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8 Glute Activation Exercises (Improve Hip Stability)

8 Glute Activation Exercises (Improve Hip Stability)

by | Jun 12, 2022 | Blog, Butt, Core, Exercises, Push Ups

If you want to help prevent lower back, hip or knee pain and improve your lifting, running and riding, you need to include glute activation in your workout routine.

Glute activation exercises are movement generally done with little to no weight and for higher reps (15-25). They are isolation exercises meant to really target the glutes so you can feel them working before you even go into your compound exercises.

And you want to use these moves to strengthen all of actions the glute muscles perform – from abduction to extension to external rotation and even hip hyperextension.

That’s why I wanted to share 8 glute activation moves you can do with minimal equipment in a wide range of postures and positions. These moves will help you truly build functional strong glutes to improve your hip stability!

(Video demoing all moves below this 👇)

1: 3-Way Standing Hip Circles

Everything is connected. If you want better glute engagement, you can’t ignore your feet and ankles. And if you want better balance and foot and ankle stability, you can’t ignore your glutes!

That’s why standing moves like the 3-Way Standing Hip Circles are so key to include. They work on improving your balance while activating your glutes.

And with this move, you’ll activate your glute max with the hip extension kicking back, your glute medius with the abduction or knee raised out to the side and even your abs with the knee tuck in and forward.

Make sure to move slowly as you cycle through those moves while focusing on your other foot’s connection to the ground.

And do not lean or rock away to increase the range of motion. Focus on those glutes really working to lift the leg and your abs working to pull the knee in!

2: Hip Airplanes

When working on glute activation, we want to address all joint actions this muscle group contributes to, which is why I love to use Hip Airplanes.

This standing glute move will improve that balance and hip stability while helping you learn to engage the glutes to stabilize as you work through internal and external rotation – targeting all three gluteal muscles (the maximus, medius and minimus)

While you can do this move without your hands on a chair or box, I like to add in that little stabilizing element to start so you can work through a full range of motion.

Really focus on rotating from the hip, feeling your glute work over just allowing your spine to twist. You will not get the full benefit if you don’t focus on that rotation going from your head to your raise foot.

You want to rotate open from your standing leg fully, then rotate back closed toward that standing leg, even dropping the hip of the raised leg toward the ground.

Make sure as you do rotate, your standing foot is firmly pressed fully into the ground and you do not rock out on your foot.

If you have Piriformis issues, be careful with this movement, especially the external rotation.

3: Mini Band Pulse Squats

Many of us have heard the phrase “Squat for a better butt.”

But squats, especially weighted squats, partly because they are a compound movement, really aren’t that great for glute activation. You’re definitely going to feel those quads and adductors even as well.

However, how much we target and activate a muscle is also based on the range of motion and equipment we use with that movement.

By changing the full squat to a pulse squat while adding a band, we can make the squat an amazing glute focused movement that creates metabolic stress so you really feel that pump in those glutes to establish that mind-body connection.

When you do this move, you can add loads, but start with the mini band right below or above your knees. You want the band just above or below your knees to use it to help you really focus on pressing out to activate your glute medius. This will improve your hip stability and actually better activate your glute max as well.

You then want to make sure you’re sitting back as you pulse right around parallel while sitting in that squat. Stay controlled and make sure you’re heels are firmly pressed down into the ground without rocking back.

To modify you can do this move holding on to a suspension trainer or even hovering over a bench!

4: Bench 2-Way Leg Raises

Often with glute activation, we think we have to get down on the ground to do it. And while quadruped moves are an amazing way to target and activate those glutes, you can easily modify all of those movements off a bench if you need extra padding on your knees or simple don’t want to get down on the ground.

And the added bonus of using a bench is that you can even increase the range of motion you work through on many moves because your knee is raised off the ground.

That’s why I love Bench 2-Way Leg Raises. You can work your glutes through both hip extension and abduction and a larger range of motion.

When you do this move, make sure not to bend your arms or lean away. You want to even feel the glute medius or side butt on that leg that is down stabilizing your body as you lift the other leg to work.

Focus on even almost trying to stop the movement with your glute instead of just swinging the leg up higher. Focus on feeling that glute on that kickback stop the leg at about parallel to the ground. Do not arch your lower back to kick up higher. And really feel the side of your butt on that lateral raise. Do not rotate your toe open toward the ceiling as you raise.

To add a bit of progression to this movement, you can even wear ankle weights. But focus more on that mind-body connection over adding loads!

5: Lying Jacks

Often when we include abduction movements or lateral raise movements to work our glute medius, we are standing or seated. But by doing this abduction movement lying down, we can work our glutes while in hip hyperextension even.

We have to remember that by changing the degree of hip flexion involved in the abduction movement we can target different portions of the glute medius, addressing more anterior or posterior fibers!

