Sweaty, Sleek 'n' Sexy | Perfect Form With Ashley Borden
Uploaded by LivestrongWoman on 29.08.2012
Transcript:
Hi, I'm Ashley Borden, and welcome to Perfect Form. Today's workout is gonna be a good one.
We are using a bench and a set of dumbbells. And the focus of today is also gonna be on
your cadence. Meaning, the time it takes for you to complete the move from the beginning
to the end. And when you change that up, it also can change the muscle fatigue, and it
also kinda revs up the metabolism a little bit more. Most importantly, you're gonna be
going through this circuit four times through on your own. So I'm gonna take you through
it once, and then I want you to complete it four times through, however long it takes
you -- it's not timed, okay. So let's start first with the first move, which is a Step-Up,
okay. You're gonna hold the dumbbells at the shoulders. When you hold your dumbbells here,
it actually helps you to use your core and activates your core a lot more than when they're
down here, okay. So we're gonna start from here. Now the key with these is it's gonna
be, you're gonna go up for one count and then you're gonna take three counts to get down,
okay. So I want you to load that weight in your front heel. So I'm not starting from
back here. I'm starting forward in my heel. I'm gonna raise up for 1, and then I'm gonna
take a three count coming down -- 1, 2, 3. Touch, load that heel. Up, 2. And count - 1,
2, 3 and down. Very good. 3, and slow -- 2, 3 and down. Load it up -- 4. Take your time.
Sit back in that heel, and down. Last one. Up -- 1. And then as I go down, I feel that
heel, and down. Very good. Let's switch sides. Okay, so again, my weight's in my front heel.
Before I start, I wanna feel that heel connected to my glute. So I load that weight in the
heel, and then I'm gonna press up -- 1. Sit back in that heel -- 2, 3 and down. Load it
up -- 2. Down -- 2, 3 and down. And up -- 3. Slow, sit back in that heel, reach, and down.
And up, and all the way down, slow. Last one. Load that heel, up. Sit back, and down. Very
good, very good. Okay, so now we're gonna move to your Chest Press. Now, with the Chest
Press move, a lot of times I see women with their elbows out here doing a press like this,
which makes me nuts, okay. Because this is not your chest. This is your shoulders. So
when you're doing a Chest Press, I want you to start with your weights at the base of
your chest, and your elbows are not totally 90 degrees, a little bit in. So your cadence
from here is you're gonna push up -- 1. So see how my shoulders are down, my lats are
engaged, my belly's pulled in. And then slow count down for three -- 1, 2, 3. Big push
up, hold, and slow going down -- 1, 2, 3. And up, and slow coming down -- 3, 2, 3. And
push, really squeeze and connect to that. And slow going down -- 4, 2, 3. And up. And
slow, resist. Push into it -- 2, 3. And push. And slow. I feel this in the chest -- 2, 3.
And up, really squeeze. And down -- 2, 3. And big push. And give me two more after this.
Slow, push into it -- 2, 3. And up. Down, resist -- 2, 3. And last one. Big push, squeeze
that chest, and push into the hands -- 2, 3. And up. Excellent. Now if you're doing
this and it doesn't quite feel heavy enough, you can absolutely switch out the weights
for something else, but I like to use the same set of weights for the whole exercise.
Alright, next thing, we're moving to our Good Mornings. So your Good Mornings: It's all
about your position of your feet and your shoulders. That way, you can really keep that
lat engaged, connect to your core, your hamstrings, and your glutes. So I want you to start with
the feet about hipbone width apart, okay. My shoulders are back. When I sit back, I
push my tailbone back, and I let the weights drag down the legs. They're not out in front
of me. They're touching the legs with my shoulders back. My eyes are down, and then all the way
to the top, hold. Same tempo through the whole thing. So, slow going down, and all the way
to the top. Squeeze the glutes too. Slow, belly in, hold. You should really feel this
through the hamstrings -- 3. Push in. See how my chest is reaching forward? And up to
the top -- 4. My weight's in my heels as I sit back. And up -- 5. Very good. Sit back,
back, back. Feel that in my hamstrings, my glutes and my calves. And up -- 6. Four more.
