by Cori Lefkowith | Sep 9, 2017 | Blog, Exercises, Pain Relief, Pull Ups
I want to ask you a couple of questions…And tell me if these sound familiar….
- Have you ever had neck, shoulder or upper back pain?
- Do you feel like your upper back and neck are constantly tight?
- Do you have poor posture and tend to round forward?
- Have you been struggling to improve your pull ups no matter how much you work at them?
- Heck have you ever tried to work on pull ups only to end up with neck or shoulder pain?!
Maybe all of the above even!?!
Do you feel like no amount of stretching helps permanently and that you just have to keep doing more and more for momentary relief?
Unfortunately that is because stretching alone isn’t the answer.
Stretching alone doesn’t solve the problem for a two main reasons…
- We aren’t stretching the RIGHT muscles.
- We don’t get the right muscles activated so we keep overusing the wrong muscles.
Often our back “feels” tight so we stretch it.
But that tight feeling often isn’t from muscles being shortened.
When muscles are shortened, stretching can really help. But in this case, stretching a muscle that is overly lengthened may feel good for a moment but doesn’t SOLVE the problem. Our back may “feel” tight and even gets trigger points because our chest is overly tight and causing our back muscles to be over-stretched.
Therefore stretching our back alone doesn’t really SOLVE the problem.
If we’ve suffered upper body pain or injury and sit hunched over a computer or walk texting on our phones, often the big muscles of our back aren’t working correctly and carrying the load they should be carrying. It can also cause our chest and lats to become tight and our shoulder blades to become less mobile.
This leads small muscles, like our rotator cuff muscles, to become overworked, which can injured to injury. It can cause neck pain and shoulder pain.
But only stretching won’t get the right muscles working.
Stretching the right muscles, aka the muscles that are SHORTENED and TIGHT, can help open everything up, but then we NEED to activate the right muscles.
If you don’t then ACTIVATE, you’ll keep overusing muscles that weren’t meant to be the prime movers!
So if you’re ready to get the right muscles working to improve your posture AND even your pull ups, you’ll want to start including these 5 moves daily even!
Using these 5 moves, you can relax tight muscles and activate the big muscles of your back! They combine foam rolling, stretching and activation to help you restore mobility and build that mind-body connection.
Chest Foam Rolling:
Neck, shoulder, upper back pain? Always feel like you have “knots” in your back, but the relief from massage or stretching is only temporary?
Well guess what? Part of the problem is that your chest muscles are tight and actually perpetuating you rounding forward and even the rounding forward of your shoulders.
So to help relieve those aches and pains and help yourself get the muscles of your back working correctly, you need to start rolling out your chest.
To roll out your chest, you can either use a bigger foam ball against the ground or you can use a smaller, harder ball in a doorway.
To roll out your chest using a foam ball against the ground, place the ball on the ground and lie face down on top of it with the ball starting right at the side and top of your chest beside your shoulder joint and below your collarbone.
Holding the ball there, begin to sweep your arm overhead and then back down toward your legs. You can sweep your arm almost as if making snow angels. Or you can move your arm overhead and then tuck it under to reach down toward your feet and rotate your shoulder a bit. You can make full and partial sweeps to dig into a spot.
Then move the ball a little more toward your sternum and repeat. You can work all along underneath your collarbone, holding on any tight spots and moving your arm. You want to make sure to work all around the front of your shoulder joint and toward your sternum.
To roll out your chest in a doorway, it is best to use a smaller, harder ball instead of the foam ball.
Stand facing the wall besides the doorway and place the ball between your chest and the wall. You want to be right on the edge of the wall so that you can extend your arm forward through the doorway. Place the ball in your chest right by your shoulder joint. Hold on any tight spots as you work down toward your armpit then up under your collarbone. You will want to lift your arm out in front as you roll as well as out to the side like you did on the ground.
Lat Foam Rolling:
Because we sit way too much hunched forward over our computers, phones or even our bikes, our lats can become tight. It is important that you get everything loosened up if you want to improve your posture and your pull ups.
To roll out your lats, you can use a ball or a roller. Start by lying on your side with a roller under one armpit along the side of your back. Extend the arm on the side with the roller up above the roller. Then rock forward and backward on the roller, rotating your chest toward the ground and then up toward the ceiling as you roll on the roller so it hits toward your ribs and then toward your back.
Hold on any tight spots you find then move it lower down the side of your back. Hold on any tight spots as you go and make sure to rock forward and backward as you make your way down your side.
As you work down your side, you may want to rotate slightly more toward your back. Work all the way from your armpit to about the end of your rib cage.
Be careful as you work your way down your lat. Do not start to hyperextend your low back or tense to arch over the roller.
Kneeling Thoracic Extension and Lat Stretch:
When we sit all day in forward flexion, hunched over, our spine is in flexion. This stretch works on the exact opposite – extension. It will help you reverse the hunch (improve your spinal extension) as you stretch out your lats and even your triceps.
To do the Kneeling Thoracic Extension and Lat Stretch, place a box, bench or table on the ground in front of you. Kneel on the ground facing the bench and place your elbows up on it about shoulder-width apart. Make sure that you are kneeling far enough away from the bench that you can lean forward and drop your head between your elbows as you press your chest toward the ground.
