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The Most UNDERRATED Lower Ab Exercise

The Most UNDERRATED Lower Ab Exercise

by | Dec 3, 2023 | Blog, Core, Exercises

No you don’t have a lower ab muscle.

But you CAN target the lower portion of your rectus abdominis or your LOWER ABS to a greater extent based on the moves you include in your workout routine.

And one great way to target that area is with lower body crunches.

They’re simple and effective…if done correctly.

There are also a variety of ways you can regress and progress this move to match your needs and goals.

However, how you do this amazing move can really impact where you actually feel working and the benefits you get from it.

That’s why in this video I want to go over how to properly do this movement and some amazing ways to really feel those lower abs working.

But first I wanted to discuss two areas we often feel compensating during this exercise that can end up overworked and injured, leading to this fabulous move being hated on…

And they are our hip flexors and lower back!

Do you ever feel your lower back or hip flexors taking over when you do a lower body crunch? 

This is because you aren’t properly bracing your abs!

While yes, any exercise that involves hip flexion (that bending at the hip) WILL work your hip flexors… 

So often we rely on our hips over bracing our abs which ultimately ends up with us only feeling our hip flexors or lower back during this ab exercise! 

To prevent this from happening, there are a few things you want to focus on….

Focus On These Tips:

#1: Set up bracing your abs, tucking your hips slightly up toward your ribs. 

This posterior pelvic tilt will help you feel those abs engage and even engage your glute max a bit.

This glute max engagement inhibits your hip flexors from taking over as much.

#2: Initiate the crunch of your lower body through spinal flexion. 

Too often this move will be cued just as tucking your knees in which leads to us only bending and extending at the hip to raise our feet up off the floor and lower them back down.

But really we want to curl in from our SPINE. This spinal flexion is what engages our abs to power the knee tuck up.

#3: DO NOT SWING OR USE MOMENTUM. 

Slowly roll to tuck in and then, one vertebrae at a time, lower back down.

Do not release that ab brace at the bottom.

Keep your abs engaged as you touch your feet down! 

By focusing on this ab engagement and spinal flexion you not only protect your lower back, preventing it from arching up, but you disengage your hip flexors through that glute max engagement and use of the abs to curl in over just bending at the hip.

Building off of this focus on engaging your abs even before you start the movement…

I wanted to go over some tips to implement this basic lower body crunch properly before I then dive into some fun modifications and variations to match your needs and goals.

How To Do The Lower Body Crunch:

To do the lower body crunch, you want to set up lying on your back with your hands down on the ground beside you or behind your head.

To help you brace with the posterior pelvic tilt, pushing your palms and arms straight down beside you into the ground can help.

Bend your knees and curls your heels in toward your butt. This active curl in as you flex your feet should even help you feel your hamstrings engage to further prevent your hips from compensating.

Tilt your pelvis, drawing your hip bones up toward your ribs. Press your arms down into the ground.

Then think about curling your ribs up toward your hips as your knees curl in toward your chest.

Do not let yourself just flex at the hip. Really focus on curling your spine to lift your butt up.

Move at a controlled pace, then roll back down to tap your heels down.

Do not fully release engagement of the abs at the bottom.

Then curl back in.

Focus on that exhale as you curl in to help you engage your abs!

Then repeat the move, again focus on that curl starting from your spine over just your hips bending!

Keep that heel pulled in tension to help you avoid only bending at your hips!

Struggling? Try These Modifications!

If you’re focusing on these cues and struggling with getting your abs to engage there are two things I like to do with clients that can help…

#1: Hold on to something overhead. 

#2: Use a roller squeezed between your calves and hamstrings. 

I’ve even combined these two things as a variation to really isolate those abs. 

By holding on overhead as you perform the lower body crunch, you can help engage your lats, which can lead to better glute engagement as well.

This can help you create tension through your backside that protects your lower back during the move.

This pull down can also help you crunch your ribs slightly down toward your hips to better brace your abs.

It can also give you more control as you curl your knees in toward your chest.

And the roller can help you maintain that hamstring engagement to prevent your hip flexors from taking over.

By having to squeeze that roller into your legs, you prevent yourself from extra movement at the hips as well.

Combining both of these techniques may prove a killer combo even to really target those lower abs with a slow curl in and lower back down!

And the great part about this basic movement is there are so many ways you can change it up to match your needs and goals!

If you’re feeling really in control of this lower body crunch, you may still find the modifications provide progression through the same but different.

They can even help you isolate those lower abs in new ways.

Try These Progressions:

But you may also find you want to progress to a double leg lower with your legs straight or even a leg lower plus. 

That bonus spinal flexion at the top of the basic double leg lower is a great way to work those abs extra as they are worked by that flexion of the spine!

You can even just simply add weight to the basic lower body crunch. 

The benefit of adding weight is not only that the resistance makes it harder but also that, by holding a weight between your legs, you engage your adductors.

Because of the connection of your hip flexors to your pelvic floor, and your adductors are also a hip flexor, you may find that by squeezing a medicine ball between your legs you even feel your core working more with very light weight!

