Sick of doing sit ups and crunches?  

Not only can those exercises be bad on your back, but there are so many more core exercises that will give you better results.  

Plank jacks for example, will challenge you to engage your.  Check out the instructions and video below for details on proper form.  

**Wondering what it means to engage your core?  Get the down low on engaging your core in Jill's blog. 

Instructions

1. Begin in a plank position, with your shoulder over your wrists, your body in one straight line, and your feet together
2. Like the motion of jumping jacks, jump your legs wide and then back together 
3. Jump as quickly as you want, but keep your pelvis steady and don’t let your booty rise toward the ceiling 
4. Complete three to four sets of 12-30 repetitions ** Challenge yourself to do more reps each week!

Looking for more great core exercises?  Check out are full list of ab workouts in the LivRite Fitness Exercise Library. 

Stationary lunges are a great exercise to do if you are looking to tone your legs and don't have a ton of space to work with. 

Another great thing about stationary lunges is this exercise will work most muscles in your legs. 

Add dumbbells for an extra challenge!  

Instructions:

1. Stand with your torso upright holding two dumbbells in your hands by your sides 
2. Step backwards with your right leg around 2 feet or so from the foot being left stationary behind and lower your upper body down, while keeping the torso upright and maintaining balance. 
3. Inhale as you go down 
4. Using mainly the heel of your foot, push up and go back to the starting position as you exhale. 
5. Repeat for 10-15 reps then perform with the left leg. Complete three to four sets on each leg. 

Muscles Worked

• Glutes
• Quads
• Hamstrings
• Calves

Bent Over Fly

Shoulders are one of the most often overlooked muscle groups and I had no idea why! That's why I asked several of my clients why they had never incorporated moves for their shoulders into their workout plan before training with me. The most common response I got was "I don't know how." 

This is the reason we started doing instructional videos on the LivRite website! That excuse isn't going to cut it anymore.  You can find a full list of our shoulder workouts here.  

Take a look at the video and instructions below to learn how to correctly do the bent over fly. This move will target your posterior deltoids (the main muscles on the back of your shoulders) and it will also work your rhomboids and traps.   

Instructions: 

1. Hold dumbbells in each hand, stand with knees slightly bent. Keeping your back flat, bend forward at the hip joint.
2. Exhale and lift both arms out to the side, maintaining a slight bend in the elbows and squeezing your shoulder blades together. 
3. With control, lower the dumbbells back toward the ground
4. This completes one rep
5. Complete three sets of 10 to 12 repetitions 

Our shoulders have a wide range of motion which makes them more prone to strains or injury. It's important to make sure you are doing exercises correctly. Some stretches we recommend for shoulder tightness are neck stretches, shoulder rolls, cross body arm swings, cross body stretch and child's pose. Adding in these stretches may help increase flexibility or prevent injury. Plus sometimes it just feels good to stretch!

Looking for more great moves to add to your workouts? Check out our full list of exercises in our exercise library. 

Elevated Shoulder Taps

Getting bored of planks but don't know what core exercises to add  to your workout plan?  Give elevated shoulder taps a try.  This is a great move that will really test your core strength and endurance.  Check out the video and instructions below and try it out today. 

Instructions:

1. Place feet on box and get into a plank position 
2. Tap the opposite shoulder with one hand 
3. Repeat with the other hand
4. Complete three sets of 10 to 12 repetitions on each shoulder 

Alternating Curtsy Lunge with Curl to Press

Instructions

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding one 5- to 15-pound dumbbell in each hand. 

2. Lunge one foot behind you and sweep it to the side, past your front foot. Lower your upper body into a squat so that your front thigh is almost parallel to the floor. Don't let that knee pass over your toes. Keep your chest up, shoulders down and navel pulled in. 

3. Bend your elbows to raise the weights with your wrists facing the ceiling, curling up toward your body. Keep your elbows tucked close to your sides.  

4.Press the dumbbell up above your head  

5.Return to starting position by pushing off the front heel and lower the weights. Repeat on the other side. 

6.Complete three to four sets of 10-12 reps on each side.  

Looking for more great leg exercises. Check out our full list in our exercise library.