We will also work our glute max to maintain the reverse hyper position.

When you do this move, you want to focus on pressing out against the band while not just rotating your toes out and open.

You also want to think about your glutes holding your legs up as you press your hips down. Be very conscious you aren’t feeling your lower back compensate to raise your legs up higher!

If you feel your lower back taking over, try a Y Reverse Hyper instead of holding the position as you perform the abduction.

6: Side Plank Clams

Planks are a great core move that you can use to also target your glutes, side planks especially. And often the side plank with leg raise is the one you see being used.

But that move is not only far more advanced than we give it credit for, it also often will lead to fatigue of the muscle over simply helping us prep the muscle for more work.

That’s why I like the side plank clam variation. It can also include more external rotation or be a straight abduction move based on your foot positioning.

However, like the basic clam it is also often misused. Make sure you don’t let your TFL compensate by turning your top toe down toward the ground. And make sure as you lift you drive your hips forward.

If you did want to remove the external rotation, say if you have Piriformis issues, you could actually lift the top leg straight up during the movement, keeping the knee bent, over keeping the foot down which will force external rotation.

Both can be great variations to include and you may alternate which you used based on what you’re trying to target!

Just make sure that, while you’re focusing on the side of your butt, you keep your elbow stacked under your shoulder and your back engaged to support it. You want this move to benefit your entire core, including those obliques as well!

7: Figure 4 Glides

It can be easy to cheat with moves when we struggle to activate a muscle correctly. We call on other muscles to not only assist but we will seek out mobility from other joints. Often with lateral raise movements we will even try to swing the leg up higher as we lean away.

That’s why I love the Figure 4 move, especially with these glides.

This is a very small movement and can allow you to easily focus on that glute working. It can be easy also to feel yourself trying to cheat because you are holding in this raised position as you allow that leg to glide forward and backward.

It also engages the glute medius through hip flexion and extension.

Focus on sitting up nice and tall as you raise that leg on the side up. Think about keeping it level as you allow it to glide forward and backward slowly. You can even watch it to stay conscious of what is working.

And if you really struggle with wanting to lean away, you can put your shoulder against a wall as you set up.

But because you’re holding this position, do that easy assessment every once in awhile to make sure you aren’t leaning away!

8: 80/20 Glute Bridges

Often injuries and aches and pains aren’t just due to weakness but also an imbalance between sides and muscles. That means that often we need to do imbalance prehab, working only one side and even doing more reps on that side.

That’s why unilateral or single sided movements are key.

It’s why most of the moves included here are unilateral. However, unilateral moves can also be super challenging and serve as advancements for bilateral exercises as they add more instability and require to move the load or your own bodyweight with only one side.

That’s why I love these 80/20 Glute Bridges though. They force each side to work more but add in the assistance of your other leg to help you focus on the glutes working.

If you’ve struggled with the single leg glute bridge and feel your hamstrings compensating or lower back engaging in that movement, you can try this 80/20 variation to get that same benefit but with a move you can truly control.

Sometimes we need to regress to progress.

Make sure with this move that you stagger one foot out further so the foot that is closer in does 80% of the work. And then focus on that posterior pelvic tilt as you bridge, driving your knee toward your toe as you press up so you get your glute to power the movement over your hamstrings compensating.

SUMMARY:

Now how do you include these moves in your routine? The great part is there are a ton of different ways! But you want to probably only pick 1-3 to include as your activation in your warm ups for just 1-2 rounds. 15-25 reps or even about 30 seconds per move is often good.

The goal isn’t to fatigue your glutes but simply feel them start to work and establish that mind-body connection before your full workout.

If you are using them simply as a prehab routine, you may add another move or two on and do 3 rounds instead!

Need more glute activation series? Check out my Booty Burners…

–> The Booty Burner Challenge

Can’t Get Down On The Ground? Try These Core Exercises!

Can’t Get Down On The Ground? Try These Core Exercises!

by | Jun 5, 2022 | Blog, Core, Exercises

Whether we want to simply mix things up, or it’s due to injury or health concerns, there are reasons why floor core work may not be right for us. But that doesn’t mean we don’t want to, or can’t, train hard and really challenge our core from all angles.

And actually there are a ton of core exercises that don’t require us to get down on the ground that are extremely beneficial even if we can do floor core work!

We can use non-floor core moves to work everything from our shoulders to our knees down our frontside and our backside.

We can literally work our entire core with a variety of tools and both rotational and anti-rotational moves.

And these 3 moves are a great way to work everything without getting down on the ground no matter your fitness level.

But first I do just want to mention the importance of that mind-body connection and being intentional with these moves.

If you just rush through these movements without focusing on what you feel working, you will not get the full benefit.