And if don’t have weight and want to work your upper body more, you can even take this lower body crunch up off the ground with hanging leg raise variations or even dip hold leg raises. 

But with all of these variations, you want to make sure you target your lower abs by bracing those abs with the posterior pelvic tilt and actually flexing at the spine as you lift.

It is tempting to just let the movement only occur at the hip when you fatigue without your abs engaged.

Remember this will just lead to your hip flexors working, not your abs getting the benefits you want!

So regress if you feel yourself starting to cheat!

Using these tips you can really target your lower abs with the amazing and oh so simple lower body crunch.

Perfecting basic moves like this can help us see better results faster and really target those stubborn areas we want to work!

Try This Ab Burner:

And for a quick and killer burner using this move, try this 100 Rep Ab Burner…

This is great to use once a week in your workout progression.

Completing 1 round through the circuit.

CIRCUIT:
20 Heel Raised upper Body Crunches
20 Lower Body Crunches
20 per side Oblique Crunches
20 Full Body Crunches

For more killer workouts, and even ab burners, join my Dynamic Strength App!

–> LEARN MORE

Fixing These 5 Abs Mistakes Was A Game Changer For Me!

Fixing These 5 Abs Mistakes Was A Game Changer For Me!

by | Sep 3, 2023 | Blog, Core, Exercises

Want toned abs? That lean-looking six pack?

Then you’ll want to avoid these ab training mistakes.

And yes…I want to discuss the mistakes we make when it comes to our ab training routines.

Because while abs are revealed by what we do in the kitchen, our training can play a huge role in not only the speed but the quality of our results.

And too often our core work is an afterthought in our programming.

A few ab moves strung together, done randomly over the week.

Or some googled “best” core moves we do till they burn and our abs feel destroyed.

That’s why in this video I wanted to share 5 common mistakes I see people making and how to avoid them to really build a killer ab training routine!

Mistake #1: Doing Only Big Heavy Lifts To Work Your Core.

Yes, those big compound lifts DO strengthen your core.

But those moves alone aren’t enough.

Because your core is truly only being worked in one way during these moves – to brace. 

When really our abs, and the other muscles of our core, have so many different functions we can and should be addressing.

By including focused core work and isolation exercises for the different muscles of your core, not only can you create better muscle hypertrophy for more defined abs but you can truly strengthen any weak links. 

The stronger your weakest link, the more you can lift. And the more you can lift, the more muscle you can build which will only further improve your body comp results. 

WIN WIN!

Many of us even do this already with other areas. We include leg extensions to further strengthen our quads after lunges or squats. 

We do bicep curls after back exercises to further target our arms. 

The same thing needs to be done for our abs.

So stop just only focusing on compound moves. 

Include isolation work for your abs and core and address ALL of the functions these muscles perform from spinal flexion and lateral flexion to twisting and even anti-extension and flexion. 

Yes this means doing things like crunches, leg raises, and russian twists…the things so often demonized as not being functional. 

But strengthening movements those muscles are MEANT to perform is actually ESSENTIAL if we want to be functionally strong and see the definition we want!

Which actually brings me to Mistake #2…Fearing Moves Because You’ve Heard They’re “Bad.” 

I know I ruffled some feathers when I mentioned crunches and russian twists already.

Because over the last few years these have gathered more and more hate. 

And 100% NO MOVE IS RIGHT FOR EVERY PERSON.

But just because YOU have an injury that may make a move not right for YOU because you can’t control it, doesn’t make it wrong for someone else or even dangerous.

I can also tell you, too often it wasn’t the move that caused the problem even if you got hurt during it. 

It was improper recruitment patterns or us doing a move that wasn’t yet really earned which we couldn’t fully control that led to the issue.

Often the move we get injured on is even simply the straw that broke the camel’s back as overload had already built up without us fully realizing.

And moves like crunches and russian twists can actually be amazing exercises to target our abs and obliques and build that definition because of how isolated their focus is. 

Because they isolate those muscle groups so well, it can allow us to really learn to engage and activate those specific muscles to prevent overload to our spine.

Learning to control that proper spinal flexion and rotation is a key to avoiding aches and pains. 

So instead of demonizing these isolated movements, we need to use them more. And that focused activation of those core muscles will help you improve your definition.

The more stubborn an area, the more we want to include moves that really hone in on it and isolate it by working it during a movement pattern it controls.

Add more crunch variations where you can really feel your abs working in isolation. 

Include moves that work on lateral flexion to target your obliques like plank hip dips or the often also hated teapots.

Learn to CONTROL these movement patterns as you focus on isolating those muscles to work so you can have not only a sexy looking core but a strong one! 

And then as you include these moves, realize that you will need to progress them as you go if you want to build that definition.

(Ready for some killer core routines to get that defined 6-pack? Check out my Dynamic Strength App!)

Mistake #3 Is That We DON’T Create Progression In Our Core Work. 

If you’re repeating the same few ab exercises and never making them more challenging, even though you may feel a burn when you do them, you’re not going to keep getting better and better results.

