Offset resistance exercises are strength based movements that asymmetrically load one side of the body. This type of training can help improve coordination, motor control, and overall movement posture. Here are some examples of exercises using this method:
▪️REVERSE LUNGES – Place the weight on the same side as your working leg. Turn hips forward and brace core. Your groin muscles will work harder to keep your hip and knee stable.
▪️SUITCASE DEADLIFT – This is great to help practice the hinge and to properly weight shift. While lifting the weight up, work on avoiding too much of a weight shift. Keep everything as linear as possible.
▪️SINGLE ARM SEAL ROW – This works by being an anti-rotation movement. Bracing your core and controlling the descend so there is no excessive rotation.
▪️SINGLE ARM CHEST PRESS – Same concept as before just working the opposite muscle group. Lift your feet off the ground to increase the difficulty.
▪️SUITCASE CARRY – This works on loading one side of the body while walking. Combining all the principles from the previous exercises with an increased challenge on motor control. This concept can be used with almost all exercise and can be done with other forms of resistance such as a barbells and resistance bands.
Using two kettlebells in this position adds an instability factor to the shoulders, which then translates to the core. Make sure to use two lighter kettlebells because the weight will add up!
SINGLE LEG OVERCOMING ISOMETRIC
These are exercises where you are pushing or pulling against an immovable object. These are effective for training certain postures during a movement pattern. There is a chance to improve stability during certain positions of a movement; and helps with mind body connection.
SINGLE ARM LAT PULL DOWN
For this variation, the body is positioned facing the side. With one arm lengthened, bring the elbow down to the rib cage and squeeze the Lat.
DEFICIT PUSH UPS
The handles not only help the wrists, but also add more range of motion to the push up. Goal is to get the chest to touch the ground, this gives an increased stretch of the pecs on the way down. And challenges the way up.
DB ROMANIAN DEADLIFTS
Standard RDL motion with two dumbbells. The goal is to displace the hips backwards in order to feel the stretch in the hamstrings and glutes.
SINGLE LEG HIP FLEXOR CURLS
The goal for this is to control the way down with one hip flexor and then pull yourself up with the same hip flexor. Key thing is to keep a tall posture from head down to the hips.
SINGLE ARM ROTATING LANDMINE ROW
The rotation adds more of a stability challenge and works the core more. Rotation should occur at the thoracic spine, and the pressing motion should happen as the body rotates away from the landmine.
STRAIGHT ARM SHOULDER EXTENSIONS
While on an incline bench, keeps arms straight under your shoulders.
The goal is to pull your arms back as a far as possible and squeeze your shoulder blades. Keep the arms as straight as possible. This works on shoulder extension.
Many people think “core” exclusively means abs, and that abs means crunches. In reality, the core is a myriad of muscles involved in the stabilization of the lumbar (lower) spine, hips, and ribcage. Someone could design a core circuit around trying to train each of those muscles individually. However, functionally it is rare that any core muscle works in isolation without the assistance of nearby muscles. Therefore, the circuit we’re outlining today isn’t about individual muscles, but functions of the core that will train the entire trunk.
Lying Leg Raises
Top position of lying leg raises; the head, shoulder blades, low back and hips should be in contact with the ground, with the legs at or slightly below 90 degrees.Bottom position of lying leg raises; same contact points as before, except the low back should barely come off of the ground. This angle will vary based on your individual core strength.
Lying leg raises involve flexion of both the lumbar spine and hip flexors. Don’t worry if you feel this more in the thighs/hips than in the core. This just means your hip flexors are the weakest link in the chain and need to be trained as well. Fortunately, that’s something this exercise does an amazing job of!
Stability Ball Crunches
Bottom position of a stability ball crunch. Hands should be lightly placed on the side of the head so as to prevent tugging on the neck.Top position of the stability ball crunch. Any higher would be considered a sit-up, and involve more hip flexors than abdominals.
Stability ball crunches also involve flexion of the spine, but this time moving the ribcage instead of the hips. These have 2 distinct advantages over traditional crunches on the floor:
The positioning on the stability ball allows for a longer stretch and increased range-of-motion for the abdominals, and
The stability ball provides an unstable environment compared to the floor, forcing other muscles to stabilize.
