Exercises Archives Page 13 of 52 | Redefining Strength

How to Unlock TIGHT HIPS (With 6 Exercises)

by Cori Lefkowith | Apr 17, 2023 | Blog, Exercises, Foam Rolling, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief

Are you one of the many people out there struggling with tight hips or hip pain?

Whether it’s caused by a previous injury, sitting for long periods, or a sedentary lifestyle, hip pain and tight hips can be a major roadblock to your daily routine.

Rehab work can help improve our movements, BUT we have to KEEP doing it to see those results maintained.

Rehab must become prehab.

That’s why I want to share 6 moves to help you keep those hips, and even your lower back and knees, healthy and happy.

And at the end I’ll share a quick series you can do combining these moves to use daily!

Exercise #1: Rectus Femoris Foam Rolling

Especially if you spend a ton of time seated, you want to spend some time relaxing tight and overactive hip flexors.

One key hip flexor muscle to focus on is the rectus femoris. This quad muscle is the only one to impact both the knee and the hip so tightness can not only perpetuate your hip pain, but also your knee and even lower back aches and pains.

To roll out this muscle, a ball works best but will apply more pressure so if needed modify with a roller.

Lie face down with the ball in the middle front of your thigh. Relax over the ball, propping yourself up on your forearms.

Extend your leg out flexing that quad then relax. Repeat as you hold on the ball, breathing to help the muscle relax and release.

If you find you’re only tensing against the pressure, start with a softer trigger point tool.

Repeat for a few extensions then move the ball slightly up or down your thigh.

Exercise #2: Adductor Foam Rolling

Tightness of our adductors or inner thighs can perpetuate hip pain as well, causing hip alignment issues and even knee tracking issues.

If you find your knees tend to cave in and you struggle to feel your glute medius or side butt working, you may want to address any adductor tightness.

The adductors are also a hip flexor, so tightness there may be limiting your hip extension as well.

To roll out your adductors, a roller works best.

Place the roller to the side fo you and bend your knee to about 90 degrees placing the inside of your thigh by your knee on the roller. You can roll up toward your groin and work all along your inner thigh.

When you find a spot that is tight, lift your lower leg and then relax it back down and even push down into the roller then slightly release.

Don’t just roll up and down quickly but instead focus on holding on any tight spots to help the muscle relax and release.

Then you want to include stretching. If you are doing this as part of your warm up series, stretches that get your joints moving through a full range of motion is key.

Exercise #3: Bench Hip And Quad Stretch

This stretch will help improve your hip extension and stretch out any short and tight hip flexors. The key with this move is to focus on that back glute engaging to drive that back hip forward.

This stretch will isolate each side independently and really start to warm up your legs as well as it is basically a balance lunge!

To do this stretch, set up with a bench behind you. As long as your knee allows, set up at the bottom of the stretch kneeling on the ground. If you need to reduce the range of motion, put a block or even a pillow or cushion down on the ground to kneel on.

Place your back foot up on the bench and make sure your front foot is firmly pressed into the ground. Engage that back glute to help you kneel up nice and tall and drive your hip into extension from the bottom.

Then pressing off your front and back foot, lift up.

Squeeze that back glute the entire time and lower back down. Pause at the bottom on the ground for a breath and repeat.

If you find balancing a challenge, you can use a suspension trainer, chair or foam roller to hold on to just make sure you aren’t leaning forward but instead staying upright.

Leaning forward would put your hip back into flexion!

Exercise #4: Alternating Pigeon Pose

The pigeon pose stretch is an amazing stretch to improve your hip mobility, especially if you’ve ever had sciatic pain, lower back pain or even IT band and knee issues.

However, the static version isn’t a great way to warm up your body for work.

With this variation, moving through that range of motion, you can implement this stretch while really mobilizing those hips.

To do this stretch, start on your hands and knees. Then begin to walk your hands to one sides on the ground as you swing the leg on the side you’re walking toward back behind you and across your other leg.

Your body will rotate as you move into that pigeon pose, sitting into the glute of that front leg with your shin perpendicular to your body. Flex your foot if you do feel any pressure in that front knee.

Focus on squaring your hips up toward the ground as much as possible as you reach that one leg straight back. Engage that back glute to drive that back hip into extension as you feel the outside of your front glute stretching.

Pause for a breath then move back onto your hands and knees before rotating into pigeon on the other side.

If this feels like too much, or you can’t put pressure on your knees, try a seated bench variation, alternating pigeon pose on each side, pressing the knee gentle open as you hinge forward and sit back up before switching sides.

Next you want to include focused activation exercises.

While with the stretching you want to focus on what you feel even working to drive the stretch and begin that activation process, these moves are really key to get those underactive muscles working and improve your hip and even pelvic stability.

This first activation exercise focuses on activating those glutes.

Exercise #5: The Wall Side Lying Lateral Raise

Too often, especially if we’ve had previous lower back, hip or knee injuries, our glutes aren’t working as effectively as they should be and we need to work to improve that mind-body connection.

Isolation moves like this to create a slight pump and burn, but not fatigue the muscle, prior to our training are key.