You NEED to find ways to progress those basic exercises.

Whether you add resistance, change tempos, change up the range of motion, adjust training volume or even simply tweak the exact posture or positioning for a move, you need to progress things as you go. 

It’s not good enough that it just “feels” hard.

You need to advance the exercise over time or you’re not forcing the muscle to build back stronger. 

So if you’ve been doing the basic crunch, try holding a dumbbell to add resistance or increase the range of motion by doing it over a bosu. 

Or if you’ve been doing hanging knees to elbows, try toes to bar or just the pelvic tilt to change the range of motion and exact body positioning. 

If you’re shooting for 10-15 reps of a move and only able to do 10 with a weight one week, shoot to do 11 or 12 then next.

Even try just a slightly different variation of the same basic movement can be progression through the same but different! 

But focus on trying to make the move just a little bit harder over the weeks to build that definition. Don’t just go through the motions doing the same moves day after day after day!

Which is part of the 4th Mistake I often see people making – Not Including Diversity In Their Routine. 

We can not only create progression through the same but different, but even small tweaks in how you perform a move can impact exactly how they benefit you.

When we include a diversity of exercises we can address all of the different functions the muscles of our core have. 

It’s why it is key we don’t only work our core by using it to brace for big compound lifts like deadlifts or squats or rows.

We also need to include moves that work on spinal flexion, rotation and lateral flexion not to mention even strengthen muscles to AVOID unwanted extension, flexion or rotation. 

Yup both exercises that power movement, but that also help us prevent it!

And then not only do we want to use a diversity of movements to address all of the actions the muscles perform, we want to use different moves to target muscles to different extents. 

Through using a variety of exercises, you can target different aspects of your abs more or less.

While we don’t have a lower ab muscle, you can target the lower portion of your rectus abdominis to a greater extent through long lever plank variations and lower body crunches instead of doing the traditional crunch. 

Studies have shown that slight changes to our postures and positions can elicit better activation in different areas of the same muscle!

This can help us make sure we are truly getting the fully defined six pack we want!

But just make sure that whatever moves you include, you feel the correct muscles working.

This is where Mistake #5 comes into play…Letting Other Muscles Compensate. 

When you do an ab exercise, ask yourself, “What do I feel working?”

Because whatever you feel working is actually getting the benefit of that exercise.

If you feel your hip flexors or your lower back taking over, instead of your abs doing the work, those other muscles are therefore getting the “benefit” of the move.

This is often not only what leads to injury and us demonizing certain moves, but us also not seeing the ab definition we want resulting from all of our hard work.

If you don’t feel your abs or obliques working during a movement like they should be, regress to progress.

Maybe you need to modify a movement, reducing the resistance or strain on the muscle group as you earn that harder variation.

This could mean bending your knees and tapping your feet down during a full body crunch over extending your legs out straight if you can’t control that posterior pelvic tilt to avoid your lower back becoming overworked. 

Or it may mean implementing a different variation of an exercise, like using a resistance band around your heels during a sit up to remind yourself to push down into the ground and engage your hamstrings as you roll up so you feel your abs and not just your hip flexors working. 

Sometimes you have to change the exact way you use a move to make sure you can feel the correct muscles working.

But don’t just push through using a move someone else said was amazing if you don’t feel the correct muscles working.

Bonus Tip:

The final bonus tip I wanted to include to help you adjust your ab training to see amazing results was to be conscious of how frequently you’re doing core work and when you’re including it in your workouts. 

I find often ab training is used in one of two ways…

Either it is done every day for a bazillion reps.

Or it is done every once in a while as a complete afterthought.

Just like you want to design a clear weekly schedule to build results for other muscle groups, you want to do the same for your ab training. 

Consider including ab exercises 3-4 times a week at the end of your sessions, especially if this is a stubborn area for you. 

Working your abs with isolation exercises at the end of your workouts is helpful if you are including heavier lifts earlier on.

You don’t want your abs fatigued for those moves because that puts you at greater risk for injury.

Also by doing more frequent sessions over the week, you don’t have to go crazy destroying your core each and every time. The volume of work will still add up though over the week. 

This can help you not fatigue your abs so much that your following workouts suffer.

You want to get in the greatest volume of quality work you can to see the best results as fast as possible!

Like any stubborn muscle group you want to build and see amazing muscle definition in, you need to create a plan of action and not just randomly add in moves that feel hard. 

A clear plan so you can create progression and constantly challenge that muscle group is key.

And use that diversity of movement over your workout progressions to your advantage to not only keep things fun but create that killer defined six pack! 

For more tips to help you see that ab definition, especially for the first time, check out this video!

The Most Underrated Plank Exercise

The Most Underrated Plank Exercise

by | Jul 2, 2023 | Blog, Core, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief

The plank is an amazing core move and a fundamental we need to include. 

But holding longer only helps us build strength to a point.

And just because a move is a must-do basic, doesn’t mean we can’t have fun using other variations especially to target specific muscles of our core more. 

Because the basic plank doesn’t help us work on that rotational core strength nor does it include any lateral flexion.

