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The Best Oblique Exercise (You’re Not Doing)

The Best Oblique Exercise (You’re Not Doing)

by | Dec 21, 2021 | Blog, Core, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Runner's

A few of the most common moves I see done for oblique work are the Pallof Press, side planks and teapots (love them or hate them…which is a topic for another day).

But my favorite is actually a unilateral balance challenge and bodyweight exercise.

This move requires no equipment and is deceptively hard.

But if you regress to progress, and take the time to master it, it will take not only your core strength, but also your scapular, shoulder, hip, knee and ankle stability to the next level.

It’s seriously one of the most amazing compound oblique exercises out there and one of the most awkward feeling as you get your balance – The Single Arm Rotational Plank with Knee Drive.

This rotational core exercise is an amazing way to really target your obliques and abs while also working your adductors, quads, Serratus Anterior, shoulders, back…and so much more.

However it is more challenging a unilateral move than we give it credit for.

If you can’t control the advanced variation and perform it slowly, please make sure to use the modifications I mention. You don’t get better results by rushing a movement or by doing a harder variation you haven’t earned.

The best results happen when we are intentional with our exercises so we can get more out of every movement. And you want to make sure you get all of the benefits you can from this move!

So…What are the benefits of this amazing move?

With this unilateral move, if you take the time to learn to control it, you will…

  • Improve your hip and knee stability, especially strengthening those adductors and quads.
  • Work your obliques and abs with both the rotational movement and the crunch. Your abs have to work hard to actually prevent unwanted extension of your spine as you even rotate to face the ground.
  • Improve your shoulder and scapular stability strengthening both the muscles of your shoulder but also of your upper back as well as your Serratus Anterior. You’ll feel that muscle really having to work as the shoulder blade protracts during your torso rotation toward the ground.
  • Correct imbalances because of the unilateral focus so you can make sure both sides are strong and working efficiently.

You’ll also find this movement really helps you improve your mind-body connection to recruit many different muscles at once to stabilize everything. I know it can be a frustrating coordination and balance challenge to start, but that is so key for actually improving our strength gains ultimately.

The more efficient and able we are to recruit the correct muscles to stabilize, the stronger ultimately we will be so we can run faster and lift more.

And bonus, if you are a runner, this is for sure a must-do core move if you’ve ever had knee, hip or lower back aches and pains!

Now…how do you do the Single Arm Rotational Plank With Knee Drive?

To do the Single Arm Plank Rotation With Knee, set up in a side plank position from your hand with your bottom leg staggered on the ground behind your top leg. You won’t be on the inside of that front foot like a regular side plank but will actually want to place the sole of your foot on the ground.

Make sure your hand is under your shoulder as you set up and you’re engaging your back to support your shoulder so you aren’t shrugging or straining it. This is key to supporting you as you rotate.

Then lift that back leg as if kicking it back and up toward the wall behind you as you rotate your chest toward the ground to counterbalance yourself. You will reach that top hand out as if almost trying to create a line across your body from your heel to your finger tips.

You should almost feel like you’ve rotated into a front plank position as you lift and reach out.

Then pivot back into the side plank position and, as you do, tuck the knee of your extended leg and elbow of your extended arm together, slightly crunching. You’re performing a little cross body crunch as you twist. Make sure your hand is still under your shoulder so that you’re shoulder isn’t straining as you twist.

After slowly tucking the knee to the elbow and feeling yourself pivot around that shoulder, extend back out.

You will feel all the muscles around your rib cage as well as your obliques, abs, adductor and quads especially as you crunch together.

Move slowly so you can stabilize. Do not rush if you feel off balance.

How can you modify this move?

How can you adjust this move if you feel your shoulder straining or adductor or groin becoming overworked?

A first little tweak you can make to the move is touching your foot down behind you instead of lifting it up. This little touch to pause and balance in the movement may be all the modification you need to start.

If you struggle with hyper mobility, especially in your elbows, you may also choose to modify this off your forearm.

However, if you don’t feel in control of any aspect of this movement, your next modification should be off an incline. The higher the incline, the more you can reduce the resistance of the movement.

As you feel stable, you can slowly lower the incline to progress the move.

You may even find you combine the incline with the foot tap to start.

The key is making sure you’re able to properly stabilize that shoulder to really focus on those obliques working to rotate and help you stay balanced!

