The first exercise in this part of the workout is the bicycle. It’s a great exercise that strengthens your core, the back of your legs and also stretches your hips and thighs at the same time.
Start laying on your back, and then lift your hips and feet up towards the sky using the power of your core muscles. Support yourself in this position with your hands placed on your hips. Start the pedaling by bending one knee and driving the heel of the foot towards your butt as if you were trying to touch your toes to the floor. As you bring the knee towards your chest, let your other leg to stretch down towards the mat and imagine that you are trying to keep your feet on the pedals of a large bicycle. Keep your abs engaged and pulled in to keep your hips lifted up without sinking into your wrists. Perform 3 reps of this movement as shown in the video, take a short rest, and repeat the set one more time.
After this exercise you are going to get up on your feet and complete another set of the cardio exercise. I am doing 30 reps of the front pendulum with the 10lbs clubbell but as I have mentioned before, you can do another exercise with other equipment for the cardio set.
The second exercise on the mat is a shoulder bridge. This exercise provides a nice stretch for your legs and hips and works your abs, butt, thighs and the back of your legs.
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the mat. Keep your knees hip width apart, squeeze your butt and lift your hips up towards the sky placing your hands on each side of the back of your hips for support. Your elbows should be directly under your hands. Squeeze your butt and engage your abs. Stretch one leg out towards the mat with your toes pointed and kick the leg up as high as you can while inhaling. Flex the foot at the top of the movement and exhale while lowering the leg and stretching it out of the hip until the heel touches the ground. Don’t rest your leg on the mat. As soon as you feel your heel touching the ground point your toes and kick the leg back up. Keep your abs and butt contracted throughout the entire movement. Do 3 reps for each leg. Take a short break and repeat the whole set one more time.
Do another set of cardio exercise to complete the 3rd part of this workout. I am doing 30 reps of the front swing and hand switch with the 10lbs clubbell.
Enjoy,
Zuzana.
P.S. This is part 3 of this 5 part workout. You are suppose to do each part in this series back to back.
Hi,
Great job on your site. Im a member of the NSCA and i have to say that your videos are more usefull than alot of the ones on there. Im studying to be a personal trainer now and your site is very helpfull. Thank you. Let me know if you need help in any way.
Dustin
I really love those exercises without wieghts, they are good to chance the routine! ^^
Thanks a lot for the video!
The ones who looks at those exercises and think they are easy or not chalenging because they doesn´t use weights are wrong!!
hehehhe
Hi Zuzana excellent video, I wish you could upgrade the video of a full day in your diet to know how are you ordering a meal at this time, would be helpful, not to imitate, but rather to guide.
Thanks Zuzana’re a great inspiration and excuse my English I’m from Spain
Zuzana what is your exercise schedule? What all do you do? Please share. :)
Hi Zuzana,
I really appreciate all your great videos and healthy diet/exersice advice. I’ve been following your website closely and using your workouts for the past 3 months with great results. I lost 10 pounds since I started and I’m hoping to loose another 5 to reach my goal of 130 lbs. I’ve run into a problem lately though. I seem to be building more muscle and gaining weight lately even though I haven’t changed anything in my diet or exersice routines. Do you have any ideas on why this is happening now?
Thanks!
Irene
Hi Irene,
if you haven’t change anything about your exercise routines for 3 months, then you probably should so that you won’t hit a plateau. It is normal to make a progress in the first 3 months when you start a new program or if you are a complete beginner. After that period you have to bring some change into your program and perhaps increase the intensity of your workouts as well. Take another look at your diet, because you might need to cut down some calories. That doesn’t mean that you should count calories. Following the clean diet and using portion size control is much easier and it works. I have all of the information in my articles on the diet page.
Hi Zuzana.Great video!You are a huge inspiration.Thanks for everuthing you do.I know that the exercises helps to get rid of the cellulite but do they help for the strech marks?I don`t thinks so.I have notice that you don`t have cellulite at all.happy you:)but you don`t have neither strech marks.Have you ever had strech marks?Do you know any solution for them?I have strech marks,and I have friends,boys that are exercising and like theirs muscels are groing,they are getting more and more strech marks on theirs arms,back..And it looks very bad…If anyone knows any solution for strech marks,please help!!!!Thanks a lot Zuzana,for your time. Best wishes!!!
Hi Natali,
I don’t think that you can get completely rid of your stretch marks, but you can do some things to prevent them from happening. Watch your diet so that you won’t gain weight too fast, drink a lots of water, and use lotion or oil to keep your skin hydrated. Proper diet can also have a huge effect on the quality of your skin.
Hi Zuzana,
As always a great workout! I wanted to ask your professional opinion on who you think provides the best/top notch Personal Training Certification program. I am interested in becoming a personal trainer but there are so many out there that I am a bit confused. If you could suggest one I would really appreciate it. Thanks.
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Thanks a lot zuzana for your advices,I always try to follow them.Thanks a lot for your time.I am trying to eat healthy.even in my country that is a little dificult,ther aren`t a lot of shops with healthy food,and in my town there isn`t any:(.But I am diong my best.Thanks.
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Hi Zuzana
I used to work out most everyday while I was in school, but it slacked a bit since I moved back to my hometown a few years ago. While ive never been ripped, ive always been able to build muscle very easily. Considering this, I honestly didnt consider myself a beginner. All I have to say now is WOW. Im pretty sure im gonna feel this tomarrow at work… and thats a good thing :) Thank you for creating these videos. Is there a place I can ask questions without filling up half your page here?
umm… sorry, I posted right above this, but I meant to post it under the beginner videos… sorry :(
Hi Zuzana,
I was over at a friend’s house and we were talking about exercise. We both mentioned we were a bit sore from new workouts. Then she mentioned this new site a friend from Facebook recommended where this woman is swinging this black baseball bat between her legs!
