Partner Side Swing Pass - Medicine Ball Exercise

Stand side-by-side about 2 feet from your partner. Maintain perfect posture and keep your abdominals contracted throughout the entire exercise. Keep your arms straight and swing the ball from the outside of your body to the inside; then toss the ball to your partner. Your outside leg will pivot as you rotate across your body. Your partner catches the ball and repeats the exercise. Continue for 30–90 seconds each side.

Side to Side Lunge with Medicine Ball

The side to side lunge is a great way to warm up and strengthen the glutes, hips and thighs. Adding a medicine ball makes the exercise more intense and forces you to engage the core to keep the body in proper alignment.

1. Stand with feet wide, toes out at about a 45-degree angle and hold the medicine ball or weight at chest level.
2. Lunge to the right, bending the knee and taking care to keep the knee behind the toe. Touch the ball to the floor while keeping the abs engaged and the back flat (don't round the shoulders).
3. Stand up, bringing the weight to the chest.
4. Repeat the lunge on the left side.
5. Do 1-3 sets of 10-16 reps. One rep is a lunge to the right and left.

Tips:

• Keep your knee in line with your toe as you lunge. If the knee angles in or out, adjust the angle of your toes.
• Press through the heel of you foot as you push up from the lunge to engage your glutes.
• Avoid letting the knee bend over the toe by sitting back into the heel.

Side Lunge

Side lunges are a great way to vary your lunges and put more emphasis on the inner thighs along with the glutes, quads and hips. Side lunges also help you work on balance and stability and are perfect for building strength for sports that involve lateral movement like tennis, racquetball or handball.

1. Step out to the right, keeping the left leg straight and both feet pointing forward.
2. As your right foot hits the ground, bend at the hips and push your glutes back as you shift all the weight to your right leg.
3. Lunge down until the shin is vertical to the floor and the right knee is in line with your toes, both heels flat.
4. Push into the heel back to starting position and repeat on the other side for 1-3 sets of 10-16 reps.

Form Pointers

Avoid stepping too far out, which can compromise your form and cause you to twist the knee inward. You should step far enough that the shin is straight and the knee is in line with the toes.

Core exercises with a fitness ball - Side Exercise

Side exercise

This core exercise is done on your side:

• Lie on your right side, with the ball between your legs. Straighten your arm along the floor.
• Tighten your abdominal muscles.
• Keeping the ball between your legs, raise your legs off the floor as shown. Hold for three deep breaths.
• Return to the start position and repeat. Also try the exercise lying on your left side.

Back Strengthening Exercise - Side Plank

Side Plank

How to do it: Lie on your right side, in a straight line from head to feet, resting on your forearm. Your elbow should be directly under your shoulder. With your abdominals gently contracted, lift your hips off the floor, maintaining the line. Keep your hips square and your neck in line with your spine. Hold 20 to 40 seconds and lower. Repeat two to three times, alternating sides. (If this is too challenging, start with bent knees.)

What it does: Builds strength and endurance in the core. This will help keep your lower back protected and stable during activities that require movement in the hips or back.

Make it harder: While holding the basic position, lift and lower your top leg. Gradually work toward holding the upper leg for 5 to 10 counts. Another option: Instead of resting on your forearm, support your body with your hand, palm on the floor and under the shoulder, elbow straight.

BOSU SQUATS

Squat Jumps over the BOSU
Begin standing next to BOSU and place the right foot in the middle of the dome. Squat down and quickly jump over the dome landing with the left foot on the BOSU in a squat. Continue back and forth over the dome, jumping higher for more intensity.

Don't have a BOSU of your own? No problem!

You can do this anywhere!

Below is an alternative:


This photo is Gary Boring and I doing side lunges/squats at Golden Gate Park.

We have our hands in front of us to maintain balance. We are making sure that our knees are not extending too much over our toes. Always smile when you do this.

BOSU Side Jumps

Side Hops
Stand to the left of the BOSU and jump sideways onto the BOSU, landing with right foot in the middle of the dome, left knee bent and body upright. Step back down and repeat, each time trying to land the foot right in the 'bull's eye' of the dome. After you land, hold your balance for a couple of counts before you step back down. Repeat 16 times on the right and then switch sides.



In addition to being a good cardio and core work out, you are gaining a lot of strength in your legs by doing this.

A good alternative, if you don't have a BOSU, is to do a series of short jumps from side to side and alternate them with long side jumps.

You'll get a good cardio workout from this!