FLEX TIME.

Plie With Upright Rows

Works on: Inner thighs, glutes and anterior, medial and lateral deltoids.

Set up: Stand with feet turned out, legs wider than hip distance apart. Stabilize your core muscles and hold a weighted bar in front of you. Make sure your weight is resting heavily on heels and core muscles are being actively held.

Step 1: Inhale, and as you bend your knees slowly, go into a squat. Begin raising the bar as you do this.

Step 2: End the squat with knees bent and weighted bar raised to just under your chin, elbows out to the side and tilted slightly upward.

Step 3: Exhale and begin to rise up, squeezing your inner thigh and gluteal muscles together, while lowering the weighted bar back to its starting position in front of the body, arms straight.

Repetitions: Accompany the downward plie with the upright row for 12 to 15 repetitions, and then hold plie and upright row in static position for a count of five. Repeat for two or three total sets.

ABOUT THE TRAINER

Amy Hendel is certified in nutrition and exercise physiology. A registered Physician Assistant, she maintains a private family lifestyle therapy practice where she trains and councils patients on nutrition, personal fitness, and psychology for the whole family. A popular health/medical television correspondent, she is a member of the International Association of Fitness professionals and American College of Sports Medicine and endorses the Nike fitness line. To learn more about Hendel and her fitness philosophy, please visit her Web site at www.healthgal.com.

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