And learning to power and control both of these movements is key if we want not only a toned, strong core but also to improve our shoulder, hip, knee and even ankle stability.

So if you want to work those obliques and glutes even more with both a rotational and lateral flexion movement, while improve your shoulder stability try this amazing plank variation – the Plank with Oblique Knee Tuck! 

In this video, I’ll show you how to perform this move and modify it to fit your current fitness level so you can build a strong core!

And I’ll share my “secret” to finding a way to modify ANY exercise to fit someone’s needs and goals. 

How To Do The Plank With Oblique Knee Tuck:

This plank variation actually combines the basic front plank with the side plank as you transition from side to side with this rotational exercise.

And then it advances the basic side plank by adding in that oblique knee tuck.

Because you are stabilizing on just one arm and one leg, this move needs to be built up to slowly so that you aren’t overloading your shoulder or knee.

It is a challenging plank variation to work on your shoulder, hip and knee stability and will really work those obliques and glutes!

To do the Plank with Oblique Knee Tucks, set up in a forearm front plank from your elbows and toes.

Stack your elbows under your shoulders but outside your chest and focus on engaging your back to really lock your shoulders in place. Your hands will be in toward each other as your elbows are wider. This will feel more comfortable as you rotate.

You can even start with your arms fully perpendicular to your body under your shoulders.

Flex your quads as you drive back slightly through your heels and perform a small posterior pelvic tilt to feel your abs light up.

Maintain a nice straight line from your head to toes.

Then rotate to one side. Make sure your elbow stays stacked under your shoulder and your hips don’t drop as you twist.

As you move into that side plank, also make sure your foot that stays on the ground is flexed. This protects your knee and ankle to create better tension up your leg to engage your glute.

Squeeze your butt forward as you lift your top leg up and reach your top hand overhead.

Then tuck your elbow and knee together. You will crunch them together slightly in front of you, but do not allow your bottom hip to sag.

You want that bottom oblique and glute working!

After performing the tuck and reaching back out move back to face the ground and rotate into a side plank on the other side to perform the oblique knee tuck.

Do not rush this move. Take it slow to really stabilize and feel those obliques and glutes working!

So How Can You Modify This Move?

Adding movement to a plank exercise creates a new stability challenge. And side planks themselves are already very challenging.

You do not want ego to get in the way. So just because you can do a full plank from the ground, doesn’t mean you’ve necessarily earned this variation. 

The rotation into the side plank and then supporting yourself with only your bottom leg as you tuck the top leg, requires more strength and stability than we realize. 

If you find yourself losing balance or rushing, try first modifying with your elbow up on a bench, stair or incline. 

By lifting up your elbow, you reduce the resistance on your upper body and put less strength demands on your entire core. 

I prefer the incline to modify because it allows you to learn to engage everything down to your feet. 

When you do a knee plank variation, you don’t learn how to create tension into your lower leg.

As you build up and get comfortable with the movement pattern, you can move back to the ground. 

We have to remember it isn’t just strength sometimes but that mind-body connection we first need to work on with movements. We need to build that smooth coordination and get muscles engaged efficiently and correctly to progress.

So slow things down and use that incline.

However, if you find that you can do the full plank off the ground but that you lose balance as you alternate sides, you can even modify by doing one side at a time. 

Just rotate from that front plank to the same time to help you maintain that balance. Then after all reps are complete, switch to the side plank on the other side.

Now what if due to injury, an incline variation still isn’t right for you?

Because I know that not every move is right for every person, I wanted to share some tips to help you learn how to adjust any moves you ever need… 

So my secret to modifying moves?

Not being married to an exercise and instead always prioritizing the muscles I need to train and movement patterns I want to work on.

With this plank with oblique knee tuck, I always want to first see how I can simply regress the exact movement. 

But when this isn’t possible, I go back to why the move was being used in the first place.

Was it that I wanted rotational core work? That extra oblique and glute medius work? That lateral flexion?

When you have a goal for every move you include, you can easily swap in another move or moves that achieve those same goals whenever you need. 

If you did still want a balance and stability component while working on that lateral crunch, but that didn’t require strain on the shoulders, maybe you include a standing oblique knee tuck where you stay balanced on one side. 

Or maybe you wanted more of the rotational element to target your obliques and glutes unilaterally but can’t get down on the ground so you include a cable hip rotation. 

The point is, when modifying, you aren’t as much concerned with the exact exercise as the GOAL for the movement.

And whenever possible, you keep the exercise as close as possible to train that exact movement, build the mind-body connection and build up. 

But when that isn’t possible, you simply stay focused on the goal for including the move so you can see the same benefits!

There is always a way to find a movement variation to match our needs and goals. 

That’s why I love this amazing plank with oblique knee tuck when you want to work your glutes and obliques even more. 

And the rotational movement and lateral flexion are a great way to target your core in multiple planes of motion.

But if you can’t get down on the ground to enjoy this amazing plank move, give these non-floor core moves a try.

–> Non Floor Core Moves

Squat Challenge! What Happens When You Do 100 Squats a Day for 30 Days?

