Sophia's Top 5 Workout tips

My Top 5 Workout tips.

 By Sophia McDermott, Lifestyle Coach & Fitness Expert. 

For a lot of us hitting the gym for the 1st time, it can be scary. Knowing how to use all these elaborate fitness machines can be daunting. What about the squat racks, the weights, the cardio machines? Figuring out the machines and equipment is one thing, knowing exactly what to do with them and in what order with what level of resistance and how many times is a whole other thing altogether.

The truth be told there is a daunting amount of equipment in a gym because there are so many different ways you can workout, depending on what your objectives are and what level you’re at. Additionally training to look good and training to increase performance are two vastly different things. Most traditional workouts in gyms are all geared towards looking good, which has stemmed from the bodybuilding industry. The issue with this is that training this way may not be beneficial to creating an all-around balanced body that can move well and is injury-free.  

So here are my 5 top tips for working out AND for creating a balanced body so that you look great and feel great too!

 Top five workout tips!

In order for balance, we have to make sure that all the basic aspects are covered, such as making sure the front and back of the body is worked as well as the upper body and lower body. Too often people go to the gym and focus only on one area such as the chest and biceps so they look good for the beach but from a functional point of view, constantly working just the pushing motion can lead to posture problems and shoulder injuries. I am going to share with you the most basic and simple, yet effective exercises of the five fundamentals to avoid any confusion when hitting the gym which can be used by the brand new beginner or by the seasoned gym junkie athlete.

Top tips to workout the upper body: 

For the upper body, we need to focus on the two major actions which are the push action and the pulling action. The push action works the front of your body. The best example of this is a push-up or bench press. The pulling action works primarily the posterior aspect or back of the body. The best example of this is a pull-up or seated row. 

PUSHING ACTION:

Tip 1/Push-ups are the exercise of choice for the main upper body pushing action. They are such a great exercise since they also work the core and stabilizers which help with balance and contribute to a flat, toned tummy. The intensity can be increased in various ways including changing the level of your hands or feet such as doing them on a bench, performing push-ups on an unstable surface. 

PULLING ACTION:

Tip 2/ For the pulling exercise pull-ups are a great option. If done correctly with shoulders back and chest out they are very good for posture. Most of us spend our days slouched at a desk where our upper back muscles are stretched and our posture is compromised. This exercise helps to pull back the shoulders and strengthen the upper back muscles to maintain a good posture and counter all the sitting and slouching that we do during the day. 

Top tips to workout the lower body.

Tip 3/ For the lower body the most effective exercise you can do is the squat movement. There are lots of squat variations but let's stick with the basic squats. In order to squat correctly so that you are working your legs and glutes rather than your lower back, make sure to drive your heels into the ground, bend your knees so that ideally your booty is in line with your knees at the bottom of the squat and keep your chest up. 

You can increase the intensity by adding weight by either holding await at your chest or holding dumbbells on either side or having a barbell across your shoulders.

Top tips to workout the tummy and back.

Tip 4/ CORE -Front:

In order to strengthen and tone the core, for the front of the body, we can perform basic crunches or sit-ups or anything where you are crunching your abs and bringing your knees into your chest. In order to be effective and to work the abs and not just the hip muscles, they must be performed with focused attention with hips up the whole time, ensuring the abdominal muscles and glutes are always contracted.  

Tip 5/ CORE -Back:

The back of the body or the posterior chain is very important and often neglected. It is one reason why so many people have muscular imbalances which is what leads to those niggling pains and then to injury. Basically, if we are going to work the front of the body, we must work the back. A great exercise for beginners is superman raises with arms and legs off the ground. This exercise works your upper back, lower back glutes, and hamstrings. I do this exercise a lot on my membership workouts. 

Sophia’s workout guide. 

Start with these five exercises which cover the five fundamentals and increase the difficulty as strength increases. I recommend doing these exercises in a circuit format beginning  with: 

Squats, 10 - 20 reps

Push-ups, 10 - 20 reps

Pull-ups or seated rows, 8 - 15 reps

Crunches, 20 - 40 reps

Superman raises/back extensions. 20 - 40 reps.

Rest and rest then repeat this circuit 2 to 4 times through.

To join me for fun, short, sharp, and effective workouts that keep your body balanced take a look at my membership https://www.sophiamcdermott.com/membership.