That should get you going on mastering the bodyweight dip. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally). Do your full-body workout and then go play some Nintendo. Dr. Campbell’s object being accomplished, he was anxious to make the bestuse of the few days that remained before his return to Dorjiling, and wetherefore arranged to ascend Mainom, and visit the principal convents in Sikkimtogether, after which he was to return south, whilst I should proceed north toexplore the south flank of Kinchinjunga. Two months’journey north-east of Lhassa is Siling, the well-known great commercialentrepôt in west China; and there coarse silk isproduced. I was met by a messenger from Dr. Campbell who told me he was waitingbreakfast; so I left my party, and, accompanied by the Kajee and Meepo, hurrieddown to the valley of the Rungoon (which flows east to the Teesta), through afine forest of tropical trees; passing the villages of Broom and Lingo, to the spur of that name;where I was met by a servant of the Sikkim Dewan’s, with a pony for myuse. The descent is very steep, and carried down a slope of greenstone; the road then follows a clearaffluent of the Boga-panee, and afterwards winds along the margin of thatriver, which is a rapid turbulent stream, very muddy, and hencecontrasting remarkably with the Kala-panee. Inthe valley itself, the sandstone alternates with alum shales, which rest on abed of quartz conglomerate, and the latter on black greenstone. There are no large trees, but a bright green jungle of smallones and bushes, many of which are very rare and curious. Afew old and very stunted shrubs of laurel and Symplocos grow on itsbleak surface, and these are often sunk from one to three feet in a well in thehorizontally stratified sandstone. The general appearance of much of this rock is as if it had beenbored by Teredines (ship worms), but I never detected any trace offossils. Birds are very rare, as is all animal life but insects, and a small fresh-watercrab, Thelphusa, (“Ti-hi” of the Lepchas). Tropical oaksand Terminalias are the giants of these low forests, the latter especially,having buttressed trunks, appear truly gigantic; one, of a kind called“Sung-lok,” measured 47 feet in girth, at 5 feet, and 21 at 15 feetfrom the ground, and was fully 200 feet high. The stem, when cut,discharges water profusely from whichever end is held downwards. Beyond Junnoo, one of the western peaks of Kinchinjunga,there was no continuous snowy chain; the Himalaya seemed suddenly to declineinto black and rugged peaks, till in the far north-west it rose again in awhite mountain mass of stupendous elevation at 80 miles distance, called, by myNepal people, “Tsungau.” From the bearingsI took of it from several positions, it is in about lat. The actual extent of the snowy range seen from Mr. Hodgson’s windows iscomprised within an arc of 80° (from north 30° west to north 50° east), ornearly a quarter of the horizon, along which the perpetual snow formsan unbroken girdle or crest of frosted silver; and in winter, when themountains are covered down to 8000 feet, this white ridge stretchesuninterruptedly for more than 160°. The chief rivers from this, the great watershed of western Bengal, flownorth-west and south-east; a few comparatively insignificant streams runningnorth to the Ganges. Breathing during your side planks will also give you excellent practice at controlled breathing during a strong core brace. Your “six-pack muscle” doesn’t do a whole lot here, but you can definitely consider the side plank a general ab exercise to some degree. Your oblique muscles make up the sides of your core. Other trees were Pyrus, Saurauja (both an erect and climbing species),Olea, cherry, birch, alder, several maples, Hydrangea, onespecies of fig, holly, and several Araliaceous trees. With immenselamellated acorns, and leaves sixteen inches long, is the tallest and the mostabundant.—(2) Chesnut.—(3) Laurineæ of several species, allbeautiful forest-trees, straight-holed, and umbrageous above.—(4)Magnolias.—(5) Arborescent rhododendrons,which commence here with the R. At 8000 feet, some enormous detachedmasses of micaceous gneiss rose abruptly from the ridge, they were covered withmosses and ferns, and from their summit, 7000 feet, a good view of thesurrounding vegetation is obtained. The path, which still lay up steep ridges, was very slippery,owing to the rain upon the clayey soil, and was only passable from the holdafforded by interlacing roots of trees. A very common Tasmanian species utters a sound that appears to ring in anunderground vaulted chamber, beneath the feet. We repeatedly remarked cones of earth, clay, and pebbles, about twelvefeet high, upon the hills, which appeared to be artificial, but of which thenatives could give no explanation. Near this there is a large squarestockade, formed of tall bamboos placed close together, very like a New Zealand“Pa;” indeed, the whole country hereabouts much recalls the grassyclay hills, marshy valleys, and bushy ridges of the Bay of Islands. There is aguard here of light infantry, and a little garden, boasting a gardener and sometea-plants, so that we had vegetables during our four visits to the place, ontwo of which occasions we stayed some days. The valley is grassy, but otherwise bare. Other smaller lake-beds, in the lateralvalleys, are equally evident. Muscle-ups are the granddaddy of upper-body weight movements. Here, the bar will be low enough for you to perform a dip with your feet on the floor. Since the weight is off-centered now, physics will correct it by having your body swing under the bar. However, as you come down, your shoulders must come out slightly as your arms flex to lower the body. This is because the bar is acting like a pendulum that your body wants to rotate under. Weighted Side Plank Hip Drop Theroute lay over the moraines on the north flank of the Tunkrachoo, which aredivided