Banded Pallof Press
The Banded Pallof Press, holding the band close to the chest.Banded Pallof Press, pressing the band away. This is where the outer oblique should be felt the most.
Palloff press is an excellent way to safely train spinal rotation via the method of anti-rotation, or actively resisting a rotational force. The obliques stabilize the spine, while resistance and instability are created through the change in the length of the band.
Suitcase Carry
The Suitcase Carry: an excellent exercise to train the obliques, and focus on breathing into a braced core.Suitcase Carry with a band handle, for extra instability and challenge.
The Suitcase Carry is similar to the Pallof Press, but instead of training the obliques by anti-rotation it trains the obliques by anti-bending.
Bird Dog
When partaking in Bird-Dog, you can choose to do repetitions or hold for time. If you choose repetitions, still hold the rep for 1 or 2 seconds to make sure that you find balance on every rep.
While some people may think of Bird-Dog as a yoga pose, Bird-Dog is an excellent way to train the low back, an often overlooked aspect of trunk training. The ability to maintain a truly neutral spine while fighting the forces of your outstretched limbs is harder than it appears. Be honest with yourself, are those hips rotating?
Dead Bug
Dead Bug is the abdominal counterpart to Bird-Dog’s low back training, and a way to train spinal flexion while including both of the bottom and top half of the lumbar spine. Differently then our previous exercises that trained spinal flexion, the positioning of the body allows for the abdominals to be worked while keeping the torso in a completely neutral position.
Cat Cow
In cat, focus on pushing through the floor, tucking your hips underneath you, and elongating the spine.In Cow/Camel, focus on hips up, shoulders together, and letting the spine relax.
All of the exercises above are focused on spinal stability, which fits into the alternating pattern of stability and mobility on a joint-by-joint basis. However, constantly flexing a muscle group without providing it with some mobility and reprieve leaves the possibility of restricted mobility that can result in discomfort. Cat Cow is a great exercise that leaves the spine mostly unloaded, gently taking it through a larger range-of-motion and facilitating reasonable mobility.
While the exercises above make an all-encompassing core circuit, this list certainly isn’t exhaustive. Modifications for injury/discomfort, progressions based on ease of completion, and variety of exercises are things that can be explained by certified professionals, ideally within the scope of a larger exercise program. To set up a Free Initial Session with one of our certified trainers, click here.
Today and every day we are focusing on Women’s Health…
More specifically we are highlighting why it is so important for women to resistance train. There are countless reasons why strength training is beneficial for women but here are a few upsides. And, why Empower provides personal trainers for women.
1. Increased Metabolism!
Your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) is basically how many calories you burn while you are at rest, or an easy way to think about it is how many calories you would burn if you laid in bed all day and did absolutely nothing. Now everyone’s RMR is different based on a few factors: Gender, height, weight, age, muscle mass, just to name a few. A big one that is in your control though is your muscle mass! You could be burning less calories at rest than someone who weighs exactly the same as you but they are practicing resistance training and therefore gaining and maintaining lean muscle mass. While cardio is very appealing because when you get done with a bike ride, run, or long walk and you might see a higher calorie burn at the end of a workout than your typical strength training session. However, the muscle you are building during those strength training session will increase your muscle mass and your overall calorie burn towards the end of the day will be much higher over time than strictly doing cardio.
2. Increased Bone Density!
While the obvious and most apparent benefit of resistance training is muscle gain, you are also increasing your bone density. Resistance training puts stress on your bones which increases the overall bone density. Osteoporosis is a huge threat for women, especially menopausal women. The hormonal change that women go through during menopause puts them at a greater risk for osteopenia and osteoporosis.
3. Maintaining your Independence!
Balance is something that everyone struggles with time to time. What happens if you fall and can’t get up on your own? You don’t want to lose your independence. Most of the time people think of balance as being able to stand on one foot without falling over. While that is one example of balance, there is so much more to it than that. Balance allows us to do so much – walk on uneven surfaces, walk in the dark without falling, be able to walk in the grocery store and scan the shelfs and walk without having to look down at our feet.