The Most Underrated HAMSTRING Exercise

The Most Underrated HAMSTRING Exercise

by | Dec 14, 2021 | Blog, Bodyweight, Butt, Core, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief, Runner's, Workouts

If you want to strengthen and build your hamstrings, you want to include both hip extension and knee flexion movements.

For hip extension, think Romanian Deadlift or Good Morning for example and for knee flexion think about those hamstring curl machines.

But how can you work and even isolate those hamstrings if you don’t have any equipment at home?

So many of those go to moves require gym access or at least more equipment…

That’s why I wanted to share one of my go-to knee flexion hamstring moves, whether you have no tools while training at home or access to a full gym – The Glute Bridge And Curl.

I love this move because it can help you really target those hamstrings through knee flexion or bending your knees to curl your heels toward your butt while also activating and working your glutes.

It is also easy to progress and regress in a variety of ways without adding loads to match your needs and goals. And if you do have a gym, you can even progress through the same but different by using a variety of tools to change the instability and even range of motion.

But before I go into some of the different variations, I want to chat about the basic form of the glute bridge and curl and how you can do this amazing move at home…

How To Do The Basic Glute Bridge And Curl:

To do the Glute Bridge And Curl without any fancy equipment, you can use towels on a hardwood or tiled floor or paper plates on carpet. If you even have a simple set of sliders or furniture movers those can work as well.

Place a towel under each foot, making sure your heel is on the towel, as you lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Bend your elbows to drive your arms down into the ground. Perform a posterior pelvic tilt, slightly tilting your pelvis up toward your ribs. This will make sure you don’t arch your back as you perform the move.

Bridge up, squeezing your glutes.

Holding this bridge, slide your feet out to straighten your legs. You will lower your butt toward the ground as you lengthen but don’t lose that posterior pelvic tilt.

After fully extending your legs, curl your heels back in toward your butt to lift back up into the bridge. Almost think about trying to drag up the flooring as you curl back in so that you are creating tension to really work those hamstrings.

Return to the bridge and repeat the move.

Make sure you do not arch to lift up higher. You want to really use your glutes and abs to brace and support during this move so you can focus on those hamstrings powering the knee flexion.

Also, move slowly as you extend out to work your hamstrings through the eccentric portion of this move as well!

Modifications Of The Glute Bridge And Curl:

Now as simple as this move may seem, it is more challenging for our hamstrings than we actually give it credit for.

The great part is, this move is easy to modify to meet our needs. And, by modifying, we can even focus on each side independently to correct any strength imbalances we may have.

To modify this move, you can start by extending one leg at a time to focus on each side working. You can alternate curls or simply stay on one side.

Once you feel ready to progress from here, you can start with just using the two-leg bridge and curl for the eccentric portion.

You will extend both legs out slowly together, then curl one in at a time. Alternate which you curl in first and stay focused on that drag back in to really make your hamstring work.

If you do want to advance the move and get a unilateral focus, try a single leg bridge and curl with your other leg lifted up off the ground so it can’t assist.

Do not progress the move though if you feel your lower back compensating. You want to make sure to use those glutes in the bridge up and keep your abs engaged through that posterior pelvic tilt!

Equipment Variations Of The Glute Bridge And Curl:

If you do have access to different tool, you can even progress this move through doing the same but different.

You can create more instability from the version off of towels or sliders by using the suspension trainer. Or you can even increase the challenge by using a bigger stability ball which increases the height you have to bridge up!

If you have a rower you can even have some fun using that instead.

So many ways to vary a move and make it work for us.

What is your favorite way to perform the glute bridge and curl?

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Target your SERRATUS ANTERIOR (Stop Ignoring this Muscle!)

Target your SERRATUS ANTERIOR (Stop Ignoring this Muscle!)

by | Dec 5, 2021 | Blog, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief, Stretches

All too often when we are focused on improving our shoulder health to prevent aches and pains, we focus on strengthening our rotator cuff.

We may also do some foam rolling or release for our pecs and lats as well knowing they can inhibit proper shoulder mobility.

But we can’t only focus directly on our shoulders if we have shoulder and even neck pain…

We have to realize that our shoulder health is dramatically impacted by both our spinal and scapular mobility and stability as well.

And one muscle in particular is often overlooked when we are suffering from neck and shoulder pain – a muscle that can impact our scapular stability and even be impacted by our thoracic mobility…

This muscle is the Serratus Anterior!