Focus on the push and pull of muscles. Focus on powering rotation and decelerating the movement. Focus on fighting rotation.

Really focus on what you feel working.

And if you feel your lower back taking over during any of these moves, do not be afraid to regress to progress.

Too often we just DO moves, we train harder, without focusing on what is actually working.

This is what perpetuates overload and injury. It’s what can make us super frustrated we aren’t seeing results while working really hard.

It’s because it’s not just enough to work hard and sweat and feel tired.

We do not want to waste effort!

So really focus on what you feel working and don’t get ego in advancing too quickly.

If you don’t feel your abs or obliques or glutes working, but instead your lower back, it’s time to step back or even change how you cue the move to yourself!

So what are the 3 amazing non-floor core moves to really target those abs, obliques, glutes, quads and even back?

 

3 Killer Core Moves You Don’t Need To Get Down On The Ground To Do….

#1: Rotational Swing

Standing core moves are a great option if you can’t get down on the ground. And you can do some amazing rotational exercises while standing to target those abs, obliques and even your glutes.

Rotational moves, like the rotational swing, are key to include because you aren’t just learning how to accelerate rotation but also DECELERATE and stop it.

It’s key we learn how to control rotation so that we avoid injury in everyday life and can prevent unwanted twisting through our spine.

The Rotational Swing is a great variation of that traditional hip hinge that targets the abs and obliques even more while still working the glutes and training that hip hinge movement pattern.

To do the Rotational Swing, you can use a Dumbbell or Kettlebell. Hold the weight in both hands while standing tall with your feet about hip-width apart.

Hinge at your hips to hike the weight back between your legs to start the swing.

Squeeze your glutes as you push the ground away and stand up tall, swinging the weight out in front of you.

Do not pull the weight forward with your arms. Use the glute drive to power the swing.

Then as the weight begins to lower back down, hinge at your hips, slightly pulling the weight outside one hip.

Rotate your torso slightly to allow the weight to swing outside one hip. Sit your butt back as you hinge over to swing the weight back. Make sure you do NOT round over as you hinge back.

After hinging over, swing the weight back and around front and then hinge over again as the weight swings back outside your other hip.

Make sure to squeeze your glutes and push the ground away each time you stand up to propel the weight up and over to the other side.

As you allow the weight to come back outside your hip, make sure to hinge over really sitting your butt back to load your glutes. Brace your abs to avoid twisting further than you need to just come outside your hip and do not let your spine round.

Move quickly with this swing starting light to make sure you can control the weight!

You may start with even a band version of this swing to help you learn to load those glutes and rotate to twist the weight outside your hips. This will apply resistance in a different way but require less control to decelerate the rotation.

#2: Bench V-Ups

Often when we can’t get down to the ground we feel stuck with only standing core moves. And while they are fabulous, we can still do lying and seated core work by using a bench!

So often we forget that we can use other tools to make it easy to lie down and even do seated exercises!

Not to mention using a bench can be a great way to progress and vary the range of motion we can work through to match our needs and goals.

Even if you can get down on the ground, the Bench V-Up is a killer core exercise that allows you to extend that range of motion you would use doing it off the ground.

This exercise is a great ab, hip and quad movement. Just make sure you slightly round your spine using the c-sit or creating a c curve so you aren’t just relying on your hip flexors.

While any ab exercise that uses hip flexion will engage those hip flexors, we want to make sure our abs are working to brace!

To do this move, sit on the front edge of your bench with your legs out straight in front of you and lean back to rest your hands on the bench behind you. You can place your hands over the back edge of the bench with your elbows bent to just slightly support and balance you.

As you lean back, slightly tuck your hips up toward your ribs and lift your heels just off the ground.

Then sit up forward as you lift your legs straight up toward the ceiling. You can use your hands to balance but try not to push off of them too much.

Think about pulling everything together with your abs, crunching your torso up as you lift your legs.

Then lean back and lower your legs so that your heels over just off the ground. Move at a controlled pace and focus on feeling those abs.

If you feel your lower back, you need to modify the movement.

The more you lean back and really use that extended range of motion, the harder this move will be.

To modify, you can do a single leg raise, even bending your knee or start by taking the lower body out of it completely to work on just that hinge back and the ab engagement to control that spinal flexion and c-sit movement!

#3: Anti-Rotational Overhead Press

One essential standing core move, that’s extremely popular, is the Pallof Press or stability press.

This is a great anti-rotational core move.

Anti-Rotational core work is so key so we have that stability and strength to avoid unwanted or unnecessary rotation during movement.

It helps us protect our spine and hips especially. But it can also help us improve our SHOULDER health.

And that’s why I love this overhead press variation of the stability press.

This move is a great way to target those obliques and abs while also working your glute medius, back and shoulders.

To do the Anti-Rotational Overhead Press, anchor a band to the side of you below your waist.