From this kneeling position, relax your chest and head over, sitting your butt back. Press your chest toward the ground and feel your spine extend. You should feel a nice stretch down your triceps and lats as well as through your thoracic spine. Try to extend your back as much as possible as you press your chest toward the ground, but don’t simply arch your lower back. Keep your abs braced so that you force your mid and upper back to extend.
Breathe to stretch deeper and then relax back out and repeat, trying to get further with each rep.
If you really feel your elbows constantly sliding out on the bench, you can hold a dowel or even a towel between your hands to help keep everything in line. You can also increase the stretch by bringing your hands back toward your head as you maintain extension.
Pull Downs:
Once you’ve foam rolled and stretched to loosen tight muscles, you have to get the right muscles activated and working. Otherwise you’ll just end up constantly stretching everything only to tighten back up because you keep overusing muscles that aren’t meant to carry the load.
The Pull Downs are a great activation exercise to work your lats and lower traps and help mobilize your shoulder blades.
To do Pull Downs, hold a band, or even a towel, in both hands with your hands about hip-width apart. Slightly pull out on the band so that there is tension on the band or towel. Press your chest out and reach the band overhead, keeping the band/towel tight between your hands. You may need to adjust your hands in closer if the band is light. On a towel as long as you pull out with your hands a little wider than shoulder-width you should be fine since it won’t stretch like the band. You want to pull out on it so your hands are just slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
Then pull the band down toward your chest, as if pulling your chest up to the bar during a Pull Up. Lead with your chest as you draw your shoulder blades down and back and feel your back working to pull the band down. As you pull the band down, keep it tight between your hands.
Hold at this bottom position. Really press your chest out and engage your upper back as you hold. You want to think that you were leading with your chest up toward the bar. Do not arch your low back even though you want to press your chest out. Make sure you also don’t simply feel the outsides of your shoulders working, but instead feel your back. If you only feel your shoulders, you may be using too heavy a band or you may be too focused on pulling out on the band instead of down.
Scapular Push Ups:
The Scapular Push Up is a must-do move.
If you have a desk job, want to improve your posture, improve your pull ups…heck improve your deadlift or press or just about anything, this is a must-do move!
It works on mobilizing your shoulder blades to create shoulder stability. It will activate your back and the muscles around your rib cage. It can even work your core.
You can do this move from the quadruped position or modified push up position to start. Beginners may even need to do it off the wall if they aren’t able to isolate and move their shoulder blades.
As you can actively recruit the proper muscles, you can do the scapular push up from the high plank or forearm plank position.
No matter your level, you can also do Single Arm Scapular Push Ups off the wall, which is my current favorite because it also allows you to address imbalances between your right and left sides.
To do Single Arm Scapular Push Ups, set up facing a wall. Place one hand up on the wall at about shoulder height. Your arm should be straight, but make sure you aren’t shrugging. You can be at a slight incline to make the move harder by walking your feet back, but start standing more vertical to the wall so you can really focus on proper movement of your shoulder blade.
Then, keeping your elbow straight, press your chest toward the wall as you feel your shoulder blade retract back. You should feel your shoulder blade move toward your spine. Do not shrug your shoulder as you focus on moving the shoulder blade. Pause then relax back out.
Make sure you don’t shrug or bend your elbows or rotate to try to make the movement bigger. Keep your core tight and isolate that one side working. You will feel the muscles along the side of your back and your ribs working. You can even put the opposite hand below your armpit on the working side to feel those muscles working.
Posture Or Pull Ups?
While these exercise will help with both, if you’d like to learn more about one or the other, click below! I’ve got programs to help with both
Learn more about improving your Posture –>
Learn more about improving your Pull Ups –>
by Cori Lefkowith | Jun 10, 2017 | Blog, Foam Rolling, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief
All too often we go to the gym with the intention of just getting our workout DONE.
We lift the weights and do the movements and try to push ourselves to work hard.
But when was the last time you asked yourself, “Where do I feel this? Are the right muscles ACTUALLY working?”
The sad part is…Most of us haven’t thought about that in awhile. We don’t really think about WHERE we feel a move or what muscles are working.
Because most of what we see promoted in fitness is how much you can lift or what crazy moves you can do…or even how fast you can finish a workout.
It is all about doing something GNARLIER…something better or more advanced.
It’s about pushing harder, doing MORE.
But guess what the often unknown side effect of that push harder, do more culture is?
INJURY!
And it is all because our proprioception SUCKS.
Now I’m not telling you not to work hard in the gym. To not go lift weights. To not have fun taking on crazy new hard challenges.
But what I am telling you is, you also need to include proprioception work in your training.
So what the heck is proprioception?
Well simply put proprioception is our body awareness. Our ability for our mind and body to communicate and understand where our body is in space.
It is our mind’s ability to recruit the muscles of our body to act.
Sounds like something you should be able to do naturally, right?
I mean, if you can squat, your mind and body are communicating properly, right?
So you think this maybe doesn’t relate to you because you can run and squat and deadlift…
WRONG!
We’ve heard sitting is bad for us – that it creates poor posture.
But what we don’t realize is that all of that sitting at a computer, sitting watching TV, hunching over our phones texting or even driving in the car not only leads to poor posture, but also imbalances that kill our proprioception.