The Wall Side Lying Lateral Raise is an amazing glute activation move to include because it targets both the glute medius and glute max to improve your hip stability.

The one thing we have to remember is the “right” moves only benefit us if the correct muscles are working.

And often we will allow our TFL or piriformis to compensate during lateral raise movements.

That’s why this variation of the lateral raise is so helpful.

Turning your toe down toward the ground even just slightly vs letting it rotate open can really help you avoid that hip flexor or piriformis from taking over and the slight kick back helps also engage your glute max and avoid any hip flexor engagement to better activate that glute medius.

To do this exercise, set up lying on your side with the bottom leg bent and your butt a few inches from the wall.

You can fully lie on your side with your bottom arm straight out on the ground or you can prop yourself up to rest your head in your hand.

Lift your top leg up a few inches off your bottom leg and even slightly turn that top toe down toward the ground.

Drive your heel back into the wall behind you and feel your glute engage pushing into the wall.

Slide your heel up the wall lifting your leg and focus on the side of your butt lifting as you drive hard back into the wall.

Do not let your body rotate or your toe turn open just to try to lift higher.

Perform this lateral raise but do not rotate your hip open to raise up higher.

To advance this move, add a mini band around your legs above your knee.

The final exercise in this series will work on pelvic stability, engaging your core, glutes and even your hamstrings.

Exercise #6: Is Alternating Pelvic Tilt Leg Glides

Often our hamstrings feel tight and we turn to stretching.

But in many cases they are weak.

And even being weak they may want to take over for underactive glutes.

That’s why exercises like this that work on core bracing as you strengthen your hamstrings can help improve your hip stability while also helping you avoid hamstring strains and injuries!

To do this move, lie on your back with a slider or towel under each heel and your heels a few inches from your butt. Feel the space between your lower back and the ground.

Engage your abs to get rid of the space as you press your lower back into the ground. Taking a deep breath and then exhaling as you draw your hip bones up toward your ribs can help you engage those abs.

Keeping your abs engaged, slowly slide one heel out, straightening your leg out.

Then curl that heel back in, pulling the heel in with your hamstring almost as if you are trying to drive the slider into the ground as you curl it back in.

Feel your hamstring work to pull it back in and avoid your pelvis shifting.

Move slowly and alternate sides, extending the other leg out.

If you feel your hips shifting, stay on one side versus alternating.

Really focus on feeling your hamstring with that pull back in. Drive your heel down hard into that sliders to engage it and even your glute.

If you don’t create that tension you won’t get the benefit of this move.

To combine these 6 moves, try this series below.

I like using intervals as it really allows us to focus on maximizing the movement over counting reps. While you can do each move up to 1 minute per move or side, even 30 seconds is a great place to start!

CIRCUIT:
30-60 seconds per side Rectus Femoris Foam Rolling
30-60 seconds per side Adductor Foam Rolling
30-60 seconds per side Bench Hip And Quad Stretch
30-60 seconds Alternating Pigeon Pose
30-60 seconds per side The Wall Side Lying Lateral Raise
30-60 seconds Alternating Pelvic Tilt Leg Glides

Ready to improve your mobility EVERYWHERE?!

Check out my RStoration!

Why You’re Not LOSING FAT (5 Things No One Tells You About Losing Weight)

by Cori Lefkowith | Apr 9, 2023 | Blog, Diet, Exercises

You tried on those pants that wouldn’t button…

You stepped on the scale that showed you a number that made you want to hurl it at the wall…

So now…you’ve decided you want to lose weight.

In this video I want to share 5 things no one tells you about losing weight, but I also want to ask you one very important question first…

Is weight loss what you really want?

I ask this question because it’s key we realize that losing weight as fast as possible on the scale may actually be holding us back from seeing the fat loss results we want.

Losing weight faster doesn’t mean losing fat faster.

It actually often means the opposite.

In our desire to see quicker changes on the scale, we go to extremes which are unsustainable and only truly deplete our glycogen stores, causing us to also lose water weight.

It’s why we may see immediate big drops in our weight.

It’s not fat being lost though.

If we do manage to maintain the extreme measures, we often then also start to lose as much muscle as we do fat.

And while some muscle loss will occur at points in your weight loss journey, you want to do everything possible to maintain as much lean muscle mass as you can!

Which actually brings me to the first thing no one tells you about losing weight…

Macros matter most.

I can feel the angry mob of calorie counters approaching who won’t listen a step further in this video…but hear me out….

Often people say it’s only about calories in vs calories out while saying you can’t build muscle and lose weight at the same time…

Which actually you can do.

But it is this calorie only focus that creates this issue and belief.

Adjusting your macros is key if you want to lose fat and not only retain lean muscle mass but BUILD it.

Focusing solely on a calorie deficit won’t do this and could lead to more muscle being lost in the weight loss process.

Macros are so key because higher protein diets are the only ones shown to help you not only retain but even GAIN muscle while in a deficit.

By keeping on more lean muscle as you slim down, you’ll promote more optimal hormone levels and even help keep your metabolic rate higher.

Muscle requires more energy to be maintained.

And this higher energy expenditure daily will make it easier to ultimately lose more fat!

