“Love Your Back” Valentine’s Day Workout

10 Dumbbell Pull Overs

• Lie flat on a bench with a dumbbell raised straight up over your chest— hold it so that your palms are pressing up on the top disc.
• Keep your core tight and lower the dumbbell behind your head, slightly below the height of the bench.
• With your arms straight, contract your lats and pull the the weight up back to start. Repeat. You can also do pullovers on a stability ball, or perpendicular do a bench with your hips raised (it’s more difficult and engages the core more).

20 Supermans

 

• Lie flat on the ground with your arms extended in front of your face.
• Raise your legs, chest, and arms off the ground and squeeze your lower back.
• Hold the squeeze for 10 seconds and lower back down to start.

30 Renedgade Dumbbell Rows

• Assume push up position with two dumbbells (neutral grip).
• While keeping your core tight and back flat, powerfully row your right arm up until it’s slightly above your torso. Don’t rotate your body.
• Hold the contraction for 10 seconds, return to the bottom and repeat for the opposite arm.

20 Tricep Kickbacks

• Hold a medium weight in both hands and bend over until your torso is at a 45-degree angle or parallel to the floor (more advanced). Bend the knees if needed and keep the abs engaged to protect the lower back.
• Begin the movement by bending the arms and pulling the elbows up to torso level.
• Holding that position, straighten the arms out behind you, squeezing the triceps muscles.
• Bend the arms back to starting position and repeat.

10 Chest Flies

• Lie on the floor, bench or step. Hold weights over the chest with the palms facing each other.
• Keeping the elbows slightly bent, lower the arms out to the sides and down until they're level with the chest.
• Keep the elbows in a fixed position and avoid lowering the weights too low.
• Squeeze chest to bring the arms back up as though you're hugging a tree.
• Repeat.