Before I share 3 key moves to include to help activate your Serratus Anterior, and a bonus move to improve your thoracic extension, it’s key we understand why and how our Serratus Anterior can impact our shoulder health, even contributing to scapular winging, shoulder impingement, bursitis, thoracic outlet syndrome, and even neck aches and pains!

What Does The Serratus Anterior Do?

You can find and feel your Serratus Anterior by putting your hand on your ribs just below your armpit.

This muscle protracts or pulls the shoulder blade forward around the rib cage and upwardly rotates and posteriorly tilts the shoulder blade which helps you press overhead safely without shoulder or neck issues, or overload to those smaller muscles like your rotator cuff.

The Serratus Anterior also holds the shoulder blade against the rib cage by posteriorly tipping and externally rotating the scapula. This is the opposite of the scapular winging issue we often seen.

Because of how the Serratus Anterior stablizes and moves the shoulder blade you can see how it would create scapular dysfunction such as scapular winging and poor scapular control leading to shoulder and neck issues.

That’s why it’s key we address weakness of this muscle, even potentially strengthening it on one side!

So what are 3 Key Moves To Activate The Serratus Anterior?

#1: Roller Serratus Anterior Activation

To keep our shoulders healthy, we want to strengthen all of the joint actions controlled by the Serratus Anterior, which means not only working on the protraction that so many Serratus Anterior moves address, but also that upward rotation and posterior tipping.

That’s why a move that works as you press overhead can be key.

Especially if you find you struggle with controlling the overhead press or shoulder and neck pain during that move, try including this move in your warm up activation series.

To do Roller Serratus Anterior Shoulder Extensions, place a small roller, or even sliders, against a wall pinned about at your wrist with your palms facing in toward each other.

The roller should be at about eye height to start. Your arms should be about shoulder-width or just slightly wider apart.

Walk your feet back so you just are angled into the wall and resting a bit of your weight against the roller. You don’t want to fall forward or be dependent on your arms because as you slide up you will lean more into the roller.

You can stagger your feet if that feels more comfortable. Brace your abs as you face the wall and then begin to roll your arms up, extending from your shoulder overhead.

Lean into the wall as you extend. Do not arch your lower back as you extended up. Think of pulling your shoulder blades “out and around” as you slide up.

Then slide back down. You may feel your upper traps slightly but do NOT allow them to compensate.

If you feel your lower back taking over, stagger your feet to help maintain a neutral spine. And if you want to progress this movement, walk further back from the wall to lean more into the roller.

#2: Serratus Anterior Press

The push up plus is a super common Serratus Anterior activation move, but also one that is far more challenging than we give it credit for.

And when we are trying to really isolate and activate a muscle, sometimes it is best to regress a movement so we can really focus on what we feel working.

That’s why I love Wall Protractions. They are a great way to really focus in on simply learning to control scapular protraction. You can even make them unilateral by doing one side at a time.

To do Wall Protractions, stand facing a wall with your hands made into fists. Place your knuckles against the wall with your palms facing in toward each other and your arms extended out at shoulder height. Stand tall and brace your abs.

Then without bending your arms or moving your feet or body, push the wall away with your knuckles.

Feel like you are trying to spread your shoulder blades as far apart as you can without just rounding your back or tucking your hips. It may be a very small movement, especially to start.

Pause then relax out before again pushing the wall away.

Do not arch your lower back to try to make the move bigger or tuck your chin.

If you feel in control of this movement and aren’t trying to make it seem bigger by bending your arms or rounding, you can then move to an incline or even a plank position off the ground.

And if you do have an imbalance, try one side at a time off the wall.

#3: Wall Protractions:

If you do have an imbalance or issue on one side, you want to include unilateral activation, even only doing strength work on that one side.

That’s why the Serratus Anterior Press can be a great move to include. The unilateral focus will allow you to target each side independently.

To do the Serratus Anterior Press, start in a staggered stance with the opposite foot forward from the hand holding the band in at your chest. Move out from the band so there is tension even while your hand is up at your chest. You want to start light with this move as you want to really focus on feeling around your ribs working over your pec muscles working.

Standing tall, press the band out from your chest and slightly up at an incline. Feel yourself pulling your shoulder blade forward around your ribs as you reach out. You aren’t just doing a unilateral chest press.

You may press slightly across the midline of your body as you reach out to protract the shoulder blade, but you aren’t just twisting through your spine.