by narrow dry gullies, and composed of enormous blocksdisintegrating into a deep layer of clay. The Singtam Soubah being again laid up here from the consequences ofleech-bites, I took the opportunity of visiting the Tunkra-lah pass,represented as the most snowy in Sikkim; which I found to be the case. Soon after camping, the Lachoong Phipun, a very tall, intelligent, andagreeable looking man, waited on me with the usual presents, and a request thatI would visit his sick father. Engage your core, and avoid sagging hips or arched backs. Adding side planks to your workouts ensures a stronger, more stable, and balanced core. Side planks strengthen muscles around your spine, providing better support and reducing injury risk. Strong core muscles of the abdominal, oblique, and lower back areas also reduce slouching by keeping your spine aligned. On the following morning we pursued a path to the bed of the river; passing arude Booddhist monument, a pile of slate-rocks, with an attempt at the mysticalhemisphere at top. At Dorjiling the blazeis visible, and the deadened reports of the bamboos bursting is heardthroughout the night; but in the valley, and within a mile of the scene ofdestruction, the effect is the most grand, being heightened by the glare reflectedfrom the masses of mist which hover above. The voices of birds and insects being hushed, nothingis audible but the harsh roar of the rivers, and occasionally, rising far aboveit, that of the forest fires. His first operation, after selecting a site, is to burn the jungle;then he clears away the trees, and cultivates between the stumps. The lowest of the ancient moraines completely crosses the river, whichfinds, its way between the boulders. The Momay springs more probably owe their temperature to chemicaldecomposition of sulphurets of metals. The elevation of this mountain is about20,560 feet, by the mean of several observations taken from surroundinglocalities. The temperature of the Donkia pass is much higher than might be anticipatedfrom its great elevation, and from the fact of its being always bitterly coldto the feelings. From the imperfect transmission of the heating rays of the sun throughfilms of water, which transmit perfectly the luminous rays, it follows that thedirect effects of the rays, in clear sunshine, are very different at equalelevations of the moist outer and dry inner Himalaya. Unsure of how exactly to incorporate strength exercises into your routine? Bodyweight exercises can be performed anywhere and are easily adaptable to suit various fitness levels. Strength training helps build strong muscles that help burn fat and also helps speed up the metabolism. Research shows that the combination of strength training and cardio exercise bode well for weight loss. The river at Silhet is 200 yards broad; it is muddy, and flows witha gentle current of two to three miles an hour, between banks six to twelvefeet high. The prevalent north-east strike of the gneiss is the same in both, differingfrom the Himalaya, where the stratified rocks generally strike north-west. The route descends north-west of the village, andturns due east along bare grassy hills of mica-schist and slate (strike eastand west, and dip north). About eight miles south of the village is a stream, crossed by a bridge, halfof which is formed of slabs of stone (of which one is twenty-one feet long,seven broad, and two feet three and a half inches thick), supported on piers,and the rest is a well turned arch, such as I have not seen elsewhere among the hilltribes of India. Rest on the inside of your front foot and outside of your back foot and then flex your feet as you lift up. The Side Plank…we love to hate it, but it is a must-do move if you want to build core stability and strength. Get our FREE Starter Kit with dozens of resources today! However, if we could only choose one bodyweight movement for pushing, it would definitely be the dip. boxIf you can not perform these exercises individually, you should not progress to perform them simultaneously./box Remember, these exercises are not for beginners. You’ll be supporting your weight with just your upper body and your feet. So you’re elongating your body, likely after your muscles have been shortened from either sitting or moving through high-impact workouts, which helps improve your overall mobility. While you’re doing the exercise, you end up working the transverse abdominal muscles — also known as the obliques — as well as the inner thighs, shoulders, lats, and glutes. At the foot of this very steep mountain is abroad triangular flat, 5,270 feet above the sea, and 300 feet above the river,to which it descends by three level cultivated shelves. It is hence quite unlike the forest-clad mountains furthersouth, and indicates a drier and more sunny climate. They are continuous with a line of quartzy cliffs, coveredwith scarlet rhododendrons, and in the holes of which a conglomerate of pebblesis found, 150 feet above the river. The last ascent is up a steep rounded cone with a broad flat top,covered with dwarf bamboo, a few oaks, laurels, magnolias, and white-floweredrhododendron trees (R. argenteum), which obstructed the view. On the following morning the Lama proceeded to Dorjiling, and I continued theascent of Tendong, sending my men round the shoulder to Temi in the Teestavalley, where I proposed to pass the night. The ascent from the Great Rungeet (alt. 818 feet) is through dry woods of Saland Pines (P. longifolia). The first part of my route lay over Tendong, a very fine mountain, which rises8,613 feet, and is a conspicuous feature from Dorjiling, where it is known asMount Ararat. Who Should Do Side Planks The mountains occupy sixty degreesof the horizon, and stretch over upwards of 250 miles, comprising the greatestextent of snow visible from any point with which I am acquainted. This hill, 6,660 feet above the sea, rises from an undulating