Whether you’re standing, sitting, bending or running, strong obliques are a must. The abdominal muscle group consists of the internal and external oblique, transverse abdominis and rectus abdominis muscles. Together they enable you to bend and rotate at the waist and lean from side to side. They also stabilize your spine, which natures great posture. The obliques, which attach to the ribs and the hips and run along the sides of your torso, are basically the body’s girdle, supporting and protecting your back as you put your body through the paces of day-to-day life. Repetitive activities, such as reaching, bending, twisting, lifting, throwing and pulling, require harmonious effort from the abdominals. When weakened through prolonged sitting and inactivity, the obliques can’t provide the strength, support and stability necessary to prevent lower back pain and injury. The most effective way to strengthen the abdominal muscles-the obliques in particular- and maintain spinal stability is with the abdominal cycle. The growing popularity of resistance training, which emphasizes core strength, stamina and flexibility, has revived this well-known move and encouraged trainers to teach properly. Resistance teaches mind-body awareness and proper alignment of muscles and joints, all of which are important to get the most out of this exercise-without injury.
This is a great time to strengthen your shoulders for summer sports and great posture. Shapely shoulders and strong upper back allow you to stand tall, lift more and play without injury.
The deltoid muscle gives your shoulder its multidimensional shape: You see different sections of it at the front, top and back of the shoulder. And you use it all the time: When you lift your arms up in front of you, diagonally across your chest, out to the side and behind you.
Though the deltoid is involved in almost every movement of the shoulder, the rear segment of it, as well as the deeper muscles in the back of the shoulder and upper back, tends to be weaker than the front segment. We spend much of our time seated and reaching forward-typing and driving are two prime examples which cause us to round our shoulders. This bad posture plus day-to-day lifting can create this weakness in the rear deltoids and upper back.
This “REAR SHOULDER FLY” effectively targets the rear deltoid and upper back. But that’s not all, doing the exercise while you’re leaning over the stability ball also challenges your core muscles (your back and abdominals). The stability ball actually creates instability underneath you, which means your core and torso muscles have to work to keep you aligned, making them stronger. If you’ve never used a stability ball this way before, wedge a weight or block against the front of the ball to keep it from rolling as you lie on it. Once you can balance on it easily, remove the weight or block. If you’re trying this for the first time, use one-to three-pound (500 grams to 1.5 kilograms) dumbbells. Increase the weight when you can perform two or three sets of repetitions in a slow controlled manner.
1) Kneel in front of the stability ball, then lean over and rest your chest over the top and your hips against the back of the ball. Keep your knees and toes on the floor about hip-distance apart. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing the floor.
2) Open your arms out the sides, keeping your elbows slightly bent (about 45 degrees), to keep your back long and straight, lift the top of your chest off the ball, gently squaring your shoulder blades together and lifting your abdominals up and away from the ball, keep your eyes focused ahead and keep your chin down.
3) 10 repetitions - 3 sets - 30 seconds rest between sets.