Squat Challenge! What Happens When You Do 100 Squats a Day for 30 Days?

by | Jun 11, 2023 | Blog, Bodyweight, Core, Exercises

I get the draw of these challenges.

They are simple and hard and often not too time consuming.

And something is always better than nothing to get us moving and motivated.

BUT…

Honestly, these challenges are also what sabotage our long-term success and adherence to a workout routine.

They can even make us feel like we’re working super hard, staying super consistent, making ourselves super sore and not seeing results build as quickly as we would like.

They can lead to us feeling like we are finally getting back into a groove but them BAM! Always hit with an injury.

That’s why in this video I want to go over what results you can truly expect from these 30 day challenges – the good, the bad and the simply ugly…

So let’s break down these 30 day challenges and the results you’ll get over the weeks…

Starting with that first week…

In that first week, if you haven’t been doing anything in terms of training, and this is your motivation to get moving…

Be prepared to be VERY VERY SORE.

Did I say you’ll feel SORE?

Because you’re going to feel sore those first few days.

If you break up those first 100 reps over the day, you may deceive yourself into thinking it “wasn’t that bad,” but that volume will sneak up on you.

You’re going from 0 to 100 reps and doing a repetitive movement for a high volume of work. 

You’re also doing this movement daily so not giving yourself fully enough time to recover from the previous session.

So those first 4 days, you’re going to feel sore and even a bit beat down.

If you haven’t checked your squat form or are feeling a bit stiff and immobile from a lack of activity, you may also find your knees and hips and even lower back are extra achy. 

This may pass with movement or it may be the start of the end.

Too often we sabotage ourselves from getting in a routine by simply pushing too hard in that first week.

We need to rebuild slowly to make sure we’re doing moves correctly and using the correct muscles. 

Not to mention just because you can “do” a move and for that volume, like your muscles are strong enough, doesn’t mean your connective tissues, such as your ligaments, are truly ready for it.

It’s why doing too much too quickly leads to injury. 

Also if our form is off we overload joints and muscles also putting us at risk.

And squats, like a fundamental movement pattern are often blamed for knee pain because we don’t use them correctly! 

However, if we can stick it out for those first 4ish days, often we feel like we get stronger overnight.

While our muscles haven’t grown, our body starts to become familiar with the movement and we become more efficient at repeating it. 

It’s why toward the end of that first week we may feel like things got almost easier overnight.

While you are getting stronger by creating a challenge for your body, you haven’t really built muscle this quickly.

It is simply that mind-body connection first improving. 

We may also see some weight loss initially with the challenge.

You are moving more which can mean you’re now burning additional calories during the day.

But just like our body adapts to make the reps feel easier in that first week, our body adapts to be more efficient which means this deficit through added movement will be short lived.

If we don’t add on to our training, move more or change our nutrition, we won’t keep losing weight. 

In that second and third week, the weight loss benefits will stop as your body adapts.

And you’re going to start feeling more burned out from the daily repetitive movement and see yourself hit a point of diminishing returns.

You may feel more worn down. Weird places may hurt again. Despite you feeling just a little bit before like you are getting stronger, you may feel like you go backward.

You’re not giving yourself enough time to rest and recover from a high volume of the same move, over and over and over again. 

And as things hurt or feel sore, you’re going to start compensating.

Your form may break down more from fatigue and even from you starting to rush through just to get things done. 

Doing the same thing every day gets tedious and boring!

We start to just want to be done with it.

It isn’t the same fun mental challenge it once was.

So often this is where we stop. We go back to our previous workout practices and we end up feeling like nothing will ever be sustainable. 

Or we keep pushing through. Maybe finally at the end of week 3 our body starts to adapt and we do see those muscle gains if we’re fueling well.

But often we just start to see knee and hip aches and pains add up more and more. 

We also haven’t built up any other muscle groups. We haven’t worked our core or our upper body. 

And we have no plan in place to guide us.

We have no “exit strategy” from this challenge except to do another challenge. 

And at some point this pattern leads to burnout.

We never really create clear progression, a clear BUILD for ourselves with a road map to take us to the goals we want.

So what may have seemed like an “easy way” to get started ultimately is also what keeps us stuck!

Now maybe you’ve powered through to week 4. And honestly, that is freaking awesome. Most don’t make it past that 3 week hump. 

Injury. Boredom. Fatigue. Time. Some excuse gets most of us as we lose that initial motivation.

We’ve been doing the same thing day after day after day. 

And not only does that get tedious so we become less careful and conscious of our movements, not to mention we aren’t as intentional to maximize each rep, but often the challenge really isn’t there for our body any longer.

We won’t keep seeing muscle gains as we’ve adapted to the volume and load of squatting our own bodyweight.

So ultimately we NEED to do more or at least create progression through the same but different. 

And many of us reach the end of the 4 weeks with no plan. 

The same challenge of creating a program we faced at the start, we are now faced with.

The good part about having committed to the 30 days though is we’ve created a workout habit and gotten in a routine, prioritizing some time each day for us and taking care of our body with movement.