grassycountry, covered with scattered trees and occasional clumps of wood; the wholescenery about being park-like, and as little like that of India at so low anelevation as it is possible to be. The rocks are much contorted slatesand gneiss (strike north-east and dip south-east). Beyondthis, a high ridge is gained above the valley of the Boga-panee, the largestriver in the Khasia; from this the Bhotan Himalaya may be seen in clearweather, at the astonishing distance of from 160 to 200 miles! The rise is along a very steep narrow ridge to a broad longgrassy hill, 3,500 feet high, whence an extremely steep descent leads to thevalley of the Boga-panee, and the great mart of Chela, which is at theembouchure of that river. From Tura our little army again crossed the Soane, the scarped cliffs of theKymore approaching close to the river on the west side. On the following day we visited Rajghat, a steep ghat or pass leading up thecliff to Rotas Palace, a little higher up the river. The extremes of temperature are less marked than in the valley, whichbecomes excessively heated, and where hot winds sometimes last for a week,blowing in furious gusts. Its mean temperature is of course considerably(4°) below that of the valley, but though so cool, agues prevail after therains. Sometimes our way lay close to the black precipiceson our right, under which the snow was deep; and we dragged ourselves along,grasping every prominence of the rock with our numbed fingers. The peak of Nango seemed to tower over thegorge, rising behind some black, splintered, rocky cliffs, sprinkled with snow,narrow defiles opened up through these cliffs to blue glaciers, and theirmouths were invariably closed by beds of shingly moraines, curving outwardsfrom either, flank in concentric ridges. Considering this latter as the upper terrace, and concluding that it marks awater level, it is not very difficult to account for its origin. However, this position doesn’t do much for your obliques, so it can be a little lacking.The same day, at about the same elevation, I gathered sixty speciesof fern, many of very tropical forms.This exercise requires you to be in the side bridge position and then lift your top leg away from your body, while keeping your foot planted on the floor.Thither, accordingly, the natives weresent, who built machans (stages) in the trees, high out of danger’sreach; Mr. Theobald and myself occupied one of these perches in aHardwickia tree, and Mr. Felle another, close by, both on the slope of asteep hill, surrounded by jungly valleys.Themonarch of mountains looked quite small and low from this point, and it wasdifficult to believe it was 10,000 feet more lofty than my position.The crew and captainconsisted of six naked Hindoos, one of whom steered by the huge rudder, sittingon a bamboo-stage astern; the others pulled four oars in the very bows oppositemy door, or tracked the boat along the riverbank.These being all taken during the threemost rainy months, when the temperature varies but very littleduring the whole twenty-four hours, I expected satisfactoryresults, but they proved very irregular and anomalous. The remarkable mountain ofSidingbah bore south-south-east, raising its rounded head above the clouds. Few of the spurs are ascended above 5000feet, but all of them rise to 12,000 or 14,000 feet to the westward, where theyjoin the Singalelah range. The weather wasfoggy, whence I judged that we were in the sea of mist I saw beneath me fromthe passes; the temperature, considering the elevation, was mild, 37° and 38°,which was partly due to the evolution of heat that accompanies the condensationof these vapours, the atmosphere being loaded with moisture. Descending to about10,000 feet, the Abies Brunoniana appeared, with fine trees ofRhododendron Falconeri forty feet high, and with leaves nineteen incheslong! Side planks work on your shoulder muscles, chest muscles, and back muscles; thereby giving you a strong and stable upper body. Side plank dips require you to move your body up and down while holding the side plank position. For a kneeling side plank, you don’t have to put the bodyweight on the feet but support the body with the knees. The side plank hip raise requires several muscles to work together to maintain stability and posture. Hanging Leg Raise Any exercise that involves preventing movement in your torso will engage your abs, or rectus abdominis, to some degree. The internal obliques are also big players in your side plank. Your external obliques kick in with hip flexion (bringing your knees toward your chest) and help rotate your spine. You’ll be involving your hips and shoulders, too, since those will be holding you up. No gym exercise is a replacement for legitimate medical care. With the right plan and the right discipline, you can get seriously shredded in just 28 days. The yak is a very tame, domestic animal, oftenhandsome, anda true bison in appearance; it is invaluable to these mountaineers from itsstrength and hardiness, accomplishing, at a slow pace, twenty miles a day,bearing either two bags of salt or rice, or four to six planks of pinewoodslung in pairs along either flank. It is elevated10,385 feet, and situated in a fine open part of the Tambur valley, differingfrom any part lower down in all its natural features; being broad, with a rapidbut not turbulent stream, very grassy, and both the base and sides of theflanking mountains covered with luxuriant dense bushes of rhododendron, rose,berberry and juniper. I now found the temperature getting rapidly cooler, both that of the air, which here at8,066 feet fell to 32° in the night, and that of the river, which was alwaysbelow 40°. Near Temi (alt. 4,770 feet) Igathered the fruit of Kadsura, a climbing plant allied to Magnolia,bearing round heads of large fleshy red drupes, which are pleasantly acid andmuch eaten; the seeds are very aromatic. The oaks are very grand, and