If we want to move well, we need to be intentional with our training. We need to do things to restore proper joint range of motion, flexibility and even stability.
We can just constantly smash our bodies into the ground and expect not to get injured.
That’s why it is key at points we not only regress to progress but focus on getting the correct muscles working while addressing postural distortions, limitations caused by previous injuries and even areas of immobility from our repetitive jobs and often sedentary lifestyles.
That’s why we need to include mobility work in our daily routine, even simply as part of our warm up before our workouts – whether we are lifting, doing interval training, running or cycling.
Our warm ups should include a 3-Part Prehab Process of Foam Rolling, Stretching and Activation.
This way we can relax overactive muscles, improve our joint range of motion and activate underactive muscles to be able to move better and use the correct muscles more efficiently when we train.
This can not only help us avoid compensations, overload and injury but even help us get better benefits from our actual training sessions.
So what are 5 amazing mobility moves you can do every day?
5 Amazing Mobility Moves To Do Every Day:
Move #1: Foam Roller Snow Angels
We spend so much time hunched over a computer, driving in the car or texting on our phones.
Not to mention neck and shoulder pain are an all too common complaint.
That’s why it’s key we work on reversing the constant forward flexion and stretch out our chests while improving our shoulder mobility.
The Foam Roller Snow Angels are a great way to do that!
This is a great move to use even before bed to relax after a long day.
To do the Foam Roller Snow Angels, lie on a roller with it straight down your spine and your head supported.
Let your arms fall open and swing them up overhead into a Y position. Feel a nice stretch through your chest.
Then slowly sweep them own and out to your sides and down toward you feet. Hold in any place and relax the backs of your hands toward the ground to feel a nice stretch.
Even actively engage your back to stretch your chest as you sweep your arms down toward your feet and back overhead.
Move #2: Teres Minor Foam Rolling
Rotator cuff injuries are an all too common issue.
And one rotator cuff muscle that can often become overworked and lead to shoulder pain is the Teres Minor. Trigger points in this muscle can lead to shoulder pain and even referred pain down your arm.
Especially if you are working to improve your shoulder mobility, or planning an upper body workout, it can be key to roll out this muscle prior to help prevent it from compensating during your training.
To roll out your Teres Minor, a ball works best. You are basically going to be rolling out the back of your armpit as you reach your hand overhead on the ground. You want to be able to relax into the ball so make sure you aren’t holding up your weight with that arm.
You can do this against a wall to reduce the pressure if needed, reaching your arm overhead.
As you hold, breathe into it. You aren’t rolling quickly. You can move your arm down and back overhead as you hold.
Move #3: Superman Wave
Activate the muscles of your backside with this amazing move. The Superman Wave is a great move to improve your shoulder and scapular mobility and stability as well as your thoracic extension. It is even a great glute activation move that works to improve your hip hyperextension.
The key is correctly working to extend your thoracic spine as you engage your glutes to NOT overload your lower back.
Too often when we do moves like this or the basic superman, we try to rely only on our lower back. But we want to make sure muscles, like our glutes, are doing the work they should to actually prevent our lower back from becoming overworked.
If you’ve been doing the basic superman, take the move to the next level and garner even more shoulder and scapular benefits by adding in the wave.
To do this move, set up as if doing the basic superman. As you lift your chest and quads up off the ground, focus on using your glutes to lift as you extend your mid back. Do not rely on your lower back.
Squeezing your glutes to lift your legs, feel your upper back working to lift your arms. Holding this superman position, sweep one arm out to the side and down. Then bring it back overhead and switch to sweep your arm down on the other side.
Keep everything engaged to stabilize and hold yourself up as you feel that scapular movement as you sweep your arm.
Feel the backs of your shoulders working as well as your entire upper back. Remember to also feel those glutes working to extend your hips over relying on your lower back!
Beginners may modify if they feel their lower back taking over by keeping their legs down.
This is a great move to use as part of your activation in your warm up routine after you foam roll and stretch.
Move #4: Posterior Adductor Rolling
When you’ve attempted to do glute moves, have you ever felt that area under your butt and toward your groin working instead?
Or do you constantly have piriformis issues you can’t seem to clear up?
You may need to pay attention to those posterior fibers of your adductor magnus.
When we think of our adductors, we think of movements where we are adducting (or drawing our legs together). And we may even think of hip flexion since they do contribute to that joint action.
That is, except for the posterior fibers of the adductor Magnus which can contribute to external rotation and hip extension on top of adduction.
This puts these muscle fibers in a unique position to become overworked if our glute maximus and medius are underactive.
So to help yourself better activate your glutes, try rolling this muscle before your activation moves.
To do the posterior adductor foam rolling, a ball works best up on a bench or box. Place the ball toward your groin under your butt. And sit on the ball. Hold and breathe, don’t roll quickly.
You can also extend your leg out and then relax your leg to help the muscle relax and release as you hold.
You can do this on a roller or off the ground, you just won’t be able to apply as much pressure. This is good if you find you can’t fully relax when sitting on the ball. You do not want to tense against the pressure.
Move #5: Mini Band Glute Bridge with Abduction
Activate your glute maximus and medius with this one amazing bridge variation. Bridging is a great way to isolate those glutes and work to improve your hip mobility and stability.
By adding the band and abduction, you help activate your glute medius better to improve your hip stability. And it can also help you activate your glute max better to prevent your hamstrings from compensating.
If you have lower back, hip or even knee pain, this is a must-do warm up move to include before your lower body lifting sessions, runs or rides.
To do the Mini Band Glute Bridge with Abduction, place a mini band around your legs above your knees. Lie on your back and place your feet together on the ground, just beyond your fingertips when your arms are down by your sides.
Bend your elbows and press your upper arms into the ground. Your legs should be together as you even create tension through your upper body.
Perform a posterior pelvic tilt, pressing your lower back into the ground as you tuck your hips toward your ribs.
Bridge up, driving your knees toward your toes. At the top of the bridge, press your knees open against the band.
Press open to feel the sides of your butt working then bring your legs back together and lower down. Do not let the band pull you.
Bridge back up. Make sure not to arch your lower back but focus on your glutes driving the hip extension. And really feel your glute medius working to press your knees open against the band.
SUMMARY:
Using these 5 moves you can work to improve your mobility and stability from head to toe.
They are great moves to use even as part of your warm up or as a separate prehab routine.
You can even include them as a series, performing even a single round through, working for 30 seconds per move or side.
What if I told you the solution was NOT to stretch them more…?
What if stretching them, while it may provide TEMPORARY relief is only making the problem WORSE!?
The best way to think about your hamstrings is like a rubber band.
When a rubber band is just hanging there it isn’t tight. But when you pull it out long, it becomes super tight and taut.
That rubber band becomes tight feeling because it is stretched out.
This is exactly the same reason your hamstrings feel tight. And it is exactly why more stretching is NOT the answer!
Your hamstrings feels tight because they are already pulled long.
So instead of stretching them out further, we need to address the postural distortions and muscular imbalances that cause our hamstrings to be overstretched, such as Anterior Pelvic Tilt and tight hip flexors.
We need to focus on returning our hamstring to their optimal length through addressing muscular imbalances and stability issues.
This often means we need to address hip flexor tightness and glute underactivity. It may even mean addressing lat tightness as well because of the impact our lats can have on our lumbo-pelvic-hip complex functioning through our thoracolumbar fascia.
This means that instead of spending a ton of time stretching our hamstrings we actually need to be doing the following things…
Foam Rolling Hip Flexors And Lats
Stretching Hip Flexors And Lats
Activating Our Glutes And Abs
But First…What Is Anterior Pelvic Tilt?
Anterior pelvic tilt is the “Donald Duck” posture – an overarched back and butt sticking out.