We’ve also hopefully built some muscle and even lost a bit of weight from the added activity. 

Because something is better than nothing when starting out.

But nothing keeps progressing if we don’t adapt as we grow stronger and fitter.

And if we are unlucky, this repetitive movement could have led to injury and overload. 

We went all in from the start over giving ourselves time to build that solid foundation and slowly build up.

We may see more aches and pains even adding up over the following weeks if we aren’t careful.

It also hasn’t prepped our body necessarily for other movements. 

We may still be starting out at ground zero when it comes to our upper body or even core training. 

We can’t skip building that foundation and these challenges don’t help us become well rounded.

They so often lead to us just doing too much too quickly over easing in.

Not to mention we may feel like the daily movement is unsustainable long-term but not be sure now how to design a schedule that actually fits our busy lifestyle.

And as simple as these challenges seem, they are deceptively inefficient at getting results. 

You could see better results from LESS volume and even less frequent sessions designed with the appropriate intensity and recovery.

You could have found something more sustainable!

And you could have even found something more FUN to do weekly that would have led to better results faster. 

Including a diversity of movements for your legs over the week would have targeted every aspect of your lower body and hit the muscles to different extents while moving you in every direction.

This could have created faster muscle gains, better recovery and all while avoiding injury and being fun.

By repeating that weekly routine for 3-4 weeks with a clear build to movements, you may have seen your results snowball faster while avoiding boredom that lead to you just rushing through the squats to get them done!

If you’re considering a challenge like the 100 squats a day for 30 days challenge, I urge you to seek out a clear plan that includes diversity and focuses on your entire body instead.

This will truly help you build that strong foundation. 

The more you rebuild safely, slowly and while addressing any mobility restrictions, the faster you will actually progress with less risk for injury.

So while something is better than nothing, and these simple challenges are tempting, find a plan laid out for you even if it is just 5 minute workouts to start back! 

Ready to have a plan in place to reach your goals? Check out my Dynamic Strength program!

How To Do The Pelvic Tilt Exercise (And SHOULD You?)

How To Do The Pelvic Tilt Exercise (And SHOULD You?)

by | May 7, 2023 | Blog, Core, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief

The pelvic tilt…

How can you use this amazing move and progress this exercise to build a stronger core?

And why has this move received some hate in recent years?

Let’s break down the pelvic tilt progression and when and how to use it!

This exercise is a great way to learn to brace your abs and protect your lower back during core work

If you’ve ever felt your lower back or hips during crunches or leg lowers, Leg Raises you want to master this movement.

It will even help you better engage your glutes during moves like the glute bridge or other activation exercises. And it is a great way to target that lower portion of the rectus abdominis even more aka work those lower abs!

To learn the basic pelvic tilt engagement…

Lie on your back on the ground and take a deep inhale.

As you exhale, tuck your hips up toward your ribs, focusing on pulling each side of your pelvis in toward each other and up toward your ribs.

You want to focus on engaging those abs through that exhale as you tuck. You will feel the space between your lower back and the ground go away.

You should also feel your glute max engage with the tuck.

Hold here for a 3-5 count then relax.

Learning this engagement is key.

It helps you learn to control that spinal flexion as you progress to leg lower exercises and even progress your planks.

And if you’ve ever had lower back pain and feeling your back during glute bridges, hip thrusters or other glute activation movements, using the pelvic tilt can help you better engage your glutes during these moves without your lower back taking over!

Now, before I go over the full progression and how to master that double leg lower exercise we see in so many workout routines…

I want to touch on why people are against using the pelvic tilt exercise.

And it relates back to bracing during lifting and even the ability to maintain a neutral spine.

During lifting exercises, such as the squat and deadlift, you do not want that posterior pelvic tilt. This can lead to overload of your lower back.

And daily excessive posterior pelvic tilt posture can have a negative impact just like excessive anterior pelvic tilt can.

But this doesn’t mean the move is bad.

It just means you have to understand WHY and WHEN to use it.

Improper implementation of any exercise, using a move we haven’t earned even, can lead to issues.

While you may focus on that forceful exhale like you’re being punched in the gut to brace during heavy lifts, you do want to know how to engage through that posterior pelvic tilt to better use those intrinsic core stabilizers and even activate your glutes during prehab work and those floor core moves.

Our spines are MEANT to flex and posterior pelvic tilt is an action we want to know how to control using our abs while disengaging our hip flexors and back.

This is why you want to focus on building up through the posterior pelvic tilt progression instead of just jumping into those double leg lowers you can’t control.

So how can you progress the pelvic tilt and what are three of my favorite moves using it that aren’t part of this progression?

To progress the posterior pelvic tilt, you will want to start with a march Single Leg March from this basic position. From here you can progress to a double knee tuck. 

Then you can go to a single straight leg lower Single Leg Lower before a full double leg lower.

You only want to progress though as you can truly control the move.

If you start to feel your lower back lifting or your hip flexors are doing all of the work, stop and reset or regress the move.

While the leg raises and lowers are going to involve your hip flexors since they are movement at the hip, you want to feel your abs bracing the movement.