All of that forward flexion (aka rounding forward as we sit with our heads forward) causes our mind to want to use the WRONG MUSCLES to perform movements.
So yes, your mind will connect with your body and recruit muscles to perform a squat.
Heck, if you are athletic, it may even recruit muscles so you perform a seemingly PERFECT looking squat.
The problem is YOUR MIND IS CONNECTING WITH THE WRONG MUSCLES. It is recruiting muscles that can’t handle the load to perform a movement!
It is compensating.
Our bodies take the path of least resistance to perform the movements we ask of it.
It is a wonderful and horrible thing. Our mind wants to do what we ask so it recruits the muscles available. Muscles that may be overactive because of our daily posture.
Muscles that aren’t necessarily the best option for the job.
But because those are the only ones your brain can easily recruit, it calls on them. And then you are able to run and squat and do the movements your workouts and daily life require….
However, we can only ask so much of these muscles. And the loads we ask them to carry because we can’t recruit the right muscles is too much for them.
And that is why we end up injured.
The injury may happen when you are doing something seemingly innocent and easy.
Heck, it could happen when bending over to reach for a pencil on the ground.
We’ve all had friends do that…or maybe it has happened to us even. We “sleep wrong.” Or we just turn to look or reach or bend for something and WHAM! pain and injury.
But it wasn’t really that event that injured you. No…that was just the “straw that broke the camels back.”
That final thread just finally snapped.
But it was really a build up of things that caused it. A build up that started because we lacked proper proprioception.
Because we didn’t have that mind-body connection to begin with.
So…long story short…Proprioception is the mind-body connection.
And hopefully now you’re starting to see that being able to squat or run doesn’t necessarily mean you have great proprioception or even any mind-body awareness for that matter.
Repeating a movement doesn’t mean the right muscles are working.
Ever wonder why you squat but your glutes never change? All you feel is your quads working?
Or ever wonder why people will say their back is sore after rows or pull ups but all you feel is your arms or maybe even your neck and shoulders?
That right there is the sign that you aren’t recruiting the right muscles for the job.
But that requires you to start THINKING about the muscles that are working WHILE you workout.
You can’t simply try to “get through” your workout. You can’t simply try to go fast or lift more.
NOPE!
You’ve got to actually THINK about the muscles that should be working.
That is the first step to not only realize that the right muscles AREN’T working, but also the first step toward getting the right muscles activated.
It is the first step in restoring proper proprioception!
That is why I asked, “But when was the last time you asked yourself, “Where do I feel this? Are the right muscles ACTUALLY working?'”
Because you’ve got to start thinking about what muscles are working when you move. If you think about recruiting the right muscles, you can start to rebuild that connection.
But it can be difficult to start doing that during compound lifts such as the squat or deadlift or even when you run when the muscles are inactive.
You may NOT feel them working. And you may not be able to focus on them working without risking your form breaking down or further compensations.
So to get yourself to be able to start thinking about what muscles are working, you need to include activation exercises in your routine.
You need to return to basics.
It’s kind of like how children learn to walk and then run. They don’t just jump right into running, right?
First they crawl. Then they stand while holding on. Then they stand on their own. Then they stand, but hold on to start walking. Then finally walking a few steps on their own…Until they are able to not only walk, but run.
They had to build that mind-body connection slowly, starting with the basics.
You’ve got to do the same.
It sucks to regress movements…I know…trust me.
But if you want to keep yourself healthy and even lift more and run faster, no matter how advanced you are, you’ve got to return to the basics.
Basic, bodyweight exercises that ISOLATE the muscles you want to get working correctly. Muscles that on their own don’t want to work because of our daily lifestyle.
These aren’t moves you are going to try to load down with tons of weight. These are moves that help you focus on the muscles that should be working so you can get them engaged BEFORE you go do more compound lifts.
By doing these moves, you can help yourself KNOW the muscles are turned on because they may even be “burning” before you go do your workout.
You feel them engage through the isolation of them so you can then more easily think of them working during your lift.
For example, you are going to run or even go deadlift.
And you want to get your glutes activated because you now realize they are inactive and have been causing you some low back and even hip pain.
You struggle to think about them engaging and never feel them during your runs or lifts.
So you decide to try using some activation moves before you workout.
You do bodyweight glute bridges, focusing on extending your hips and squeezing your glutes. You engage your abs and make sure your low back and hamstrings don’t take over. You start to FEEL the contraction of your glutes and they start to burn.
You then add in some fire hydrants and a few other basic moves. Your really feel those glutes “burning” by the end. Not tired. Just really AWAKE.
You go right into your lift and run ALREADY feeling your glutes.
And guess what? When you think about the muscle during your workout, you actually KNOW you are using it because there was already a pump going.
That burn beforehand makes it easier to be aware of what is working.
You are able to make your glutes work because of the basic activation moves that got them engaged. Your brain has established a connection with your glutes before you do more compound moves where it has to recruit more muscles at the same time.
You started restoring your mind-body connection. You started developing proper proprioception!
Exciting, right?!
I mean the right muscles working so you can run faster, lift more and avoid injury!?! HECK YES!
Now while it would be nice if it only took one activation session and BAM! results, it often doesn’t work that way.
I do activation as part of every warm up and have my clients do the same. Especially on days when we are working muscles, like the back and butt, that often don’t want to engage naturally.