(Or in maybe little Miss RS Badass Duck…who’s going to be working on her APT hehe?
This anterior tilting of our pelvis is what over stretches the hamstrings and can make them feel tight.
The muscles that are ACTUALLY being shortened by this posture are our hip flexors. Which means our hip flexors, and not our hamstrings, need the flexibility work.
It also means that our glutes and abs need to be strengthened and activated to improve the stability of our hip complex to also help our hamstrings feel less tight and even prevent them from becoming synergistically dominant and overused (overuse of a muscle can lead to injury!).
While it’s key we recognize that each of us WILL have slightly different natural postures, and we shouldn’t “freak out” over fitting one ideal, we want to watch for overarching of the lower back, or excessive lordosis, ESPECIALLY if we struggle with lower back, SI Joint, hip, or knee pain or hamstring tightness and strains.
This posture changes our natural proper recruitment patterns during moves EVEN if we perform the exercises with technically “correct” form.
What does this mean?
It means that while the moves may LOOK correct, if we actually THINK about what muscles we FEEL working, it wouldn’t be the muscles that SHOULD be working.
Our body will take the path of least resistance to do the exercise we ask it to do. This means that it will recruit whatever muscles it can to replicate a movement pattern – even if it means using muscles that really shouldn’t be working that much.
And this is what leads to compensations, overuse and INJURY.
So we need to address our overall posture over focusing on just the single muscle that “feels” tight.
And we need to do this by:
Foam rolling overactive muscles.
Stretching shortened tight muscles (using dynamic stretching to even help restore proper joint range of motion).
Activating underactive muscles that may not be firing and working as efficiently or effectively as they should be.
Loosen Up Tight Hip Flexors – Foam Rolling And Stretching Moves
The first step in addressing excessive anterior pelvic tilt is to loosen up short and overactive hip flexors.
If your hip flexors are tight and shortened, they tilt your pelvis forward which then pulls the hamstrings longer. This is why your hamstrings “feel” tight even if they aren’t in need of stretching.
The first step in addressing tight hip flexors is foam rolling.
Foam rolling helps inhibit the communication between the muscle you’re rolling and your brain. It helps “relax” the muscle so you aren’t necessarily as quick to recruit it during other moves. And it then allows you to better stretch and improve your flexibility and mobility.
Basically, foam rolling can help you improve your ROM or range of motion.
There has been some “debate” about the benefits of foam rolling. And as a standalone exercise, the effects are short lived.
You NEED to then stretch the tight muscles and activate underactive muscles if you want the benefits to last. This is just the first step in improving your posture and mind-body connection!
Then after you foam roll your hip flexors, you need to stretch them. Depending on when you are doing the mobility work, you may use dynamic or static stretching.
Dynamic stretches are stretches where you move through a range of motion whereas static stretches are stretches you hold in one position.
Especially prior to your workouts, focus on dynamic stretches. They put the joint through a range of motion and also get your blood pumping.
Static stretches are better kept to cool downs as some studies have shown them to negatively impact your strength and power during workouts.
Below are 5 moves to help you get started addressing hip flexor tightness.
5 Hip Flexor Foam Rolling And Stretching Moves:
1. Psoas Foam Rolling:
The psoas has become a very “popular” muscle in the fitness world.
And the one most often blamed for our hips being locked up. This muscle can become short and tight due to the fact many of us spend far too much time with our hips in flexion – seated in the car or at a desk. So it is key we start our mobility work by addressing it.
To roll out your Psoas, a big foam ball/posture ball works best. Place the ball in your abs above your hip to one side of your belly button.
Relax over the ball and lie face down on the ground. Breathe.
Then move the ball, working your way around the side of your lower abs between your belly button and hip. After you move the ball, relax completely back over it.
If you don’t have a larger ball, you can use a tennis ball; however, the tennis ball will dig in more. To use the tennis ball, you will also need some books or a yoga block. Place the ball up on the books or block and lie over it just like you would with the posture ball. Relax and breathe.
2. TFL Foam Rolling:
The TFL or Tensor Fasciae Latae is an all too often IGNORED hip muscle that can contribute to not only hip pain but even knee pain and IT Band Issues! It can also hinder our glute medius from activating and working as it should. It’s key we start by foam rolling and then stretching this muscle. It’s also important that during our activation moves, we do not let it compensate and try to take over!
To roll out your Hips/TFL, place a ball on the side of your hip just to the front of the fleshy part of your butt. Roll the ball around and hold on any tight spots.
If you find a tight spot, hold on that spot and lift and lower your leg up and down. By lifting and lower the leg, you are flexing and relaxing the muscle, which will help loosen everything up as you hold.
As you seek out tight spots in your hip, bring the ball around front and right to the side under your hip bone into your TFL (right in front of your IT Band).
Again hold on any tight spots and even flex and relax your leg to help dig in.
Move the ball under your hip bone and again hold on any tight spots.
You can work your way back out to the side of your hip as well if you found any sore or tight spots.
3. Rectus Femoris Foam Rolling:
There is one quad muscle that crosses both the hip and the knee – the Rectus Femoris.
And because of this muscles impact on both locations, it’s key we address that it may be tight and shortened, which means it may need to be rolled and stretched!
To roll out your rectus femoris a ball works best although you can use a roller. Place the tennis ball on the ground and lie on your belly supported on your forearms with the ball right in the middle of your thigh. You can start down toward the knee or higher up toward the hip, but you really want to focus right on that middle portion of your thigh.
Rock the leg gentle slightly side-to-side as you hold on the ball. You can even flex and relax your quad as you hold. Then move the ball up higher on your quad and again gentle rock and hold. Do not just roll quickly but really breathe and relax as you hold on any tight spots.
4. Half Kneeling Hip And Quad Stretch:
Stretch your hip flexors and your quads with this stretch.
You can add movement by releasing your foot and rocking back out of the stretch before squeezing your glute to drive your hips forward OR you can simply hold as you squeeze your glute for a static option!
To do the Half Kneeling Hip and Quad Stretch, set up half-kneeling with your right leg back. It is best to do this with a wall or bench in front of you to help you balance.
Then reach back and grab your right foot/ankle with your right hand and pull it in toward your butt. In the half-kneeling position with your heel pulled in and the wall to balance you, rock forward and backward, pressing the hip forward to increase the stretch down your quad. Then relax back out of it and repeat. Complete all reps then switch sides.
Make sure to squeeze your glute as you press your hips forward to stretch your right hip and quad. Do not simply hyperextend your low back as you rock forward.
You can also simply hold and press the hip forward without doing the slightly rock, especially if using this stretch post workout.
Beginners can also use a towel to grab their back foot if they can’t reach it.
5. Standing TFL Stretch:
After you roll your TFL, you also want to stretch it as this muscle can be short and tight and compensate for your glute medius during abduction or lateral raise movements.
And when it engages and works for your glute medius, that can prevent you from getting the results you want and even perpetuate your pain despite doing the “correct” rehab moves!
To do the Standing TFL Stretch, start standing with your feet together. Then cross your left leg over your right leg. Bring the left foot over and back across until the big toe is even with the big toe of the right foot. You want your feet even so that your front leg (the left leg) is pressing the back leg (right leg) straight during the stretch.
If you struggle to balance or it is too much pressure on your knees to have your legs so tightly crossed, place the front foot a bit out in front, but make sure that you don’t bend that back knee as you hinge over to stretch.
Then reach your arms up overhead for a nice big stretch. After reaching up, hang over, reaching your arms down toward the instep of the back foot (right foot). Push your hips out to the right as you reach toward your right foot so you feel a stretch down the outside of that right hip and side. You may even feel it down your right hamstring and calf.
