Namrata Purohit’s Celebrity-Approved Home Work Out Plan

There have been days when we have wished, we could work out with the personal trainer of our favourite celebs. But well, that has remained as wishful thinking, not all of us can afford them. But what if we told you a plan specially created by these star trainers to keep you fit while you are in self isolation? Too good to be true, right! However, we did get Sara Ali Khan and Jahnavi Kapoor’s favourite pilates instructor to show you how to train when you can’t hit the gym.  

 Ab Prep, Obliques and Ankle Touches:

Starting Position: Lie on your back with knees bent and feet on the ground and hip distance apart, make sure your spine is in the neutral position. Hands behind the head, supporting the neck (ensure you are only gently supporting it, not pushing it). If you want to increase the challenge take your legs up to the table top position, your feet are off the mat with your knees bent so that your thighs are perpendicular to the floor and the shins are parallel to the floor. 

How to:                  
Ab Prep:
Inhale to Prepare
Exhale. Crunch, ensuring you do not rock the spine and only the body above the rib cage comes gently up. Vision towards your knees.
Inhale. Back down
15-20 Reps 

Obliques:
Start in the crunched position.
Exhale. Rotate towards one side, thinking of reaching your shoulder to the opposite knee, keeping your elbows wide and ensuring not to rock to the pelvis.
Inhale Centre.
Exhale to the other side
20 Reps

Ankle Touches:
Start in a crunch, with your hands down by your side.
Exhale slide one hand towards the ankle, again ensuring not to rock the pelvis.
Inhale back to center
Exhale Repeat on the other side
20 Reps

 

In all the above exercises ensure your vision stays towards the knees, do not strain the neck. Maintain the neutral position of the spine and try not to rock the pelvis.
Works out: This exercise works on the abdominal muscles, strengthening the core area, including your transversus abdominis (the deep muscles underneath the obliques), and the obliques. 

Hundreds:

Starting position: Lie on your back with legs in the tabletop position—with knees bent at 90 degrees. Point the toes and raise the arms towards the ceiling. Keep the back in the neutral spine position; that is, following the natural curvature of the spine.

How to:
Inhale to prepare
Exhale, and come into the “ab-prep” position, as if ready to do a stomach crunch. Lower the hands to your sides without touching the floor. Simultaneously, extend your legs to a 45-degree angle. Inhale for five counts while doing small vertical pulses with your arms—this is a short-range up and down movement. Don’t actually touch the mat. Exhale for five counts while continuing to pulse the arms. Do this for up to 100 counts. Keep the upper body still while doing the arm pulses. Inhale and bring the legs back to the tabletop position. Exhale and relax.

Easy option: This entire exercise can be done with the feet in tabletop position, or keeping the feet on the mat hip-distance apart and knees bent.

Works out: This exercise works on the abdominal muscles, strengthening the core area, including your transversus abdominis (the deep muscles underneath the obliques). The exercise also works the hip flexors and shoulder stabilizers.

Keep in mind: When you come into the ab-prep position, your eyes should be in line with your knees. If your neck starts hurting, put one hand behind your head and rest it gently.

Side leg lift:

Starting position: Lie on your side, ensuring the body is in a straight line from head to toe. Relax your head on the bottom arm. Ensure your core is engaged and you are not sinking into the mat. Inhale.

How to: There are three easy to moderate-level variations of this exercise:

Straight up: Exhale. Slowly lift the top leg, keeping your core engaged and glutes squeezed.
Inhale. Lower the leg. Go slow—it’s not as much about taking the leg higher as it is about keeping the core engaged and the glutes squeezed. Avoid falling forward or back.
Do 10-20 repetitions on each leg.

Circle: Lift the top leg and make a circle in the air—take your leg forward only as much as you can take it back. Remember to breathe throughout and try not to rock the body forward and back. Do 10 repetitions each clockwise and anti-clockwise. Do the full set on the other side.

Lift both legs together: Keep your feet together. Exhale. Lift both legs up. Inhale. Lower them back to the mat. Do 10-20 repetitions.

Works out: The hip extensors as well as hip flexors. This exercise also works the obliques and multifidus to stabilize the torso. When you lift both legs up together, it also works out the adductors to maintain the inner thigh connection.

Keep in mind: The body should be in a straight line throughout. So at the start, relax your head on the bottom arm and not the palm, as this changes the alignment and causes undue tension on your wrist.

 

 

 

 

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Love yourself enough to live a healthy lifestyle ??? working out with my #PilatesGirl @janhvikapoor ??

A post shared by Namrata Purohit (@namratapurohit) on Jan 27, 2020 at 12:23am PST

 

Hip Rolls: 

Starting Position: Lie on your back on the mat. Keep knees flexed and feet hip distance apart. Rest the arms alongside the body.

How to:
Inhale to prepare
Exhale Starting with the tailbone, pick your spine off the mat until your weight rests on your thoracic (upper) spine.
Breathe in to maintain the position.
Exhale and lower your spine back on the mat and into the neutral spine position.
Repeat this 5-8 times.
After the last rep, stay up in the position and do mini pulses, a very small movement lifting your pelvis up and down. 

Works out: The abs, obliques and muscles beneath the obliques—the transversus abdominis—as well as the glutes, back (specifically, the multifidus muscles) and shoulder blades.

Keep in mind: Do not rock your pelvis. Make sure you are articulating your spine while rolling up and down. Do not over extend the back.

Push Ups:
Starting Position: Set your hands at a distance that is slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Feet can be shoulder width apart or closer together. Generally speaking, the wider apart your feet, the more stable you’ll be for your push-ups. Starting with your elbows straight but not locked. Your body should be in a straight line from head to heels. Keep your glutes and core engaged.

How to: Inhale steadily lower yourself until your elbows are at a 90 degree angle or smaller (this depends on your level of experience). Try not to let the elbows go flying out, keep them relatively close to your body. Once you reach the lowest you can go, hold it for a second and then exhale to press back up into the starting position.

Modification: You can start with a wall push up, or with your knees down rather than being in a full plank
15-20 Reps

Works: The chest muscles (pectorals), deltoids, triceps, abdominals, serratus anterior and even the back and gluteus.

Keep in mind: The whole body should lower as one, do not leave the gluteus up while doing the push ups. It is not important to go fast, rather slow controlled moves will be more beneficial.