Walk away from the anchor point, holding the band in both hands up at the middle of your chest with your side to the anchor point. You want to feel the band trying to pull you to rotate toward the anchor point with your hands at your chest and feet about hip-width apart.

The wider your feet, the more support you’ll have so by narrowing your stance, you can make the move harder. But only do so if you can actually control the move and fight the rotation.

Engage your abs and obliques as well as upper back to unshrug your shoulders and press your chest out. Flex your quads and squeeze your glutes so you fight the urge to rotate.

Keeping everything engaged, slowly press up overhead without rotating. Then lower back down and repeat.

Move slowly to avoid rotating toward the anchor point as you extend your arms up overhead and bring them back down.

If you want to rotate toward that anchor point, go with a lighter band or move in slightly. You want tension in the band throughout the movement BUT can adjust how much it forces you to work by how far out you step.

You can also make the move harder by bringing your feet closer together for less of a base of support.

If you struggle with the proper thoracic extension to press overhead, you can also perform a chest press straight out instead!

SUMMARY:

Using these 3 moves you can really work your entire core using different planes of motion without getting down on the ground.

You can even combine these moves into a quick burner, performing 30 seconds of work per move or per side for a couple of rounds!

Want more amazing moves and workouts? Follow me on Instagram!

And shoot me a message to let me know what goals you’re working toward. I’d love to help!

–> Follow Me On Instagram

The Most Underrated Cardio Exercise

The Most Underrated Cardio Exercise

by | May 29, 2022 | Blog, Bodyweight, Core, Exercises, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief, Runner's

Want a great move to include in your bodyweight interval cardio workouts that isn’t jumping, but will for sure get your blood pumping?

Want a full-body core intensive move you can utilize in so many different ways?

Ready for a move you can modify to match your fitness level and progress when ready?

Then you’ll love this amazing bodyweight cardio move that will target your shoulders, arms, abs, obliques and even quads –

The Tabletop Crawl!

But wait?! Babies crawl…isn’t crawling easy?!

HECK NO!

This crawl will not only challenge your body but also your mind and coordination.

Unlike the Baby Crawl, your knees are going to hover off the ground.

And with the Tabletop Crawl, unlike the Bear Crawl, you want to focus on keeping your butt down and knees just a few inches off the ground.

You also want to focus on that contralateral movement pattern, or opposite arm and leg working together. This is a great way to improve your coordination, especially for movements like running!

While you can focus on moving faster only and allow a bit more rotation of your core as you crawl, you can also use this move to work on that anti-rotational core strength.

And then you can crawl in every direction using this tabletop or bulldog position, even mixing things up by adding in rotational moves like the Sit Thru, holds or even other crawl variations to the flow!

All of these things make this crawling variation a killer cardio move.

 

So how do you do the basic Tabletop Crawl?

Start on your hands and knees with your knees under your hips and hands under your shoulders. Starting out or to modify this move if you get out of sync as you go through this move, you can always come back to crawling on your hands and knees.

Tuck your toes under and then lift up onto the balls of your feet and hands so your knees hover just a few inches off the ground.

To start with the crawl forward, step forward with one hand and, as you do, step the opposite foot forward, bringing your knee in. Start with small steps and focus on keeping your hips still as you step.

Then step the other hand forward and other foot.

Think small steps as you brace your abs and keep your knees close to the ground. You can continue taking steps forward in this way with the opposite arm and leg moving together or you can reverse your direction and crawl backward.

When you crawl backward, be conscious of taking small steps, especially to start. This requires a bit more upper body strength than the forward crawl oddly enough and often we get more spread out, as we have a tendency to reach further back with our feet when crawling backward, placing more load on our upper body.

As you step one foot back, remember to step back with the opposite hand.

Using this basic forward/backward crawl, you can then add in occasional holds, or even a Sit Thru on each end of the length you’re crawling in. You can also add in little jacks or side to side hops if you want. Or you can even turn over to add in a crab crawl with this tabletop crawl.

You can also use this same crawling position to move LATERALLY.

How do you do the Lateral Tabletop Crawl?

The lateral crawl is a great move to improve your coordination and you may find the movement pattern a bit more challenging to start.

And if you’re thinking I’m too old for this move, you’re wrong! As we get older, including moves that work on our coordination and neuromuscular efficiency are even more key!

They keep us functional strong!

While you can make the lateral crawl an ipsilateral or same side working together movement, it is a great contralateral move.

To do the lateral crawl as a contralateral movement pattern with the opposite hand and foot working together, set up with your hands together under your chest and feet and knees about shoulder-width part.

Then step one hand out wide to the side so your hands are about shoulder-width apart as you step the opposite foot in toward the other. As your hands move apart, your feet move together.