Hold for a breath or two. Then reach back up overhead and cross your legs the other way so your left foot is back. Again reach up overhead then reach down toward your left instep, pushing your hips out to the left. Keep alternating sides with a reach up overhead in between every time.
Try to touch the ground as you reach down while making sure to keep your legs straight.
If you really struggle to balance, you may need to stand with your feet together and not crossed over as you reach toward the outside of each foot while pushing your hips away.
How Can Your Lats Can Affect Your Hamstrings!?
When we have aches, pains or “issues” in a specific area, we often get very focused ONLY on that point of “pain.”
But all too often there are even mobility restrictions or imbalances elsewhere that contribute to the dysfunction. For instance, if you’re doing all of the things in this article and NOT seeing results, it may be time you start to look at your ANKLE MOBILITY!
So while the most common “culprit” of anterior pelvic tilt is tight hip flexors and underactive glutes, we can’t ignore our lats.
Our lats can play a huge role in our overall posture, affecting not only our upper body, but also our lower body.
Because lat tightness can not only perpetuate rounded shoulders, it can also contribute to anterior pelvic tilt.
And if we have excessive anterior pelvic tilt, our hamstrings really are the losers that suffer no matter whether it’s tight hip flexors or lats or both creating the posture.
So we can’t ignore our lats!
Below are 3 moves to help you start addressing lat tightness.
3 Foam Rolling And Stretching Moves For Tight Lats:
1. Lat Foam Rolling:
Rolling out your lats is a key first step to relaxing this overactive muscle. And even though we are focused on our lumbo-pelvic-hip complex, we want to focus on rolling this muscle closer to our shoulders to start!
To roll out your lats a roller is best although you can use a foam ball or even a tennis ball.
Start by lying on your side with a roller under one armpit. Extend the arm on the side with the roller up above the roller. Then rock forward and backward on the roller, rotating your chest toward the ground and then up toward the ceiling as you roll on the roller so it hits toward your ribs and then toward your back.
Hold on any tight spots you find then move it lower down the side of your back. Hold on any tight spots as you go and make sure to rock forward and backward as you make your way down your side.
As you work down your side, you may want to rotate slightly more toward your back. Work all the way from your armpit to about the end of your rib cage.
Be careful when rolling lower down your back into your low back. You do not want to arch over the roller and hyperextend your low back.
2. Child’s Pose With Shoulder External Rotation:
The Child’s Pose is a great way to stretch out the entire lat as well as the erector spinae (the muscles along your spine) and the quadratus lumborum (which is a muscle that can contribute to a hip hike…sort of like our back’s side bendy muscle or the muscle you feel when you reach to the side).
All of these muscles can become tight and overactive if our glutes are underactive so this stretch is an oh so important one! And the external rotation of the shoulders gives the lats just that little bit extra stretch!
To do the Child’s Pose with External Rotation, kneel on the ground and sit back on your heels reaching your arms out overhead on the ground. Rotate your palms open toward the ceiling rotating your thumbs out to the sides. Really reach out as far as you can as you rotate your palms open.
You can then walk your hands to one side, keeping your palms open. Pause then walk your hands to the other side. Again keep your palms open for an extra stretch.
3. Kneeling Thoracic Extension And Lat Stretch:
Working on our spinal mobility, especially our thoracic mobility can also help prevent extra overuse of our lumbar spine. If one area of our spine isn’t mobile, we’ll seek out mobility from other segments.
So if your thoracic spine isn’t mobile, it will cause you to seek out mobility or extension from your lumbar spine. This will only perpetuate or add to the overload that may already be occurring due to anterior pelvic tilt!
To do the Kneeling Thoracic and Lat Stretch, place your elbows up on a bench about shoulder-width apart and kneel on the ground in front of the bench. Make sure you are back far enough that you have room to lean forward and over and drop your head between your elbows.
Then with your elbows on the bench, relax your chest and head over, sitting your butt back just slightly. Press your chest toward the ground and feel a nice stretch down your triceps and lats as well as through your thoracic spine. Try to extend your back as much as possible as you press your chest toward the ground.
You can either hold here and breathe to stretch deeper or you can come out of the stretch and then relax back into it and try to get further with each rep.
Glute Activation Moves: Always Feel Your Hamstrings Taking Over During Glute Exercises?
Ever do a glute bridge or quadruped kickback move and only feel your hamstrings working?
Yes? Well you aren’t alone!
It’s because your hamstrings have become synergistically dominant. They try to do more than their fair share of the work to assist your glutes in moves that require hip extension or hyperextension.
Synergistically what?!?
Basically your hamstrings are doing more work than they should be to assist with a movement because you’re glutes aren’t working as they should.
For a glute bridge, your glutes should be the main muscle group working with your hamstrings assisting. But too often, it is the other way around.
It’s why you may do a glute bridge and only feel your hamstrings.
So while we are doing the right move, this only perpetuates the overuse of our hamstrings and can lead to injuries.
It’s why it’s so important we include glute activation moves in our routine. (Learn more about dialing in your glute bridge form to prevent yourself from bridging wrong.)
But isn’t as simple as doing the “right” moves. You must also really focus on what you FEEL working.
If you’re doing that glute bridge and NOT feeling your glutes, but instead feeling your hamstrings, you need to TWEAK the exercise.
Below are 5 moves to activate your glutes that help prevent your hamstrings from engaging as easily when they always seem to want to take over!
I did also mention that with anterior pelvic tilt you may want to do ab activation as well.
One way to do this DURING glute activation moves is by using the posterior pelvic tilt, especially during bridging exercises (and even some plank moves).
The posterior pelvic tilt is where you tilt your hips under, drawing your hip bones toward your ribs. This move not only works your abs but can also work your glutes more.
You would then bridge up as you hold the posterior pelvic tilt. To set up the posterior pelvic tilt before you bridge, here are some tips.
To do the basic variation of the Pelvic Tilt, lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground. Relax your arms down by your side.
Then feel the space between your low back and the ground. Press that space away by drawing your belly button toward your spine and “tilting” your pelvic.
You want to feel your low back press against the ground. Hold there with your abs braced and making sure to breathe as you hold.
Then if you are adding this to a bridge, you would lift up while maintaining this position. It is basically the exact OPPOSITE of anterior pelvic tilt. We are rounding the lower back.
SIDE NOTE But ESSENTIAL NOTE:
If you DO feel your hamstrings during a glute activation move, while you don’t want to stretch them between rounds, you may ROLL them!
Foam rolling your hamstrings may temporarily inhibit the muscle group, which means you won’t “feel” it as much. This can then even help you more easily FEEL your glutes working and focus on using them to drive the movement.
5 Must-Do Glute Activation Moves:
1. Mini Band Glute Bridge:
Adding a mini band to the basic glute bridge can be a way to progress the movement. It can also be a way to engage your glute medius and help PREVENT your hamstrings from taking over.
By activating our glute medius, we can actually better help ourselves engage our glute maximus. This then helps us avoid our hamstrings compensating! So if you really struggle with the basic glute bridge, try this variation!
To do the Mini Band Glute Bridge, you will perform a two-leg bridge with the band around your knees. To set up, place the band right above, below or at your knees. Below will be a bit more challenging than above. Make sure though that wherever you place the band, you feel your glutes working. Above the knee can help if you struggle to feel your glutes activating and instead feel your quads taking over.
With the band around your knees, lie flat on your back with your feet flat on the ground about hip-width to shoulder-width apart. Make sure your feet are just beyond your fingertips when your arms are down by your sides. You can move your feet slightly further away if your hips are tight. Make sure that your feet are at least about hip-width apart so that you are forced to press your knees out and open against the band to keep them in line with your ankles and hips.