Then slowly bring your hand back in toward your chest. Do not rotate toward the anchor point.

You want to focus on the movement being felt around your ribs as you protract your shoulder blade or pull it away from your spine.

BONUS:

If you’re struggling to activate your Serratus Anterior and limited in your thoracic extension, using this foam rolling move prior to your activation work can be key – The Peanut Thoracic Extension.

This move can help you relax tight muscles and work on that thoracic extension.

To do this move, you can use a peanut, which can easily be made by taping two balls together or tying them in a sock. Lie on your back placing the peanut in your mid-back with a ball on either side of your spine.

Place your hands behind your head, pulling your elbows open as you relax over the peanut.

Breathe and hold for a second, then crunch up and relax back down. Do a few of the crunches, extending back over, before moving the peanut up your spine.

SUMMARY:

We have to remember that everything is connected. And if we lack mobility and stability in one area, it could lead to overload and injury in another. That is why addressing weakness of our Serratus Anterior can be so key if we’ve been struggling with scapular winging or shoulder and neck aches and pains.

And then remember, you can NEVER stop doing what makes you feel better. That prehab work is key!

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6 Low Impact Exercises | Exercises For Beginners

6 Low Impact Exercises | Exercises For Beginners

by | Nov 21, 2021 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Push Ups, Suspension Trainer

When you’re first starting out, or even first starting back to training, it can be so easy to jump in and end up doing moves we aren’t yet ready for.

Not only can this make us so sore we struggle to get consistent with our training, but it can also lead to injury while holding us back from achieving results.

As stinky as it is to have to sometimes go back to basics, we need to regress to progress and master those fundamental movement patterns first.

We need to make sure we’re doing everything we can to build our mind-body connection so we aren’t just going through the motions with moves but actually using the correct muscles to power the movements.

This will not only help us rebuild faster, but it can even help us build up stronger.

We have to remember that every movement is earned and built off of these basics.

That’s why I wanted to share 6 fundamental moves I not only return to myself and use as part of my workouts but use with any of my clients rebuilding after time off or just starting back.

These bodyweight moves can help you get in a full-body workout and retrain a variety of movement patterns from pressing to pulling to hip hinging and squatting!

 

6 Moves Beginners Should Master First:

#1: Bulldog Hold

This move looks so simple, but it is more challenging than we give it credit for. It’s a great way to vary our plank work and improve our shoulder, hip and knee stability.

Not only will this move work your arms, shoulders and abs, but you’ll also feel those quads burning.

It’s a great way to strengthen your quads if you can’t perform active knee flexion yet even.

And off of this move, you can build up to fun plank variations as well as crawling movements!

To do the Bulldog Hold, set up on your hands and knees with your hands under your shoulders and knees under your hips.

Think about engaging the side of your back as you extend your toes and lift up onto the balls of your feet and your hands.

You want your knees to be hovering just off the ground, no more than a few inches up. This makes your quads have to work harder.

Hold here, bracing your abs as if being punched in the gut.

As you fatigue, do not let your butt go up in the air.

From here you can start to add in even little movements, like foot lifts or shoulder taps before you start to fully crawl.

If you find this is too much on your shoulders, abs or quads, you can modify the movement, placing your hands up on a bench even to start!

#2: Glute Bridge

The glute bridge is honestly a key move to include no matter your fitness level.

While it may be a main exercise in your workouts starting out, and move to more of your activation series and warm up as you progress, it is a fundamental move we all need to be more intentional with.

It’s also often a move we do incorrectly, allowing our lower backs and hamstrings to compensate and work for our glutes.

But if you want to get the full benefit of this move, you need to make sure your glutes are driving the hip extension and you’re only bridging up as high as you can truly control while using your glutes.

To do the glute bridge, set up on your back with your feet flat on the ground just beyond your finger tips when your hands are down by your sides. You can play around with this positioning based on your mobility, putting them slightly further out.

Then bend your elbows to drive your upper arms down into the ground.

Tilt your pelvis up toward your ribs to perform a posterior pelvic tilt and engage your abs and glute maximus before you even lift up off the ground.

Then engage your glutes to lift up. Think about driving your knees toward your toes as you drive through your upper arms and back.

Do not lose that posterior pelvic tilt and begin to arch as you lift.

Make sure to keep your feet flat on the ground and do not let your heels come up.

Pause and squeeze your glutes as hard as you can, then lower down.