Then to continue laterally, your foot on the same side as the hand you just moved will step to the side as you bring the opposite hand in to meet your other hand.

Move slowly to start keeping your knees hovering just off the ground. You can move as many steps as desired across the space you have then come back the other direction.

Focus on keeping your hips still as you move side to side.

Modifying The Basic Crawl:

While you can always go down to your hands and knees, to start, another way to modify this move that is often a bit more comfortable for the knees if your surface isn’t padded, is to use an incline.

For lateral crawls, you can use a bench as your incline and move along the length of it.

For forward/backward crawls, stairs actually work best as you can place your hands up on a higher step and crawl up a step at a time!

While often we will cheat and modify by allowing our butt to go up in the air during the basic crawl off the ground, we want to recognize this changes how we are activating muscles and will not give us the same ab or quad benefit that the basic tabletop or bulldog position does.

So using an incline can help us really master that positioning!

SUMMARY:

Crawling can be a great way to improve our coordination and our conditioning. It is a great move to include in an interval workout even with traditional moves we love like burpees, if we want to include jumping. It will work our entire core and get our blood pumping.

Try a fun Sit Thru crawling variation in this workout below:

–> 5 Cardio Moves For Fat Loss Workout

10 Weight Loss Hacks (That Actually Work)

10 Weight Loss Hacks (That Actually Work)

by | May 22, 2022 | Blog, Diet, Exercises

You’ve lost the weight…now what? You can’t just go back to what you were doing prior, but you also can’t stay in a deficit forever!

Instead you’ve got to transition into maintaining, knowing that it will be a process as you find the balance right for you. But what does maintaining your results really mean?

Since it can be a challenging process, I wanted to share 10 tips to help you find the lifestyle balance you need to maintain your results forever.

 

10 Weight Loss Hacks To Help You Keep The Weight Off For Good:

1: Realize your weight will fluctuate.

Maintaining doesn’t mean there won’t be little ups and downs. The scale will still often fluctuate daily due to inflammation, water retention, even your meal timing the day before.

The key is realizing you have the tools to “catch” things before they become an issue or you start the trend backward.

But also be conscious that as you balance out, you may see a slight scale increase. Do not stress! And then use other forms of measurement as you maintain as the scale won’t show muscle gains which can be occurring as you go out of that weight loss deficit.

Focus on how your clothing fits and even take measurements at set intervals!

2: Don’t cut out processed foods.

The more you restrict foods, demonize things, the more you cause yourself to crave things and ultimately derail your consistency.

Part of why we can never maintain our results is because we don’t know how to work in the things we enjoy and love and WANT to eat at some point.

Food is not just fuel.

If you enjoy candy, find ways to work it in as you build those maintenance habits and transition into maintaining your results.

Find ways to work in the things you love first.

And also recognize we have to stop these sweeping undefined labels. Not all processed foods are just evil.

Heck, technically COOKING is processing a food so watch the labeling as it often only creates guilt instead of balance.

3: Create mini cycles.

Most of us don’t do well without direction, with just doing something “forever.”

Even when maintaining your results, set mini goals, set little cycles for yourself where you have a specific focus.

Test out ratios. See how calories impact you.

Experiment with cycles.

Focus a bit more on body recomp or more on gaining muscle. Not so much that you’re cutting or bulking but just so you have a focus for your fueling and training.

4: Set performance goals!

There is no better way to give yourself mini cycles with end dates than to set performance goals.

Not only can these give you direction in your training but they keep you training hard and fueling well which only promotes retention of your aesthetic changes!

If you want to achieve that first full pull up, design your workouts to work toward that. Even make sure your diet fuels that muscle growth and performance so you can train hard each and every session!

5: Track. Yup. Track.

I know we think tracking is just about weight loss, but learning to maintain our results is a process in and of itself and tracking allows us to make sure we are dialing everything in and slowly transitioning out of that deficit.

It also allows us to make sure we are eating enough to fuel our performance goals.

So while in maintenance you may not track as strictly or even every day, remember that tracking can be that accountability and check in especially if you do feel your energy dipping or your pants getting a bit tight.

You now have a tool you can use any time you need to tweak something and move forward!

6: Realize you won’t always be motivated.

Accept that maintaining means that at points you still want to do little cuts for that beach vacation or little muscle gaining periods to lift a bit more.

There will be holidays where you don’t care and times of year you want to lean down to feel extra fabulous.

Ebbs and flows should be embraced and we need to realize we won’t always be 100% motivated in the same way.

So while we want to set boundaries or bumpers so we don’t go to either extreme, we have to realize we will fluctuate with time.

7: Embrace minimums.

When trying to maintain our results, there will be times we really only do the minimum. But that SOMETHING is what keeps us on track and maintaining even if it isn’t driving us forward toward a specific goal.

