SHAPE EN ESPANOL MAGAZINE with SOFIA VERGARA
As seen in January 2004 Issue

Warm-Up

Before any workout you should always warm-up your body.  A bike ride, the treadmill or a brisk walk is a great way to ?wake up the body?. Continue your warm-up for approximately 7-15 minutes or until you break a sweat. This will depend on your fitness level. After you are warmed up you should stretch all major muscle groups. Take deep breathes and exhale when moving deeper into the stretch, holding each stretch for 20-30 seconds without bouncing. Once you are warm and stretched you can begin your routine.   

Guidelines to a Great Body

Cardio is the key to elevate your endurance level while burning fat and calories. To spice things up check out a local studio or gym for a Salsa class or get funky in a fun Hip-Hop class. Do your choice of aerobic activity on the days you are not strength training, try to set your goals for at least 30 minutes, 3-4 times a week. Make sure to take a day off between strength training days to allow the muscles to restore themselves.

*While performing any exercise make sure to breathe out while using force / the Concentric part of the exercise. Also breathe in during the Eccentric part of the exercise when the muscle lengthens. 

We will take you through 4 exercises you can do almost any where, all you need is a weighted exercise bar and stability ball.

Exercise / Movement: Good Mornings
Primary Muscles: Erector Spinae [Lower to upper back]
Secondary Muscles: Hamstrings & Glutes [Buttocks]

Exercise / Movement Execution:

1. This movement is performed with a weighted exercise bar or a barbell.
2. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Hold the bar across the back of your shoulders on your trapezius muscle.
3. Start out with your weight on your mid foot. Tighten your lower stomach (Kegel), keeping your chest up and back flat.
4. Pretend to look out over a cliff and start by bending forward only from your waist. Bend to a comfortably level no more then parallel to the ground or 90%, pause without bouncing.
5. Then driving from your chest return to the start position. Still keeping your back flat, stomach tight and chest up. Be sure to look forward and keep your head up all the way through the movement.
6. Repeat the movement, four sets of 12-15 reps

* Remember to keep your back flat, your stomach tight, and your chest and head up during the Good Mornings exercises / movement.

 Exercise / Movement: Power Squat
Primary Muscles: Quadriceps & Hamstrings [Legs]
Secondary Muscles: Lower Back & Gluteus [Buttocks]

Exercise / Movement Execution:

1. This movement is performed with the weighted exercise bar or barbell.
2. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Hold a barbell across the back of your shoulders on your trapezius muscle.
3. Start out with your weight on the heal of your foot. Tighten your lower stomach (Kegel), keep your back flat, your chest and head up.
4. Start to lower yourself by bending at your knees and pushing your butt out. Once your thighs become parallel (90%) with the ground, pause without bouncing.
5. Look up, still keeping your lower Stomach tight (Kegel), drive up through chest and pushing through your heels, return to your starting position.  Do not lean forward if possible.
6. Repeat the movement, four sets of 12-15 reps

* Remember to keep your back flat, your stomach tight, and your chest up and head up during the Squatting exercises / movement. 

Exercise / Movement: Bent-Over Barbell Rows
Primary Muscles: Mid back & Upper Lats [back]
Secondary Muscles: Lower back & biceps

Exercise / Movement Execution:

1. This movement is performed with a weighted exercise bar or a barbell, starting with the bar located on the ground.
2. Stand behind the bar, facing it. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent. (This relieves stress from the lower back).
3. Grasp the bar with your palms facing up a little wider then shoulder-width and your weight on your mid foot. Tighten your lower stomach (Kegel), keep your chest and head up, your back flat and as parallel to the ground as you can get.
4. Start to squeeze your mid back and pull the bar up towards your stomach, keeping your elbows close to your sides. The bar should touch the middle of your abdominals or the bottom of your rib cage. Pause with out bouncing.
5. Then slowly returning the bar to a fully extended starting position. Do not let your shoulders roll forward.
6. Repeat the movement, four sets of 12-15 reps

* Remember to keep your back flat, your stomach tight, and your chest and head up during the Bent-Over Barbell Rows exercises / movement.

 Exercise / Movement: Barbell Flat Ball Press
Primary Muscles: Pectoralis Major [chest]
Secondary Muscles: Front Shoulders & Triceps

Exercise / Movement Execution:

1. This movement is performed with a weighted exercise bar or barbell and exercise ball.
2. Lying on an exercise ball balancing on your upper back, place your feet flat on the ground with your hips out over the ground.
3. Grasp the bar a little wider than shoulder-width apart. Your arms should be at a 45 degree angle away from your body.
4. Tighten your lower stomach (Kegel), keeping your back as flat as you can with your chest up, also squeezing your shoulders blades (mid back) together at the same time.
5. Raise the bar driving through your chest to directly above your chest. Then slowly lower the bar to your lower chest area. Touch your chest, pause without bouncing and raise the bar to the starting position.
6. Repeat the movement, four sets of 12-15 reps

* Remember to keep your back flat, your stomach tight, your chest up and your shoulder blades (mid back) squeezed together during the Barbell Flat Ball Press exercises / movement. 

Cool- Down:

When you finish with your work out make sure to cool down your body and stretch all the major muscle groups again. Remember, take deep breathes and exhale when moving deeper into the stretch, holding each stretch for 20-30 seconds without bouncing.
 

Sofia Vergaga in January 2004 Issue
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Questions or comments please feel free to email me at: Paul@AlessiFitness.com or visit my website at: www.AlessiFitness.com. 
 

Abs and arms with Roselyn Sanchez

"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand."
-Vince Lombardi