Bend your elbows to 90 degrees and press your knees out against the band. Then, driving through your heels and upper back and arms, bridge up. Keep pressing out against the band as you bridge up. Do not let your knees cave in. Fully extend your hips and squeeze your glutes at the top. Do not hyperextend your low back at the top. Keep your abs engaged.
Hold for a second or two at the top then lower back down and repeat. Do not let your knees cave in as you lower back down. Keep pressing out against the band the entire time!
Adjust the band placement or even use a heavier band to make the move harder. You can also vary the move up by doing a Single Leg Mini Band Glute Bridge.
2. Band Y Reverse Hypers:
Being able to use your glutes to extend your hips, and even hyperextend your hips, is key. Too often during Reverse Hypers we allow our backs to do all of the work instead of actually extending at our hip.
By adding in the mini band, we can help engage our glutes better to prevent our lower back from taking over.
Because if we are using our lower backs to power this move, we are often going to simply perpetuate our anterior pelvic tilt by perpetuating overuse of our lower back muscles instead of activating our underactive glutes!
To do Band Y Reverse Hypers, place a mini band right below or above your knees or a booty band right above your knees and lie face down on a bench with your hips right on the edge of the bench. Grab onto the bench as you legs hang straight down. Push out against the band as your feet are on the ground so that your feet are wider than shoulder width apart. You want your legs to create a Y with your body.
Keeping tension on the band, press your hips down into the bench as you squeeze your butt to lift your legs up to parallel to the ground. Keep your legs pressed out against the band and make sure you are using your glutes to lift and not feeling your lower back take over.
Pause at the top and really even brace your abs by pushing into the bench. Then lower back down without letting your legs come together and repeat the lift.
3. Band Squat Pulses:
While often during activation moves we want to isolate our glutes as much as possible to focus on really establishing that mind-body connection, it is also key we learn how to do this in a variety of hip flexion positions and postures.
That’s why the Band Squat Pulses are key to include. The constant tension and smaller range of motion, really help you create that burn in your glutes!
To do Band Squat Pulses, place the booty band around your legs above your knees and stand with your feet about hip-width apart.
Sit back and down, pressing your knees out against the band so your ankles, knees and hips stay in line. You do not want your knees to cave in.
Sink to about parallel to the ground and then pulse a few inches up and down from here. You do not want to start below parallel and you don’t want to stand fully up as you pulse. You want the range of motion to be about 6 inches around that parallel position.
Once all pulses are complete, stand up.
Make sure your knees don’t cave in as you pulse and that your heels stay down and feet are flat on the ground. Do not round over. Make sure to keep your back flat and chest up.
Beginners may pulse over a bench or even hold on to help them balance. You can also stay up higher in the pulse squat instead of sinking as low.
4. 3-Way Seated Abductions:
As you begin to work on activating your glutes, you may find you aren’t as easily able to FEEL the correct muscles working during certain postures.
This may mean you need to first start with the variations you feel in the correct muscles before then moving on to those other positions. But you want to work to improve that mind-body connection from as many positions and postures as possible to help you avoid injury.
That’s why these 3-Way Seated Abductions are so amazing to include.
While you may start with just one based on what you can feel working during the move, especially if your TFL tends to take over (and you feel it in the front of your hip NOT the side of your butt), you can also use all 3 in a row. If you find you struggle most in one position, use that in the middle after you already feel the correct muscles working BUT before you’re at all fatigued!
To do 3-Way Seated Mini Band Abductions, place the mini band right below your knees and sit on a bench. Start by sitting toward the front of the bench so you can lean back and put your hands on the bench behind you. Place your feet about hip-width apart.
Then press your knees open against the band as you lean back. Your feet may rock open but focus on using your glutes to press the band open with your knees. Do not let your knees cave in as you come back to the starting position. Complete all reps then move to sit up nice and tall.
Sitting nice and tall repeat, pressing out with your knees so you feel your glutes working. After completing all reps, lean forward and repeat the movement. You can hold on the bench outside your legs to lean forward or just lean over even lightly resting your arms on your legs.
Complete all reps in each of the 3 positions. Make sure you’re really focused on pressing your knees out to feel your glutes while controlling the band back in. To reduce tension, you can start with a lighter band or put your feet slightly closer together, but make sure there is tension on the band even in that starting position.
5. Side Lying Extended ROM Lateral Raises:
Lateral raise movements are essential to include to activate your glute medius.
You DO need to be very conscious though that you don’t feel your TFL taking over! So you may find that you foam roll it between rounds or slightly kick back as you raise to the side. You may also slightly internally rotate your foot or turn your toe to the ground as you lift!
The added bonus of these extended range of motion is that stretch you put on the muscle at the bottom. This can really help you build strong glutes through the full range of motion your hip is capable of and even PROGRESS that basic side lying lateral raise without you even needing to add weight!
To do the Extended ROM Side Lying Leg Raise, lie on your side on a bench so that your bottom knee is bent and your bottom leg is close to the end. Prop yourself up on your elbow and position yourself so that your top leg can hang down over the edge and your foot is just a few inches off the ground. You can hold a plate weight on the outside of your top thigh, or wear ankle weights.
Then lift that top leg up and kick slightly back, feeling your glute medius, or the side of your butt, working to lift your leg. Keep that foot parallel to the ground or even turn your toe to slightly face the ground. This can help if you tend to feel your TFL or hips engage with lateral raises.
Do not rotate open as you lift. Lower that leg back down so that your toe touches the ground or hovers just an inch or so off the ground. You want to make sure you can lower that leg past parallel to the ground.
The bench allows you to have an extended range of motion from what you would have when side lying on the ground.
To modify, start with just your own bodyweight.
So…Should I Never Stretch My Hamstrings?
But what about those hamstring stretches you still see in warm up routines and recovery sessions?
Should you not be stretching at all?
While your focus should NOT be on stretching your hamstrings if you do have excessive anterior pelvic tilt, tight hip flexors and underactive glutes, this doesn’t mean you have to avoid hamstring stretches like the plague.
Especially in your warm up, you may find that dynamic stretches to put your hip through a full range of motion DO include a hamstring stretch component.
You do NOT need to avoid these. But spending a ton of time in your warm ups or cool downs focused on stretching your hamstrings IS going to be a waste and potentially even HINDER your results.
And this is of course talking about hamstring tightness due to anterior pelvic tilt.
With certain postural distortions you MAY still need to stretch your hamstrings. For instance, if you actually have POSTERIOR pelvic tilt, your hamstrings MAY actually be shortened.
However, the best place to start if you have a desk job, anterior pelvic tilt, tight hip flexors and/or stretching hasn’t really helped in the past, is to FOAM ROLL your hamstrings and NOT stretch them.
Foam rolling can help relax that overactive muscle so you can get your glutes activated and strong no matter WHY your hamstrings feel tight!
If you’re ready to improve your hip mobility and activate your glutes?
When we think “rest,” we think about stopping all activity.
But our rest intervals don’t have to mean we completely stop working EVERYTHING and just stand there not moving, watching the TV in the gym.
This also doesn’t mean though that rest isn’t important and that you should simple cut it out as much as possible from your workouts.
It just means that “rest” doesn’t ONLY mean completely stopping all activity.
What is Rest?
Rest is when our body replenishes our energy resources so that we can perform the next set or interval at the desired intensity.
This can influence not only WHERE we get our energy from aka which energy system we are using to fuel our activity but also our INTENSITY.
By including more rest in our workouts, we can usually keep our maximal intensity higher and be able to lift heavier. The longer our rest, usually the higher intensity we can work at because our body has more time to recharge.
How much rest we include, and even the TYPE of rest we use, should be influenced though by our current fitness level, goals and even our workout schedule (AKA if we have less time to spend working out, we probably want to spend as little time purely resting as possible.)
