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.