It has such an impact on our life that we don’t even realize we are going it. As we age our balance has a natural decline, doing balance exercises and core exercises can help slow down that part of the aging process and even help prevent falls as you get older. What if you do end up falling? Can you get up on your own? Do you have the strength to get up without help from an object or another person? The answer may be no, which is scary. Resistance training can help give you the strength you need to get yourself back up after a fall where you find you are by yourself.
4. Increased Hormonal Response
As we age and go through life stages such as menopause, it is natural for the anabolic hormones in our body to decrease in function which can accelerate the lost of muscle mass and bone density. However, it is well known that an acute bout of exercise can stimulate an increase in anabolic hormone response. Studies in both Cardio and Resistance Training have shown to increase levels in Estradiol, Prolactin, Testosterone, Thyroid and many other anabolic hormones. Estradiol (the precursor to estrogen) and Prolactin (hormone for milk production and lactation) are both key to the development of women across all ages.
5. Prenatal/Postnatal Exercise Response
Regular exercise has been shown to have important health benefits after childbirth. A few published studies suggest that postpartum exercise improves aerobic capacity, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, and insulin sensitivity. In prenatal and lactating women further studies have shown that there are no adverse effects to regular exercise.
These a 5 great reasons to start (or increase) a strength training program, and there are more including weight loss (but we didn’t want that one to steal the show). 😉
Want to get started today? Try this Trip-Set Strength Training Workout:
Something great is returning to Empower, and we are so excited.
As you know, we made a lot of big decisions throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and one of those decisions was to halt all group training sessions to minimize exposure to people from different households. However, as we emerge from the state of isolation that Covid has caused, we are re-launching our Small Group Training Classes. Yippee!!
Here’s what to love about this:
Small Group Training at Empower differs greatly from your typical group fitness studio class. You are not just another number in a large crowd because we limit our group size to 8 (for indoor sessions).
Our sessions are led by fully certified, very experienced, expert personal trainers or instructors. The best of the best!
Small Group Training is like personal training but with friends and more affordable. While personal training offers you the ultimate level of personalization, these small group sessions are small enough that the instructor can still help each individual person and with a much lower financial investment.
There is something for everyone with Small Group Sessions like:
Empower Circuit Training
Flow and Restore Yoga
Muscle Gaining Functional Training
Greatest HIIT’s
Barre – Yoga Fusion
and MORE . . .
Starting the week of March 21st our new Group Fitness schedule will be in full swing and we offer a couple lunch time classes and several that start at 5:30pm so you can fit it in before heading home for the day.
If you are one of the majority who thinks you can’t meditate because you can’t sit still, we designed this class for you. By incorporating qigong and tai chi-inspired movements prior to meditation, you will release built up energy in the body allowing the mind to settle so you can receive the benefit of a guided meditation. This 4 week series of 45-minute classes is perfectly balanced with movement and meditation so you won’t get bored. No experience needed. All Welcome.
Blanket, Bolster, and blocks are recommended, but not required. Empower can provide for in-studio participants, but please bring your own.
In-Studio registration is limited. Click the sign-up button below to reserve your spot. You will choose In-Studio or Virtual.
This is the best news we have had to share in a long time . . .
For those of you who have been at Empower long enough to remember R.J. Lisander, it thrills us to announce SHE IS COMING BACK to Empower!
For those of you who have yet to meet R.J., you are in for a real treat, one that will make an impactful difference in your life.
R.J. is an amazing yoga and mediation teacher and an all-around incredible human. Her practices are peace and love and understanding and nurturing movement all rolled up into one.
If, like so many of us, you are operating in a constant cycle of stress, R.J.’s new offerings are just what your body, mind and spirit need. She will offer 2 unique restorative yoga trainings and a movement and mediation workshop – all will be offered both in-studio and virtually through Zoom. So, whether you would like to experience these sessions in our beautiful studio or have the convenience and comfort of participating from home – we’ve got you covered.