This focus on retaining lean muscle while trying to lose fat is even more key as we get older because it becomes harder to build and retain lean muscle, which leads to more metabolic adaptations with age.

And creating an extreme deficit to lose weight quicker as we get older only puts us at greater risk to lose even more muscle!

So if you want to see the best results, you want to focus on those macros to fuel your training and even help yourself gain muscle as you lose fat.

Focusing on hitting that high protein tipping point, consuming 30% of your calories from protein, can help you see better fat loss results while even building muscle through a strategically created deficit based on your macro breakdown.

The second thing no one tells you about losing weight is something none of us really want to admit…because it stinks.

I mean, who wants to be PATIENT!?

But we need to realize that results will take longer the longer we’ve been at our current weight.

Think about how long it took for you to get into your current position.

Think about how long you haven’t been at your goal…

Often when we are considering how quickly results happen, we think about the diet we are using or the workouts we are doing.

But we never consider how much our body will fight us to maintain the balance of where it is at currently.

Our body doesn’t like change.

It feels threatened with change. It’s part of how it protects us to survive.

So the longer you’ve had the weight on, the farther you are from your goal, the longer it will probably take for you to get there.

Especially if it means hitting a new level of leanness you’ve never achieved before.

So while you may look at your friend who gained 15 pounds just like you and want your results to happen just as fast, if you’ve had the weight on for a year and they just gained it during the holidays, it is probably going to come off much more quickly for them!

When mapping out your plan, realize that gaining the weight took 10 months so you’re probably not going to see it just all melt off in 10 weeks.

Recognizing this helps give us perspective when we feel like changes aren’t happening fast enough!

The third thing no one tells you is that repeatable habits should be your focus over doing more.

When we want to lose weight, we do turn to making habit changes…but often we make massive overhauls to our current lifestyle and habits.

Our focus is on what will get us results FASTEST.

Not what habits can I actually REPEAT day in and day out.

Now this doesn’t mean every habit change will feel easy. Most won’t actually feel sustainable to start.

And they won’t be fun.

Tracking your food is not fun.

Doing the mobility work when you’re in a rush and just want to get to the meat of your workout isn’t fun.

BUT it can be repeatable if you break things down to meet yourself where you are at.

When making changes to lose weight, start with easy to repeat habits.

Focus on those small daily changes over doing more.

This allows you to build instead of overwhelming yourself so that you give up when you just simply run out of willpower and self control.

These repeatable habits are what lead to DISCIPLINE.

So as much as these may feel small, they may feel even less than “ideal” they will allow you to get consistent.

And what we do consistently we get good at.

If we consistently do habits that make us gain weight, we will.

If we consistently do habits that help us lose, we will.

So focus on repeatable habits that can help you build a lifestyle and see those results snowball.

The fourth thing no one tells you, that it is key we recognize to avoid sabotaging ourselves and giving up when results are snowballing…

Is that you’ll often feel like the areas you want to change are the LAST to change.

And even at points as you’ve made progress losing weight, they look WORSE!

Stubborn areas are stubborn for a reason.

They often contain more of the stubborn type of fat cell and have less blood flow.

They are often the places we gain first so will be the LAST we will lose from.

We may see all of these other areas trimming down, but not see any changes really to start from the places we care about.

Not only is this frustrating but slimming down in some places and not others can make the areas we want to change stand out even more.

But don’t give up.

Giving up is what keeps you from finally losing from those stubborn body parts.

Often it is pushing through and just sticking with those same old boring habits, not jumping ship in favor of some fad diet, that will finally add up.

And if you are struggling with those stubborn areas and want to learn more about what makes stubborn areas so stubborn, check out my How To Lose Stubborn Fat Video with 3 tips.

Now…The 5th and final thing no one tells you about losing weight is…

What you did to lose the weight will NOT be what you do to maintain it.

Honestly because the dieting industry is built off of us regaining the weight we’ve lost…

A new fast fix is easier to sell you than maintenance

Maintenance isn’t sexy so it’s never discussed

But maintaining your weight loss is a learned process with its own unique challenges.

And one of those challenges is actually being ok with a very small increase on the scale as you shift your body and habits from weight loss mode to maintaining mode.

You can’t just keep repeating what you did to lose and stay in a deficit forever, yet you also can’t go back to old habits.

You’ve got to slowly make adjustments to your macros and calories to increase them to a maintenance level while potentially returning to a more even macro split.

We have to remember our body, needs and goals are constantly evolving which means our diet and workout habits can’t just stay stagnant.

(At the end I’ve linked out to more free resources!)

If you’ve been only focused on losing weight fast, it’s time to change your approach. Losing weight quickly doesn’t always mean losing fat, and extreme approaches can be harmful.

By focusing on healthy habits, you can achieve lasting results that don’t have to feel overly restrictive.

More Free Resources:

–> 5 Tips To Maintain Your Results

–> 3 Step Fat loss Recipe

10 Tips To Increase Your Push Ups (In 7 MINUTES)

by Cori Lefkowith | Apr 2, 2023 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Push Ups

Are push ups your arch nemesis?

Do you struggle to do even one?

Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

In this video I’ll share 10 tips to help you improve your push ups fast and be able to perform them flawlessly by addressing the common form issues and weak links we all tend to have!

Tip #1 is Regress to progress.

Sometimes you have to take that step back to truly improve.

Often we just keep trying a variation we haven’t earned yet and wonder why things aren’t progressing.

And it’s because we keep cheating or compensating to do a harder variation than we can control.

This can not only lead to injury but often keep us stuck.

Proper form, using the correct muscles to power the movement, is what makes us efficient with an exercise. And this efficiency is what strength truly is.

You can’t be efficient with a move you aren’t doing properly!

So if you’ve stalled, try modifying the move even just one step backward, off an incline instead of the ground, to refocus on what you feel working and make sure everything is engaging correctly in the correct order.

Get the correct muscles working. While it stinks to step back, this can help propel you forward!

Tip #2: Run through a set up checklist.

How often do you do a move and simply…well…do it?!

We don’t consider how we are positioning each part of our body or run through what we need to engage and how it needs to be engaged to do the move.

While we want this process of engagement to become natural, when first starting out is key we run through a checklist to make sure we have everything ready to work as it should!

So as you set up for the push up, run through a checklist of what you often struggle to engage to make sure you’ve set yourself up to move well from the start. Don’t just rush through hoping to mimic the movement.

A great set up checklist for overall form may be…

#1: Set your hands outside your chest and spread your fingers to drive down hard into the ground.

#2: Engage your back to unshrug your shoulders.

#3: Brace your abs, even squeezing your glutes to do a slight posterior pelvic tilt.

#4: Drive back through your heels as you flex your quads.

This sequence helps you make sure you’ve put yourself in a position to have the correct muscles engaged from the start of the movement.

Tip #3 is Drive back through your heels.

Often we think about the push up as an upper body or even a core move. But our lower body needs to be engaged correctly if we want to be efficient with the movement.

If we push ourselves forward over driving back, we can actually overload our upper body more.

And we can make it harder on ourselves for our body to move as one unit.

Instead, as you set up for the push up, drive back through your heels and feel your quads flex.

This will help you maintain proper plank alignment as you lower down.

It can help you avoid your butt going up in the air or shifting backward or forward.

It can even help you avoid those hips sagging because of the tension you’ve already set up through your legs!

Tip #4 is Set up at the bottom.

If you struggle with that press back up in a push up, it’s key you target that engagement from a dead stop.

A great way to do this is to actually set up at the bottom of your push up, whether you’re using an incline or doing these off the ground.

Just realize this is HARDER than lowering down because everything has to be fully engaged to press correctly BEFORE you even move. So don’t hesitate to modify starting out with this.

But set up at the bottom of the push up, run through your checklist to make sure everything is engaged, take a big breath in and then focus on that solid push up to the top as you exhale.

Too often we just work on moves top down, but that bottom up work can be so key especially if we do struggle with that transition from lowering down to pressing back up in a push up.

Tip #5 is Practice stick point holds.

Often there is a part of the push up we struggle with the most.

It could be maintaining a straight plank position at the bottom or in that push about half way up…

By using some push up holds in even our warm up activation work or as a burner to end our workout, we can build our strength endurance by HOLDING in these positions we struggle with.

You can not only cycle through these positions in a single interval, pausing in a spot for 5-10 seconds, but you can also do single longer holds just setting up directly at your stick point!

As you hold, run through how you feel everything working and your set up to really ingrain that positioning and recruit those muscles efficiently!

Tip #6 is Use a band.

While I love incline push ups to help build up, the more variations of a move we can include, the more we can help ourselves really learn to engage everything correctly.

Sometimes with incline or knee push ups, we can feel like we are getting stronger, yet still be slightly stuck.

The band is a great way to reduce tension on your upper body but work through that full range of motion off the ground.

It can also be a great way to increase your strength endurance if you’re stuck only able to do a few reps off the ground currently.

To do this, set up a band at about elbow height in a rig and position yourself in the push up with the band under your chest.

You can set the band up higher if you do need more assistance or have a higher stick point.

Then lower down performing the push up. As you get deeper in the lower down, the band will take away some of the load on your upper body and even add assistance as you push back up!

Tip #7 is Focus on pushing the ground away.

If you think about just lifting your body up, this often leads to our butt going up or some other version of the worm happening.

We lose tension on our foundation and a focus on the true movement pattern we are performing.

If you think about a bench press, your focus is on pressing the weights up.

You want that same focus in a push up to best activate your chest, shoulders and triceps.

With the push up, focus on pushing the ground away with your hands.

This can help you avoid your elbows flaring way up into a T shape with your body.

And it can help you remember to focus on powering that press with your upper body!

That tension down into the ground will truly better activate your pecs, shoulders and triceps!

Tip #8 is Include activation work in your warm up for your BACK.

Proper scapular control makes for a more powerful press.

If you want to protect your shoulders, neck and elbows as you work to improve your push ups, you want to make sure you include scapular mobility and activation work in your warm up routine.

If we are able to properly move our shoulder blades, we are better able to use our chest effectively in the push up as well.

