Exercises that make you work from the ground up often work all the major muscles of the body while increasing your heart rate. This can be very beneficial for completing a total body workout with less exercises. Try some of these various ground to overhead exercises that require little, or no weight and cut the time you spend working out in half.
Squat with Barbell Shoulder Press
Performing a squat with a barbell press will work the muscles of the lower and upper body while using the core muscles to stabilize the movement to prevent injury. Prepare for this exercise by holding a barbell with your palms facing you and spaced shoulder-width apart. With straight arms, rest the barbell at your thighs. Lower your body into a squat, allowing the barbell to touch the floor. Pause briefly and stand back up. Keep your elbows alongside your body and curl the barbell up to your chest, ending with your palms now facing away. Engage your abs to stabilize your spine and perform an overhead press by extending your arms and pressing the bar up toward the ceiling. Lower the bar back down to your chest by flexing at your elbows. Keep your elbows back and uncurl the bar to your starting position.
Turkish Getup -- Squat Style
Performed with a single kettlebell, the turkish getup is a great functional exercise in that it uses all of the major muscles to transition your body from a lying to standing position. Begin by lying supine on the floor with your legs extended and holding a kettlebell in your right hand. Position the kettlebell in your hand so that the bell hangs and rests on your forearm and extend your right arm directly over your shoulder joint. Keep your arm straight with the kettlebell above your shoulder throughout the entire exercise. Straighten your left arm and place it on the floor at a 45-degree angle from your shoulder with your palm facing down. Contract your abdominal muscles and crunch up to balance on your left elbow. Pause briefly and continue to crunch up further, lifting your elbow off the floor and balancing on your left hand. Bend your right knee and place your foot flat on the floor. Support your body weight between your left arm and right leg as you lift your butt off the floor. Bend your left knee and place your foot flat on the floor. Balance and remove your left hand from the floor before shifting your body into a deep squat. Drive your feet into the floor as you stand up while still holding the kettlebell up above your shoulder. Pause and reposition your body on the floor to repeat on the opposite side.
Burpee
Burpees require no equipment and are great for getting the heart rate up while not only using the muscles, but also controlling them as you move from one position to the next. Start by squatting down to the floor with your arms extended so that the palms of your hands are on the floor beneath your shoulders. Stabilize your core by contracting your abs and support your weight with your upper body as you jump your feet back to land in a pushup position. Perform a pushup and then jump your feet back to a squatting position. Lift your hands off the floor as you begin to stand up and position them overhead as you leap up into the air. Land softly on the balls of your feet and continue the momentum down into the squat position with your hands on the floor below your shoulders.
Kettlebell Clean and Shoulder Press
Similiar to the squat with overhead press, the kettlebell clean with shoulder press is another exercise that will work all your muscles as you move from the floor up. Hold a kettlebell in each hand by the handle and spread your legs slightly wider than hip-width. Turn your hands so that your palms face each other and squat down to rest the kettlebells on the floor between your legs. Engage your core muscles and quickly lift the kettlebells off the floor as you stand and curl them to rest at your shoulders. Pause briefly before performing a shoulder press with the kettlebells and returning them to your shoulders. Begin to squat as you quickly swing the kettlebells back to the starting position on the floor between your legs.
References
- "The Great Kettlbell Handbook"; Talo & Potvin; 2008
- Mahler's Aggressive Strength: Kettlebell Exercises
- "You Are Your Own Gym"; Mark Lauren & Joshua Clark; 2010
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