Cross Country Ski Cardio Machine & Short Track Sliding Side Lunge

Cross country skiing is so intense!  It?s so inspiring to watch these amazing athletes push their bodies to the limit!  Their conditioning must be extreme to battle through turns, uphills, downhills, cold weather, sore muscles, pounding heart, etc.  These long distance skiers use their whole body.  Athletes of this sport really workout!  They are lean but they are fighting machines!  Cross country skiers use their arms, legs, and core!  That’s the whole body!  You too can have great cardio health!  Want to get fit?  Hop on that cardio machine at the gym!  Anything like the elliptical where you can pick programs like hills, intervals, and/or cardio.  That is what you want.  Get started.  Select one of those programs and move!  Work hard.  Give it your all.  Improve your endurance and stamina! It will be tough but your body will love you for it!  Work your cardio fitness like cross country skiers do!

Now try it!  Choose your cardio machine and jump in!  Select hill, intervals, and/or cardio workout.  Go for at least 20 minutes.  If you are comfortable, swing your arms.  Don?t give up.  Hill and intervals really work the body!  Push through your pain but don’t over do it.  It will get better the more and more you try.  Never give up.  Athletes don’t give up.  Challenge yourself by adding more time and intensity.  Burn the fat!  Get results! Sweat it out and give your body a great cardio workout!

The Olympic speed sport of short track captures crowds!  This sport is fast and crazy!  People pushing and falling.  Have you ever looked at the size of Apolo Ohno’s legs?!  They are huge!  Speed skaters squat and lunge deep into their legs.  They use leg strength and stamina to stay in the race and to possibly win!  These athletes use mass amount of muscle in the qauds, glutes, hamstrings, inner thighs, and outer thighs.  That?s why these muscles are so huge for these athletes.  You too can have strong legs with the sliding side lunge exercise.  Get a towel if you do the exercise on a hard surface or a magazine (or something like this) if you do the exercise on carpet.  Place the towel under the right foot.  Bend the left foot at the knee and slide out the right foot.  Really lunge into that left side.  Your butt should be extended back.  Quad should be parallel to the ground.  Don?t extend the knee past the ankle.  Slide the right leg back in.  Switch sides.  Feel the burn in your entire lower body as you slide and lunge!  Speed skate short track style with the sliding side lunge!

Now try it!  Get your towel ready!  Time to slide!  Form is vital to reap all the benefits of this exercise.  Bend the left knee and slide the right foot out for 2 counts.  Slide the foot back in for 2 counts.  Do this 20 times.  Switch sides and repeat.  Complete at least 3 sets.  Challenge yourself by lunging lower to the ground, adding a pair of light dumbbells, and/ or doing more sets.  Work the butt, the hams, the quads, the inner and outer thighs!