Making Rest “Active”:
While there will be times your rest period should simply be you trying to breathe and bring your heart rate back down, all too often we don’t utilize our rest periods as effectively as we could.
Rest can still be “active” while we allow our bodies to recover.
Ever heard the term “Active Rest?”
Most of us have.
We most often see it implemented as a lower intensity cardio exercise between rounds to allow us to bring our heart rate down as we keep moving.
For example, the walk back after a sprint is “active rest.”
Or even light jumping jacks between intervals of harder moves like burpees.
The point of active rest, in this case, is to allow us to recover enough to go hard the next round while keeping us moving to increase our overall output and calorie burn WITHOUT having to spend longer in the gym.
But that is only ONE way to use active rest so that your body can recover without you “wasting time” standing around (which again, is sometimes ESSENTIAL!)
Active rest can also be:
Supersets of exercises using opposing muscle groups or different hemispheres (aka lower body supersetted with an upper body move) so that one area rests as the other works. This can allow you to use every minute of the workout time you have. (You could also do a circuit set up too!)
Isolation work to activate specific muscle groups so that you help establish the mind-body connection during your rest for your compound exercises.
Mobility and flexibility work to help you strengthen through a full range of motion and get more out of your workout.
Form review. This can help you make sure to dial in your form and even make corrections as you recover.
All of these uses though help you fit in more to less time by making use of a “rest time” where you could just potentially be standing around.
Rest doesn’t have to mean just taking time off!
Supersets, Circuits and Working Other Muscles For Active Rest:
Not only can you use “easier” or lower intensity moves to recover as you keep moving to get more out of less time, BUT you can also perform active rest by alternating the muscles or areas you are working.
Instead of doing a single heavy lift and then resting, you can create supersets or circuits that combine multiple moves together working different areas or muscles.
For example, you could superset squats with inverted rows. This way you are working multiple large muscle groups during your workouts to build strength and burn more calories, BUT your legs are also getting a rest as your upper body works!
This could save you time on rest because one area rests as the other works.
You could also create a circuit using the same method moving from squats to pull ups to glute bridges to push ups.
This way you are alternating areas that are being worked so that muscles are rested by the time you return to that move.
Of course with this, yes, you are constantly expending energy, BUT at least specific areas or muscles are given time to rest.
You could also vary the intensity and even type of move used (compound vs hybrid vs isolation) to allow your body to rest more or less as you go through the circuit or superset.
Using a more isolated exercise, while it could be used to “burn out” a muscle, could also be used to lower the intensity as you go through the circuit so that you’ve recovered more when you perform the next round.
It can also be used as activation!
Isolation And Activation Moves For Active Rest:
Struggling to feel a muscle contract or work properly?
Feel other muscles starting to compensate?
Is one side weaker and struggling to do it’s part?
Why not use your rest to make sure the correct muscles are activated and working?!
Isolation moves, or activation movements, can help you establish the mind-body connection with underactive muscles. They can also help you correct imbalances between your weak and dominant side.
Too often with our workouts we go through the motions and just try to get them done. We focus on lifting more than we did before, but not always whether or not the right muscles are carrying the load.
But getting more out of our workouts isn’t just about lifting more EVEN with proper form.
It is also about FEELING the right muscles working.
And this can be extremely difficult for some of us to do, even if our form “looks” correct.
That is why performing activation exercises during your rest can be so beneficial.
You can establish the mind-body connection to recruit the correct muscles right before you lift. And you will also allow your body to recover during that time as activation moves aren’t about fatiguing the muscle.
You just want to do low resistance movements to feel the muscle firing.
By doing this during your rest, you allow your body to recover AND can actually help yourself get more out of your working set by lowering your risk for compensation and injury!
Often we don’t want to “waste time” on all of that prehab stuff, like the activation moves.
Which means we don’t do it.
BUT if we can do it during our rest, a time we often want to skip to just get our workout over and done with, we can not only get ourselves to do the prehab we would otherwise skip but actually take the rest we should!
Mobility And Flexibility Work For Active Rest:
This is also the boring prehab stuff, the warm up stuff, we usually like to skip.
BUT it is the stuff that not only helps us move better to prevent injury but can actually help us hit that new workout PR.
Ever notice after a round or two of lifting you seem able to get a bit lower or perform a slightly bigger range of motion more easily?
It’s because your body becomes more mobile as you “warm up” and work through the range of motion.
But why are you wasting potentially great working rounds “warming up?”
Why not A. do a proper warm up, and B. include mobility drills during your rest so you can improve your range of motion for your working rounds?
That is why, like activation exercises, mobility and flexibility work during your active rest can be so beneficial.
Your body can completely recover as you help yourself even move better the next round.
For example, you’re trying to improve your squat depth.
Working on mobilizing tight areas between rounds may help you get lower in your squat AND strengthen through that new range of motion so you keep the mobility you’re working hard toward.
Doing some foam rolling as part of your mobility work may also help you relax overactive muscles that may be causing other muscles to be inhibited.
For example, your hamstrings tend to take over during weighted glute bridges and you want to make sure your glutes fire correctly so you don’t perpetuate your hamstring dominance but instead correct it.
Foam rolling your overactive hamstrings, maybe even paired with a glute activation move, could help you make sure the correct muscles are firing when you then perform the weighted glute bridge.
This mobility work as active rest helps you recover and also get the correct muscles working so you avoid injury and even get more out of your workouts. The benefits go far beyond that single training session.
One thing to remember though, if using mobility and flexibility work as your active rest, is to focus on dynamic stretching, foam rolling and even activation. Static stretches are best left till after your workout as they may reduce power and performance.
Another reason to use mobility and flexibility work as active rest (and even activation exercises) is to personalize group training sessions!
If everyone in class is resting together, this is a perfect time to address UNIQUE imbalances even though each person may be doing the same exercises.
This can help you keep individuals safe and help everyone benefit from the workout!
Form Review For Active Rest:
Form review is another great way to allow your body to fully recover as you make sure to fit in as much as possible to a short gym session or even a group training session.
During your rest, use the time to assess form. Even practicing a few reps with no resistance if needed.
If you’ve taped it, you can review.
Or if you are working with a coach (or you’re the coach working with the client), it is the perfect time to go over cues and discuss ways to dial things in more without feeling the need to focus on other things.
Rest is the perfect time for feedback because you can actually focus on the feedback being given. That way when it is time to work, you’ll be ready to get the most out of it!
Feedback, or demoing moves for a class, during rest is the perfect way to keep group training sessions running smoothly as well!
Using Rest To Benefit You:
There is not one set way to “rest.”
Pick the option that helps you get MORE out of your workouts.
Rest is about recovering so you can keep working at the desired intensity for the desired number of reps or set amount of time. But that doesn’t mean you just have to sit or stand there.
You may make your rest “active” by using lower intensity moves, working other muscles, activating underactive muscles, improving your mobility and flexibility or even dialing in your form.
Just remember rest isn’t something to simply cut out!
It is an important training variable we can use to help us reach our goals more quickly and even get more out of shorter training sessions!
Ready to learn more about designing workouts that work!?
Length seems to be the main reason why people either feel they DESERVE results OR the reason why they think they’ll never get them
All too often people come to me telling me about all the hours they spend in the gym, wondering why they aren’t getting the results they want.
Or they’ll tell me they just will never be able to get results because they can’t spend hours at the gym.
But guess what?!
Spending hours at the gym IS NOT the secret to success!
Actually SHORTER may often help us achieve BETTER results in less time and it has to do with a term that has become very sexy in fitness – the AFTER BURN.
You know the only reason someone may need to workout longer in my opinion?
They are training for something SPECIFIC…like a marathon where they will have to run for hours.
