9 Exercises That Start With M
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Are you looking for some inspiration to switch up your workout routine? Why not try exercises that start with a letter? By simply doing exercises that start with a letter, such as M, you can introduce creativity into your routine and challenge yourself to try new exercises.
Nine exercises that start with M include mountain climbers, medicine ball slams, muscle-ups, mountain pose, military press, mule kicks, machine chest flyes, marching in place, and man makers.
Keep reading to learn the benefits of each of these exercises and how to conduct them.
Mountain Climbers
A vigorous, full-body workout that can work the heart, strengthen the core, and improve cardiovascular fitness is mountain climbers. This exercise is a great complement to high-intensity interval training (HIIT) programs because it replicates the motion of climbing.
Instructions:
1. Starting Position: Lay facedown on the floor with your wrists underneath your shoulders to support your body and contract your core. Your arms should be extended as you hold a full plank position.
2. Alternating Knee Drive: While maintaining a level hip and a tight core, raise your right knee toward your chest.
3. Change Legs: As soon as possible, bring your right leg back to the beginning position while simultaneously bringing your left knee up to your chest.
4. Maintain Pace: To ensure a fluid and controlled movement, keep switching legs quickly, much like you would when running.
5. Maintain Core Engaged: To get the most out of the exercise, concentrate on maintaining your core muscles engaged.
Medicine Ball Slams
A great way to work out the entire body is with medicine ball slams, which are an explosive and dynamic exercise. This workout improves power and cardiovascular fitness while working the legs, shoulders, and core.
Add medicine ball slams to your regimen for a dynamic, high-intensity, strength- and cardiovascular-boosting workout.
Instructions:
1. Pick the Correct Weight: Depending on your level of fitness, pick a medicine ball that weighs between 10 and 20 pounds.
2. Position: Take a shoulder-width step with your feet apart and grasp the medicine ball with both hands.
3. Lift and Extend: Raise the medicine ball to your shoulders and extend your torso completely.
4. Forceful Slam: Using your entire body and your core, slam the medicine ball firmly onto the ground in front of you.
5. Catch and Repeat: Lift the ball overhead to start the next repetition as soon as you catch the rebound while keeping your knees slightly bent.
Muscle-Ups
A noteworthy accomplishment in calisthenics is mastering the muscle-up, which displays upper body strength and coordination. This exercise calls for a controlled and explosive movement because it incorporates aspects of both pull-ups and dips.
Take your time and work on your strength and technique to overcome the difficult muscle-up.
Instructions:
1. Grip and Hang: To begin, grab a bar with an even grip and hang straight up, bringing your shoulder blades into contact.
2. Swing Momentum: Lean back a little to start a slow swing, and use your legs to create deliberate momentum.
3. Pull-Up: Keeping your elbows close to your body, use a strong pull-up motion to draw your chest towards the bar as you swing forward.
4. Transition: Lean over the bar to begin the transition phase by shifting your body forward at the top of the pull-up.
5. Dip Phase: To finish the muscle-up, push down and extend your arms into a dip position.
6. Lower with Control: Using your muscles the entire time, lower yourself to the starting position with control.
Mountain Pose
In yoga, mountain pose, also known as Tadasana, is a basic pose that emphasizes alignment, grounding, and developing body and breath awareness. In addition to enhancing stability, this pose is the foundation of many yoga poses.
Mountain Pose is a great place to start any yoga practice because it promotes a grounded and mindful presence.
Instructions:
Positioning Yourself: To start, stand with your feet together or hip-width apart, your arms by your sides, and your weight evenly balanced on both feet.
2. Alignment: Make sure your arms hang freely, your shoulders are relaxed, and your spine is straight.
3. Engage Muscles: Draw your navel toward your spine to engage your core and contract your thigh muscles, lifting your kneecaps slightly.
4. Palms Together: In a position of prayer, place your palms together in front of your chest with your fingers pointing upward.
5. Look Forward: Maintain neck and spine alignment as you fix your gaze forward.
6. Breathe: Inhale deeply and slowly while focusing on the sensation of your feet touching the ground.
Military Press
A traditional strength-training exercise, the military press focuses mainly on the upper back, triceps, and shoulders. It's an essential exercise for building shoulder stability and upper body strength.