R.J. joins us from Greece (where she is currently) with this message. R.J. takes it away:
Yoga at Empower:
Flow and Restore Yoga: Mondays 5:30 – 6:30 pm
Starting Oct. 4
Accessible In-studio and livestream through Zoom.
This yoga flow helps you focus and reset, even after the busiest of days. In this class, we’ll work the whole body in gentle Vinyasa-inspired moon salutations to work off some of the heat of the day and will wind down in longer held poses designed to bring the body and mind into alignment setting you up for a focused evening to be enjoyed with people and events you enjoy the most. No experience needed. All are welcome.
Blanket, Bolster, and blocks are recommended, but not required. Empower can provide for in-studio participants, but please feel free to bring your own.
Perfect for everybody, this class will remind you of the importance of longer held, deep poses that stretch tight muscles, lubricate the fascia and strengthen muscles around the joints. Because the class focuses on slow, mostly mat-based poses, the challenge of this class often goes beyond the pose itself and to the power of the mind-body connection. You will leave class feeling stronger, more flexible and agile in body and mind. No experience needed. All are welcome.
Blanket, Bolster, and blocks are recommended, but not required. Empower can provide for in-studio participants, but please feel free to bring your own.
Mindful Movement and Meditation: 4 Week Series – Sundays, 4:00 – 4:45 pm
Starting Oct. 17th
If you are one of the majority who thinks you can’t meditate because you can’t sit still, we designed this class for you. By incorporating qigong and tai chi-inspired movements prior to meditation, you will release built up energy in the body, allowing the mind to settle so you can receive the benefit of a guided meditation. This 45-minute class is perfectly balanced with movement and meditation so you won’t get bored. No experience needed. All Welcome.
Blanket, Bolster, and blocks are recommended, but not mats. Empower can provide for in-studio participants, but please feel free to bring your own.
Registration coming soon.
More about R.J. Lisander:
Coming to yoga later in life, RJ was well aware of the physical modifications her athletic, yet aging body needed during yoga classes. Sadly, because of the size of classes, instructors weren’t always able to offer options to provide the ease she needed to practice with confidence. As her practice and interest in yoga continued, she completed yoga teacher training and began guiding others through class sequences. As a guide, RJ quickly witnessed the diversity in range of movement and desire for practitioners to push to a pose that was counter to the needs of not only healthy or aging bodies but also bodies moving with injury and/or dis-ease. While she did what she could to offer alternatives and modifications in class, RJ just knew there had to be a more inclusive way to offer yoga and meditation practices. From there, the seed for that inclusive style of yoga was planted. The result is a practice philosophy that considers the idea that not all bodies have lived the same lives, so it is unreasonable to expect all bodies to move and interpret poses in the same way. With this as a foundation to her offerings, RJ co-creates spaces and sequences with class participants in a way that offers challenge to all, while highlighting the importance of utilizing props and taking modifications to allow for an easing into poses through awareness and compassion for self.
As group and private sessions have grown with the philosophy of making yoga and meditation accessible, RJ has the honor of working with not only healthy, competitive athletes and weekend warriors, she also shares the same spaces and sequences with many individuals recovering from injury, surgery, new and old medical diagnoses (including auto-immune disease), trauma, and caregivers. As a natural extension of these interactions, RJ offers more than a space to practice yoga and meditation, she offers a schedule, mindset practices and online tools to help you make the practices of mindful meditation and conscious movement a more accessible part of your everyday life.
RJ speaks and teaches internationally on the topics of mindfulness and conscious movement. She is the founder of Lotus Seed Meditations and Lotus Seed Lifestyles. She is a certified wellness counselor, Cornell University. RJ completed her 200-hour Prana Flow® teacher certification from Evolve Movement, Raleigh, NC and a 200-hr certification in yoga therapy through Kripalu, Birkshires, MA. Additional qualifications in Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra through Kripalu, and pre/post-natal care yoga through Asheville Yoga Center, Trauma Informed Yoga through Yoga International and Advanced Yin Practices through Yoga Medicine. She is a certified instructor and facilitator with LoveYourBrain’s six-week FUNdamentals Yoga and online Mindset Programs. She completed Shamanic Reiki I and II through Shamanic Reiki Worldwide and has certificates in hand and foot reflexology. RJ holds a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Creative Writing from West Virginia University.