In your warm up consider even a scapular wall hold as part of your activation series. This will open up your chest and engage your back, pulling your shoulder blades toward your spine.

It is a great way to make sure your back is ready to work and support those shoulders throughout the push up movement!

(It’s also a great move to improve your posture if you’re doing extra pressing).

Tip #9 is Use cluster sets.

If you want to be able to do more push ups in a row, you have to do more push ups in a row to build up that strength endurance.

Instead of modifying over rounds, consider designing your push up work as cluster sets.

Set a total number of reps for the round, say even the goal is 6.

And break it down into sets of what you can do well, even if that is just 2. Do 2 reps and rest 15-30 seconds then do 2 more. Do this pattern, even performing singles if needed to hit 6 then rest for longer between rounds.

This way you are still hitting your desired number of reps BUT in a way you can do each rep with the most challenging variation and proper form.

By resting for so short, you don’t let your body fully recover which can so to speak trick it into believing you’re able to do 6 in a row. You will see your strength endurance and push up reps increase quickly implementing this technique!

Tip #10 is Include anti-extension core work.

The push up is basically a moving plank.

And while planks are a great move to include, they can also get a bit boring, especially if you’re just doing the basic front plank.

So if you want to mix up your core work in a way that will really help your push ups, consider other anti-extension core exercises as part of a finisher to your workout.

It may be simply including a bird dog version of that front plank or even a dead bug variation that helps.

Anti-extension exercises are ones that make your abs work to avoid arching of your lower back, which will help you avoid your hips sagging in push ups!

You may even include an anti-extension move in your warm up to get your core ready to work and establish that mind-body connection prior to your push ups.

Just make sure you’re not doing too much to fatigue it prior.

Remember, the key to success is consistency and practice. So, make sure to incorporate these tips into your workout routine and track your progress over time.

–> More Push Up Tips – Use Your Back

9 BEST Exercises for AMAZING Mobility

by Cori Lefkowith | Mar 26, 2023 | Blog, Exercises, Foam Rolling, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief, Warm Up

Aches and pains add up as we get older. But it’s not our age we should blame.

We instead need to assess our previous injuries and the rehab we did.

As well as the PREHAB we are currently doing.

Because we can never stop doing what makes us better.

Use it or lose it.

Hey guys, it’s Cori from Redefining Strength where we help you move, feel and look your best at any and every age.

Maintaining our mobility means constantly working on our mobility.

But it doesn’t have to mean stretching for hours or full recovery sessions each and every day.

Even 10 minutes as our warm up can really add up AND even help us get more out of our training sessions.

That’s why I want to share 9 moves that address not only commonly tight muscles but also help improve your joint mobility and stability.

These moves cover the full 3-part prehab process of foam rolling, stretching and activation.

This process is so key because the foam rolling helps start to relax tight and overactive muscles so you can then stretch to restore muscles to their proper length tension relationships while mobilizing those joints before you include activation exercises to engage underactive muscles and improve your mind-body connection.

And at the end of this video I’ll share a quick mobility series combining all 9 moves!

So let’s start with 3 amazing foam rolling moves.

First up is Peroneal Foam Rolling.

Your feet and ankles are your foundation. Immobility there can lead to movement compensations up your body.

And that ankle-butt connection is so key.

It’s why we need to address any previous ankle injuries or we may end up with hip, lower back or SI joint aches and pains.

That is why Peroneal Foam Rolling is often an important move to include.

To do this move, a ball works best. Place it on the ground and then relax your leg open so that the outside of your shin is pressed into the ball. Press down into your leg as you start the ball in the top part of the outside of your lower leg.

Circle your foot to create tension and relax it as you press into the ball and breathe.

Then move the ball down to another spot along the outside of your leg and repeat.

Move #2: TFL Foam Rolling

Hip pain, lower back pain, IT Band and even knee issues seem to add up more and more as we get older.

That’s why often we want to focus on our hip mobility and foam rolling our TFL or tensor fasciae latae.

This hip flexor muscle can not only hinder our glute medius from firing correctly, which can lead to hip stability issues, but it can create tension through our IT Band which can even create ankle aches and pains.

To roll out your TFL, a ball works best. The larger or softer the ball, the less it will dig in and if a ball is too much pressure you can start with a roller.

To locate your TFL, lie on your back and place your hands at the side of your pelvis toward your hip bones and then rotate your foot inward. You should feel your TFL flex (this also shows you the far reaching connection this muscle has).

Then move to your side, placing a ball below that muscle and relax over the ball.

Breathe as you hold. You can lift and lower your leg to tense and relax the muscle to help it release.

Move #3: Chest Foam Rolling

Finding after years of hunching over your computer, your posture has become more slouched?

Upper back, neck or shoulders tight and achy?

Then you don’t want to ignore relaxing those pecs!

Tight chest muscles can perpetuate that rounded posture and even restrict your scapular movement, or the movement of your shoulder blades, which not only perpetuates the hunched look but also can lead to neck, shoulder and upper back aches and pains.

While we may feel like there are always trigger points in our upper back, part of that may be due to muscles being overstretched because of our pecs being tight!