I measuredone (whose trunk was decayed, and split into three, however), which I found tobe 49 feet in girth at 5 feet from the ground. Below 7000 feet, mica-schist prevails, always inclined at a very highangle; and I found jasper near Namtchi, with other indications of Plutonicaction. I hung thebarometers near one of the many chaits on the summit, where there is also arude temple, in which worship is performed once a year. The villagers received us very kindly, and furnished us with a guide forthe Choonjerma pass, leading to the Yalloong valley, the most easterly inNepal; but he recommended our not attempting any part of the ascent till themorrow, as it was past 1 p.m., and we should find no camping-ground for halfthe way up. These were built by the Sikkim people, when the eastern valleys of Nepalbelonged to the Sikkim rajah. Standing on the little flat of Kambachen, precipices, withinaccessible patches of pine wood, appeared to the west, towering over head;while across the narrow valley wilder and less wooded crags rose in brokenridges to the glaciers of Nango. Was 23°, and bitterly cold; theelevation, 15,770 feet; dew-point, 16°. Perform the McGill Curl-Up and side plank daily in short sessions.Practice the hip hinge several times per week and integrate it into daily movements. Research on multi-modal exercise programs shows that combining core endurance training with movement retraining leads to better outcomes than isolated exercises alone. If the full version is too challenging, bend your knees and support your body on your knees instead of your feet. Unlike many machine-based exercises, it requires coordinated activation of the trunk, hips, and shoulders. Aim to reach failure between 8 and 12 repetitions on each side of your body. These are the reps you perform when your body is on the verge of failure. Effective reps are the ones that push your muscles to their limits, creating the most significant challenge and discomfort. The extremelyvaried colouring on the infinite number of hill-slopes that everywhereintersected the Tambur valley was very pleasing. After dinner my occupations were to ticket and put away the plants collectedduring the day, write up journals, plot maps, and take observations till 10p.m. Their fires gleamed everywhereamongst the trees, and the people, broken up into groups of five, presented aninteresting picture of native, savage, and half-civilised life. About five miles up, abroad opening on the west leads to Tomo Chamo, as the eastern summit of Kinchinjhow iscalled. Still the great morainesare wanting at this particular point, and though atmospheric action and therivers have removed perhaps 200 feet of glacial shingle, they can hardly havedestroyed a moraine of rocks, large enough to block up the valley. From Donkia top again, the mountains sweep round to thewestward, rising into fingered peaks of extraordinary magnificence; and thence—still running west—dip to 18,500 feet, forming the Donkia pass,and rise again as the great mural mass of Kinchinjhow. Related Core Exercises The core circuit is done every day; since the muscles of the abdominals are smaller, they do not require a rest day. Engage your core and slowly roll the wheel forward, extending your body while keeping your hips tucked. Lift your hips so your body forms a straight line from head to feet. I pitched my tent close to a little shed, at the gently sloping base of amountain that divided the Lachoong river from a western tributary. The mean of fifty-sixbarometrical observations contemporaneous with Calcutta makes it 15,362 feetabove the sea; nearly the elevation of Lacheepia (near the Tunkra pass), fromwhich, however, its scenery and vegetation entirely differ. The south wind brought a cold drizzling rain, which numbed us, andtwo of the lads who had last come up from Dorjiling were seized with aremittent fever, originally contracted in the hot valleys; luckily we foundsome cattle-sheds, in which I left them, with two men to attend on them. At a fork of the valley several miles above Yeumtong, and below the greatglacier of Chango Khang, the ancient moraines are prodigious, much exceedingany I have elsewhere seen, both in extent, in the size of the boulders, and inthe height to which the latter are piled on one another. The west bank was covered with a small Sal forest, mixed withAcacia Catechu, and brushwood, growing in a poor vegetable loam, oververy dry sand. At Rangamally, the height of the sandy banks of the Teesta varies from fifteento twenty feet. Several parasitical air-plants grew on the dry trees, as Oberonia,Vanda, and Ærides. Tamarisk (“Jhow”) grew in the sandy bed ofthe river; its flexible young branches are used in various parts of India forwattling and basket-making. Chingtam is an extensive village, covering an area of two miles, andsurrounded with abundant cultivation; the houses, which are built in clusters,are of wood, or wattle and mud, with grass thatch. The river swarms with fish, but they are too lazy to catch them, andthey have seldom anything better to give or sell The land seems highly favoured by nature, and the population, though soscattered, is in reality considerable, the varied elevation giving a largesurface; but the natives care for no more than will satisfy their immediatewants. I reached theeast bank of the Tambur, on the 13th of November, at its junction with theKhawa, in a deep gorge. A group of these structures is, as I have oftenremarked, extremely picturesque, and those at Tassiding, from their number, variety,and size, their commanding and romantic position, and their being interspersedwith weeping cypresses, are particularly so.This, theBowringia, and the little Nymphæa, are three out of manyremarkable instances of our approach to the eastern Asiatic flora.To the south, undulating dunesstretch along the coast, covered with low bushes, of which a red-floweredMelastoma is the most prevalent, and isconsidered a species of Rhododendron by many of the residents!The hip hinge teaches you to bend from the hips while keeping the spine stable, reducing unnecessary stress on the lumbar region.Some of the differences, in size, roundness of shouldersand back, quantity of hair, length of limb, and shape of head, are very marked;and their dispositions are equally various.Disengages sulphuretted hydrogen whenfresh.