And, as you start to turn muscles on, you may need to regress other movements in your workouts so that you don’t cause those newly activated muscles to shut off.
Loading down movements with too much weight or doing a super high volume when you are just learning to get muscles activated may lead you to keep compensating.
If you’ve been doing pull ups with neck pain and decide to start working to activate your back with activation exercises (and maybe even get it working with those moves), but then jump right back in with weighted pull ups or even a super high volume of repetitions, you may still end up with neck pain.
Because you are still overloading a muscle that your brain is still just beginning to learn how to recruit.
And at the first sign of too much stress, guess what?!
Your body reverts back to the easiest to recruit muscles. Your body reverts back to the path of least resistance aka what it knows best!
And you’ll still end up with aches and pains.
So what does this all mean?
It means you’ve got to regress to progress and put ego aside.
It freaking sucks. I know. None of us want to go “backward.”
But it isn’t going backward.
It’s taking one step back…Ok maybe like 10 steps back…But we are taking those steps back to end up 20 steps ahead of where we were!
So stop allowing aches and pains and injuries to hinder your workouts. Stop letting the desire to do MORE or be gnarly(…aka our ego…yes we all have it…I know I do!) hold us back from ACTUALLy lifting more or running faster in the long run.
Regress to progress.
Start being conscious of your body during your workouts and stop just powering through. Especially powering through the pain.
Ask yourself, “Where do I feel this? What muscles are working?” and start rebuilding your mind-body connection. Restore proper proprioception and start moving and feeling better TODAY.
And if you need some help, you’ll want to start with a 3 part process – Foam Rolling (Self Myofascial Release), Stretching AND Activation. This is what I call the RStoration Method.
You are relaxing those muscles that want to try to engage and carry a load they can’t. So you are relaxing them so your brain doesn’t want to recruit them. And then you are getting the right muscles for the job engaged and working.
Through that three part process, you can eliminate pain for GOOD and get more out of your workouts.
Here are some great articles to help you get started covering each of the three part in the RStoration Method!
Self Myofascial Release aka Foam Rolling:
Stretching:
Activation:
by Cori Lefkowith | Apr 9, 2017 | Blog, Butt, Exercises, Pain Relief, Workouts
So you want a sexy, strong butt…because let’s face it…who doesn’t!?!
Whether you just want your butt to look firm and toned or you want to lift more, run faster or even PREVENT INJURY, glute activation is a MUST.
And it can be done quickly BEFORE you workout so you get even more out of all of those squats, lunges and deadlifts.
Because while squats, lunges and deadlifts are AMAZING compound exercises, if your glutes aren’t ALREADY activated, they won’t work properly during those moves.
Which can not only lead to injury, but also cause your quads and legs to change while your glutes stay the same.
So if you want to get the most out of your workouts, you’ve got to activate your glutes BEFORE.
(And P.S. Guys – this applies to you too. If you want to prevent low back, hip and knee pain, run faster, and lift more, you have to activate those glutes…Plus I won’t lie…Women like a nice backside. 😉 haha)
Below are 3 moves you can do before your lower body workouts to make sure your glutes are activating and firing.
These moves are all BODYWEIGHT because with bodyweight we have the ability to contract our glutes harder and establish the mind-body connection.
Too often we add weight to try to get the glutes to work, but then they stop firing. Bodyweight and light resistance for higher reps is KEY to getting them activated and pumped.
Using these 3 moves you can also unlock your hips to improve hip extension and work all 3 gluteal muscles.
It is important that your glute activation ALSO works on hip extension because tight hips can not only lead to pain and injury, but they can keep your glutes from working proper and cause that LOWER BELLY POOCH!
Use these 3 moves and get your glutes working properly before your workout for a strong and sexy butt!
3 Moves To Activate Your Glutes Before You Workout
Bench 2-Way Leg Swings:
This move works all three gluteal muscles, opens up your hips AND even helps you build core stability.
It is the perfect move if you can literally only do one thing that day to activate your glutes and core. This move alone will get you ready to feel your glutes during your workout!
To do the Bench 2-Way Leg Swings, place one knee and both hands on a bench with your knee under your hips and your hands under your shoulders. Your other leg will be off to the side of the bench hanging straight down to the ground.
Keeping your arms straight, brace your core and then lift the leg off the bench straight up to the side. Keep the leg straight as you lift and don’t bend your elbows or lean away to try to lift higher. Squeeze your glute to lift the leg up and out to the side. Try to get it as straight out to the side as possible. Feel the outside of your hip working.
Lower back down and then lift the same leg straight back toward the wall behind your. Again, squeeze your glute to lift your leg straight out behind you and extend your hip. Keep your core engaged and do not hyperextend your low back or rotate your hips open just to kick the leg up higher as you lift it back behind you.
Lower back down and repeat the lifts on the same side. Do not bend your arms or really rock away to get the leg up higher. You want to move from the hip and use your glute.
Do not just swing the leg, but focus on FEELING your glute working. Complete all reps on one side before switching. Move quickly between the two lifts.
Side Balance Leg Raise:
This is the perfect way to activate your hip stabilizers aka your gluteus medius and minimus to prevent pain and injury AND even make sure your gluteus maximus engages during your workout! PLUS, this move will work your core and even your shoulders!
