Pilates, Barre and Indoor Cycling instructor Jia En shares tips on easy workouts you can do at Rivervale Drive Fitness Corner
PHOTO: CHERYL TAY
Did you know? Getting a good workout does not always mean hitting the gym. There are many convenient playgrounds and fitness corners right at your doorstep that could be used for your next workout!
In this episode of Worth The Fit season 3, host Cheryl Tay links up with popular Pilates, spin and barre instructor Jia En to come up with 10 exercises that you can do at the fitness corner near you.
Horizontal Ladder
1. Knee Ups
Hold onto the handle bars, relax your shoulders, and slowly lift your knees to your chest. Try to go slow and steady, so you are not arching your back, and you are not swinging your body back and forth too much.
Modified Windshield Wipers: This is an advancement from knee-ups. Have your knees close to your chest and bring them to your left and to your right.
PHOTO: CHERYL TAY
2 Sit Ups
Slide your feet underneath the bar and lie down on your back. With your hands behind your head, exhale as you come up. Use your abdominals to curl up and do not pull onto your neck when you do so. For progression, you can add a twist to your sit up.
PHOTO: CHERYL TAY
3. Bulgarian Split Squats
Place one leg on the bar and the other leg right in front of you. Very gently lower your body, press through your front foot and lift yourself up again.
Chin Up Bar
4. Abs Crusher
Sit down and have your hands supporting yourself on both sides.
Squeeze your inner thighs together, and extend both legs towards the left and towards the right and then split them apart.
Progression: Straighten your legs - to make it harder, you can move them up and down. To increase the difficulty even further, release both hands from supporting you and use just your core instead.
Parallel Rails
5. Pistol Squat
The pistol squat is a one legged squat. You can use the parallel bars or the handle bars for support.
With just one leg supporting your weight, extend the other leg out and slowly squat down towards the floor. Use the same leg to stand up again, keeping it as straight as possible.
PHOTO: CHERYL TAY
6. Lunge and Kick
Holding onto the parallel bars, step back into a reverse lunge and use the same leg to kick forward as you come up. Progression: As you step forward add a little hop.
PHOTO: CHERYL TAY
7. Plié and Curtsy
Holding onto the handle bar, step open legged with your toes pointing out towards the side. Move into a squat and step one leg behind the other with your foot behind the other ankle into a curtsy.
Bench
PHOTO: CHERYL TAY
8. Tricep Dips
Start with knees bent, placing your hands on the bench, and keep your elbows tight.
Bend your elbows and then extend them again. At all times, keep your body as close to the bench as possible.
Progression 1 : Straighten both legs.
Progression 2 : Place one leg on top of the other.
PHOTO: CHERYL TAY
9. Inclined Push-Ups with Chest Taps
Placing both hands on the bench, keep your body in a long straight line. Drop your chest between your palms and avoid arching your back, keeping a neutral spine position.
Each time you press down and up, lift one hand to tap the opposite shoulder and return to your original position again.
10 Step Ups
Use one leg to step onto the bench, and bring your other knee to your chest at the top. Keep your body tall at all times, and you can use your arms to support you.
Progression: Box jumps - starting in squat position jump to the top of the bench, stand up tall, and then come back down again.
Worth The Fit season 3 features your favourite trainers who will each design a workout for you in your very own neighbourhood fitness corner.
You may do 3 rounds of the 10 exercises at 30 seconds work with 15 seconds rest or 3 rounds of 10 reps per exercise, with a minute's rest in between each round. Give it a try!