch your triangle 4 exhale as you push yourself back pushups are great but have you ever tried these this exercise is great for those of you that have stability problems in your shoulders walkout work all those stabilizing muscles 1 2 3 4 start out prone over the ball arms shoulder width apart wrist directly under shoulders keep elbows straight but not locked walk out 3 to 4 steps and walk back the further you walk out the harder it is repeat this exercise is done just like a regular pushup except you bring your hands in so that your thumbs and pointer fingers form a triangle underneath your chest this will work your chest as well as your triceps and shoulders vary different pushups and you ll find that you can do more and more with greater ease you can also do a modified version of this on your knees 1 place your hands on the ball thumb and pointer fingers underneath your chest in the shape of a triangle 2 put your feet together 3 inhale as you lower your upper body being sure you don t dip your hips until your chest can touch your triangle 4 exhale as you push yourself back 5 repeat handstands are not easy it took us tons of time to get these right to begin with the handstand will help you with your upright posture as well as bring blood to your head and give you a tremendous sense of accomplishment when you do a handstand you should be using shoulders arms and torso evenly if you are straining too much in any one of these areas adjust accordingly you should not pike your back for perfect balance 1 find a wall tree anything you can lean against when you re upside down 2 place your hands on the floor about 1 foot from the wall 3 kick one then the other leg up and hold the position use the wall to stabilize you until you

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don t need it anymore 4 hold for as long as you can 5 breathe naturally 6 come down gently abs/corehaven t seen your six pack in a while try these out for a few weeks and see the results 1 start in a dead bug position sit up with your knees bend and feet off the ground in a crunch position 2 bring ball side to side while engaging in your stomach muscles 3 repeat side bends hit your obliques which are the muscles in your waist you will increase your flexibility in no time doing this exercise 1 2 3 4 stand with feet shoulder width apart and reach your hands up high above you bend in one direction as far as you can breathe naturally come back up to start then switch sides repeat tired of your tire this one can help you shrink your sides 1 start out by lying on your side on the ball you may need to have your sneakers on so you don t slip 2 place your hands over your head and engage your obliques to pull your self up 3 inhale to start and exhale on the way up 4 repeat and switch sides the plank is a tremendous isometric exercise meaning no movement this exercise works your core muscles and stabilizing muscles try to hold this one as long as you can if you want more motivation think of a table saw beneath your belly that is running and you need to keep yourself up off of it we can usually hold it for 10-20 more seconds when we use this imagery 1 begin in a pushup position except your forearms are on the ground 2 keep your ankles hips and shoulders in a straight line by squeezing your middle 3 hold 4 breathe naturally.

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p. 10

this form of sit-up doesn t let you cheat you have to focus on using only your abs to lift you upright when you get better at these you will notice your abs becoming rock solid and your balance and posture getting better leg up s will work your abs lower back and butt don t start with too many of these if you ve never worked your lower back extensively 1 lie face down on the floor with your arms crossed in front of you legs extended behind you with your heels together 2 lift both legs at the same time inhale while doing so 3 hold for a second or two 4 exhale and lower your legs slowly to the ground 5 repeat very similar to the tai chi twist this exercise will really loosen up your spine and tighten your obliques at the same time 1 stand with knees slightly bent holding the ball at your waist 2 rotate your truck side to side engaging in your stomach muscles 3 breath naturally and repeat the tripod is great for balance abdominal and core strength and your upper body don t underestimate this exercise because it looks kind-of easy it is not and it will be a tremendous addition to any workout 1 2 3 4 get yourself into a starting pushup position bring one arm behind your back hold repeat with other arm the side plank is a lot harder than it looks this is great for strengthening your core muscles and as well as for balance 1 support your body at about 30-degress using your elbow and forearm 2 tighten your core to maintain a straight posture 3 hold 4 do the same for the other side 5 breathe naturally this is a wonderful and fun exercise for your abs and core if you are uncomfortable being upside down this one may not be for you 1 start out prone over the ball arms shoulder width apart wrist directly under shoulders 2 walk hands forward until you re the ball rests on your thighs just above the knees 3 initiate the movement by contracting your lower abs and bring your knees to your chest or as close as possible 4 now move to returning to the starting position and repeat t flutter kicks will work your abs your lower back and your hip flexors they also will help you work up a pretty hefty sweat 1 lie on your back 2 pick up both of your legs and kick like you are swimming.

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3 make sure your lower back is not arched and stays in contact with the ground 4 keep going the crunch is your basic abs exercise it is great for beginners we suggest that you only do this if you are starting out there are a bunch of other great abs exercises in this book that will work your abdominals quicker and with less repetition 1 lie on the ground with your arms to your sides and your knees up 2 3 4 5 lift up your chest and arms by squeezing your stomach muscles hold for a count lower yourself back down and repeat exhale up inhale down.

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