To do the Side Balance Leg Raise, start on one knee with your other leg out straight to the side. Then place your hand down on the outside of your knee so you are in a side balance position. Your hand should be under your shoulder while your knee will be just slightly below your hip. You want to keep your chest open and not rotate toward the ground.
Then lift your top straight leg up toward the ceiling. Lift the leg as close to parallel to the ground as you can and then lower back down. Do not swing your entire body to lift the leg. Keep your core tight and do not let your body rotate toward the ground or open toward the ceiling as you lift. Make sure your toe doesn’t rotate open as you lift.
Feel the outside of your glute and hip working to lift the leg. Complete all reps on one side before switching.
Feet-Raised Hip Thruster:
Take the basic glute bridge and amplify the pump with the Feet-Raised Hip Thruster. This move will work on hip extension and get those glutes burning and engaged! It is the perfect way to unlock your hips as you activate your glutes.
To Feet-Raised Hip Thruster, place a box and a bench close enough together that your back can be on the bench and your feet up on the box. You just don’t want your legs to be out too far. If your legs are out too straight, you will use more hamstrings than glutes.
Then with your feet and back both up on boxes or benches, bridge up, driving up through your heels and your upper back. Make sure to engage your abs and even do a pelvic tilt if you struggle to keep your low back from taking over.
Drive your hips up and squeeze your glutes. Lift your hips to full extension and hold for a second and then lower back down. Make sure you don’t drive yourself backward over the bench. You want to bridge straight up and feel like you are driving your knees forward over your toes.
Lower back down, making sure to drop your butt below the height of the box and repeat. You do not have to touch the ground each time, but you do want to do a bigger range of motion than you could if performing a bridge from the ground.
LEARN MORE –>
by Cori Lefkowith | Feb 4, 2017 | Blog, Bodyweight, Pain Relief, Workouts
You don’t have to push yourself to the point of complete destruction every workout…Sometimes less is more…
That is why today I wanted to share an important workout with you…A workout that will help you get more out of your program and the intense workouts you do on the other days. A workout that will leave you feeling good and full of energy at the end.
This workout won’t destroy you in the least. It will simply get the correct muscles working. And you can’t skip it if you want real results. You can’t skip it just because it doesn’t leave you feeling destroyed.
This is the non gnarly workout you need to really get results from your complete program!
And you shouldn’t do MORE just because it didn’t kill you!
Sometimes these simple moves, the workouts that focus on creating a strong foundation, are what you’re missing…and the reason you aren’t getting the results you deserve even while working out intense and eating well!
Trust the process and try this Activation Workout from my Bodyweight Shred!
WARM UP:
Roll out.
Take some extra time to roll out today if you can!
Stretch:
5-8 rounds Inchworm Flow
WORKOUT:
Complete 3-5 rounds of each superset, resting as needed between rounds up to about 30 seconds. If you are short on time, complete at least 1 round of each superset. Although this is a great one to squeeze in even if you usually only do 3 workouts! It is key to preventing injury as you workout intensely!
SUPERSET #1:
20 reps Glute Bridges
10 reps per side Glute Bridge with Alternating Overhead Reach
SUPERSET #2:
20 reps Scapular Push Ups
10 reps Push Up Plus
SUPERSET #3:
30 seconds Dolphin Plank
30 seconds per side Side Plank Oblique Twists
OPTIONAL:
You may go for a walk, bike ride or even do any sort of light cardio if desired for 15-30 minutes after this workout!
COOL DOWN:
Roll out and Stretch:
Hips
Chest
Quads
Calves
Forearms
Hamstrings
Upper Back
Some Recommended Stretches:
Standing Chest Stretch
Half-Kneeling Hip and Quad Stretch
Build A Strong Foundation As You Build Muscle And Burn Fat!
Build a solid foundation of strength and get the lean, strong body you want with my Hybrid Exercise system in my 6-Week Bodyweight Shred!
–> Get the 6-Week Bodyweight Shred
by Cori Lefkowith | Oct 28, 2016 | Blog, Butt, Pain Relief
We’ve all know that we sit too much during the day and that sitting may be killing us.
And while moving more is important, your movement needs to REVERSE the effects of sitting.
You’ve got to make sure that you loosen tight muscles and get those muscles that become weak and inactive from sitting activated and working correctly again.
This is why I constant harp on improving hip mobility AND working on glute activation!
If you sit a lot during the day, your hips are tight from being in constant flexion (aka bent!). This tightness causes your glutes to often shut off, which means all of that squatting and lunging and deadlifting may not actually be working those butt cheeks!
It may mean you’re actually potentially risking pain and injury because other muscles are engaging and working so that you can squat and deadlift and lunge. Muscles that SHOULDN’T and CAN’T really handle the load!
Wonder why your low back so often hurts? Or why you only feel your quads during some of these compound moves?
It may be because your glutes aren’t actually working and engaging because they aren’t activated! And why aren’t they activated?
Because your hips are locked up!
To unlock your hips and activate your glutes, I like to do these 3 moves basically DAILY!
(And if you are looking for a complete program to unlock those hips and activate those glutes check out this AMAZING one – Unlock Your Hip Flexors!)
Half-Kneeling Hip (and Quad!) Stretch – I do this stretch as often as possible. It is the perfect way to reverse the effects of sitting and even start to activate your glutes. You can do a few different variations and hit your hips from a couple of different angles and even really stretch out your quad as well.
