Exercise has come a long way in the last hundred years. We never used to hear about all these exercises that target certain body parts. It is great that we have the opportunity to workout in a way that we can specifically tone one or two parts of our body. Of course, any form of exercise does work your whole body, and if anyone is telling you otherwise, they absolutely don’t know what they are talking about. However, there are certain exercises that do focus on specific parts of the body while still lightly working out the whole body.
You should always try to exercise for your whole body at least a couple of times a week, but it is okay to take a day or two to focus on certain problem parts. If you think your problem areas are the ones that you think are fatty or flabby, you’ve got the wrong idea. When you exercise your whole body, those areas will get trimmed along with everything else. The problem areas I am talking about are the areas that can get injured more easily as we get older. What is the number one complaint when people get a bit older? Back pain. The things we used to be able to do without a problem are now always accompanied by back trouble. Work out you back and tone it up so that you won’t run into this problem.
Here are some good exercises that will tone your back and prevent back pain and injury:
- Hold a weight in each hand, while sitting up straight on a hard backed chair or backless chair. Slowly bring your arms up beside you, sticking straight out. Bring them up as far as you comfortably can, without going higher than your head. Do 10 – 15 reps. This exercise will strengthen your shoulder and upper back.
- Stand with your feet aligned with your hips. Take a weight in each hand and bend forward at the waist, slightly bending your knees for support. Slowly bring the weight into your chest, bending your elbows, When your elbows are at your shoulder lever, pause for a few seconds and then slowly release. Do 10 – 15 reps. This will help your upper back.
- Lie face down on a mat, with your arms by your sides. Slowly bring your head, shoulders and chest up (keep your arms by your sides) and hold for a few seconds, then slowly return to the starting position. Do 8 – 10 reps. This move will strengthen your lower back.
- If you have a gym membership, there should be exercise machines that focus on the back. Before you use them, make sure you know exactly what you are doing. It doesn’t hurt to ask your trainer or another professional at the gym how to use the machines and how to get maximal results from them.
Make sure you don’t just focus on your back or any other part of your body that you want to target. Remember to exercise your whole body, and when you do that, everything gets somewhat toned. If you do cardio and aerobic exercise 2 – 3 times a week and do the above exercises 2 – 3 times a week, you will notice an improvement in your whole body, plus have a more toned back within about a couple of weeks.