—This water was inodorous when the bottle was opened.This superficial sculpturing must have been a very recent operation; and thetransport of the heavy stones opposite the entrance of the streams has beeneffected by ice, and perhaps by snow; just as the arctic ice strews the shoresof the Polar ocean with rocks.From the plains of India, or outer Himalaya,one may behold snowy peaks rise in the distance behind a foreground of tropicalforest; here, on the contrary, all the intermediate phases of vegetation areseen at a glance.Sikkim was, further, the only available spot for a Sanatarium throughout thewhole range of the Himalaya, east of the extreme western frontier of Nepal;being a protected state, and owing no allegiance, except to the Britishgovernment; which, after the Rajah had been driven from the country by the Ghorkas, in1817, replaced him on his throne, and guaranteed him the sovereignty. Strong and stable hips are important in everyday activities to control motion through the hip, particularly as we age. If you don’t have time to do separate sets for the core and hips, do them both in the same movement! By training your core and hip musculature together, you can get in and out of the gym quickly. Force goes through all of these joints in order to maintain a side plank position. Folks with injured shoulders should not perform the side plank hip raise. The finest view in the Khasia mountains, and perhaps a moreextensive one than has ever before been described, is that from Chillong hill,the culminant point of the range, about six miles north-east from Moflongbungalow.Granite appearedin large veins in the crumpled gneiss at a great elevation, in its mostbeautiful and loosely-crystallised form, of pearly white prisms of felspar,glassy quartz, and milk-white flat plates of mica, with occasionally largecrystals of tourmaline.We’re now working the abductor; the outside hip muscles of that bottom leg.In the daytime they penetrated my trousers, piercing to my bodyin many places, so that I repeatedly took off as many as twelve at one time.The route descends north-west of the village, andturns due east along bare grassy hills of mica-schist and slate (strike eastand west, and dip north).The side plank focuses on the obliques, improving lateral core strength and stability.The side plank hip raise is an accessible, efficient side plank lift that can be integrated into many workout programs.A conferva grew in the waters of the lake, and short, hardtufts of sedge on the banks, but no other plants were to be seen.Other days it might be mobility, or we’d add boxing depending on what he had coming up, because he really enjoys that. Donkia mountain is the culminant point ofan immensely elevated mass of mountains, of greater mean heightthan a similarly extensive area around Kinchin junga. The only true account of the general features of eastern Tibet is to be foundin MM. It is also across or along thesubsidiary ridges that the boundary line between the Tibetan provinces andthose of Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhotan, is usually drawn; because the enormousaccumulations of snow form a more efficient natural barrier than the greater height ofthe less snowed central part of the chain beyond them. Thesemoraines seem in some cases to have been deposited where rocks in the bed ofthe valley obstructed the downward progress of the ancient glacier; hence, whenthis latter finally retired, it rested at these obstructions, and accumulatedthere great deposits, which do not cross the valley, but project from each sideobliquely into it.If you don't have a belt, you can use your feet to hold onto a dumbbell.Use the following instructions to complete the exercise properly.Make the lying side hip raise exercise easier by bending your knees and supporting your lower body on the side of your knee instead of your foot.Many of the pines are eighty feet high, and three or four indiameter, but none form gigantic trees.Thedescent was as abrupt as that on the east face, but through less dense forest;the Sikkim side (that facing the east) being much the dampest.The amount oftide, which never exceeds ten feet, diminishes in proceeding westwards into theheart of these swamps, and the epoch, direction, and duration of the ebb andflow vary so much in every canal, that at times, after stemming a powerfulcurrent, we found ourselves, without materially changing our course, suddenlyswept along with a favouring stream. The Side Plank variations above are all fantastic core exercises but performing them with poor form can undermine your progress and even cause pain. We’re now working the abductor; the outside hip muscles of that bottom leg. We elevate the plank and add a hip drop. This movement really challenges your oblique muscles and core stability. The water, which is clear andtasteless (temp. 104°), is so pure as to be exported copiously, and the Monghyrmanufactory of soda-water presents the anomaly of owing its purity toSeeta’s ablutions. All the water is collected in a tank,some yards square, with steps leading down to it. Like every other part of the surface of India, it hassuffered much from denudation, especially on the above-named mountains, andaround their bases, where various rocks protrude through it. It attains its greatestthickness in the valleys of the Ganges and the Soane, gradually sloping up tothe Himalaya and Curruckpore hills on either flank. The rocks above 5000 feet were gneiss; below this, cliffs of very micaceousschist