One HUGE key though to getting this stretch to actually work though is ENGAGING YOUR GLUTE! Too often people do this and don’t ACTUAL extend their hip because they lean forward or simply arch their low back.
If you don’t engage your glute and actually focus on extending your hip, guess what?! You don’t actually unlock your hips and you don’t really reverse all of the effects of sitting!
So no matter which version you pick, make sure to truly engage your glute and extend your hip and not simply your low back. If you are starting out, the version below is a great place to start! From there you can add in the quad stretch by grabbing your back foot or placing it up on a bench.
To do the Basic Half-Kneeling Hip Stretch, start half kneeling on the ground. Flex your back foot and squeeze your glute as you drive your back hip forward. Reach your hand up overhead so that you feel a nice stretch down the hip of the back leg. You can reach both hands up or simply the hand on the side that is back.
Squeeze the glute of your back leg so that you are actually fully extending your back hip and not simply arching your back. If you just hyperextend your low back, you will just be perpetuating the problem. Make sure you are truly extending your hip.
Breathe as you hold and reach your hands backward overhead or turn this into a dynamic stretch by releasing and then repeating the stretch.
You can also reach your arms to the side over your front leg if you want to hit your hip from a different angle and stretch your TFL and even the muscles of your back that help you bend to the side.
Leg Swings – If you ask any of my in-person clients, they’ll tell you I make them do this one basically daily along with the Half-Kneeling Hip Stretch. I LOVE this one because it not only works on balance and activates the muscles that stabilize your feet and lower legs, but it also wakes up your core, activates your glutes AND opens up your hips.
And it does all of these things in different planes of motion, which means you’ll be mobilizing your hips so you can move well in every direction!
There are three main variations of the Leg Swing I use; however, you can really swing in any direction. Just make sure to really engage the glute of the standing leg to help you balance and even use the glute of the other legs to swing, especially on the rotational one!
To do the 3-Way Leg Swings, start standing on one foot. Feel your foot gripping the ground and engage the glute of the standing leg to help you balance. Brace your abs and stand up nice and tall.
Keeping both legs fairly straight, but not locked out, begin to swing the other leg forward and backward. Swing from the hip, don’t just bend your knee and kick your lower leg. The bigger your swings are, the more your standing leg will have to work to balance.
Do not hold on to anything as you do this move. If you need to at the beginning, just perform smaller swings and tap your foot down as needed to reset and stabilize. You can hold onto a wall if you want to remove the balance element and instead just focus on mobilizing the hip, but remember that you are then taking out balance work and even building some extra core stability.
Complete all reps of the forward/backward swing then, still balancing on the same leg, switch to lateral swings. For the lateral swings, swing the leg up to the right and then to the left in front of your standing leg. You may even feel the outside of that glute working to raise the leg up as you swing it. The bigger your swing, the more you will open up your hip and force your standing leg to work hard to balance.
After performing the lateral swings, bend the knee of the leg you’ve been swinging to 90 degrees and perform rotational swing.
To do rotational swings, bring the bent knee in front of you and then open it out to the side. Bring the knee back forward, keeping the leg bent the entire time. Really focus on opening from the hip with this move. You should really feel the glute of the standing leg working as you rotate. The more your rotate, the harder the move will be, but also the more you will open your hips and get your glutes activated.
Once you complete all three swings, switch to the other side and do all three swings.
If you do this move correctly, you will feel your foot, calf and even your shin muscles working to balance. You will also feel your glute and core engaging as you swing your leg to open your hip.
Again start with a more basic balancing pose if you can’t maintain balance or perform smaller swings. The whole point of this move is to improve your mind-body connection and get things activated so you can balance.
Bridging – I don’t care if you do a Camel Bridge, Tabletop Bridge, Basic Glute Bridge or any other variation of the Bridge…If you aren’t doing some sort of bridge almost daily, you are missing out on a great chance to not only improve your hip extension but also activate your glutes!
Unlocking your hip flexors and keeping them unlocked isn’t only about stretching. Because if you stretch and then go right back and sit, you’ll simply tighten everything back up.
BUT if you actually get the muscles activated and working and STRENGTHEN through the range of motion you’ve established, you can actually improve your mobility, unlock your hip flexors and prevent and alleviate low back and hip pain (as well as even knee pain among other things!).
No matter how advanced an exerciser you are, you should always include a Basic BODYWEIGHT Glute Bridge in your routine…I know I do.
A. Because it is important to always return to basics and establish/maintain your mind-body connection.
B. Because with bodyweight exercises we are often actually able to contract our glutes harder AKA really make sure they are activated and working correctly!
Just a refresher on that Basic Bodyweight Glute Bridge…
To do the Basic Glute Bridge, lie on your back and bend your knees and put your feet flat on the ground. Your feet should be about hip-width apart. You may need to adjust your exact foot positioning based on how tight or mobile your hips are. You can move your feet slightly away or slightly closer to your butt, but just make sure you don’t move them so far away that you feel your hamstrings taking over.
Bend your elbows to 90 degrees so that only your upper arms are on the ground. This will help you really be able to drive down with your elbows, upper arms and back to help you bridge straight up instead of pushing yourself backward.
