Rio’s (Named After the Jesus Statue in Rio De Janerio)
This is a Fantastic shoulder/upper arm exercise to help tone up and tighten. Start this exercise by standing up & holding 2 dumbbells (ranging between 5-12 lbs depending on strength) down at your side. Start the motion by raising one arm up and out to the side stopping when your shoulder height. You are going to hold this arm out in this position with your palm facing forward and thumb in the upright position. While holding this arm steady, take your other arm and raise it to the same height so that your arms are in a “T” position. Then lower the same arm you just raised back down. Repeat 10 times with each arm (remembering to hold the other one straight out from your body). Once you have finished ten reps with each arm do five slowly raising & lowering both arms together. Repeat this set 3 times taking 30 seconds to a minute between each set. This is another exercise that you can add to your arsenal to aid in weight loss and muscle toning.
Squat Thrusts
This is an at home exercise that incorporates both upper and lower body movements; burning twice as many calories, increasing your heart rate and helping you burn fat to achieve your weight loss or muscle toning goals. Squat thrusts are very simple but very tiring! You would begin this exercise in a push up position; hand and toes should be the only thing touching the ground. You start the movement by quickly bringing both feet as close to your hands as possible, bending your knees at the same time. From this position you stand all the way up. Once you have stood completely upright you then squat down put your hands back on the floor, hop and straighten your legs so that you are back in your starting push up position. To make this exercise a little more difficult, jump and the top as you stand. Repeat this motion as quickly as possible for at least 10 reps. Remember to always push yourself to do just a little more than you think you can. Getting your heart rate elevated and working your upper and lower body at the same time really helps with weight loss & fat burn goals.