Other than that…You’ll get way more benefit from focusing on your INTENSITY over the length of your workout.
Because upping your intensity is what gets you better results in less time.
You can get killer results from shorter workouts AND they are way easier to fit into even the busiest of schedules!
But intensity doesn’t just mean rushing through your workout and pushing hard carelessly.
NOPE!
You’ve still got to be SMART with your training.
Turning up your intensity means not only using HIIT or high intensity interval training, but also hybrid exercises WHILE focusing on the right muscles working.
Intensity comes from CHALLENGE yourself during the time you do have to workout.
If you challenge your body to “max out” by doing harder variations, taking less rest, adding more weight…you don’t need to go longer! (I put “max out” in quotes as you want to make sure the right muscles are working to fatigue instead of compensating just to make it through.)
Heck, longer workouts can actually sometimes even work against you.
Long steady state cardio can be catabolic to muscle tissue and intensity and length are inversely proportional.
If you are working out longer your intensity has to go down OR has to start lower in the first place. The only way to workout for hours and keep your intensity high is with longer rests between.
So not only can longer, steady state cardio be catabolic to muscle tissue but a focus on length means you CAN’T focus on intensity.
Plus, often when we get focused on the length of our workout, we stop focusing on the muscles that should be working and instead focus on “just getting through the workout.”
And let me tell you, you need to make sure the RIGHT muscles are powering the movements or you’ll just end up injured!
When the right muscles are working, you’ll get more out of the exercises you include AND be able to go harder.
As I mentioned before it isn’t just HIIT and hybrid exercises that affect intensity but also focusing on the right muscles working.
You need to get the right muscles working, and THINK about the right muscles working during your workout. It is a key part of upping your intensity so you can spend less time in the gym BUT get better results.
But why is INTENSITY so key? And how can it help you get better results in less time?
Well…intensity helps us get more bang for our buck not only WHILE we are at the gym, building muscle and burning more calories, but also even AFTER we leave the gym.
By focusing on INTENSITY at the gym, we can create more muscle damage to create more muscle growth (which in turn means burning more calories even at rest). AND we can work more muscles at once, using hybrid exercises, to burn more calories in less time!
Upping our intensity can also help us burn more calories for even 24 hours after our workouts are over.
How can upping your intensity do this?
Through what is sexily called the AFTER BURN!
The After Burn is technically called EPOC or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption.
EPOC is not as sexy sounding as the AFTER BURN hehe…so we will call it the After Burn.
How does it work?
Basically…The harder you workout the more your body has to work to recover or return to homeostasis after. AKA the higher the intensity of our workout, the more energy we have to expend during the recovery process to return to our resting state.
This means we continue to burn calories even AFTER the workout is over. Hence the name AFTER BURN.
And INTENSITY is the secret to the After Burn.
Remember there are a number of ways to increase your intensity…
You can use HIIT to increase your intensity. Go all out for an interval of work (such as 20, 30 even 40 seconds) and follow that intense bout of work with a short, or even ACTIVE rest periods.
You can’t go all out for long, which is why the rest is needed to keep your intensity up. However, by keeping the rest short or “active,” you can get more bang for your buck in less time. Through HIIT, you force your body to use not only anaerobic but aerobic pathways to create energy, increasing your oxygen debt.
You can use Hybrid Exercises. Working more muscle groups, and larger muscles groups at once, you can not only burn more calories during your workout, but create more muscle tissue breakdown. This can not only help you grow stronger, but will also force your body to expend more energy to recover and repair that “damaged” muscle tissue.
You can CHALLENGE yourself with weights, harder exercise variations and even different tempos. You can place a greater demand on your body by challenging yourself with harder weights, more advanced variations or even more time under tension. All can create more muscle tissue breakdown and increase your energy demands!
You can focus on the right muscles working! This seems like a random one, BUT all too often when we start working out harder and trying to go more intense, we start allowing muscles to compensate as we fatigue, which means we start to perform poor movement patterns.
Not only does this put us at risk for injury, but compensations are also our body’s way of not really engaging and working as hard as they should be. AKA we won’t get as much out of the workout as we want!
For example…a common compensation is our low back working INSTEAD of our glutes and abs. When this occurs not only do we risk low back injury, BUT two important muscle groups aren’t getting the workout they should be getting. AND our glutes are a HUGE muscle group that would only help increase our calorie burn IF they were actually working!
By using these techniques and tips, you can up your intensity so you don’t have to spend as long in the gym to get killer results.
And by increasing your intensity you can get the same After Burn as someone spending hours upon hours working out! Heck, with just a 20 minute intense workout you can get better results than your friend chugging along for hours in the gym!
So by upping our intensity we can increase the AFTER BURN while spending LESS TIME at the gym.
Win win…RIGHT!?
Less time. Better results?!
That means you DO have time to get killer results and can even potentially get BETTER results spending less time in the gym if you are EFFICIENT with your workouts.
Remember it is all about developing a routine and getting consistent as you maximize the time you DO HAVE.
Learn more about how 10-minutes may be all you need to kickstart your results!
But what if strengthening it isn’t really the issue?
What if working it more won’t fix your problem and may actually make it WORSE!?
Low back aches and pains are one of the most common issues out there. About 80% of the population will at some time or another complain that their low back is “bugging” them.
I mean who hasn’t gotten low back soreness from sitting too long? Or we’ve known someone who’s “thrown their back out” picking up something as freaking light as a pencil. Heck, it’s may have even happened to us!
So what do we often do when this happens?
We go “rest up” on the couch or sit and don’t workout. We avoid moves we think may have caused it.
But rest and avoidance don’t really solve the problem.
Because we then go back to repeating the same poor movement patterns and compensations that caused it in the first place.
So maybe in an attempt to prevent yourself from getting injured again you think, “I’ll add in more moves to strengthen my low back.”
I mean it got injured cause it was weak, right?
WRONG!
Yes, sometimes weakness does lead to injury.
But guess what!?!
It may not be low back weakness that is the issue…
Actually working your low back more may only PERPETUATE the pain!
Often with low back injuries, we are ticking time bombs.
We spend way too much time seated with our hips in flexion hunched over a computer, driving in a car, watching TV…
This hip tightness and constant flexion can make our glutes, and even abs, under active and cause our low back to want to work during exercises and movements when other muscles should actually be doing the work.
It leads to compensations, imbalances and overuse injuries.
It causes our low back to become OVERWORKED!
Which is why simply working your low back more, thinking it is weak, isn’t the answer.
Too often when we get injured, we only focus on the point of pain. When the actual problem causing the imbalances and compensations that lead to our pain, aren’t exactly where we hurt.
That’s why you may want to give your low back a break and start addressing these other issues:
If you can get your glutes and abs working as they should, they will help prevent your low back from becoming overworked. They will PROTECT YOUR LOW BACK.
But often to get your glutes and abs working correctly, you also need to address hip flexor tightness and any imbalances you have between, not only your right and left sides, but even between different muscle groups.
Ever feel one side more than the other during exercises?
Or maybe you only ever feel your quads (the fronts of your legs) during leg exercises and never your butt?
These are all imbalances that need to be corrected! And often we ignore these things when we workout and continue to push through because these things seem like they have nothing to do with our low back pain.
I know I know…It’s not where it hurts.
BUT THEY ARE THE REAL PROBLEM!
And they all relate back to getting the RIGHT MUSCLES working. AKA your abs and glutes!
Using isolation exercises that require little to no resistance for higher repetitions, you can activate your abs and glutes and improve your hip mobility to prevent further low back aches and pains.
The key is to use these moves to rebuild that mind-body connection and get the right muscles working BEFORE you do other compound moves.
That way when you run and lift, your abs and glutes will work as they should!