Then bridge up, driving through your heels and upper back and arms to lift your glutes up off the ground. Drive your hips up as high as possible, squeezing your glutes hard as you brace your abs. Keep your belly button drawn in so you don’t hyperextend your back. Focus and consciously squeeze your glutes at the top.
When you bridge, do not push backward off your heels. Make sure you are driving straight up and that your knees aren’t caving in. Even think about driving your knees forward over your toes to help extend your hips and prevent you from pushing yourself backward.
Squeeze your glutes for second or two at the top and lower all the way back down to the ground before repeating. Do not rush through the move.
OH and I also want to mention…Glute Activation and unlocking your hip flexors not only means reversing the effects of sitting so you prevent and alleviate injury and can lift more and run faster…
But it can also help with that LOWER BELLY POOCH!
Did you know that tight hip flexors can actually contribute to that hard to get rid of lower belly pooch!?! Well they can!
All the more reason to unlock those hips and get those booty cheeks working correctly.
For some essential flows and movements you NEED to be including in your workout routine, check out this program – Unlock Your Hip Flexors!
by Cori Lefkowith | Oct 13, 2016 | Blog, Core, Exercises, Pain Relief, Workouts
Whether you have a desk job, a long commute, work on your laptop on the couch, text on your phone as you walk, watch TV…you’re spending probably way too much time in flexion.
You’re hunched over, your head is forward, your hips, knees, elbows and even wrists are bent….
And then you start to suffer from aches and pains…Your neck, shoulder, back, hips, knees….
You get massages and maybe even see a chiropractor. Yet the aches and pains just continue to come back and maybe even start getting worse.
Your workouts suffer and you either feel limited in what you can do or you start to notice things aren’t working correctly and you’re getting injured.
Guess what?
This all has to do with your posture!
You know what makes all of this even worse? People then think they simply can no longer do the things they love. They think they’ll just end up injured again if the run or lift or cycle.
And while that is partly true, it isn’t because you can’t get back to doing the things you love. You don’t need to give those things up!
Instead of giving up the activities you love, you need to first do things to improve your posture. If you solve the real problem, you can get back to being active.
But if you never solve the actual problem, you’re just going to have to keep avoiding activities and exercises. And avoidance solves nothing. It may seemingly prevent injury, but not for long.
At some point there will be a “straw that breaks the camel’s back” and your poor posture and imbalances and compensations will lead to injury. And you’ll still suffer from aches and pains.
So stop avoiding the problem and solve it. Allow those massages and adjustments to stick by working to loosen, activate and strengthen the correct muscles and improve your posture so you move and feel better!
Try this quick 10-Minute Core Workout using my RStoration method from my 21-Day RStoration Workout Program!
The Core Focused Posture Workout
This posture workout is focused on strengthening your core and on mobilizing and activating everything between your shoulders and your knees. It should take 10 minutes and can be done as a warm up or as something separate from your workout (which is ideal).
Tools Needed: Ball or Roller, Towel
Set a timer for 30 seconds for each move (or per side) for the first two circuits. Then complete the reps/time as listed for the third circuit.
CIRCUIT #1 – 1 round
Chest Foam Rolling
Bicep Foam Rolling
Quad Foam Rolling
CIRCUIT #2 – 1 round
Lying Chest Stretch with Scorpion
Rotational Half Kneeling Hip and Quad Stretch
CIRCUIT #3 – 2 rounds
5 reps per side Sit Thru to Thoracic Bridge
10 reps per side Side Plank Clams
30 seconds Forearm Front Plank Hold
EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS:
Chest Foam Rolling – To roll out your chest in a doorway, it is best to use a smaller, harder ball. Stand facing the wall besides the doorway and place the ball between your chest and the wall. You want to be right on the edge of the wall so that you can extend your arm forward through the doorway. Start with the ball in your chest besides your shoulder and below your collarbone. Press into the ball and raise the arm on the side you are digging into up toward the ceiling and back down. Because you are in a doorway, you can raise the arm straight out in front of you as you swing the arm very slowly up toward the ceiling and down toward the ground. Hold on any tight spots as you move your arm. You can also roll the ball along the muscles below your collarbone and even down around your shoulder toward your armpit. Hold on any tight spots you find and even lift and lower your arm. Then switch and do the other side.
Bicep Foam Rolling – To roll out your biceps, you will place a ball or roller up on a table or desk like you did to roll out your triceps. You will then rotate your chest toward the ground and place your bicep down on the roller or ball right above the inside of your elbow. Rock slightly side to side to dig out your bicep. Hold if you find an especially tight spot and even flex and relax your bicep by flexing and extending your elbow if your desk or table allows. Then move the roller higher up your bicep toward your shoulder. Again rock side to side and hold on any tight spots. If you don’t have a table or desk you can use, you can also do this against a wall although you may not be able to flex and extend your arm then.
Quad Foam Rolling – To roll out your Quads, take the foam roller and lay over it as if you are about to do a plank. Start with the roller right above your knees. Rock side to side and then move it up a little higher on the front of your legs. As you rock and move the roller higher, make sure to pause and hold on any extra tight spots until the pain lessens a bit. Work your way all the way up to your hips. If you find any tight spots, while you hold on them, flex and relax your quad to help the tight spots loosen. To apply more pressure, place only one leg down on the roller and rock side to side, holding on any extra tight spots.