What a small world! Yes, it was you she was talking about. She mentioned that Clubbell swings between the legs seems dangerous. I jokingly retorted, “Yes, for men!” But, seriously she was worried about back injuries. I don’t know if her concerns are justified. I’ve been doing squats, woodchops and related moves for a long time and haven’t hurt my back. But, we should be careful to keep proper form.
Anyway, I will loan her a set of my DIY clubs and see what she thinks after using them a bit.
Best wishes,
–Chris
Hi Chris,
honestly I don’t understand people who are saying that this or that exercise is dangerous. Of course that any exercise can be dangerous. Life is dangerous. Does that mean that we should rather sit on the couch because movement could hurt us? And what about all those ridiculous discussions about what meal is good or bad. What food might cause cancer and what food might prevent it. Common :) nobody knows anything, but yet everyone is acting like they know the best. My advice: ”If you are scared that some exercise might hurt you, or if you feel that something is beyond your current fitness level, don’t do it”
Hi Zuzana
Your workouts are always so great and inspiring! :)
I need your advice: I have no time to go to the gym during the week and I have no dumbbells or barbell at home, do you think it would be possible to get a fit and shaped body training with body weight exercises only? (I only have a chin-up bar, a Pilates band and Yoga mat).
I’ve seen many great body weight exercises on your website, but I don’t know how I could train shoulders/biceps/back without weights…
Thank you :)
Jess
Hi Zuzana,
When I was in middle school in Canada I had a track coach who said squats were bad for the back and he sited his own injury while lifting a barbell with quite a lot of weight on it. I don’t remember the details of his injury, but for a long time I didn’t do squats because of his instance they were bad. With some hindsight I think his form was probably bad and he was jumping a head of his abilities and simply lifting to much.
Anyway, I can understand Ruby’s* concern and this is why I brought it up here. She is no coach potato! And in someways is very similar to you. You two are about the same age she is marrying a friend who is about the same age as Frederick. I imagine if you were next door neighbors you two would be close friends.
I will see if I can help her work up to Clubbell swings between the legs. She did try my DIY baseball bats with wrist weights duct taped to them (6 pounds each) for her workout today.
You sound tired…when is the big move?
Best wishes,
–Chris
*She gave me permission to use her name.
Chris,
I think that Scott Sonnon would explain to you better weather or not swinging the clubbells between your legs might be dangerous to your back. Everyone has to take any exercise on an individual basis. I have been training with clubbells for some time and I haven’t experienced any issues with them. What I have experienced is a greater range of motion and mobility in my joints.
Hi Zuzana!
Sorry but this week was impossible to write an article to change or share our experiences,i was a little bit busy. But i promised next week! ok?
And i was reading about this girl that told you clubbell is dangerous! I will tell something, you know maybe we have , nowadays, a lots of painfull and injuries because we don´t move in all directions like multiplanar moviments: sagital plane, coronal plane ant transverse plane. it seems like the primates in the past, they moved in all directions of their body, and with the modernity we lost this movements, doing poor moves. And this girl show us that she is used to do only the same movements that came from of modern life. However Scott Sonnon is bringging this movements back, to teach again our body get agility, strength,balance and etc. How is incredible to work with diferent moves, we discover our body again with it. One thing that a lot of people does not know is repeat always the same moves only using machines( static moves, cause they think it is safer ) instead of free weights,medicine balls etc, and doing always the same exercises could get more injuries than doing a vary of multijoint and multiplanar exercises. And i have one question to them:
In their day to day, how can they catch something that by chance dropped on the floor? “squatting”? “lunging”? or layng? These natural movements if you don´t be strong enough also could injury your back, that´s why is important strengthen your whole body with dynamic movements.
My best,
Marcia
Hello Zuzana.
I came across your video about the leg splits and you are mentioning that you discovered this great programm for getting flexible. Now I am trying to find good exercises that would lead me to do the splits (both male and female) and which a beginner could use – since my flexibility is very bad at the moment. I went to your bodyrock.tv site but I could’t find any video that would explain the exercises of that program. Or maybe I just couldn’t find them… I would be so greatfull if you could give me any tips on that subject or tell me where I could find that video.
I found your page just recently and I love it! It will take me some time to see all the videos but I am looking forward too.
Keep up the good job!
Greetings from Slovenija!
Katja
dear Zuzana,
I wanted to encourage you that your hard work is paying off and affecting me ;) ever since I’ve followed your advice on working out and eating, I’ve become so strong and fit. I was already in decent shape, but working out is so fun now naturally, and my weight drops in such a healthy manner and rate. Wow, what a difference it makes to eat healthy food as well! I realize more and more that if unhealthy food goes into my body very often, then I breathe heavier when I exercise, and my muscles even get weaker…and I feel extremely slow. I am conscious(not in a paranoic way) of what I eat now and it makes a difference. I’m sure you broke through many myths for all of us! Of course, I try to help others be somewhat healthier as well. Take care and have a wonderful day Z
Chris,
I think that Scott Sonnon would explain to you better weather or not swinging the clubbells between your legs might be dangerous to your back. Everyone has to take any exercise on an individual basis. I have been training with clubbells for some time and I haven’t experienced any issues with them. What I have experienced is a greater range of motion and mobility in my joints.