New ideas for a new year

By Cara Scheurman-Ingram
Photography by Susan To

Relative strength training is a great way to reconnect with that inner child of yours and add a little bounce back in the step of a slightly older body. It’s about moving your body weight around and is possibly the most effective way to increase upper body strength, improve cardiovascular fitness and renew full body mobility.  Train a little like a gymnast and watch your body transform into a lean, mean tumbling machine.

Relative strength is a determinant of overall fitness, the great equalizer; a 160 pound body doing a pull up has the same relative strength as a 200 pound body doing the same thing. When it comes to applying fitness to the real world, whether you’re hiking, biking or climbing a rock face, it doesn’t matter how much weight you can push in the gym; all that counts is that you can “pull your own weight.”

Gymnastics style transitional exercises are this workout’s way of turning your gym into your playground and your workout up a couple of notches. The agile gymnast’s body with shredded definition as well as amazing functional muscle is just a handstand away. Try this; it’s never too late to up your gymnastics ante.

The Warm up – Rowing

10-20 minutes rowing brings up your body temperature and lubes up every joint in the body via full flexion and extension.

Set tension between
five and seven.

Watch your speed/500m in the middle of the screen. Keep it under 2:30 for females and 2:10 for males.  

The catch position is the beginning of each stroke. Keep heels down and tip at the hips to reach forward maintaining a fairly upright torso. Your seat never touches heels.

To initiate the pull, keep your core solid while driving hard with your legs and pulling with straight arms all at the same time.

To finish your stroke, extend your legs, lean back and allow your arms to bend and bring the handle in to your lower rib cage.

Recovery starts from the hips. Quickly sit up tall by flexing at the hips and push your arms forward to full extension past your knees.

Now that your upper body is back in the catch position, all you need to do is glide up the slide using your hamstrings to control your speed. Follow the rowing with easy wrist and shoulder rotations and stretches to prepare them for holding your body weight. If you have limited range of motion in your wrists or shoulders, move through the following exercises slowly and don’t push through discomfort. Six exercises are paired into three supersets.

Alternate between the first two exercises (pull-ups and walk the wall handstands) then the second and third pair of exercises for three or four sets.

LIFE LINE Pull-ups
Adjust straps to a height that allows you to sit on the ground with your arms extended while holding handles. Sit on the floor with knees bent and pull body straight up bringing your chin between hands with back vertical. Use your legs for necessary assistance. Focus on pulling shoulders away from ears to initiate the movement. Return to start position with control. Advanced level, lift feet as well. Do 12-20 reps.

 Walk the wall handstand
Start by standing back against the wall.  Squat down and place hands on the floor in front of you. Reach one foot back against the wall as high as you can, then bring the other leg up beside the first, stretching tall through the shoulders. Hold this modified handstand for a few seconds then step back to the floor and try leading with the other leg.
Do eight reps with each leg leading.

  








Inch Worms
Grab a mat and stretch of floor where a mat glides  easily. Start in a squat position with feet on one end of the mat and  hands on the floor in front of you. Walk hands forward till you reach a plank position. Line up shoulders over hands, zip your belly up and in, glide the mat in towards hands. Next do the exercise in reverse. Do 10-15 forward, then 10-15 backwards.

Sit up to V-sit
 Start flat on your back, legs out.  Sit up tucking, feet off the ground, balancing on sit bones. Grab the knees for a little help or  straighten the legs and grab the ankles. Hold for a quick stretch then lower the body and legs to the floor at the same time with control. Do 15-20 reps.


Knee sit to L-sit
Place two benches or steps (six levels) side by side about 18 inches apart. Kneel between steps, hips extended. Press down lifting body weight off the floor, pull belly in to bring both legs up and forward with control into an L-position placing feet on the floor. Return to the start position by pressing your body up again and bringing the legs back through.  Work towards finishing with your feet off the floor and eventually towards a V-position or try to finish your L-sit with feet on a Bosu or fit-ball. Do 15-20 reps.

Jump to pull-up
Stand under a pull-up bar on a step that allows you to hold the handles with a slight bend in your arms.  Jump up into a pull-up, pulling your chin over your hands, and then slowly lower your body back to the step.
Do 8-15 reps.

Cara Scheurman-Ingram BKin. is a personal trainer, lifestyle coach and tri-fitness competitor who developed her unique style of training using her background as a national level gymnast, heptathlete, and rower.

January/February 2011 Issue