If you’re ready to stop suffering from low back aches and pains and wasting time overworking your low back, it’s time to start my 28-Day Booty Burner Challenge.
These quick workouts will help unlock your hips, correct imbalances and get your abs and glutes working correctly!
Join my 28-Day Booty Burner Challenge to activate those glutes —> https://goo.gl/FWYnzd
I LOVE the deadlift. It is an amazing compound movement to target your posterior chain aka your entire backside.
But it is also a more complicated move than we give it credit for. And there are a ton of variations to choose from.
First let’s discuss WHY you should use the deadlift. Then we’ll review form and breakdown the conventional deadlift before explaining what variations to use and how to use them!
So Why Use The Deadlift In Your Workouts?
Deadlifts are ESSENTIAL to include because they:
Are a compound move that works numerous muscle groups at once.
Are a hip hinge exercise to train a functional movement pattern
Work your backside to reverse the constant flexion we sit in or walk in as we text all day.
Work on hip extension to strengthen our glutes to help us run faster and lift more.
Because deadlifts are a compound exercise, you work more muscles at once.
This not only helps you build functional strength because muscles have to work together to perform a movement, but it also helps you burn more calories in less time because more muscles are working at once. And compound moves that use the large muscles of our body, also allow us to lift MORE weight!
And on top of being a compound movement, the deadlift is a hip hinge exercise that works our posterior chain AKA our BACKSIDE!
What is a hip hinge?
It is a movement that loads your posterior chain when you hinge, aka flex your hips, to push your butt back then extend your hips to stand tall using your glutes. It is a functional move we need to do every day to reach down to the ground to pick things up…like a DEADLIFT!
The problem with this functional hip hinge exercise?
All too many people do incorrectly.
They simply lean forward without loading their posterior chain. Or they turn it into a squat.
Or they recruit their low back and hamstrings to do work their GLUTES should be doing.
So how do you deadlift properly to get the benefits of the deadlift and really work your backside?
How To Deadlift With Proper Form:
The most important thing you can ask someone is, “Where do you feel working?”
And with the deadlift, they can answer “upper back.” Or “glutes.” Or even “hamstring.” Actually all of the above. Especially their glutes.
However, the one place they shouldn’t feel acting as the prime mover is their low back. Which honestly too often is!
So how do you do the deadlift properly?
There are three things I think are key:
Think about pushing the ground away with your feet INSTEAD of lifting the bar off the ground.
Push your butt back to hinge over don’t just lean forward.
Squeeze your butt hard at the top!
Thinking about these 3 things, here’s how to break down the Conventional Barbell Deadlift or the traditional or main deadlift variation.
To do a Conventional Barbell Deadlift, set a barbell up in front of you. Walk up to the center of the bar with your feet parallel and about hip-width apart. Set up so your shins are right up against the bar. You do not want the bar to drift away from your legs or you risk loading your low back.
Hinge at the hips, pushing your butt back as you reach to grab the bar just outside your shins. Your knees should be soft as you push your butt back to grab the bar, keeping your back flat.
Think about engaging your lats and upper back to keep your spine flat. Traditional form will tell you to keep your head in line with your spine and look out on the ground in front of you. Powerlifting form will often tell you to look up to help you pull up. Choose the one that feels most comfortable without straining anything weird.
With your arms straight and core engaged, put tension on the bar. Then drive through your feet, pushing the ground away to lift the bar up off the ground. Exhale as you lift, “dragging” the bar up your shins to stand up.
At the top, stand tall and squeeze your glutes to fully extend your hips. Don’t lean back at the top or arch your back. Squeeze your butt, then lower back down. Keep the bar close to your body as you lower. Control the decent so you don’t drop the bar, but don’t eccentrically lower.
Once you touch the ground, you can either perform a quick rep without pausing or you can completely release at the bottom and repeat.
The key is really to keep that bar close to your shin, drive the ground away and even use your breathing to engage your core. Do NOT try to squat or simply lean or round over. Keep tension through your upper back and engage your lats. And sit your butt back, hinging at the hips.
Your knees should be soft, but your exact knee bend will be dependent on your mobility. Do NOT actively bend your knees and turn this into a squat though!
So what if you aren’t comfortable with the barbell? What if you’re a beginner? Or what if you want to target different muscles and challenge your body with a new variation?
Check out these deadlift variations below!
Deadlift Variations And When To Use Them:
There are so many great variations of the deadlift you can use to regress and progress the movement and even change up exactly what you’re working or use different tools that you may have available.
Yes, it will always be posterior chain, but you can isolate each glute, add in more adductor or even engage your hamstrings or core more.
Because the deadlift is a more technical move, there are a few ways I like to teach the deadlift and hip hinge movement WITHOUT the barbell.
Three versions of the deadlift I like to use with beginners are:
The Bodyweight Wall Hinge
The Band Hinge
The Kettlebell Conventional Deadlift
I’ve found these three deadlift variations to be an easier way to teach and train the hip hinge movement so that people learn to load their glutes and posterior chain instead of just leaning forward or engaging their low backs.
Here’s how to perform each and why each can be a great training tool.
The Bodyweight Wall Hinge – When you are first learning a movement, it is key to start with your own bodyweight. If you can’t do the move without a load, you haven’t earned adding a weight. Remember you need to EARN the weight and more advanced variations. No point in doing something if it won’t be quality. Hard for hard sake won’t get you results!
So the Bodyweight Wall Hinge is great for beginners because it helps them learn the hip hinge and deadlift movement without any weight. This allows them to focus on feeling the right muscles working. And by using the wall as a guide, you can learn to load your glutes and push your butt back.
To do the Bodyweight Wall Hinge, stand in front of a wall facing away. You want to stand between 3-6 inches away from the wall so as you hinge over, you can use the wall as a guide to help you push your butt back. AKA you want to hinge over and touch your butt to the wall. This will prevent you from simply leaning forward.
Stand nice and tall facing away from the wall. Then hinge at the hips, pushing your butt back to touch the wall. Keep your knees soft as you hinge over and your back flat. Then drive through your feel to come back up to standing tall. Squeeze your glutes at the top to extend your hips. Don’t lean or arch back though.
Then hinge back over again, pushing your butt back to touch the wall. The wall is a great training tool to teach yourself to push your butt back and load your posterior chain. I even sometimes use it as a reminder with clients as they add a load, especially with Good Mornings.
The Band Hinge – A resistance band is another great training tool to help you remember to load your glutes. And it also adds some resistance to really get those glutes burning. This variation, while a great way to regress for the beginner, is also still an important move for advanced lifters because it really activates those glutes.
It’s great for glute activation, teaching the hip hinge for deadlift and reminding people that, while the Conventional Deadlift means some knee bend, it is NOT a squat! It also teaches you to “push the ground away” to power the hip extension against the band.
To do the Band Hinge, anchor a band or loop behind you and step into the band, bringing it right up below your hips. Walk away from the anchor point so that there is tension in the band and stand with your feet about hip-width to shoulder-width apart. The more the band tries to pull you back (aka the further out you walk), the harder the move will be.
Then hinge over, allowing the band to pull your butt back toward the anchor point. Bend your knees slightly as you push your butt back to help load your glutes and keep you from flying back with the band.
Then explosively drive your hips forward to come back up to standing. You may lean slightly forward against the band, but you want to explosively stand up and drive your hips forward against the band, contracting your glutes as you do.
Stand up tall and squeeze your glutes then quickly hinge back over before repeating. This should be a quicker move and you should really focus on loading your glutes as you hinge over and then on quickly driving your hips into extension as you stand back up, squeezing your glutes hard at the top.
Do not lean back or arch your back as you stand up. Also, make sure you don’t lock out your legs OR squat to much as you hinge over. Make sure there is tension in the band even as you hinge over.