You want to make sure you aren’t arching to get up higher or driving yourself backward.

Feel those glutes and do not let your hamstrings take over.

Lower back down and repeat the move. Focus more on engaging those glutes over lifting higher.

To progress the move you can move to a unilateral bridge when ready or even increase the range of motion by placing your feet up on something.

If you struggle to engage your glutes with this bodyweight variation, you can try a frog bridge. The external rotation of your hips can help you better engage your glutes!

#3: Inverted Row

Learning to properly engage your back as you’re getting back into working out is key.

Too often, we let our biceps do the work, pulling with our arms, or end up with neck or shoulder pain because we don’t have proper scapular control.

The Inverted Row is an amazing bodyweight move to learn how to really engage your back to power the pull while having an amazing core strengthening bonus.

Just make sure as you do this row, and any other rowing movements, that you are focused not only on pulling the weight or handles toward you, but also on moving those shoulder blades toward your spine so your back is truly working!

To do the Inverted Row, you can do this move off a bar or suspension trainer. I love the suspension trainer especially when first starting out because you can use a variety of grips.

Using the suspension trainer, hold a handle in each hand with a neutral grip to start, or your palms facing in.

Walk your feet forward as you lean back. The closer to parallel to the ground you get, the harder the move will be.

Flex your feet, pulling your toes up toward your shins as you squeeze your glutes and brace your abs. You want to think about this as a plank and create tension from your feet up.

With your arms straight, make sure to unshrug your shoulders.

Draw your shoulder blades toward your spine as you pull your chest up toward the handles.

You want that initial movement to come from beginning to move your shoulder blades.

Row your chest up toward the handles but don’t try and pull so far you start to round forward just to increase the range of motion.

Stop when you’ve pulled your shoulder blades as close to your spine as you can.

Pause to feel your back then control the lower back down and full arm extension.

Based on your scapular control you can round out a bit at the bottom and protract those shoulder blades, but if you’re just starting out, you may not want to fully disengage your back.

Make sure not to shrug as you pull!

#4: Split Squat

The squat is a fundamental, knee dominant movement pattern. But is also one we often struggle to control and perform correctly through a full range of motion.

That is why, when first starting back, the split squat is a great unilateral option that will not only strengthen your legs but also help you improve your hip mobility and stability.

It’s a great way to also make sure you’re addressing any imbalances and not letting your stronger side take over and perpetuate any issues or pain.

Based on your mobility, you may choose to do this move from the ground or starting with your knee on a block.

Setting up at the bottom of this move is a great way to use this to stretch your hips while truly learning how to control the movement.

Set up kneeling on the block or ground with your front ankle under your front knee and your back knee about under your hip with toes extended so you’re on the ball of your foot.

Really press the ball of your back foot down into the ground as you squeeze that back glute to extend your hip.

Push through the ball of that back foot and your entire front foot to drive up to standing.

Once standing, slowly lower back down to come to rest on the ground.

Then repeat driving back up.

Focus on your feet and their connection to the ground.

And make sure to engage that back glute.

Working through this full range of motion will help you maintain your mobility while improving your stability!

#5: Push Up

The push ups is basically a moving plank so not only a fabulous core move but also a great exercise to work your chest, shoulders and triceps.

However, the full push up from your toes can easily turn into the worm if we don’t yet have the strength to perform it correctly which can lead to wrist, elbow and shoulder aches and pains.

When building back with the push up, an incline variation works well as even the knee push up can be more advanced than we often give it credit for!

To do the push up off an incline, you can start off a wall and slowly lower the incline you use as you progress.

With your arms out in front of you, place your hands on the wall so your hands are just outside your chest. Walk your feet a couple of feet back from the wall so you’re leaning into your hands on the wall.

Spread your fingers to create tension into your hands and drive your heels toward the ground flexing your quads.

Lower your chest toward the wall, making sure not to shrug. You want your body moving as one unit.

Make sure your elbows don’t flare up by your shoulders and create a T shape with your body. You want your upper arms and body to create an arrow shape.

Once you lower your chest toward the wall, press the wall away to fully extend your arms back out.

As you lower the incline, do not do so if you can’t still perform a full range of motion.

#6: Wall Hinge

The final amazing bodyweight basic I think you need to include as you rebuild is the Wall Hinge.

