10 favorite exercises

1. Push ups: Simply one of the best exercises for the upper body and core. Push ups can be done any time and place, you need no fancy equipment and they are simple to do. Try this: 30 push ups in 30 days! Day 1, do 1 push up, day 2 - do 2, day 3 - do 3 and so on. Each day do one more push up till you get to 30. Try doing them from your toes rather than your knees and get your chest as low as possible. Hold your abs really tight!
2. Reverse chin ups: done by putting a Body Bar between two stable chairs. Place two chairs about 2 ½ feet apart and place the Body Bar firmly on them. Lie on your back between the chairs and take an underhand grip with your hands shoulder width. (Your palms face you). Pull your chest up to the bar while keeping your body rigid so your heels are the only thing in contact with the floor at the top of the movement. Go slow and exhale as you lift. You may need to bend your knees to make it easier.
3. Lunges: Any kind of lunge is an excellent way to tone, shape and strengthen the entire lower body. Front, diagonal, side, rear and curtsy, all versions are effective and give you lots of variety. (you’ll see lots of lunges in my new DVD “Break Through Lower Body and Core” , coming out early ’07)
4. Squats: A great functional exercise that effectively trains the whole lower body. Try a swing squat…Hold 1 dumbbells at the end in between your legs in a wide squat stance. Thrust the hips up and at the same time allow the dumbbell to swing up to shoulder height. Don’t think of lifting the dumbbell, use the thrust of the hips to swing the dumbbell. Repeat for repetitions. 
5. Bridges: An effective way to train all the posterior muscles, the hamstrings, gutes and spinal extensors. No special equipment is needed, simply lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat. Push the hips up till you are resting on the tips of your shoulder blades. Hold at the top for a moment and return to start position. Do 12-15 reps
6. Planks: Train the abdominal muscles to stabilize the spine, so they are an important exercise to incorporate in your exercise program. They can be done in a number of ways, prone or side lying are my two favorites. Here’s the prone version. Lie on your belly with your elbows under your shoulders, forearms flat and hands interlaced. Lift your body off the floor till you are resting on your elbows/forearms and toes while you lift from underneath and brace with your abs. Keep a long straight line in the body, don’t sag or pike up. Breath continuously and build up to holding for 60 seconds.
7. Bicycle: One of my favorite core exercises! Lying on your back with your feet off the floor, knees and hips bent to 90 degrees and your hands behind your head, shoulders lifted off the floor. Start to flex and extend your legs and at the same time rotate your upper body while keeping your shoulders off the floor. Bring your opposite arm towards your knee and breath! Do 15-20 reps
8. Balance drills: Critical to all human movement, balance is something that should be trained regularly. Try this: Stand on one leg and find your balance. Now close your eyes and hold the one legged stance for about 60 seconds. Repeat right and left.
9. Jump training: A little bit of impact goes a long way. I love to do a jump training and plyometrics to keep my bones strong. Impact has a stimulating effect on bone density. Don’t overdo it, just a few squat jumps, jump lunges, hops, skips and runs done once every 2 weeks will be enough to improve fitness as well as increase bone density. Try 8-10 reps
10. Medicine ball training: One of my favorite tools for training the body, the med ball lends itself to fast, explosive training. Done 2-3 times a week you will see changes in your core strength and your ability to move fast. Try this: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, holding the med ball at your navel with your elbows bent. Rotate right then left then right and hold a moment. Repeat explosively, R/L/hold. Keep your hips stationary and knees soft and move FAST! Do 20 reps.