Minimums may be calorie caps or protein minimums. It may be a Plan B to our workout routine if we’re busy or a modified schedule just so we do something.

But we won’t always be motivated and there may be times life and stresses need to take priority. These minimums help us avoid losing ground while striking a lifestyle balance.

Consistency is key and this helps us be better than we would have been otherwise to keep us maintaining the results we worked hard for!

8: Don’t diet on holidays OR vacations.

There are 300 days of the year you can focus on working toward a specific goal. But holidays and vacations are not one of those days!

Sometimes we may need to set boundaries for ourselves to keep moving forward as fast as possible, whether it is a calorie cap or even pre-planning what we will eat, but too often we worry about gaining weight or losing weight on the holidays or vacation.

When really that one day doesn’t matter. Heck even those two days don’t matter.

It’s all the days AROUND the event that matter.

Stay on track before the event and get right back to your healthy habits after.

It is 100% a-ok to just enjoy those days without guilt or stress or worry.

9: Always have the day after plan.

Often it isn’t the actual missed workout or day of overeating or stress eating that causes us to sabtoge our results. It isn’t the vacation or party.

It’s the fact that we feel guilty and that one day becomes two days or weeks or even months before we get back to the habits we need.

We let the old habits sneak back in and snowball.

Having pre-prepped meals for the next day already available to get us back on track or a progression, with even a plan b laid out, can help us get right back to our routines and habits.

Especially if you’ve gone on vacation or have a party, plan ahead for how you’re going to get right back to your habits the day after. That will allow you to make sure that one day doesn’t add up and you keep maintaining the results you worked hard for.

10: Try new things!

Often when we are trying to lose weight we get into very set routines and even very repetitive in how we are training and fueling because it is working.

But these same habits and routines can get boring. And when we get bored we are more likely to slip back into old habits.

So find new things to challenge you. Find new things to learn and experiment with.

Test out new macros and recipes. Experiment with new training splits and even moves.

Have some fun experimenting and learning to keep your training and eating interesting!

SUMMARY:

Just remember maintaining is itself a process. And with these 10 tips you can maintain the weight loss results you’ve worked hard to build!

Stuck and struggling to see the results you want and deserve?

Watch this video for my 3 Step Weight Loss Recipe.

How To Fix Rounded Shoulders (4 EXERCISES)

How To Fix Rounded Shoulders (4 EXERCISES)

by | May 16, 2022 | Blog, Exercises, Foam Rolling, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief

So many postural distortions or movement pattern compensations get blamed on a single joint or even muscle.

But often it is overload from multiple different areas adding up.

And that means we not only have to address many different muscles and joints at time to truly alleviate the aches and pains, but it also means we need that full 3-Step Prehab Process of Foam Rolling, Stretching and Activation.

This is especially the case when it comes to our shoulders and that rounded shoulder posture many of us have developed, leading to neck, shoulder and upper back, and even lower back, aches and pains.

This posture, and these aches and pains, stem not only from restricted shoulder range of motion, but also a lack of proper spinal and scapular mobility and stability.

Working not only on the mobility of our shoulder joint but also our spinal extension and scapular mobility and stability are key!

That’s why I wanted to share 4 moves that will help you work through the layers of this postural distortion to move and feel your best!

But before I do, I just want to mention that postural isn’t simply good or bad. We each have different builds and different movement and recruitment patterns.

However, we need to recognize the mobility restrictions and imbalances we personally have that our perpetuating our aches and pains to constantly be addressing them to move and feel our best.

And as we include the mobility and stability work to improve, we can’t simply stop doing these moves when things are “better.”

You can NEVER stop doing what made you better. If you’ve done rehab for a specific injury, that rehab simply needs to become PREHAB, included in your recovery routines and warm ups!

Now what are the 4 moves to fix that rounded shoulder posture?

EXERCISE #1: Lat Foam Rolling

Our lats have a direct impact on our shoulder health and that rounded shoulder posture, contributing to shoulder internal rotation as well as restricted shoulder flexion, or your ability to reach overhead.

Tight, overactive lats can restrict proper shoulder mobility, negatively impact your shoulder stability, and even impact your scapular mobility as well, which is why it is key we include a move to relax this muscle like Lat Foam Rolling.

To roll out your lats you can use a ball or roller. If you’re using a roller, lie on your side with the roller behind your armpit.

Reach your hand overhead with your palm facing up to stretch your lat as you roll.

Roll slightly up and down your side to find a tight spot and then hold. As you hold, reach your arm up overhead then sweep it down in front of your chest.

Move slowly breathing as you go to help the muscle relax and release.

You can even slightly rock forward and backward as you hold on a spot.

Then move the roller to another spot, working down the side of your back and shoulder blade. Then switch sides.