Welcome R.J. we are so grateful and excited to have you back.
There is far too much talk about what our backside looks like and not enough talk about what these muscles actually do.
Let’s look.
There are three different glute muscles:
Gluteus maximus
Gluteus medius
Gluteus minimus
Together, these muscles are the primary movers for hip extension, hip internal rotation, and hip abduction (moving the leg away from the midline of the body).
While the glute maximus is the largest and most powerful of the three, (and what I like to call one of your “pretty muscles” that gets a lot of hype because it contributes to what our bodies look like), the glute medius and minimus also play a really important role in controlling the motion of the pelvis and the femur, (they might not be as “pretty” but their function is key to smooth and pain free movement).
Our glutes do so much more than just produce movement at the hip. Strong glutes are important for proper pelvic alignment during running, and even support and balance when standing on one leg. And here is what might grab your attention:
Strong glutes help to support the lower back anytime we lift something
Strong glutes prevent knee injuries and pain during lifting and walking/running
Strong glutes are key to increasing power and athletic performance
Say that again–glutes help:
1. Reduce Back Pain:
Your glutes handle hip extension, but when your feet are fixed to the ground when standing, your glutes assist with raising the torso upward, like when you pick up a package from your front porch. Therefore, when your glutes are strong, you have a more stable pelvis and better support for your lower back. This means any load can be more evenly distributed through the lower back and lower extremities.
**One sign of weak glutes is a rounding of the back when you pick something up off the ground or perform a deadlift.
2. Reduce Knee Injury and Pain:
The pelvic stability the glutes provide is important for other reasons as well. Our lower extremities function together in a closed kinetic chain. When your pelvis isn’t stable, it puts a lot of pressure on your knees and ankles to compensate.
Instability at the hip can cause excessive medial rotation of the femur, which creates lateral tracking of your patella (kneecap). This improper lateral movement is a common source of knee pain.
3. Increase Power & Athletic Performance:
It doesn’t matter if you are an Olympic athlete or a weekend hiker, your glutes are essential to many active pursuits: acceleration, jumping, climbing, lifting, and more. Your glutes not only help you prevent injury, they are also your powerhouse. If you let your glutes get weak, you may find yourself less powerful and less effective on the golf course, the tennis court, your next road race, or the hikes you like to take.
So, how do you get stronger glutes?
Strength training, my friends (I know, that is my solution for almost everything).
Here are 7 of Empowers’ Trainers’ favorite Glute Strengthening Exercises (one for everyday of the week–hint, hint):
Clam shells
Lateral ankle band walks
Hip thrusters
Single leg squat
Single leg deadlift
Curtsey lunge
Lateral step-ups
If you would like more instruction on how to do these exercises or even better, a whole body fitness plan to help you reach your goals, we can help.
Eating the right things at the right times around our workouts is one of the biggest things we can do to improve our performance for our workouts and improve our recovery from them—ensuring that we’re getting the most out of them. It also is one of the most neglected areas of nutrition for active people. The good news is, it just a few tweaks in the pre-, during, and post- workout periods can have a huge effect on our performance and recovery. It also doesn’t have to be complicated, so I want to keep this fairly simple and short so that it’s easier to remember and apply.
Background
Just a few reminders about the macronutrients before we get into nutrient timing around workouts. To keep things simple, carbohydrates are our body’s fast energy source and are the primary energy source during exercise. We can’t store very much carbohydrate in our bodies for future use, so it’s important to make sure we’re topped off on carbs before workouts. Fat is a good fuel source for lower intensity activity and inactivity, but it’s less efficient and less preferred by the body for high-intensity activity, so it’s less crucial right around workouts. Finally, protein is the building block of many tissues in the body, especially muscle, so it’s important to get enough protein in order to rebuild and repair from workouts. So, let’s look at how to time these nutrients.