Too often when we do hip hinging movements like the deadlift, we let our lower backs take over and do all of the work instead of engaging our glutes like we should.

When we’re first rebuilding it’s key we learn to control that proper hip hinge to load our glutes and hamstrings so our lower back doesn’t end up overloaded and injured.

While you may find you quickly progress past this movement and either add loads to the hip hinge or move on to unilateral variations like the single leg deadlift, this is a great place to start to make sure you aren’t simply leaning or rounding over.

To do the Wall Hip Hinge, stand about 6 inches to a foot from the wall with your back to the wall and your feet about hip width apart.

You can cross your hands over your chest as you stand tall.

Focus on your entire foot pushing into the ground as you push your butt back toward the wall behind you.

Do not start this move by bending your knees to squat down. You are moving at the hips and then softening your knees in response to reach back.

Touch your butt to the wall and make sure to keep your back flat. Do not round toward the ground.

Then push the ground away with your feet to drive back up to standing.

Your torso will lean forward to keep you balanced as you sit back. Do not let your weight shift forward!

SUMMARY:

As you rebuild, always continue to assess how you feel with moves. Remember progress is never linear so at points you do want to step back.

We are NEVER above the basics and there is always more we can do to improve even these fundamental moves.

Slow and steady use these moves in your training to regress to progress and earn those harder variations and heavier loads!

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The Most Underrated Shoulder Press

The Most Underrated Shoulder Press

by | Nov 1, 2021 | Blog, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief

The overhead press is a tough compound shoulder, tricep and chest exercise. It is also a great move to work your core, serratus anterior and even upper traps.

And while vertical pressing movements are key to include, they require more mobility and stability than we often realize.

They require not just shoulder mobility and stability, but also scapular and spinal mobility and stability as well.

The problem is, all too often our mobility and stability in these areas is lacking, and partly because of our common daily postures.

We spend far too much time hunched over our technology or commuting to and from work.

And this constant forward flexion, can lead to shoulder, scapular and thoracic mobility restrictions that may cause us to suffer from neck, shoulder and upper back aches and pains when we try to go heavy with overhead pressing.

These mobility restrictions can even be why your lower back is sore and achy after performing this upper body move!

So while it’s key we work to address these mobility and stability issues with our prehab work and including foam rolling, stretching and activation as part of our warm up, it may also mean that the basic overhead press is not the best option for us to start.

Because of these common mobility restrictions and the fact that so many of us compensate to try to replicate proper from, I actually love to sub in this often underrated overhead press variation, the landmine press.

It can help us get the full benefits of the overhead press with less strain on our rotator cuff as well as less risk of us arching and overloading our lower backs to compensate.

If you are currently working to improve your thoracic extension and shoulder mobility as well as your scapular control, you may find the Landmine Press allows you to include overhead pressing without feeling like you’re going to get injured.

Because of the slightly angled press, this move can more easily allow you to engage your back to support your shoulder and feel that scapular movement. It also requires less thoracic extension to perform correctly.

And my favorite variation of it, the single arm press, can even help you correct imbalances as you strengthen your shoulders, triceps and chest!

Before I dive into 3 tips to get the most out of this amazing move, I wanted to go over basic Single Arm Landmine Pressing Form.

How To Do The Single Arm Landmine Press:

To do the Single Arm Landmine Press, set a bar up in a landmine and grab the bar in one hand with a neutral grip, bringing the bar up to your shoulder. Stand with your feet about hip-width to shoulder-width apart and parallel. The bar should be just a few inches in front of your shoulder so you can hold it comfortably with your chest pressed out.

Think wide shoulders as you brace your abs as if about to be punched in the gut. Squeeze your glutes as well to help better engage your lats to support your shoulders.

Then press the bar out, extending your arm fully. Do not really lean into the press or round or reach out. Just press to fully extend your arm, then lower the bar back down to your shoulder.

Do not rotate or lean as you press. Keep your core engaged. Repeat all reps on one side before switching.

Now what are 3 tips to help you adjust this move to fit your needs and goals and get even more out of the basic variation?

#1: Vary Your Stance.

While this is an upper body move, how you stand to press can impact the additional benefits you get from the move.

In the basic form I mentioned, you will get a great anti-rotational core benefit. And the narrower your foot stance, the more you’ll have to fight your body’s desire to rotate.

You can also stagger your stance for a bit stronger base of support and to potentially even be able to focus on heavier loads.

