Small Exercises for a Younger-Looking Body

Workouts can get pretty monotonous. When you get too bored with your routine, it may be time to freshen up your workout and tone up fast. If you can’t imagine how this scenario goes, try putting one song on your music player and continually repeat that song. Eventually, you’ll tune it out and even when it’s your favorite, you just stop listening to it after a while. Your body does the same thing with your exercise moves. If you workout the same way all the time, your muscles adapt to it and eventually stop progressing. In fact, you may even risk overuse injuries.

It’s now time to tweak the not-so-complicated strength moves that we’ve grown used to doing so that you will be able to target the different muscle groups in your body. Alternate between the traditional movements every two weeks or so and watch your fitness level skyrocket. Just for you to have an idea of what to do, here are just a few suggestions:

The Bench Press
What you usually do is grab a pair of dumbbells and lie face up on a weight bench with your feel rested flat on the floor. You then position your hands wider than a shoulder-width apart, elbows flared out. Then, you straighten your arms and lift the weight over your chest. After, you lower the dumbbells until they nearly touch your chest then press back up. This is often done in sets of three with ten reps per set. The new position, however, calls for you to position your hands shoulder-width apart. You then keep your elbows tucked as you lift. This new move targets the triceps while the former works on the chest muscles.

Dumbbell Squat
Traditionally, you simply grab a pair of eight to ten- pound dumbbells and stand with your feet hip-width apart with your arms at your sides. You squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor. This works on your quads. The tweak now asks you to position the dumbbells in front of your thighs with your palms facing your body. Let the dumbbells drop straight toward the floor as you squat and feel your glutes and hamstrings tighten.

The Pushup
Majority of the movements require that you get in plank position with your feet together and your hands wider than shoulder-width apart. Bending your arms, you then lower your chest toward the floor and press back up. Of course, this works on your chest muscles. To add variety, Place your feet on a six to eight-inch high step to target your shoulders as well.

Lateral Pulldown
This is often done with you standing and facing the machine so that you are able to grab the bar with your hands wider than the width of your shoulders. Keeping your arms extended, you then sit with your feet flat on the floor. You will then pull the bar straight down before you slowly release it. Feel your arms working overtime here. Adjust this routine by leaning your upper body back 45 degrees in the seat and squeeze your shoulder blades together as you pull the bar toward your chest.