Find the Perfect Workout with the Best Personal Training in Baltimore
While kids may look forward to getting their hands on all the treats their hearts desire this October 31st, Halloween can be more of a trick than a treat for adults trying to keep excess pounds at bay. The good news? You can still get in on the festive fun without overindulging in candy by incorporating the “monster walk” into your exercise routine. Here is a closer look at this eerily effective workout, along with three ways this wackily named workout move can give you a fitness boost heading into sweets season.
Get Your “Monster Walk” On
If you are in search of an exercise that will activate your hip and glute muscles while strengthening your core, look no further than the monster walk, AKA “tube walking.” A favorite of personal trainers everywhere, the monster walk — not to be confused with walking toe touches, AKA the “Frankenstein walk” — is simple yet yields significant results.
All you need is a rubber band and some know-how to start making the most of monster walks. Simply slide the rubber band around your ankle, assume an athletic stance (neutral lower back, slightly bent knees, hands on hip and feet shoulder-width apart), and step forward diagonally while maintaining a wide stance, good posture, and bent knees. After alternating legs for 20 to 30 steps forward, repeat the same motion moving backward, all while keeping the band tension engaged.
As you monster walk, make sure that your feet and hips face forward and remain in alignment. Voila! You are doing the monster walk.
Want to modify the difficulty level of your monster walk? Simply raise or lower the band to decrease and increase the resistance, respectively. A personal trainer can help customize the perfect workout, including monster walks, for your unique fitness needs and goals. Sign up for a personal trainer session at Brick Bodies today to get started.
Why Do the Monster Walk?
Now that you know how to do the monster walk, it begs the question: Why is it a valuable part of any workout? Here are three reasons to make like a monster this Halloween.
1. You will beautify your booty.
Who doesn’t want a tighter, firmer, more toned bum? MuscleTech athlete, Lindsay Cappotelli, includes monster walks in her glutes workouts and has the “bottom line” to show for it.
2. You will reduce your injury risk.
Monster walks are a favorite exercise of everyone from gymnasts to tennis players, and with good reason. Says Gymnast Care, “The Monster Walk brings together a strength training exercise and neuromuscular training to help our young gymnasts learn to control their knees better. It’s been shown that young female athletes that learn to control their knees are 80-90 percent less likely to have a knee injury than those that don’t learn to protect their knees.” In addition to injury prevention, monster walks are also a useful component in injury rehabilitation.
You do not have to be an elite athlete to reap the rewards of monster walking. People of all fitness levels and abilities can help stabilize the knee, hip, and ankle joints by adding monster walks to their fitness regimens.
3. You will improve your balance and coordination.
If you feel like you might fall on your face the first time you try a monster walk, you are not alone. However, the more you do monster walks, the stronger and more agile you become. The best part is that you will be burning calories and fat in the process.
One last thing to keep in mind while monster walking is that slow and steady wins the race. Taking it slow is the best way to maintain control while increasing body awareness, another great reason to step away from the Halloween candy and step up to monster walks today.