But standing isn’t your only option for this move.

You can move to half kneeling, full kneeling or even seated!

While seated, you won’t be able to handle as heavy a load, it prevents you from compensating or seeking out mobility from other places. This move can be very core intensive and challenging.

Full kneeling will also be another challenging core option, requiring you to really fight the urge to rotate or lean. This variation can be great if you struggle with lower back pain during pressing and need to practice that ab and glute engagement.

Half kneeling is also a great way to really focus on ab and glute activation, but while being able to go slightly heavier than full kneeling. It is a great way to focus on using that glute activation on the knee that is down to better engage your lat on the pressing side to improve your shoulder stability and scapular control.

No one stance is better or worse. And you may find you even progress the move simply by adjusting the stance to adjust the different benefits you get from the move. We have to remember that the same, but different can be a form of progression as we use a move over different workout programming.

#2: Use Your BACK – Focus On Your Shoulder Blade Moving.

Often we ignore the importance of our back to improving our pushing movements. And not only the muscles of our back but the control of our shoulder blades in general.

When you set up to press and think about any of the cues from “press your chest out” to “wide shoulders” what you also want to be thinking about is engaging the sides of your back to support your shoulders and make sure you are unshrugged to start.

If you start the press with your shoulders shrugged and shoulder blades elevated, you are pressing from a weakened position – a position that is going to put more strain on those smaller muscles, like your rotator cuff.

By engaging the sides of your back to start with those shoulders down, you can press from a strong position.

And then don’t just think about pressing the weight out with your shoulder. Think about feeling that shoulder blade move. Your shoulder blade will upwardly rotate and posteriorly tilt as you press.

This movement is key to pressing safely.

So don’t just go through the motions of pressing the weight up.

Think about that back engagement as you set up to press from a point of strength and then focus on feeling your shoulder blade move as your back is involved in that shoulder flexion or press overhead!

#3: Don’t Ignore Your Core.

Whichever stance you use, your core will be engaged. Part of what causes lower back overload during overhead pressing is a lack of thoracic extension so we seek out mobility from our lumbar spine, but also a lack of proper core engagement to protect our lower back.

As you press, you do want to think about not only engaging your abs, but also your glutes. By engaging your glutes, you can actually help yourself better engage your lats to stabilize your shoulders.

And you’ll also help prevent yourself from being able to easily arch your lower back because you’re focused on squeezing your glutes to drive that hip extension.

Also by bracing your abs, think about engaging as if you’re about to be punched in the gut, you’ll further stabilize your spine.

Do not hold your breath though as you brace. You can think about exhaling on exertion even to better activate and engage things as you power that press.

You want to focus on everything involved as you press before you start to increase loads. This will ensure you utilize muscles efficiently and effectively, which can even help you lift heavier more quickly!

SUMMARY:

If you’re working to improve your shoulder, thoracic and scapular mobility and stability but want to include an overhead pressing exercise in your routine, consider using the single arm landmine press.

It’s a great way to get the benefits without the mobility and stability required of the full overhead press. And, because it is a unilateral move, it can even help you address imbalances between both sides.

If you find you don’t have a bar that is the appropriate weight, or even a corner to set up the bar in if you don’t have a landmine, one easy modification is a band incline press as well. The resistance band itself can even create a unique challenge of its own!

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Are You Lunging WRONG? 3 Tips To FIX Your Lunge

Are You Lunging WRONG? 3 Tips To FIX Your Lunge

by | Sep 1, 2021 | Blog, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief

The lunge, in all its many forms, is so often blamed for knee pain.

But moves are only as good as their implementation. And we need to understand there is a difference between going through the motions and mimicking proper form and actually getting the correct muscles working.

Too often we end up demonizing this amazing move instead of learning to properly control it and load muscles correctly.

And that overload is what leads to the pain. When you don’t engage the correct muscles to power the movement can prevent us from seeing the full benefit of all the amazing lunge variations out there.

We don’t take time to see all of the tweaks to form we can make to work around previous injuries, adjust to our specific builds and mobility restrictions not to mention even us variations based on our specific needs and goals.

That’s why I want to share 3 key form cues I use to help client’s get more out of this amazing move while avoiding those common mistakes we often make that lead to aches and pains.

Because we have to remember that form isn’t as binary as we make it out to be. There are so many slight adjustments we can make to get more out of exercises so they fit our needs and goals!

