ABC workout

If you have been following my tips over the past few years you know that I am a big believer in keeping workouts fresh and mixing it up. Not only do our muscles get bored and adapt, but our minds too. So here is a great tip for a different twist on abdominal and shoulder day. 
While doing leg lifts lying down, on a suspended dip/knee raise machine, or even in the large abdominal straps hanging from a pull-up bar, instead of just raising your knees as high as you can or performing straight left raises swinging up and down try the alphabet.  Start in your hanging position and draw the letter A,B,C… with your toes pointed straight out like a writing utensil and see how far down the alphabet you can go.  Obviously the goal is to finish the alphabet but it may take a few sessions to get there.  Another objective is to draw numbers with your toes, and if you are counting at the same time then you will know how many reputations you have done. 
There are not a lot of exercises that this can be done with, but another great burn workout is the shoulders.  Take a light dumbbell and standing facing a wall use it as if you are drawing or painting the alphabet or numbers on the wall, then switch arms.  Another way instead of facing the wall stand sideways to the wall but point the dumbbell toward the wall in order to use more of the side rhomboid rather than the front.  The first exercise can also be done with both arms at the same time and utilizing a little more weight.  For a higher intensity try using your whole body getting your legs in the action drawing the letter or numbers larger, kind of like doing squats.

Exercises-

Lying Abdominals on the floor mat
Hanging Abdominals with straps or grasping a pull-up bar
Dip Machine Abdominals with elbows at 45 degrees

Front Shoulder-face wall, can be done with one hand or two, or even using the 
whole body
Side Shoulder-stand perpendicular to wall

…For more information and tips, check my website, www.chadamartin.com.