Benefits: The medicine ball chop is a great way to strengthen your pillar (core, shoulders, hips) while also allowing for a cardiovascular challenge. The chop will work your arms, hips and especially your core. With it being a total body movement you are working many muscle groups, which allows it to get your heart rate up easily. Performing the chop at an aggressive speed will turn this exercise into a total body cardio challenge. It is a great exercise to throw into a metabolic circuit at the start or finish of a workout.

How To:

1) Stand feet shoulder width apart, hands on medicine ball, arms fully extended up and at an angle

2) Squat keeping arms straight while crossing the body with the ball

3) Twist your upper body as you lower the ball across the opposite knee

4) Return back to the start by following the same movement pattern as on the way down

*Trainers Tip* During the squat pay attention to your knees and make sure they stay inline with your feet and down cave in or out. Twist only the upper body as you lower and raise the ball, the hips should be facing forward at all times.

Form Is Function

Walk into any large fitness club on any given day and you’re guaranteed to see a wide array of exercises.  Some people take a traditional approach and stick to barbells and machines.  Others are trying to stand with one leg on a Bosu ball or plank on a stability ball.  The world of fitness has changed drastically in the last 10 years as words such as “core” or “functional” have entered into typical gym talk.  You can walk into a gym on any given day and expect to see an exercise you have never seen before.  Although the way people exercise has changed a lot, the way our bodies move has stayed the same.

The human body has moved the same way for thousands of years.  Sure we have evolved and our movement habits have changed, but we still walk upright and on two feet.  In the gym, we are challenging ourselves in ways we have never before. As the movements during the workout get more advanced and complicated, form becomes more and more of an issue.  As we step away from the fixed movement machines of the 90’s and get into more “free motion” exercises, we have to be more aware of what our entire body is doing.

Form is now more important than ever to not only understand, but be able to apply.  There are a few areas of the body in which special attention should be paid to.  You may be standing and doing a dumbbell exercise with your arms, but the majority of attention should probably be on your spine or core. There are five body parts that you need to check before performing a majority of exercises.  The idea of functional training is to be stronger and able to move better in every day movements.  If you don’t check these areas before beginning an exercise, it is likely you will develop an injury and make every day life a little more difficult.

5.  Head & Neck- In just about every exercise you want to think about being as tall as possible, even if you are lying down.  Think like someone is pulling from above on your head trying to lift you off the ground.

4.  Shoulder Blades- With many upper body exercises you want to keep your should blades back and down.  This will allow for the correct muscles to activate in each lift and in certain exercises will help isolate the muscles you want.  By moving your shoulder blades back and down, you will be putting yourself into proper posture.

3.  Glutes- In leg exercises, especially those in which you are in a split stance; you want to think about activating and squeezing your glutes (butt cheeks).  When in a split stance (such as a lunge), think of activating the glute of the back leg.  Even if you are doing an upper body exercise think about turning on those glutes.

2.  Abs/Core- Normally this is number one on the list but it will take a back seat to the back this time.  The word core is highly overused in most cases, while highly misunderstood.  In every single exercise, you need to think two things to ensure that you are activating your core.  1. Think like someone is about to punch you in the stomach, in other words brace your abs.  2. Think like you have to use the bathroom and you are trying to hold in your pee. It may be a funny concept but is the best way to active your Transverse Abdominus (TVA) which are the deepest muscles in your core.

1.  Back-  It’s of no surprise to me that so many people have consistent back pains.  If you use numbers 5&4 above you will be very close to having your back in a good alignment for exercise.  Just think of always being as tall as possible and keeping the spine straight and neutral.  There are very few exercises in which we would want the spine to round so keep it straight at all times.  Also, don’t over exaggerate and get the feeling that your low back is pressing towards your belly button.

Keep these 5 tips in mind and use them as checkpoints before you begin each exercise.  They will help you activate the muscles that you want so your goals will be reach quicker.  On top of that you will reduce your chance of injury and may actually clean up any injuries you may have.