 

3 Key Cues To Improve Your Lunge Form:

#1: Maintain A More Vertical Shin Angle:

Ever hear someone say “You’re knee can’t go over your toes during lunging.”

This isn’t completely true, BUT we need to understand why this statement came about.

When our knee does travel further forward over our foot, there will be more loading of our quads. This is what, especially if we have previous knee issues or a lack of ankle mobility, can lead to lunges causing knee pain.

So while you can actually INTENTIONALLY preform lunge variations this way to strengthen your quads, you do want to know the drawbacks.

You also want to make sure you have the proper ankle mobility to do this variation while keeping your heel firmly planted on the ground.

Since so many of us struggle to activate our glutes, not to mention lack ideal ankle and even hip mobility, it may be helpful for us to avoid this positioning and instead focus more on maintaining a more vertical shin angle with our front lower leg.

When you maintain that more vertical shin angle, you can actually engage your glutes more and make the move slightly more hip dominant. This can be key to help you avoid overloading your quads and therefore your knees.

It can also simply be a tweak you use to target those glutes more during your lunge work.

So if you struggle with quad dominance and getting your glutes to work, focus on that knee being aligned over your ankle as you lunge, whether doing a static lunge, reverse lunge or even front lunge!

#2: Keep Your Weight Centered:

Too often when we are moving forward or backward in a lunge, we let ourselves actually become off balance which can lead to us overloading the muscles that support our knees.

Even though with lunges you can move in every direction, you want to be conscious to truly keep your weight more centered so you can smoothly push back to standing with no stutter steps.

You want to correctly engage your front AND back legs as they are both working together even if different muscles in each leg are working to different extents.

One of the best ways to help learn how to keep your weight centered is by first making sure you’ve mastered that static lunge or split squat.

To do this move, start half kneeling on the ground with your back knee about under your hip and your front knee over your ankle so your shin is vertical. Push the ball of your back foot and your entire front foot into the ground. Even think about your front foot as a tripod, two points in the ball of your foot and one in your heel.

Squeeze your back glute and make sure to drive through both feet as you push up to standing. Make sure you use that front glute to prevent your front knee from caving in.

Focus on pushing the ground away to stand then controlling that lower down.

You may find you want to shift forward instead of driving straight up, which is often what happens when we add movement to the lunge and creates the knee overload.

So first you must learn to control this static lunge and build mobility to perform it properly BEFORE you progress to adding in more movement.

Regress to progress!

Then as you begin to introduce movement, you can keep the lunges more shallow to focus on that weight being centered. Even implementing a PAUSE at the bottom as you do begin to lunge longer and deeper can be a great way to get to assess where your weight is and correct any shifts.

Remember you have to earn those harder variations. You don’t want to just mimic movements. You want to make sure the correct muscles are working!

#3: Focus On Your Foot’s Connection To The Ground (Back AND Front Feet):

Our feet are our foundation. Instability there creates instability up our entire legs.

That’s why it’s key you start your lunges by focusing on your feet. And not just the foot of your moving leg but both feet to engage the muscles of both legs correctly.

When you move through any lunge, think about that front foot as that tripod as you sink. Drive off your entire foot to stand back up.

Note if you are rocking out or in on your foot or if you find your foot turning in or out. You’ll notice small changes in the muscles you’re using and even your knee alignment.

By really focusing on driving off that entire foot, you’ll better use the muscles of your legs and glutes correctly and even avoid any knee overload. You’ll help yourself keep your weight more centered.

By focusing on your foot’s connection to the ground you can also avoid your knee collapsing in which can be a huge source of knee aches and pains.

And then don’t ignore your back foot as well.

While you may only be on the ball of that back foot, proper tension into the ground can help you better use that glute to drive the hip extension of that back leg.

It can also help you avoid knee pain in that back leg.

If you aren’t conscious you may find that back knee turning out as you rock in toward your back toe. This can overwork the rectus femoris, the quad muscle that not only directly connects to your knee but also your hip, and lead to not only knee but also hip issues.

Being conscious of our feet can help us better recruit the muscles of our lower body. It all starts at that foundation!

SUMMARY:

Focus on what you feel working not just on making the movement look correct. We need those proper recruitment patterns to drive those movement patterns or we put ourselves at greater risk for overload, compensations and injuries.

Use these 3 cues to help yourself avoid knee aches and pains from lunging and get more out of this amazing lower body move!

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