You can also use a ball if you know your exact trigger points and want to apply more pressure or even need to roll out against a wall because you can’t get down on the ground.

EXERCISE #2: Suspension Trainer Snow Angels

This is an amazing multipurpose move that not only mobilizes your shoulders, but stretches your chest, helps improve your thoracic extension and your scapular mobility and stability.

The key is not just going through the movement, letting it all come from your shoulders, but actually engaging your upper back to stretch out your chest and improve that scapular control!

Stretches should also help us ACTIVATE underactive muscles and restore proper flexibility and joint range of motion.

To do the Suspension Trainer Snow Angels, you will need a suspension trainer, rings or even towels or resistance bands anchored behind you. If you use bands, you want something that doesn’t really stretch much with the movement.

Using a Suspension Trainer, hold a handle in each hand and walk away from the anchor point with your back to the anchor point.

Extend your arms straight out to your sides at shoulder height so that you feel a stretch in your chest. You may have to adjust slightly backward or forward as you begin to do the wave, depending on your mobility.

Then, standing still with your arms starting out at shoulder height, engage your back and brace your abs. You want to think about really extending through your mid and upper back without arching your lower back.

Raise your arms up overhead. Keep your arms straight as you extend overhead and even lean slightly forward to increase the stretch.

Hold for a second or two and then bring your arms out and down to the side, lowering them all the way back and down toward the ground.

Keep your arms straight as you bring them down.

Feel the muscles of your chest and even around your shoulder stretching as you lower your arms down.

Then bring them back up out to the side and back overhead. Move in a fluid, smooth “wave” as you lift and lower.

When you do the Suspension Trainer Snow Angels, you want to make sure you’re engaging your upper back to open your chest up as you raise your arms up overhead.

Feel your shoulder blades move as you raise your arms overhead and then lower them back down to your sides.

EXERCISE #3: Dip Hold Shrugs

So often we ignore the stability of our shoulder blades and don’t work to control every movement they do. We may include some retraction exercises to improve our posture, pinching our shoulder blades together, but we also have to remember that they elevate and depress.

Too often when we round forward, our shoulders end up shrugged up by our ears. This is why it’s key we also work on that ability to depress our shoulder blades and drawn our shoulders down.

A super popular move, and one I personally love to work on this movement, is the Mini Pull Up. However, this simple looking move is more challenging than we realize. It takes a lot more scapular control and strength than it seems like it would for such a small movement.

It also can’t be done at your desk.

Whereas the dip hold shrug can!

And an added bonus of this move is that it will remind us not to hunch and round forward while at our desk!

It’s key we also realize that this scapular movement is not only done when pulling but can be utilized during a press!

To do Dip Hold Shrugs, you can do these off a bench or chair. Place your hands over the edge of the bench, finger tips pointing back toward your butt as you extend your legs out and lift yourself off the bench and slightly in front.

Allow your shoulders to shrug up as you hold. Then press the bench away and draw your shoulders down, lifting and opening your chest slightly up toward the ceiling.

As you do this, don’t let your butt drift super far out in front of the bench or let your hips raise up. Often to try to make it feel like a bigger move we start moving other parts of our body instead of just focusing on the small unshrug.

Pause then relax back down, allowing your shoulders to shrug.

Again draw your shoulder blades down. Focus on really feeling those shoulder blades move as you unshrug and open your chest up slightly toward the ceiling.

If it helps, I like to think of this as a turtle popping its head out of the shell!

To progress this move, you can even do it off of dip bars. Or to modify, bend your knees and walk your heels back in toward the bench or chair!

EXERCISE #4: Extended ROM Scapular Push Ups

Along with learning to control elevation and depression of our shoulder blades, we want to be able to control protraction and retraction.

And I think it’s key we can do this through the full range of motion.

Moves like this too not only help improve our posture by allowing us to learn how to retract our shoulder blades, or pinch them together, but moves like this also allow us to learn how to engage our backs to properly row when not starting from a set position.

This exercise also strengthens the Serratus Anterior, which is a muscle often overlooked as being key to strength for our shoulder health!

To do the Extended ROM Scapular Push Ups, start from a forearm plank position off the ground.

You can also do these from your hands or a high plank position, however, that can allow you more room to move your hips. It can though be used to reduce the resistance on your core if needed.

With your elbows under your shoulders and your feet no wider than hip-width apart, make Sure your abs are engaged and your quads are flexed. Unshrug your shoulders to feel your back engaged.

Then round your mid and upper back up toward the ceiling, tucking your hips even to perform a slight posterior pelvic tilt. But do not just round through your lower back.

Really think about the rounding of your spine coming from pushing the ground away with your elbows and forearms.

Feel your shoulder blades draw as far apart as possible coming forward around your ribs.

Then slowly lower back down into the plank and, from here, pinch your shoulder blades together.