Shoulders are back, up to the top, squeeze. Last three. All the way up, squeeze the booty.
Two more. When I'm forward, my core is pulled in. And up to the top. Last one, and the cadence
I'm going is pretty slow with this. And all the way up, and squeeze. Very, very good.
Okay, so we did your Good Mornings, and now we're gonna move to your Push Press. Now,
Push Press: A lot of times when people are doing this move, they actually need somebody
to be looking at the knees to see what's going on when they're pressing. So I like to actually
use a bench or something in front of me. That way, when I'm dipping, I know that I'm dipping
forward, and I'm not sitting back and pressing. So the motion for a Push Press is a little
dip in the knees -- it's a little dip, up when I come down. A little dip, up, okay.
So if I'm in front of the bench when I dip, when you do your first dip, you'll feel your
knees touch. That's the dip -- glutes, and down. Little dip front, up, okay. So you don't
have to do it in front of the bench, but I want you to feel at first what the motion
is because it's different than a hip dominate move. Alright, so we're gonna do ten of these,
and I'm gonna do it to the side so you can see my form. Okay, chest is up really high,
core is tight. Little dip, big push -- 1, 2, 3. Good, keep those glutes tight at the
top -- 6, 7, 8. Two more -- 9. Last one, and up -- 10. Very good. Alright, so we did our
Push Press and our shoulders, and now we're gonna move to what I like to call a Roll'em
& Shoot'em, but it's actually an excellent lower ab move using the bench, okay. So lying
all the way down, you're gonna hold onto the back of the bench, and you're gonna have your
feet flexed, but I want you to keep your calves close to your hamstrings. A lot of people
do this and they cheat. They go like this to roll it back, okay. So to really get that
lower ab, you wanna make sure that you keep this closed. My shoulders are down, so when
I'm rolling in, I use my lower ab and then slow push-pull. I'm pulling back, extending,
and my belly's pulled in, okay. So that's one. We're gonna do ten of these. And pull
it in -- 2, 3. Okay. And when I'm doing this -- 4 -- I'm trying not to create any tension
in the neck -- 5. Work that negative -- 6, 7, 8. Two more. Thank you, again, for you
joining me. And remember: The most important thing, I want you to connect to your body.
We are using a bench and a set of dumbbells. And the focus of today is also gonna be on
your cadence. Meaning, the time it takes for you to complete the move from the beginning
to the end. And when you change that up, it also can change the muscle fatigue, and it
also kinda revs up the metabolism a little bit more. Most importantly, you're gonna be
going through this circuit four times through on your own. So I'm gonna take you through
it once, and then I want you to complete it four times through, however long it takes
you -- it's not timed, okay. So let's start first with the first move, which is a Step-Up,
okay. You're gonna hold the dumbbells at the shoulders. When you hold your dumbbells here,
it actually helps you to use your core and activates your core a lot more than when they're
down here, okay. So we're gonna start from here. Now the key with these is it's gonna
be, you're gonna go up for one count and then you're gonna take three counts to get down,
okay. So I want you to load that weight in your front heel. So I'm not starting from
back here. I'm starting forward in my heel. I'm gonna raise up for 1, and then I'm gonna
take a three count coming down -- 1, 2, 3. Touch, load that heel. Up, 2. And count - 1,
2, 3 and down. Very good. 3, and slow -- 2, 3 and down. Load it up -- 4. Take your time.
Sit back in that heel, and down. Last one. Up -- 1. And then as I go down, I feel that
heel, and down. Very good. Let's switch sides. Okay, so again, my weight's in my front heel.
Before I start, I wanna feel that heel connected to my glute. So I load that weight in the
heel, and then I'm gonna press up -- 1. Sit back in that heel -- 2, 3 and down. Load it
up -- 2. Down -- 2, 3 and down. And up -- 3. Slow, sit back in that heel, reach, and down.