Instructions:
1. Set-Up: To start, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and an overhand grip on a barbell (affiliate link) at shoulder height. Make sure your elbows are positioned slightly in front of the bar, and your wrists are straight.
2. Engage Core: To keep your posture steady and erect during the exercise, tighten your core muscles.
3. Lift the Bar: Maintain a straight vertical line with the bar by extending your arms and pressing it overhead.
4. Lockout: At the peak of the exercise, fully extend your elbows without locking them, and raise the bar to a height that is directly above your head.
5. Lower with Control: Return the bar to shoulder height while maintaining control.
Mule Kicks
A dynamic bodyweight exercise that works the hamstrings, lower back, and glutes is the mule kick. This workout increases coordination in addition to strength.
Mule kicks are a dynamic exercise that will help you strengthen and increase the flexibility of your posterior chain.
Instructions:
1. Starting Position: Place yourself on your hands and knees in a tabletop position with your knees under your hips and your wrists underneath your shoulders.
2. Core Engagement: To keep your spine stable and in a neutral posture, contract your core muscles.
3. Kick Back: While maintaining a 90-degree bend in the knee, raise one leg off the ground and extend it straight back.
4. Squeeze Glutes: To completely contract the muscles at the peak of the exercise, squeeze your glutes.
5. Return to Start: Controllably and steadily lower the leg back to the beginning position.
6. Switch Legs: To create a rhythmic motion, repeat the motion with the other leg, alternating kicks.
Machine Chest Flyes
Machine chest flyes are a useful isolation exercise that works the pectoralis major and other chest muscles. A chest fly machine, which offers a guided and controlled range of motion, is used for this exercise.
Instructions:
1. Machine Set-Up: To match your chest level, adjust the chest fly machine's handles and seat height. Grip the handles while seated with your back against the pad.
2. Starting Position: Keep your elbows slightly bent as you extend your arms straight in front of you. Remain with your feet flat on the ground.
3. Controlled Movement: Take a breath, spread your arms wide, and extend the handles to the sides. To avoid overextending your elbows, maintain a small bend in them.
4. Maximum Contraction: To guarantee a complete contraction, exhale and clench your chest at the top of the exercise.
5. Return to Starting Position: To activate the eccentric muscles of your chest, slowly bring the handles back together in front of you while resisting the weight.
Marching in Place
Marching in place is a convenient way to quickly break a sweat because it's an easy aerobic exercise that works well anywhere. This workout works the lower body muscles, increases heart rate, and enhances circulation.
This is a low-impact exercise that's great for beginners or improving cardiovascular fitness.
Instructions:
1. Warm-Up: To get your muscles ready for action, start with a brief warm-up.
2. Standing Position: Place your arms by your sides, shoulders relaxed, and feet hip-width apart.
3. Bend your knees: Alternatively, raise and then lower your right knee to your chest. Repeat while making a marching motion with your left knee.
4. Engage Core: To preserve stability and get the most out of the benefits, keep your core muscles active.
5. Coordinate Arm Movement: To improve total cardiovascular engagement, add a natural swinging motion to your arms in the opposite direction of the raised knee.
6. Keep a Steady Pace: You can march stationary for a predetermined amount of time or, for extra vigor, add the march to an interval training program.
Man Makers
Man makers is a strenuous full-body exercise that blends endurance and strength, which makes it an excellent complement to any fitness program. There are several movements in this compound exercise, such as push-ups, rows, squats, and overhead presses.
Man makers offers an all-encompassing exercise program that focuses on the arms, legs, core, chest, and back.
Instructions:
1. Starting Position: With a pair of dumbbells (affiliate link) by your sides, start out standing.
2. Drop to a Plank: Place your hands on the dumbbells and lower your body into a plank position.
3. Row with Right Arm: While maintaining your left balance, row the right dumbbell to your hip. Drop that dumbbell back to the floor and then perform a push-up.
4. Left Arm Row: Carry out the same row using your left arm and do another push-up.
5. Jump Feet In: Squat down by jumping both feet toward your hands.
6. Overhead Press: Press the dumbbells overhead while explosively standing up.
7. Return to Starting Position: Repeat the sequence while lowering the dumbbells to your sides.
Also, if you are choosing to only exercise at home, be sure to consider our list of recommended at-home workout equipment (affiliate link) to add variety and resistance to your routine!
