Double the please, double the fun
January 25, 2011 12:04 PM Subscribe
I'd like to learn more partner based exercises to do at home.
A friend and I are exercising at my house some now, but often its us doing the same exercise next to each other, but we really like say, passing the medicine ball back and forth hard or passing the medicine ball back and forth while doing sit-ups. I'd like to learn more neat two person exercises. We have enough room to both laydown, but not much more, we are roughly the same height and weight.
A friend and I are exercising at my house some now, but often its us doing the same exercise next to each other, but we really like say, passing the medicine ball back and forth hard or passing the medicine ball back and forth while doing sit-ups. I'd like to learn more neat two person exercises. We have enough room to both laydown, but not much more, we are roughly the same height and weight.
Here's a partner-based ab exercise I like. unfortunately only one person (primarily) gets a workout, but switching off provides some good resting time.
* Person A lays on the ground flat on their back.
* Person B stands above their head, and person A grabs their ankles.
* Person A lifts his/her legs, keeping knees straight and feet together, hard. Think about trying to kick person B in the chest with your feet.
* Person B "catches" person A's legs by the ankles, and throws his/her legs towards the floor. Person A has to make sure his/her feet don't hit the ground, but they should get within 4 inches of the floor. If not, Person B needs to throw the legs harder.
* Person B can throw the legs randomly left/right/middle to vary things up and work the obliques.
Hopefully that makes sense!
posted by aganders3 at 12:28 PM on January 25, 2011 [1 favorite]
* Person A lays on the ground flat on their back.
* Person B stands above their head, and person A grabs their ankles.
* Person A lifts his/her legs, keeping knees straight and feet together, hard. Think about trying to kick person B in the chest with your feet.
* Person B "catches" person A's legs by the ankles, and throws his/her legs towards the floor. Person A has to make sure his/her feet don't hit the ground, but they should get within 4 inches of the floor. If not, Person B needs to throw the legs harder.
* Person B can throw the legs randomly left/right/middle to vary things up and work the obliques.
Hopefully that makes sense!
posted by aganders3 at 12:28 PM on January 25, 2011 [1 favorite]
Googling for partner drills brought up a lot of examples, but off the top of my head, I like:
- sit ups facing each other, passing the medicine ball.
- russian twists (sitting like a sit up with legs off floor, next to each other, passing the ball back and forth).
- standing twists (standing back to back, handing a medicine ball around).
- passing a medicine ball lunges (tossing the ball) - can twist or raise ball when in lunge.
- passing a medicine ball squats (bouncing the ball).
- standing next to each other and raising the ball over head, swinging it out to the side and down to pass it to the other person, who raises it over to the side and over head. Switch directions after awhile.
- leg push downs, where one person is on their back on the floor and the other stands at their shoulders facing their feet. Person on the floor raises their legs and the other person pushes them away. Great ab work!
posted by ldthomps at 12:28 PM on January 25, 2011
- sit ups facing each other, passing the medicine ball.
- russian twists (sitting like a sit up with legs off floor, next to each other, passing the ball back and forth).
- standing twists (standing back to back, handing a medicine ball around).
- passing a medicine ball lunges (tossing the ball) - can twist or raise ball when in lunge.
- passing a medicine ball squats (bouncing the ball).
- standing next to each other and raising the ball over head, swinging it out to the side and down to pass it to the other person, who raises it over to the side and over head. Switch directions after awhile.
- leg push downs, where one person is on their back on the floor and the other stands at their shoulders facing their feet. Person on the floor raises their legs and the other person pushes them away. Great ab work!
posted by ldthomps at 12:28 PM on January 25, 2011
Assisted handstand pushups. Obviously, you will need to get to the point where you can do at least a handstand, but then the spotter can help the exerciser by pulling up slightly on his ankles, then providing resistance on the way down (so the exerciser doesn't hit his/her head). Be sure that the exerciser keeps the hands in front and slightly wider than shoulder width -- don't place them to the sides of one's shoulders.
If you have a pullup bar, have the exerciser bend his/her legs so that they are parallel to the ground (thighs should be vertical). The spotter can then provide a slight lift on the ankles/shins. This should allow for more reps, and the amount of lift can be decreased as you get stronger. In the down position, the shoulder girdle should be square: don't hang so that you look "hunched". Think of lifting your arms such that your shoulders are as low as possible, and that's how you should be in the down state.
posted by UrineSoakedRube at 12:44 PM on January 25, 2011 [1 favorite]
If you have a pullup bar, have the exerciser bend his/her legs so that they are parallel to the ground (thighs should be vertical). The spotter can then provide a slight lift on the ankles/shins. This should allow for more reps, and the amount of lift can be decreased as you get stronger. In the down position, the shoulder girdle should be square: don't hang so that you look "hunched". Think of lifting your arms such that your shoulders are as low as possible, and that's how you should be in the down state.
posted by UrineSoakedRube at 12:44 PM on January 25, 2011 [1 favorite]
This will sound goofy, but I've found that Nerf volleyball can be a good (and fun) two-person workout. All you need is an area designated as the "legal" playing field ("It hit the bookcase, out of bounds!") and a Nerf ball. I used to sting a piece of yarn about chest height across our playing area, but I've found that you can more or less "eyeball" what is over the "net" and what isn't without any actual marker. The main point is to keep hitting the ball so that it's in play (using standard volley ball rules). During the course of the game, besides hitting and scooting sideways and forward and back, you'll also do a lot of bending to pick up the ball.
posted by Oriole Adams at 2:02 PM on January 25, 2011
posted by Oriole Adams at 2:02 PM on January 25, 2011
Since it seems you already have a medicine ball, I'm going to take Oriole Adams' suggestion up a notch and recommend Hooverball.
posted by telegraph at 2:28 PM on January 25, 2011
posted by telegraph at 2:28 PM on January 25, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Gilbert at 12:20 PM on January 25, 2011