Pre-Workout
Before a workout, the goal of our meals and snacks is to make sure we’re hydrated and fueled. We want to make sure we’re drinking plenty of water throughout the day; the best way to gauge your hydration is by the color of your pee. The goal is for our pee to be pale yellow (no darker than the color of pale lemonade), but not clear. So, if your pee is darker than that, drink some more water until it lightens up, and if it’s clear, lay off the water for until your pee is back to a pale-yellow color.
We also want to make sure that our pre-workout meal/snack is fueling and helping us, not bogging us down. The closer to your activity, the smaller and simpler a meal/snack should be. The further out from activity, the larger and more complex a meal can be. This is a simple issue of digestion. We take time to break down and process the food we eat, and protein and fat slow down the rate that food moves through our body—this is a really favorable thing outside of workouts because it helps our food keep us full for longer, but right around our workouts, we want to use the energy from our food in a timelier manner. Since digestion takes some time, if we’re having a pre-workout snack in the hour before our workout, we want to keep it a little smaller and simpler (like a piece of fruit, a piece or two of toast, an energy bar, or even a piece of fruit and some nut butter). If we’re eating a little farther out from our workout, say 2-3 hours in advance, that can be more of a normal meal with an emphasis on carbs (for example, a sandwich with a side of fruit or rice with protein and veggies).
Everyone is different, so it may take a little experimentation to find what works for you regarding what foods you eat before a workout and when. Don’t be afraid to test some things out.
During Workout
I always tell my clients that hydration is the key to success. I won’t go off on a tangent on all the ways dehydration negatively affects us, but proper hydration is one of the biggest things we can do to feel and perform better in our workouts. We can set ourselves up for success by heading into workouts hydrated, and by staying hydrated during our workouts.
If your workout is an hour or less, you can drink plain water during the workout to stay hydrated. For workouts longer than an hour, it’s a good idea to incorporate a sports drink that contains electrolytes and carbohydrates to keep you fueled and to prevent dehydration.
Post-Workout
Workouts do a few things to our body. They cause microscopic damage to the muscle, and they cause our body to breakdown stored carbohydrates (glycogen). We have three main goals with our nutrition after a workout. Remember that our glycogen stores are pretty limited, so one of our nutrition goals after a workout is to replenish that glycogen by making sure we eat carbohydrates. One of our other main nutrition goals after a workout is to ensure we’re getting protein in to help repair muscle damage and rebuild muscle. The amount of protein and carbohydrate you need after a workout is specific to your calorie and macronutrient needs, but a general rule that can help to maximize recovery is a 3:1 ratio of carbs: protein (for example, if you have 15g protein, aim for 60g carb).
Our third goal of our post-workout nutrition is to REHYDRATE. You may have gathered by now that I’m huge on hydration and really reinforce it. One easy way to do this is to weigh yourself before your workout and again after; aim to drink 16-24oz of water after your workout for every pound of weight that you lost. For example, if you lost 2 lbs over the course of your workout, aim to drink 32-48oz of water to help with rehydrating. Again, monitoring our pee color is a great way to check in with how we’re doing with rehydrating.
If you have questions or want to know the specifics of how to apply these recommendations, drop us a line HERE to set up a FREE initial consultation with Michael.
PERSONAL GROUP TRAINING IN DURHAM–WE’RE BACK AT IT!
We are so super excited to announce that we are adding 2 IN STUDIO group training sessions to our schedule as we tip-toe back toward “normal”! YAY!!
We would love to have you join us. You don’t have to be a client or have a membership to attend group training sessions!
STARTING THIS WEEK!
💪🏽 Mondays 12:30pm – Empower Circuit with Brooke – Sign Up Here
🧘🏾♀️ Fridays 9am – Barre to Yoga Fusion with Judy–Sign Up Here
Our Group Training sessions differ from classes in big box gyms or even group fitness-focused studios because you are not just a number in a crowd. At Empower we strive to personalize every experience. Our group training sessions are led by certified trainers who know you (and your body) and can help change every exercise for every person in the group.
Get an excellent personal trainer-led workout, sweat with friends, get fit together!