To roll out your chest, a ball in a doorway is often most comfortable and easiest to control.

Stand with the ball right inside that shoulder joint under your collarbone and press your chest into the ball in the doors edge. Using a doorway allows you to reach that same arm up in front of you as you hold and apply pressure.

Reach your arm up overhead as you breathe and hold on the spot. You can also move your arm open to the side to stretch and relax.

Then adjust the ball, working down toward your armpit or even toward your sternum.

BUT be careful as you move away from the meatier part of the muscle.

You do want to be gentle as you work along the pec toward your sternum.

You can spend 90% of your focus around that shoulder joint where you will even hit that pec minor!

After foam rolling, you will want to include some stretching.

Especially if you are stretching prior to your workout, you want to include moves that will help you warm up and begin to mobilize those joints, working to improve your range of motion.

The next move we’ll look at is the Ankle Mobility And Groin Stretch.

This is a great move to start working on your ankle dorsiflexion of the ability to draw your toes up toward your shin.

Especially if you’ve worn heels for decades or been an endurance athlete, you don’t want to ignore this amazing ankle stretch!

This is key if you want an efficient running gait or to be able to squat lower without hip or knee pain!

This move will also address your adductor flexibility and help you start to engage those glutes to stabilize your hips.

To do this stretch, set up half kneeling on the ground and move that front foot so it is in line with your back knee and facing perpendicular to that back leg, pointing out.

You want your knee to be in front of your ankle, although you can adjust the position based on your ankle mobility.

Squeeze that front glute to pull the knee open and in line. Then shift your weight to drive that knee forward over that toe without letting your heel lift. Then press back.

Do not rotate toward that leg as you shift laterally.

If this is too much pressure, move your knee back to be in line with your ankle.

Or if you can’t kneel, try standing instead while still focusing on that shift to drive the knee past your toe.

Move #5: Bench Hip Stretch

Lower back, hip and knee pain is something so many of us will experience in life and it is often due to hip flexor tightness and a lack of glute activation.

This hip flexor stretch allows you to focus on activating your glutes to stretch your hips while addressing each side independently.

And by lying on the bench, you help yourself avoid arching your lower back to compensate instead of actually stretching out and mobilizing those hips!

If you don’t have a bench you can do this off a couch, coffee table or even your bed!

To do this stretch, lie back on a bench with the bottom of your butt right at the edge and one leg hanging down toward the ground. This knee will be bent to about 90 degrees.

Bend the other knee and hug it in slightly toward your chest.

Holding that knee in, tuck the other knee up toward your chest, then focus on engaging your glutes to drive that heel back down toward the ground as you extend the leg back down. Feel your butt even kind of lift you a bit on the bench as you extend that hip and feel the stretch.

Pause then tuck the knee back in and repeat.

Move #6: Active Foam Roller Star Stretch

A lack of thoracic mobility as we get older can lead to that humped back posture that non of us want.

And it can also lead to neck, shoulder, upper back and even LOWER back aches and pains.

For instance, a lack of proper thoracic extension can lead to shoulder pain when overhead pressing or us even arching our lower backs to compensate and seek out mobility since we can’t properly extend our mid and upper backs!

This star stretch variation is a great way to really isolate and mobilize our thoracic spine as it is even easy to cheat in other spinal stretches and get mobility from other areas.

To do this stretch, a roller works best although you can put a yoga block or even books to hold your knee on to help isolate your thoracic spine.

Bend your hip to about 90 degrees and place your bent knee on the foam roller to the other side of your body. Pull your knee across your body and press your opposite hand down into your knee to help stabilize.

Put your other hand behind your head. Touch that elbow in front of your face, across your body.

Then, pulling with your back, open that elbow up and open and down toward the ground, opening your chest up toward the ceiling.

Make sure you aren’t just flapping your arm but twisting through your spine. Exhale as you try to relax the back of your shoulder toward the ground then rotate closed and repeat.

Move slowly and really focus on your chest stretching as you engage your back to twist open. Don’t let your knee come up off the roller or block.

After you’ve done your stretching, you then want to focus on activation exercises to establish that mind-body connection and really engage those muscles to feel them working.

Move #7: Single Arm Scapular Push Ups

Scapular control is key if we want to avoid neck, shoulder, upper back and even elbow aches and pains.

It is also key if we want to lift more or achieve that first full pull up!

And being able to truly isolate and control each shoulder blade is key, especially if we’ve had previous injuries that may make us compensate and end up overusing the other side.

This move will really help you focus on that scapular retraction with a very isolated exercise that takes out elbow flexion.

To do this activation move, set up facing a wall and place one hand on the wall at about shoulder height. Your arm will be straight and make sure you aren’t shrugging.

Then keeping your shoulders down and arm straight, but elbow not locked out, pinch your shoulder blade toward your spine.

Do not try to make the move bigger than it is and bend your elbows.

Draw the shoulder blade toward the spine, then push the wall away to draw the shoulder blade back forward.

Focus on this move being small and your upper back working.

Move #7: Side Plank Clams

Core work is key. Most of us even seek out ways to include more. Because our core is the link between our upper and lower bodies, it is key we keep it strong to properly transfer force and react quickly in every day life.