To help yourself check your engagement through this progression, place a towel under your back and hold the other end in your hand. 

You can then give it a slight tug to see if it stays pinned as you progress. This helps you double check you’re maintaining that tilt.

And make sure you don’t hold your breath. You want to exhale to help you brace as you lower a leg down or both down.

Once you’ve gone through this progression, you are never above those foundational variations but you may find you start to include other leg lower variations like flutters or criss crosses or even that full hollow body hold I love to call the banana!

Three other uses of the pelvic tilt I love are…

The dolphin plank, the hanging pelvic tilt and the glute bridge.

Dolphin Plank: 

The dolphin plank is a great variation to add movement to your basic forearm front plank and will help you learn to engage your abs to power spinal flexion but also avoid unwanted spinal extension.

You will use the posterior pelvic tilt as you round up in the plank and then you will fight the urge to extend your lower back as you allow your hips to sink toward the ground.

This is a killer anti-extension plank option. And you can modify it by holding a plange plank or by doing what I like to call the vomiting cat from your hands and knees. 

This is NOT that cat cow stretch.

The reason I call it the vomiting cat is you want to round up and draw your abs in as if coughing up a hairball. That hollowing out of your stomach is what really engages your abs.

Hanging Pelvic Tilt:

The hanging pelvic tilt is a great way to advance the pelvic tilt and really learn to control hanging ab exercises like knees to elbows.

Too often with knees to elbows and even leg raises, we let our hip flexors take over or really start to swing and lose control.

By first learning to do the hanging pelvic tilt, we can learn to start that engagement with our abs!

Really focus on pulling down on that bar as you tuck your pelvis toward your ribs!

Glute Bridge: 

I want to mention the glute bridge as well because of the impact that the posterior pelvic tilt can have on our glutes.

That pelvic tilt can help us better activate our glute max which is key if we are struggling with feeling our lower back or even our hamstrings take over during our glute work.

So if you even feel your lower back when trying to do weight glute bridges or hip thrusters, make sure you aren’t arching but instead starting the move with this tilt.

This helps you also focus more on true hip extension.

Too often with bridging we lift up higher and don’t realize we are actually getting the extra range of motion from our backs, not by actually fully extending our hips.

When you start with the pelvic tilt, you help yourself focus just on true hip extension using your glutes!

And learning to use the pelvic tilt during moves like this is especially a win win if you’re rebuilding post-partum. 

Bonus Tips:

I did also want to include just a few extra tips, especially if you are using this move to rebuild after lower back injury or pregnancy…

If you are rebuilding your core strength after having a baby, make sure you roll onto your side before lying on your back over just lying back.

And make sure you only progress the pelvic tilt as you are able to control your abs and avoid them doming out.

You may also find it easier to engage your ab and even your pelvic floor by also engaging your adductors.

If you’re struggling with that brace, consider squeezing a ball or block between your knees.

This squeeze can really help you stay focused on that tension. 

And do not hold your breath!

Use the pelvic tilt exercise to better brace your abs and build a strong core!

How to do AB WHEEL Rollouts the Right Way (3 Tips!)

How to do AB WHEEL Rollouts the Right Way (3 Tips!)

by | Mar 20, 2023 | Blog, Core, Exercises, Functional Fitness

Want to work on that six pack and build a strong core? 

Then you need to include Ab Extensions or the Ab Wheel Roll Out exercise in your workout routine. 

Now if you’re thinking, “I don’t have an ab wheel, byeeee, I’ll share some great variations to use this move without that tool! Even one that requires no equipment at all!”

But first, this move is more advanced than we give it credit for. 

And all too often people include this move in hopes of targeting their abs only to end up with lower back aches and pains. 

That’s why in this video, I’ll show you how to correct these 3 common form mistakes and truly use this amazing move to target your abs while avoiding lower back aches and pains.

And bonus, I’ll share some great variations to include if you don’t have an ab wheel. 

Hey guys, it’s Cori from Redefining Strength where we help you train intentionally to get the best results as fast as possible!

When we include moves like the Ab Wheel Roll Out or Ab Extension, we want to make sure we fully benefit from this exercise.

If we don’t feel our abs working and only feel our lower backs, not only are we not building stronger abs but we are overloading our lower back which can ultimately result in injury. 

It’s important to make sure you aren’t making any form mistakes regardless of the tools you use to implement the Ab Extension into your routine.

But before we dive into the common form mistakes and how to fix them, let’s talk about why this exercise is so amazing and important to include in your routine. 

When performing the ab extension, you’ll reach your arms out overhead and move into an extended plank position off your knees. 

This extended position engages your abs as they work to prevent unwanted extension of your lower back.

However, this position can also lead to lower back overload if your anti-extension strength isn’t developed enough so it’s essential to build up that strength. 

The extended plank position is an effective way to target your rectus abdominis or lower abs while engaging your lats, pecs, and triceps in a pull-over movement. 

This is a great exercise that works on your core and upper body at the same time.

However there are common mistakes that can hinder your ability to engage your abs correctly. 