Lying Chest Stretch with Scorpion – To do the Lying Chest Stretch with Scorpion, lie on your belly with your arms out straight at shoulder height. Bend the elbow of one arm to 90 degrees so that your upper arm is in line with your shoulder. Then lift the opposite leg from the bent arm up and bend your knee to kick your foot over and behind you to try to touch the toe down to the ground behind you. As you rotate your leg over, press your chest open with your straight arm. Feel a stretch through the chest and shoulder on the side you are kicking toward. You will also feel a stretch through your low back. Make sure that as you rotate open and kick the leg back over your body that you relax your head down onto the ground. Hold for a second or two then bend the other arm and kick the other leg back and over. Alternate sides, holding for a second or two each way.
Rotational Half Kneeling Hip and Quad Stretch – To do the Rotational Half-Kneeling Hip and Quad Stretch, set up in a half kneeling position with your right leg forward. Then place your left hand on the ground and lean forward. Reach back with your right hand and grab your left foot. Pull your foot in toward your butt as you drive your hip forward. Feel a stretch down your hip and quad. As you press your hip forward, rotate your chest open toward your front leg. You may also feel a stretch through your spine and down the outside of that front leg. Hold here and breathe as you relax deeper into the stretch. You can also open your knee outward to stretch into your adductor or rotate your knee inward to hit your TFL. Beginners may need a towel or stretch strap to help them do this stretch as it requires more flexibility to reach around and grab the leg with the rotation.
Sit Thru to Thoracic Bridge – To do the Sit Thru to Thoracic Bridge, start on your hands and knees with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Flex your feet and lift up onto your hands and the balls of your feet. Then lift your right hand up and bring your left leg under your body and through and place your left foot flat on the ground. Rotate your hips up toward the ceiling, squeezing your glutes to lift them up as high as you can. Really try to open your hips up toward the ceiling and squeeze your glutes to fully extend your hips. With your hips lifted, reach your right hand down toward the ground, rotating your chest toward the floor. Really reach your hand toward the ground as the rest of your body opens toward the ceiling to feel a nice stretch as you rotate. Feel your glutes working to keep BOTH hips up, while you reach your hand down. Don’t let your hips drop as you rotate. You should feel a nice rotation and stretch through your spine. You are twisting almost like someone wringing out a towel. Make sure though that you aren’t hyperextending your low back to bridge up but are instead squeezing your glutes. Then drop your hips and step your foot back through while placing your hand back down on the ground. Rotate to the other side, bridging your hips up as high as you can. (Click here for a video – shown at 1:39)
Side Plank Clams – To do the Side Plank Clam, lie on your side propped up on your forearm with your elbow underneath your shoulder. Bend your knees so that your feet and lower legs are behind you. You can place your top hand on your hip or reach it up toward the ceiling, but don’t touch it down to the ground. With your legs stacked, lift your hip up off the ground, driving through your knee and forearm. As you lift your hips up, lift your top leg up and toward the ceiling, keeping the knee bent. Open up as high as you can then lower the leg back down. As you lower the leg back down, lower your hip back down to the ground. Repeat, lifting up and, as you do, raise your top leg up toward the ceiling. Complete all reps on one side before switching. Make sure you are lifting straight up and not rotating toward the ground or open toward the ceiling. Also keep your elbow under your shoulder and do not get too spread out. When you lift the top leg, don’t rotate open as you do. Really focus on lifting with your glute.
Forearm Front Plank Hold – To do the Basic Forearm Front Plank, lie on your stomach and bend your elbows so that you’re propped up on your forearms. Your legs should be straight out behind you with your feet together. Flex your feet and lift up onto your forearms and toes. Your elbows should be stacked under your shoulders and your feet should be together. On your forearms and toes, create a nice straight line with your body from your head to your heels. Make sure that in this position you are concentrating on tucking your pelvic to engage your abs as you squeeze your glutes and quads to keep your legs straight. Make sure that you are also squeezing your legs together as you hold and driving back through your heels. Do not push forward onto your toes. Also, do not let your chest sag toward the ground or your upper back round. You want a nice flat upper back. Feel your lats engage to pull your elbows down under your shoulders and toward your hips to protect your shoulders. While holding, don’t just go through the motions. Assess whether the right muscles are engaged and even consciously activate them. If you begin to shake, you know you are engaging the muscles. Hold in this position for a set amount of time or until your form starts to break down. If you feel this in your low back, assess whether or not you are performing a proper Pelvic Tilt. Beginners will want to start with a Plank from their knees.
But what we don’t realize is that all of that sitting at a computer, sitting watching TV, hunching over our phones texting or even driving in the car not only leads to poor posture, but also imbalances that kill our proprioception.
First they crawl. Then they stand while holding on. Then they stand on their own. Then they stand, but hold on to start walking. Then finally walking a few steps on their own…Until they are able to not only walk, but run.
You do bodyweight glute bridges, focusing on extending your hips and squeezing your glutes. You engage your abs and make sure your low back and hamstrings don’t take over. You start to FEEL the contraction of your glutes and they start to burn.
You are relaxing those muscles that want to try to engage and carry a load they can’t. So you are relaxing them so your brain doesn’t want to recruit them. And then you are getting the right muscles for the job engaged and working.