The Kettlebell Conventional Deadlift – The third deadlift variation I like to use to help teach the deadlift is the single kettlebell Conventional Deadlift. This is a great way to load down the hip hinge, but teach people to really sit their butt back instead of just squatting down.
With the barbell Conventional Deadlift, we can often struggle with keeping the bar back against our shins and legs. And this can cause us to load our low back. Because we can have a tendency to let the bar drift away, it can be a struggle to sit back and load our glutes and even drive the ground away when we are first learning.
This is why I like to often use the kettlebell instead of the barbell when someone is first starting out. The fact that you can place the kettlebell back between your legs and toward your heels can really help ingrain the proper hip hinge movement and proper loading of the glutes.(BONUS: I even find that often the height of the kettlebell can help prevent people from wanting to squat as much.)
To do the Kettlebell Conventional Deadlift, place a kettlebell in between your feet as you stand with your feet about hip-width to shoulder-width apart. Your feet should be parallel and the kettlebell should be back by your heels.
Then sit your butt back and hinge at the hips so you can reach and grab the kettlebell handle. Your knees will be soft so you can load your glutes. Engage your lats as you grab the weight and keep your back flat.
Then drive the ground away as you lift the weight up. Stand up nice and tall and squeeze your glutes at the top. Then sit your butt back as you hinge at the hips to drop the weight back toward your heels.
Make sure you don’t reach out or lower the weight out in front of you. Really make sure to lower the kettlebell back down toward your heels. You don’t want to just lean over or let your back round. Load your glutes and sit your butt back, bending your knees to allow yourself to load your glutes. Do not lock out your legs.
Along with these three basic variations to really learn the hip hinge movement and even return to basics to make sure your foundation is strong (yes I LOVE using the Band Hinge even with my most advanced lifters), there are a variety of deadlift variations you can use to target your posterior chain in different ways and even work your core and balance.
Single Leg Deadlift – The Single Leg Deadlift is a must-do move for beginners and advanced lifters alike. It is an essential move to include because it will not only work your posterior chain and train the hip hinge, but it will also improve your core stability and balance.
It is also key because it is a unilateral exercise, which means it will work each side individually and help correct any imbalances. Aka if you have a stronger and weaker side, this allows you to make sure both sides are working and strong!
Beginners can start by doing more of a staggered stance deadlift or even a deadlift with one foot down on a slider. Once your balance improves, you’ll want to do the full Single Leg Deadlift.
To do the Single Leg Deadlift, you can use kettlebells, dumbbells or a barbell. You can even unilaterally load the move down to make it even more challenging for your core and your balance.
To do the basic move with bodyweight, start standing on both legs. Lightly touch one toe on the ground as you shift your weight onto the other leg. Begin to then hinge over, lifting your raised leg toward the wall behind you. Push your butt back and even slightly bend the knee of the standing leg to load your glutes.
You do not want to squat, but you want to soften your knee to push your butt back and load your glutes. As you hinge at the hips, don’t let your raised leg swing way open and don’t simply lean forward. Really focus on loading that standing glute as you feel your hamstring as well.
Keep your back flat and hips as square to the ground as possible. Do not worry about straightening the raised leg if it makes your hips rotate open.
Then driving through your standing foot, come back up to standing tall. You may tap your toe at the top, but do not use your other leg to help you come back up to standing. Stand tall and straighten your standing leg as you contract and squeeze your glute at the top. Really feel your hamstring and glute work to help you come back up to standing.
Then hinge back over and repeat. Make sure you don’t round toward the ground. When you add weights, you’ll want to think about dropping the weights down and back toward your standing heel to help you sit back. You’ll also need to engage your lats and upper back to support the weights.
Do not let your low back take over and make sure to brace your core. Complete all reps on one side before switching. Remember if you are starting out and balance is an issue, use a staggered stance, slider or even no weight to start.
Good Mornings and Straight Leg Deadlifts – The Deadlift is a posterior chain exercise and your glutes are definitely the prime mover, HOWEVER, you can make the deadlift focus and work different muscles to different extents. One great Deadlift Variation to really work your hamstrings, is the Straight Leg Deadlift. And when you make it a front-loaded move like the Good Morning, you force your abs and core to work even harder!
To do the Straight Leg Deadlift, you can use barbells, kettlebells, sandbags, dumbbells or even resistance bands. I even like front-loading it down for the Good Morning variation. If you front-load the movement, hold a sandbag up at your chest cradled in your arms. You’ll wrap your arms around the bag and then pull it into your chest engaging your upper back to support it. Stand tall with your feet about hip-width apart.
Then, bracing your abs, hinge over at the hips, pushing your butt back as you keep your back flat. Feel your hamstrings and glutes loading as you hinge over. You will want to very slightly bend or soften your knees to help you push your butt back, but do not turn this into a squat.
After hinging over, drive back up to standing, pushing through your feet as you squeeze your glutes at the top. Do not rock forward, but instead drive straight up. Keep your abs engaged and do not round over.
Stand up nice and tall and squeeze your glutes, then hinge back over and repeat. Do not simply lean forward. You will want to keep your legs straighter but NOT lock out your knees.
Sumo – The Sumo Deadlift is another great variation if you want to target your legs a bit more and even get your adductors working. For some, this deadlift variation even allows them to lift heavier weights than the other variations. However, because of the wide stance, you will want to make sure to take care of your hips as the external rotation and wide stance can occasionally be hard on them.
To the Sumo Deadlift, beginners can start with a kettlebell just like they did for the Conventional Deadlift. You can also use a sandbag, dumbbells or even a barbell.
For the Barbell Sumo Deadlift, set your feet wider than shoulder-width with your toes turned out slightly and your shins against the barbell. Reach down and grab the bar between your legs about hip-width apart. Hinge at the hips as you bend your knees to sit your butt back and grab the bar. Keep your back flat and engage your lats and upper back to support the tension on the bar. Make sure your knees are in line with your ankles and hips. You do not want your knees caving in with the wide stance.
Then driving up through your heels, come back up to standing. Think more about pushing the ground away than on picking the bar up. You won’t want to lose tension in your upper body as you initiate the pull so it can help to think about pushing the ground away. This can also help you focus on using your legs and glutes.
Drive all the way up to standing tall and squeeze your glutes at the top. You do not want to lean back, but you do fully want to extend your hips. Then begin to lower the bar back down, siting your butt back as you hinge over to return it to the ground. Stay in control of the bar, but do not turn this into a slow eccentric lower down.
Make sure to keep the bar close to your body the entire time to make sure you are using your posterior chain to lift!
Unilateral Loads – With all of these great deadlift variations, you can also change how you load the move. From making the Conventional Deadlift a bit easier for beginners by using kettlebells to even making moves harder and more core intense by front loading OR even adding a unilateral load.
Unilateral loading is a great way to work on anti-rotational core strength and stability. It allows you to add weight, but make your core work even harder to stay balanced. Because you are adding weight on only one side though, make sure your core is ready for the challenge of fighting your body’s urge to compensate and rotate or you risk injury.
To unilaterally load down any variation, you can simply hold a kettlebell, sandbag or dumbbell in one hand. For the Single Leg Deadlift, you can hold it in the same or the opposite hand from your standing leg and for the conventional, you can hold it like a suitcase outside one side. Just make sure to do reps holding the weight on each side.
All of these moves can be used in your programming to work your posterior chain and strengthen those glutes. Make sure to pick variations that target your specific goals and don’t hesitate to mix things over progressions to not only challenge your body, but even focus on your weaker areas!
This way you are alternating areas that are being worked so that muscles are rested by the time you return to that move.
That is why, like activation exercises, mobility and flexibility work during your active rest can be so beneficial.