And moves like the side plank clam not only help us avoid spinal issues and back pain but also help improve our shoulder and hip stability.

This move will really target and activate your lats, obliques and glute medius.

To do this activation move, set up in a side plank position with your elbow under your shoulder and your knees bent and legs stacked.

Turn your top foot down in front of your bottom foot.

This internal rotation of your lower leg will help you better target that glute medius without your TFL taking over.

Then as you lift up into the side plank, open that top knee up toward the ceiling. Press your hips forward as you lift and feel your obliques also working to drive that bottom hip up.

Make sure to engage your upper back to support your shoulder.

Do not rotate open with this move, but almost try to stop the leg opening up wider with the side of your butt. Feel your bottom glute medius also working to lift you into the side plank.

Then lower the top leg down as you come back close to the ground and repeat. You can fully lower down but try not to just slump out of the move but maintain some tension.

To modify, you can put your elbow up on a stair or block for a slight incline.

Because the clam itself is an often misused move, I will below to a video with more tips to optimize this exercise, especially if you struggle to activate your glute medius!

Overrated Glute Move: https://youtu.be/6xx-H057YY4

Move #9: Single Leg Reverse Hypers

So many of us struggle to properly engage our glutes, which results in lower back, hip and knee pain…not to mention even ankle issues and injures.

And often, because we aren’t able to engage our glutes optimally, we compensate and rely on our hamstrings.

When our hamstrings start to take over, we can end up with hamstring pulls and strains not to mention perpetuate our back and knee pain.

That’s why moves like the reverse hyper, where we can isolate our glutes and learn to engage them FIRST, are key to include. And doing a single leg version helps you address both side independently.

To do this activation move, lie face down on the ground and relax your chin or forehead into your hands. Bend one knee to about 90 degrees with the heel up toward the ceiling.

Drive that heel up as you press your pelvis down into the ground. Feel your glute lift your quad up as you hyperextend your hip.

Do not arch your lower back or use it to lift and keep your hamstring relaxed, even relaxing your foot if needed.

Focus on your glute lifting and then stopping the move. Pause at the top and lower down.

This isn’t a big move so don’t try to cheat and make it bigger.

Because this move is deceptively challenging if your hamstrings want to compensate, I will link to a video below with more tips and common mistakes.

Underrated Glute Move: https://youtu.be/oiECA2118GI

Bonus Tip:

Now….How can you include these 9 moves in a quick series?

Set a timer for 30 seconds and perform one round through the series. If you’re really focusing on doing this as a warm up, you may consider two rounds through the last 3 activation moves only.

SERIES:
30 seconds per side Peroneal Foam Rolling
30 seconds per side TFL Foam Rolling
30 seconds per side Chest Foam Rolling
30 seconds per side Ankle Mobility And Groin Stretch
30 seconds per side Bench Hip Stretch
30 seconds per side Active Foam Roller Star Stretch
30 seconds per side Side Plank Clams
30 seconds per side Single Arm Scapular Push Ups
30 seconds per side Single Leg Reverse Hypers

For more mobility moves and more on the full 3-part prehab process, check out this video with a full body fix next…

–> The Perfect Mobility Routine (FULL BODY)

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

by Cori Lefkowith | 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

How To Build Strength At Any Age (4 TIPS!)

by Cori Lefkowith | Mar 6, 2023 | Blog, Exercises, Functional Fitness

Being strong can mean so many different things. And our strength goals change as we get older. Our priorities can shift.

But if you’re looking for the best way to build strength as you get older so you can move, feel and look your best then this video and the 3 tips I’ll go over are key.

At the end of the video, I’ll also share one of my favorite ways of loading down moves to improve your stability, balance and core strength!

Hey guys it’s Cori from Redefining Strength where we help you feel, look and move your best at any and every age.

While we may want to increase our deadlift weights, learn to rep out those pull ups or master specific movements, building strength as we get older is also about maintaining our mobility and being able to conquer any challenges life throws at us.

We want to be able to vacation and hike, kayak, paddle board or enjoy the activities we love.

We want to avoid aches and pains and feel and move our best while also looking fabulous.

That’s why I wanted to share the best way to build strength at any age and 3 tips to help you improve your workouts.

At the end of the video I’ll also talk about an underutilized way of increasing the resistance you use on moves to improve your stability, balance and core strength!

When we’re working to build strength, often we get focused on lifting heavier. Or doing a harder variation.

But we have to remember that strength comes from the ability to recruit the correct muscles at the correct times in the correct order to the correct extent.

You can lift more because you’re able to recruit muscles faster and more efficiently.

It’s why if you want to build strength at any age, you can’t ignore the importance of improving your mind-body connection.

And especially as we get older, often we see our balance decline and reactions slow because our mind-body connection isn’t as strong.

It’s why we need to be intentional with our training and focus on what we feel working.

It’s why it is key, during our workouts, we constantly ask ourselves, “What do I feel working?”

Because what we feel involved in the movement is what is benefiting from the exercise.

If you perform a deadlift and only feel your lower back, you won’t see the results from that hip hinge movement that you want.