And up, and all the way down, slow. Last one. Load that heel, up. Sit back, and down. Very
good, very good. Okay, so now we're gonna move to your Chest Press. Now, with the Chest
Press move, a lot of times I see women with their elbows out here doing a press like this,
which makes me nuts, okay. Because this is not your chest. This is your shoulders. So
when you're doing a Chest Press, I want you to start with your weights at the base of
your chest, and your elbows are not totally 90 degrees, a little bit in. So your cadence
from here is you're gonna push up -- 1. So see how my shoulders are down, my lats are
engaged, my belly's pulled in. And then slow count down for three -- 1, 2, 3. Big push
up, hold, and slow going down -- 1, 2, 3. And up, and slow coming down -- 3, 2, 3. And
push, really squeeze and connect to that. And slow going down -- 4, 2, 3. And up. And
slow, resist. Push into it -- 2, 3. And push. And slow. I feel this in the chest -- 2, 3.
And up, really squeeze. And down -- 2, 3. And big push. And give me two more after this.
Slow, push into it -- 2, 3. And up. Down, resist -- 2, 3. And last one. Big push, squeeze
that chest, and push into the hands -- 2, 3. And up. Excellent. Now if you're doing
this and it doesn't quite feel heavy enough, you can absolutely switch out the weights
for something else, but I like to use the same set of weights for the whole exercise.
Alright, next thing, we're moving to our Good Mornings. So your Good Mornings: It's all
about your position of your feet and your shoulders. That way, you can really keep that
lat engaged, connect to your core, your hamstrings, and your glutes. So I want you to start with
the feet about hipbone width apart, okay. My shoulders are back. When I sit back, I
push my tailbone back, and I let the weights drag down the legs. They're not out in front
of me. They're touching the legs with my shoulders back. My eyes are down, and then all the way
to the top, hold. Same tempo through the whole thing. So, slow going down, and all the way
to the top. Squeeze the glutes too. Slow, belly in, hold. You should really feel this
through the hamstrings -- 3. Push in. See how my chest is reaching forward? And up to
the top -- 4. My weight's in my heels as I sit back. And up -- 5. Very good. Sit back,
back, back. Feel that in my hamstrings, my glutes and my calves. And up -- 6. Four more.
Shoulders are back, up to the top, squeeze. Last three. All the way up, squeeze the booty.
Two more. When I'm forward, my core is pulled in. And up to the top. Last one, and the cadence
I'm going is pretty slow with this. And all the way up, and squeeze. Very, very good.
Okay, so we did your Good Mornings, and now we're gonna move to your Push Press. Now,
Push Press: A lot of times when people are doing this move, they actually need somebody
to be looking at the knees to see what's going on when they're pressing. So I like to actually
use a bench or something in front of me. That way, when I'm dipping, I know that I'm dipping
forward, and I'm not sitting back and pressing. So the motion for a Push Press is a little
dip in the knees -- it's a little dip, up when I come down. A little dip, up, okay.
So if I'm in front of the bench when I dip, when you do your first dip, you'll feel your
knees touch. That's the dip -- glutes, and down. Little dip front, up, okay. So you don't
have to do it in front of the bench, but I want you to feel at first what the motion
is because it's different than a hip dominate move. Alright, so we're gonna do ten of these,
and I'm gonna do it to the side so you can see my form. Okay, chest is up really high,
core is tight. Little dip, big push -- 1, 2, 3. Good, keep those glutes tight at the
top -- 6, 7, 8. Two more -- 9. Last one, and up -- 10. Very good. Alright, so we did our
Push Press and our shoulders, and now we're gonna move to what I like to call a Roll'em
& Shoot'em, but it's actually an excellent lower ab move using the bench, okay. So lying
all the way down, you're gonna hold onto the back of the bench, and you're gonna have your
feet flexed, but I want you to keep your calves close to your hamstrings. A lot of people
do this and they cheat. They go like this to roll it back, okay. So to really get that
lower ab, you wanna make sure that you keep this closed. My shoulders are down, so when
I'm rolling in, I use my lower ab and then slow push-pull. I'm pulling back, extending,
and my belly's pulled in, okay. So that's one. We're gonna do ten of these. And pull
it in -- 2, 3. Okay. And when I'm doing this -- 4 -- I'm trying not to create any tension
in the neck -- 5. Work that negative -- 6, 7, 8. Two more. Thank you, again, for you
joining me. And remember: The most important thing, I want you to connect to your body.