Make sure you aren’t shrugging as you pinch your shoulder blades together.

And do not let your hips sag as you perform the small retraction movement. We can often let our hips drop because we’re trying to make the move feel bigger.

Move back into the plank position then and repeat the round up.

If you can’t control this movement yet, reduce the resistance and modify the movement off an incline.

Using a bench or incline reduces the resistance on your upper body and core.

Really focus on feeling the movement of your shoulder blades. As you round, feel the muscles around your ribs and abs.

As you retract, focus on feeling the muscles of your upper back engaging.

Just make sure you do not shrug as you pinch those shoulder blades together!

SUMMARY:

The best rehab is prehab.

Include these 4 moves as a quick mobility routine in your day, just even 30 seconds per move or side, or add them into your warm up before an upper body workout.

But make sure to keep using the things that help you stay mobile and strong!

Foam Roll+ Stretch + Activate to prevent injuries and improve your mobility…

–> The RStoration Method

Hate Step Ups? Try this move instead!

Hate Step Ups? Try this move instead!

by | May 9, 2022 | Blog, Bodyweight, Butt, Exercises, Functional Fitness

Not every variation of every move is going to be right for you.

Especially if you’ve had injuries in the past you’re rebuilding from.

If you’ve struggled with knee or hip pain, especially on one side, you may want to focus on unilateral moves.

Unilateral, or one sided moves, can help you correct imbalances while making sure that your stronger side isn’t taking over and compensating.

They can allow you to rebuild that weaker side while also avoiding overloading the weaker side by doing a move that your weaker side can’t keep up on.

But what if you’re including unilateral moves like the step up and they are still a struggle? What if you want to target your glutes more because you tend to be quad dominant?

Well then this variation is exactly what you need…

THE STEP DOWN!

Sometimes it is small tweaks to moves that really add up. These adjustments can help us target specific muscles more and work better with our builds and current mind-body connection.

With the Step Down, this top down approach, can help you better focus on the hip hinge and only work through the range of motion you can truly control.

It is a great way to focus more on your glutes than your quads.

And you can really limit the range of motion to exactly what you can control without being able to cheat and push off your other foot.

It can also work well if you don’t have a range of box heights because you are so in control of how far you lower down.

So how do you do this great step up variation to improve your balance and target your glutes more?

How To Do The Step Down:

To do this move, start standing on top of a box to one side of the box. You want to place the opposite foot from the side you’re standing closest to close to the edge so the foot on that same side can actually hang off the box.

Press that foot on the edge into the box. This can help you better balance as you lower down, especially if you struggle.

Make sure you push the foot on top of the box solidly down into the box. Too often we don’t focus on that foundation to help us better activate muscles up our leg and even improve our stability.

Think of your foot as a tripod and push the two points in the ball of your foot and one in your heel down into the box.

Then begin to push your butt back. You want to start by hinging at the hips as you then bend your knee to lower your foot off the box to the ground. Do not be afraid to slightly lean forward as you lower.

You do not want to round your spine as you hinge.

Lower down only as far as you can control.

If you can lightly graze your toe on the ground, great. BUT you don’t want any weight to shift to the foot lowering down if it does touch the ground.

You will then drive back up to standing off the foot on top of the box. Stand tall at the top and squeeze that standing glute before repeating the move.

You can increase the height of the box as needed or even lower only half way down on the box if needed to start.

But you want to lower down only as far as you can control.

Because of the hip hinge with this movement over the traditional step up, you will be able to target your glutes more while still working your quads and hamstrings.

Make sure as you do this move, your knee stays in line with your hip and ankle. You do not want your knee caving in or bowing out.

Part of keeping everything in line relates back to you also focusing on that foot. Push through the entire foot and be conscious if you do feel yourself starting to rock in or out.

Modifications:

To modify this move, you may start with a smaller range of motion and increase as you build up. You can even start standing on a plate weight or only lower a few inches down on a taller box if that is what you have.

You can also create a balance assist by holding on to a pole or suspension trainer in front of you.

If you really struggle with your knee caving in, to help you better activate that glute medius to stabilize the hip and knee, you can also anchor a very light band to the opposite side of your standing leg and put it around your leg.

This gives you tension to push out against to activate the glute medius or that side butt muscle that stabilizes your hip and will improve that knee alignment. Just go light so you have that reminder but it doesn’t pull you into an incorrect position.

To advance the step down, you can hold a weight in close at your chest or even increase the height of the box to increase the range of motion.

Using This Move:

This is a great unilateral accessory exercise to include and most often will be done for 10-20 reps, although if you are adding loads you may find you do try to create a challenge at 8 reps.

Use it for higher reps if you are just starting out and doing more bodyweight based training!

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–> 3-Step RS Recipe