You may even end up with lower back aches and pains.

It’s why you need to constantly assess what muscles are powering the movements to modify the exercises, change your cues and form or even try a different variation until you can make sure you’re recruiting the correct muscles.

Because no matter how amazing the move supposedly is, you won’t get the benefits and strengthen the muscles you want to strengthen if you don’t feel them working.

Strength isn’t built by performing an exercise while mimicking proper form – it’s built by using the correct muscles to do the movement.

If you focus on improving your mind-body connection so you can feel the correct muscles working, you’ll ultimately get stronger and be able to lift more and tackle those harder exercise variations while putting yourself at less risk for injury!

As you focus on what you feel working during exercises, earning those harder variations as you go, you want to dial in your training implementing these tips….

Tip #1: Focus on unilateral moves.

Unilateral or one sided moves can be awkward.

They can be uncomfortable.

They can make us feel off balance and force us to use lighter weights than we could lift with a bilateral or two-sided variation.

But they truly are essential if we want to stay functionally strong as we get older.

They help improve our balance, stability and core strength.

Unilateral moves also isolate each side to help us correct imbalances to be able to lift more while avoiding future injury.

While ideally we’d never be injured the simple fact is that often, as we get older, injuries and aches and pains tend to add up.

Because of these previous injuries, and just the fact that in everyday life we tend to have a dominant side we favor, we often have strength imbalances between both sides.

Including unilateral moves can not only help us correct these imbalances, but they can prevent our stronger side from taking over and working harder.

This can lead to us ultimately seeing gains even in those bilateral lifts because each side is pulling its weight!

So include variations like the single arm bench press or a single leg squat to bench even.

They will challenge your body in new ways to improve your mind-body connection and help you build that functional strength you need to take on any challenge that comes your way as you get older!

They can even help you improve your mobility by allowing you to truly strengthen through a full range of motion!

Tip #2: Move in every direction.

Staying functionally strong and mobile means moving in every direction. We need to learn how to control all of the joint actions our body can perform.

That’s why it is key we include anti-rotational but also rotational moves.

It’s also why it is key we include pushing, pulling, hinging and squatting movements that address the different planes of motion.

For example, consider the lunge.

So often we just lunge forward or backward.

We progress the move by adding loads or by increasing the range of motion.

But there are so many other angles we can lunge in to improve our hip and knee stability, not to mention target different muscles to different extents.

The side lunge is a great way to target your glutes and adductors more.

The curtsy lunge can be a great lunge variation to work your glutes more.

While the front angled lunge can be a great way to target your quads and adductors to a greater extent.

And lunging in all of these different directions can help you keep your legs strong and knees and hips healthy.

If you do have previous knee issues, you can do many of these lunges still by lunging shorter or by reducing active knee flexion as you do the other mobility work you need.

But moving in every direction to strengthen muscles using all of the joint actions they control is so key to staying strong as we get older!

Tip #3: Focus on compound movements, especially ones that challenge your coordination.

As we get older we tend to want to shy away from uncomfortable and more complicated movements.

But challenging our coordination keeps not only our body but also our mind strong.

So including compound and hybrid movements that challenge our coordination improves our mind-body connection to help us build strength.

I’ve had many clients get frustrated by the bodyweight sit thru. It’s an awkward movement pattern many of us haven’t done before.

But by learning to control this rotational move, they improve their rotational core strength as well as their shoulder and hip stability.

And by learning to perform this new movement pattern, they improve their ability to recruit muscles quickly in a new way.

The more we are able to call on whatever muscles we need whenever we need them the stronger we will be. And the more able to tackle new challenges and avoid falls and injury.

So that climber push up or deadlift to row exercise you’ve been avoiding, stop avoiding it.

You may have to modify. You may have to reset or correct yourself. But by conquering this new challenge you’ll ultimately build strength.

Progression doesn’t just come through adding loads.

The challenge of new movement patterns and combinations pays off!

The final tip, and a great way to add loads and build functional strength while creating instability and an anti-rotational core challenge is with offset weights or offset loading.

With offset loading you will use a weight that has a heavier load on one side.

This may mean using two dumbbells of different weights or even a barbell loaded unevenly.

You will want to start light with this as it is deceptively hard.

But you will use the uneven load to challenge your body to fight against wanting to rotate or lean because of the difference in loads.

This is super key as often, in every day life, we are carrying awkward objects or things that are a different weight on each side.

And with this offset loading, remember you can even change the loading placement.

Often we get very used to just loading in one way, like with dumbbells held down by our sides.

But you can also hold dumbbells up at your shoulders or even front load with kettlebells.

So include not only uneven loads to challenge your stability and strength but also vary up your loading placement to target and include even different muscles in your basic exercises.

Building strength, especially as we get older, is about focusing on that mind-body connection, addressing imbalances to improve our balance and stability while challenging our body to not only lift heavier but move in every direction.

Using these 3 tips you can improve your strength gains from your workouts at any age.

And if you’re looking to not only increase your strength but also build muscle as you get older, check out my How to Build Muscle At Any Age (7 TIPS!) next!

–> How to Build Muscle At Any Age (7 TIPS!)