So, what are these mistakes and how can you avoid them?

The first mistake we make when doing the Ab Extension exercise is allowing our lower backs to arch.

This exercise is designed to strengthen your abs by preventing lower back extension.

If your lower back ends up arching, your abs aren’t working as effectively as they should. 

In other words, the move is doing the opposite of what you want it to do.

To fix this issue, focus on setting up with a posterior pelvic tilt and maintaining it throughout the movement.

When setting up, concentrate on tucking your hips under and up slightly towards your ribs. 

You should feel your lower back rounding as you tuck your ribs slightly down towards your pelvis. 

This movement engages not only your abs, but also your glute max.

Once you’re in the posterior pelvic tilt position, reach out overhead. 

You want to roll out only as far as you can while maintaining the posterior pelvic tilt.

This may mean starting with a shorter range of motion than you’re used to, but don’t let your ego get in the way. 

As you stay in control and maintain the tilt throughout the extension and pull back in, you can gradually increase the range of motion. 

However, don’t be afraid to reduce the range of motion if you need to in order to maintain proper core control while you build strength.

The second mistake people often make when doing the Ab Extension exercise is sitting their butt back first. 

This tends to happen because they don’t have the strength to pull back in and protect their back.

However, this ultimately takes the emphasis off of your abs and even upper body and instead places it on flexing and extending more at the knees and hips. 

While this may help avoid feeling it in your lower back, it isn’t benefiting your abs.

To fix this mistake, it’s important to focus on engaging your glutes with the posterior pelvic tilt as you set up. 

You can give that extra glute squeeze as you begin to roll the wheel back in from the fully extended position. 

That extra focus on the glute engagement as you pull to roll back in will help you avoid sitting back up and even better help you brace your core to protect your back.

It’s also key with this you focus on initiating that movement back in with your upper body instead of your lower body.

And just like with learning to engage using the posterior pelvic tilt, it may be helpful to limit the range of motion to start, even placing a wall in front of you to help you control the range of motion you can work through.

The third mistake that people often make when doing the Ab Extension exercise is not engaging their lats. 

Many people aren’t focused on what’s actually moving the wheel and instead mimic the movement without concentrating on the muscles that should be powering it. 

While the abs work to stabilize and prevent extension of the spine, it’s important not to forget about the lats that power the movement.

The Ab Extension exercise is essentially a plank with a pull-over, and just like the pull-over, you should feel your lats, triceps, and even pecs working. 

To ensure that you move as one unit after fully extending out to come back up into the plank position, focus on pushing down into the ground and pulling back on the wheel with your lats. 

This lat engagement creates tension through your thoracolumbar fascia into your glutes to support your core and helps activate your abs to avoid extension as you come back up.

If you want to execute this move like a pro, extending all the way out and coming back up in one fluid movement, focus on reaching through your lats to pull yourself back up.

If you’re struggling to focus on your lats engaging, consider doing a single-arm variation to start with sliders. This allows you to reach out on each side independently and then focus on your lat pulling your hand back under your shoulder.

While there are already a few ways to modify the Ab Extension exercise, such as limiting the range of motion or doing a single-arm variation, there are other tools you can use if you don’t have an ab wheel or power wheel.

Three tools that can be used are sliders (or towels), a stability ball, or a suspension trainer. 

Using different tools not only adds variety to your workout but can also create instability or resistance in a new way.

Sliders are great for learning how to create tension down into the ground as you power that pull back. 

They can also help you learn to better activate your lats with less instability side to side or movement from the wheel.

Additionally, you can easily do a single-arm variation with sliders. 

Stability balls can add more instability to the exercise and even allow you to progress into a full plank position off of your forearms. 

This variation is helpful for those with wrist issues. 

Suspension trainers are another great option, allowing you to modify the exercise by shortening the straps so you aren’t as close to the ground while adding more instability to the move because each strap wants to move on its own. 

Ultimately, every tool can help tweak moves to fit your needs and goals, allowing you to implement this amazing extended plank variation without having a wheel.

Bonus Tip:

If you don’t have any of the tools mentioned and still want to experience the benefits of the extended plank position, there’s one bonus option you can try a long lever plank.

Although this variation removes some of the upper body strength demands of the ab wheel variation, it’s still an effective way to engage your lats while working your abs to avoid spinal extension and even engage your quads more.

To perform the long lever plank, start in a high plank or even one from your forearms, then simply walk your feet back to extend out before walking back in.

While extending out, focus on pulling with your lats and avoid letting your hips sag. 

This variation is a great option if you don’t have any of the tools mentioned earlier or if you’re looking to switch up your workout routine.

It’s important to remember that there’s always a way to modify moves to fit our needs and goals. Rather than just mimicking a movement pattern, we should focus on what we truly feel working to benefit from the exercise.

Being intentional with our training is key, and the quality of our movements can help us see better results faster.

If you’re looking to achieve that defined six-pack diet is key so make sure to check out this video with a full day of eating to help you lose fat.

–> Meal Plan To Lose Stubborn Belly Fat