were met with, having a north-west strike, and being often vertical; theboulders again were always of gneiss. Kinchinjunga was again the mostprominent object to the north-east, with its sister peaks of Kubra (24,005feet), and Junnoo (25,312 feet). Still the Lepcha was the most attractive, theleast restrained, and the most natural in all his actions, the simplest in hiswants and appliances, with a bamboo as his water-jug, an earthen-pot as hiskettle, and all manner of herbs collected during the day’s march toflavour his food. To the south-west, in the extremedistance, were the boundless plains of India, upwards of 100 miles off, withthe Cosi meandering through them like a silver thread. Theneighbouring mountains of Curruckpore, which are a portion of the Rajmahal andParas-nath range, are peopled by tribes representing the earliest races ofIndia, prior to the invasion of young Rama, prince of Oude, who, according tothe legend, spread Brahminism with his conquests, and won the hand of KingJannuk’s daughter, Seeta, by bending her father’s bow. These agates perfectlyresemble the Soane pebbles, and they assist in the identification of theseflanking hills with those of the latter river. The other, which is far more striking, rises isolated in the bed ofthe river, and is crowned with a Hindoo temple, its pyramidal cone surmountedwith a curious pile of weathercocks, and two little banners. On my passagedown the river I passed the picturesque rocks of Sultangunj; they are similarto those of Monghyr, but very much larger and loftier. The southern, which contains the library, isthe largest and best, and is of an irregular square shape.In this instance the driver ingreat alarm ordered me off, and I had to flounder out through the black mud.The elephant remained fast all night, and was released next morning by men withropes.Clear nights, be it observed, are as rare at Momay(15,300 feet) as at Dorjiling, the nights if windy being rainy; or,if calm, cold currents descend from the mountains, condensing themoist vapours of the valleys, whose narrow floors are at sunrisebathed in mist at all elevations in Sikkim.Between these spurs were narrow valleys, at whose mouthsstupendous blocks of gneiss rest on rocks of a much later geological formation.May not the origin of the streams of quartzblocks that fill gently sloping broad valleys several miles long, in theFalkland Islands, be thus explained?When you engage in exercises like ab vacuums or suck in your abs, it’s the transverse abdominis doing the heavy lifting.Plank hip dip involves controlled side-to-side movements, activating the entire core and improving core endurance.Beyond this, banks ofhazy vapour obscured all but the dark range of the Lower Himalaya, crested bypeaks of frosted silver, at the immense distance of from 100 to 220 miles fromChillong. Exercise & Fitness 123, 179; temperature of, ii. 143; trees in Calcutta Garden, ii. 150.Crab, fresh-water, ii. 124, 157, 176.Chomachoo river, i. 33; at various elevations, ii. 45 Degree Hyperextensions are an exercise that strengthen the lower back muscles and glutes. It is a simple exercise that involves lying on your back, lifting your knees up towards your chest, and crunching your body across to the opposite side. The Cross Oblique Crunch is an effective exercise to target the obliques, which are the muscles located on the side of the abdominal wall. This exercise is great for targeting the obliques and helping to improve overall core strength and stability. Additionally, it is an excellent exercise for targeting the area around the hips and abs, which can help to increase mobility and prevent injuries. The spot appearing highlyfavourable for observations, I determined to remain here during the equinoctialmonth, and put my people on “two-thirds allowance,” i.e.,four pounds of rice daily for three men, allowing them to send down the valleyto cater for what more they could get. The denuding and accumulating effects of ice thus give a contourto mountain valleys, and sculpture their flanks and floors far more rapidlythan sea action, or the elements. The retention of such markings depends on othercircumstances than the mere hardness of the rock, or amount of aqueous action.What can be more astonishing than to see these most delicate scratches retainedin all their sharpness on rocks clothed with seaweed and shells, and exposed atevery tide, in the bays of western Scotland! The bottom of the Lachoong valley at Momay is broad, tolerably level, grassy,and covered with isolated mounds and ridges that point down the valley, and arethe remains of glacial deposits. Enormous piles of gravel and sand had descended upon the upper end of thislake-bed, forming shelves, terraces, and curving ridges, apparentlyconsolidated by ice, and covered in many places with snow.From this elevation to 9000 feet, itssinuous track extends about thirty miles, which gives the mean fall of 200 feetto the mile, quadruple of what it is for the lower part of its course.Currants andgooseberries show no disposition to thrive, and strawberries are the onlyfruits that ripen at all, which they do in the greatest abundance.They are of short stature—four feeteight inches to five feet—rather broad in the chest, and with musculararms, but small hands and slender wrists.The lowest of the ancient moraines completely crosses the river, whichfinds, its way between the boulders.Returning from this grove, we crosseda stream by a single squared block, twenty-eight feet long, five broad, and twothick, of gray syenitic granite with large crystals of felspar. To reach these, however, involved crossing the river, which was nowimpossible; and I reluctantly made up my mind to return on the morrow to ZemuSamdong, and thence try the other river. Drizzling mist, which had shrouded Tukcham all the morning, soon gathered onthis mountain, and prevented any prospect from the highest point reached; buton