Whole Life Makeover: Flexible Fitness Program

Personal trainer Michelle Cederberg is one of the experts helping former Olympic luge athlete Kathy Salmon Farstad regain control over her work, personal and physical life. To start you on your own road to fitness bliss, try these eight exercises Michelle adapted for you from Kathy's program.

Note: If you are starting on a new program of physical activity, check with your doctor first.

For most exercises perform one or two sets only, especially if you are first starting on a new program of physical activity. Repetitions of 12 to 15 are guidelines or goals to achieve. If you can't complete 12 reps, do as many as you can while maintaining good form. If it's too easy to complete 15, then you have to consider making the exercise more challenging by increasing the number of sets you do, or, if you're already doing three sets you may want to add weights or try the Challenge options.

On every exercise be aware of your body posture. Keep your shoulders relaxed, think "tall," and always engage your abdominals, holding them in and up. I call it my confidence stance...put your best posture out there!

Overall warm-up should include brisk walking, or some other cardio activity for a minimum of 5 minutes.

The exercises:

Abdominal crunch and Leg drops (MUSCLES WORKED: Abdominals)

Ball squats (MUSCLES WORKED: LEGS: Quadriceps, gluteals, hip stabilizers)

Hamstring ball curl (MUSCLES WORKED: LEGS: Hamstrings)

Calf raises (MUSCLES WORKED: LEGS: Gastrocnemius, Soleus (calves)

Fitball pushup (MUSCLES WORKED: Pectorals, anterior deltoid and triceps)

Bent over reverse fly (MUSCLES WORKED: BACK)

Seated band row (MUSCLES WORKED: BACK)

Michelle Cederberg is a longtime fitness instructor, teacher, personal trainer and public speaker. She heads the personal-training departments at Heaven's Fitness and Fountain Park health clubs in Calgary. Cederberg has a master's in kinesiology from the University of Calgary and specializes in exercise-and-functional fitness and exercise-and-health psychology. Cederberg teaches in the faculty of physical education at Mount Royal College in Calgary and gives presentations on numerous health and wellness topics across Canada and the United states to fitness leaders, teachers and the general population.