the ascent I had an excellent view up the Zemu, which opened into a broadgrassy valley, where I saw with the glass some wooden sheds, but no cattle orpeople. He behaved very humbly throughout, and finally took himself offmuch discomfited, and two days afterwards sent men to offer to assist me inmoving my things. When they requested a parley, I sent the interpreter to say that Iwould receive three men, and that only provided all the rest were sent downimmediately; this, as I anticipated, was acceded to at once, and there remainedonly the Lachen Phipun and his brother. My timid Lepchas huddled behind my tent, which, from itsposition, was only to be stormed in front. The side plank is one of the best ab exercises because it’s simple and effective. As a certified personal trainer (CPT) who routinely incorporates plank exercises into my clients’ programs, I can attest to the transformative benefits of the side plank. In a rocking motion, return back to the starting position before lowering your hips to the right side and then back towards the starting position. Keeping your core engaged, lower (dip) your hips to the left side in an arc until they are just above the ground. Indulge in a breakfast that fuels both body and mind, offering a … Read More... Looking for a fast, effective way to strengthen your abs and build total core stability? Ready to tone, strengthen, and sculpt your lower body in just under half an hour? Looking for a heart-pumping routine that fits into your busy day? Some of the boulders werefully ten feet in diameter, permeated and altered very much by granite veinswhich had evidently been injected when molten, and had taken up angular massesof the chlorite which remained, as it were, suspended in the veins. In the evening I walked down the banks of the river,which flowed in a deep gorge, cumbered with enormous boulders of granite,clay-slate, and mica-slate; the rocks in situ were all of the latterdescription, highly inclined, and much dislocated. A tall stone, nine feet high, coveredalso with inscriptions, terminates it at the lower end. I didnot visit the Molli temples, but crossed the spur of that name, to the Rungbeeriver, whose bed is 3,300 feet above the sea; thence I ascended upwards of3,500 feet to the Changachelling temples, passing Tchongpong village. Descending from the Catsuperri temples, I encamped at the village of Tengling(elevation 5,257 feet), where I was waited upon by a bevy of forty women,Lepchas and Sikkim Bhoteeas, accompanied by their children, and bringingpresents of fowls, rice and vegetables, and apologising for the absence oftheir male relatives, who were gone to carry tribute to the Rajah. I gathered only thirty-fiveferns at these low elevations, in the same space as produces from fifty tosixty in the more equable and humid regions of 6000 feet; grasses on the otherhand were much more numerous. The thermometer, laidon the frosty grass, stood at 20°; temperatures which are rare at Dorjiling,1,500 feet higher. April 1.—Arrived at Monghyr, by far the prettiest town I had seenon the river, backed by a long range of wooded hills,—detached outliersof which rise in the very town. Patna is the stronghold of Mahommedanism, and from its central position, itscommand of the Ganges, and its proximity to Nepal (which latter has been aptlycompared to a drawn dagger, pointed at the heart of India), it is an importantplace. The liquor withwhich the pancakes are agglutinated together by the ball-maker, and worked intothe ball, is merely inspissated opium-water, the opium for which is derivedfrom the condemned opium, (Passewa,) the washing of the utensils, and of theworkmen, every one of whom is nightly laved before he leaves the establishment,and the water is inspissated. A good workman will prepare from thirtyto fifty balls a day, the total produce being 10,000 to 12,000 a day; duringone working season 1,353,000 balls are manufactured for the Chinese marketalone. You want to fully extend your hips and engage your glutes so you aren’t hyperextending your low back.In the Himalaya the name Bhotan isunknown amongst the Tibetans; it signifies literally (according to Mr. Hodgson)the end of Bhote, or Tibet, being the eastern extreme of that country.Dr. Thomson informs me thata species of Astragalus is used in western Tibet for this purpose, thewhole shrub, which is dwarf, being reduced to pulp.Here are the most common side plank errors I see (and how to fix them)Those of the elephant, camel, buffalo andbullock, horse, ass, pony, dog, goat, sheep and kid, lizard, wild-cat andpigeon, with men, women, and children’s feet, naked and shod, were allrecognisable.The mountain climber is a dynamic exercise targeting the lower abs.This led to my asking him for a sketch of the mountains; hecalled for a large sheet of paper, and some charcoal, and wanted to form hismountains of sand; I however ordered rice to be brought, and though we had butlittle, scattered it about wastefully. Therehad been a great want of judgment in the alterations made since Dr.Wallich’s time, when they were celebrated as the most beautiful gardensin the east, and were the great object of attraction to strangers andtownspeople. The former I was kindly invited to consider as myIndian home, an honour which I appreciate the more highly, as the invitationwas accompanied with the assurance that I should have entire freedom to follow my ownpursuits; and the advantages which such a position afforded me, were, I neednot say, of no ordinary kind. A few miles below Calcutta, the scenery becomes beautiful, beginningwith the Botanic Garden, once the residence of Roxburgh and Wallich, and now ofFalconer,—classical ground to the naturalist. Every now andthen, the paddles of the steamer tossed up the large fruits of Nipafruticans, a low stemless palm that grows in the tidal waters of the Indianocean, and bears a large head of nuts. Considering how conventional the treatment of suchsubjects is, and how unanimous artists seem to be as to the propriety ofexaggerating those features which should predominate in the landscape, it mayfairly be doubted whether the total effect of steepness and elevation,especially in a mountain view, can, on a small scale, be conveyed by a strictadherence to truth. Owing tothis being some festival or holiday, it was impossible to get palkee-bearers;the natives were busy catching fish in all the muddy pools around.A side plank workout is done to focus on your obliques, two layers of muscle along the sides of your core.It is in all probability Chumulari,210 miles distant from Nunklow.Let’s start this full body pilates workout with a smooth, controlled flow.No, the dip exercise is not the 1996 hip-hop classic by Freak Nasty (but you can listen to "Da Dip" when you train if you want).Such, however, is not the case; Kinchinjhowis on the frontier of Sikkim, though a considerable distance behind the mostsnowy of the Sikkim mountains.This is the case for moves you'll do as a beginner; as you progress, some higher-level exercises might change that. The descent lay through a forest of tropical trees, wheresmall palms, vines, peppers, Pandanus, wild plantain, and Pothos,were interlaced in an impenetrable jungle, and air-plants clothed the trees. We encamped at Lingcham, where I had halted on the 21st, and the weather being fine,I took bearings of all the convents and mountains around. ThroughoutSikkim, we were roused each morning at daybreak by this wild music, theconvents being so numerous that we were always within hearing of it. This being a festival day, when the natives were bringing offerings to thealtar, we also visited the old temple, a small wooden building. How Jessica Biel Sculpted Her Upper Body for 'Better Sister' Normal side planks have been found to activate the external obliques more than the internal obliques (62% vs. 28%). They work in unison to keep your hips from sagging and to help you maintain an athletic, erect posture. As suggested by their name, the internal obliques lie deeper within the body than the external obliques. Ascending, wereached an open grassy valley, and overtook the Tibetans who had preceded us,and who had halted here to feed their sheep. The clouds early commenced gathering, and it was curious to watch their rapidformation in coalescing streaks, which became first cirrhi, and then stratus,being apparently continually added to from below by the moisture-bringingsoutherly wind. Around each plot of a few acres was the grandice-transported girdle of stupendous rocks, many from 50 to 100 feet long,crested with black tabular-branched silver firs, conical deep greentree-junipers, and feathery larches; whilst amongst the blocks grew a profusionof round masses of evergreen rhododendron bushes. Ascending the great moraine at a place where it overhung the main river, I hada good coup-a’œil of the whole. “If your shoulder starts to rise up toward your ear, it won’t give you the support you need to hold the position,” Gia Calhoun, a fitness expert, Pilates teacher, and vice president at Pilates Anytime, tells Bustle. The most important thing about planks is maintaining proper alignment. The added need for balance will force your muscles to work even harder. You could also drop down onto your knees to do a modified side plank, says Bentivoglio. Don’t feel like you’re “bad” at side plank dips if you need to use a modification. Ticks swarmedin the small bamboo jungle, and my body was covered with these loathsomeinsects, which got into my bed and hair, and even attached themselves to myeyelids during the night, when the constant annoyance and irritation completelybanished sleep. I had treated this man and his soldiers with the utmost kindness, evennursing them and clothing them from my own stock of flannels, when sick andshivering amongst the snows. I was not long in discovering, to my greatmortification, that these were appropriated by the Ghorkha Havildar, who seemedto have profited by our many days of short allowance, and diverted the currentof hospitality from me to himself. At about 5000 feet the country is very open and bare, the ridges being souniform and flat-topped, that the broad valleys they divide are hidden tilltheir precipitous edges are reached; and the eye wanders far east and west overa desolate level grassy country, unbroken, save by the curious flat-toppedhills I have described as belonging to the limestone formation, which lie tothe south-west. Similar hills are seenfar westward across the intervening valleys in the Garrow country, rising in aseries of steep isolated ranges, 300 to 400 feet above the general level of thecountry, and always skirting the south face of the mountains. Advancing eastwards, the dry north-west windof the Gangetic valley, which blows here in occasional gusts, is hardly felt;and easterly winds, rising after the sun (or, in other words, following theheating of the open dry country), blow down the great valley of theBurrampooter, or south-easterly ones come up from the Bay of Bengal. Theelevation of the station is 130 feet above the sea, that of Kishengunj I made131; so that the Gangetic valley is nearly a dead level for fully a hundredmiles north, beyond which it rises; Titalya, 150 miles to the north, being 360feet, and Siligoree, at the margin of the Terai, rather higher. Whether you’re embarking on your first weight-training plan or prepping for an Olympic weightlifting competition, there’s a good chance that planks will be a part of your strength program. Your body may not move very much, but you’ll feel the left side waist engaging. Then extend the left leg out as high as your hip. On your knees, lower the right hand down to the ground to the right of your body; making sure the right shoulder stays over the right wrist. Lower the head, neck and elbows down to the starting position.