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Exercises For Hip Pain RELIEF (5 Daily Hip Pain Moves)

Exercises For Hip Pain RELIEF (5 Daily Hip Pain Moves)

by | Jul 15, 2021 | Blog, Butt, Core, Exercises, Foam Rolling, Pain Relief, Stretches, Uncategorized

Unfortunately hip pain is an all too common complaint.

And the best rehab is prehab – preventing those injuries before they really build up by recognizing and addressing those “minor” aches and pains.

Too often we simply try to push through a sore hip. We accept a limited range of motion.

We just keep training hard because it “loosens up” as we go or “only hurts at specific times.”

But those little nagging aches and pains are what end up resulting in injuries.

That’s why I wanted to share 5 moves you could include in your warm ups and weekly routine to prevent those annoying little aches and pains from ever resulting in an injury!

Best to act BEFORE the problems really occur!

So what are those 5 prehab moves?

 

5 Exercises For Hip Pain:

Rectus Femoris Foam Rolling:

The psoas is the sexy hip flexor muscle to talk about, but this hip flexor muscle, which is also a quad muscle, can directly impact both the hip AND the knee so it is a key muscle to pay attention to – it’s the Rectus Femoris.

Tightness of this muscle will not only hinder proper glute activation but lead to lower back, hip and knee issues.

It may be why you had a knee issue on one side and now have hip pain!

So because of the impact this muscle has on multiple joints it is a key muscle to include in your prehab routine.

Usually this muscle becomes short and overactive, which is why it is key you start by relaxing and releasing it through foam rolling.

That will then allow you to better activate your glutes and improve your hip extension and mobility.

If you have had issues or injuries on only one side, you may find you only need to address tightness on one side.

To roll out the Rectus Femoris, place a ball in the middle of your quad. You can also use a roller to reduce the pressure on the muscle. While you want to apply pressure to help the muscle relax as you hold, if the pressure is too much and you tense against it, you won’t benefit. So start with a softer ball or foam roller instead.

Hold and then even tense the muscle and relax as you hold to help it release.

Spend at least 30 seconds on any tight spots you find and hold up to 1 minute.

Piriformis Foam Rolling:

Piriformis issues are all too common these days and are often linked with the fact that we simply spend far too much time seated. Not to mention many of us even choose to do exercise activities, like cycling that still keep us in that seated position!

So it is key we address the fact that this muscle can become tight and shortened and then lead to issues like hip pain and even sciatic compression BEFORE the problems really occur.

That’s why I like to include some foam rolling for the piriformis in my prehab or warm up routines.

A ball works best to really apply more pressure, but you can use a roller especially starting out. You want to find the spot where the top of your back jean pocket would be.

If you use a roller, cross one ankle over the other knee to really help address tightness of the muscle as you lean into that side.

You can then push your knee open and relax out as you hold on the spot.

If you’re using a ball, you may find it helpful to lift and lower the leg as you hold.

Just make sure you breathe and relax as you hold.

Single Leg Hip Thruster:

After starting to relax overactive muscles, you want to start to stretch and work the hip through a full range of motion.

And a great way to do this while also activating our glutes, which are commonly UNDERACTIVE is through activation moves like the Single Leg Hip Thruster with Knee Hug!

Activation moves like this stretch out tight hip flexors through a process called reciprocal inhibition. Basically by engaging your glute to drive your hip into extension you stretch out that shortened hip flexor.

So especially if you’re short on time, you can use this move to stretch and activate all in one!

To do this move, you’ll hug one knee in toward your chest as you set up with your back on a bench. You can look down slightly toward your knees. This cervical flexion can actually help with glute engagement and can help you avoid arching your back.

Use that posterior pelvic tilt to brace your abs as you drive up. Squeeze your glute to extend your hip and avoid arching your lower back to get up higher.

Relax back down and repeat.

Unilateral moves like this are key if you have one side that is weaker or tighter; however, it also makes the exercise harder.

You may find you start with the glute bridge variation of this OR even an 80/20 hip thruster so that you reduce the resistance on that single leg.

You want to make sure your glute is the prime mover and that you don’t feel your hamstrings or quads compensating instead.

Hinged 3-Way Hip Circles:

It’s key we not only work on hip extension but also abduction and even flexion. Basically we want to make sure we mobilize our hip through a full range of motion while building stability through that full ROM.

That’s why this Hinged 3-Way Hip Circle move is so amazing.

You can do a version of this move fully standing and balancing, which is a great option IF you really want to focus on that balance element. You can also do it quadruped.

Even implementing all three over a progression can help you get the best results.

I find using the balance assist and slightly hinged position though really helps to better activate the glute through both the extension and even abduction for most people.

Lean forward against a wall or on a chair or bar for support.

Drive your leg back first. Think less about how high you kick up and almost think about stopping the lift with your glute. Feel yourself squeeze your glute.

Then bend your knee as you lift your leg out to the side. Focus on really feeling that glute lift over rotating away to lift up higher.

Fight to keep your lower leg parallel to the ground. We tend to either want to raise our foot up higher and internally rotate our hip (use the TFL) or externally rotate our hip (which can utilize more piriformis) so really focus on that glute medius.

Then with the knee bent, drive your knee in toward your chest and even round slightly to feel your abs.

We aren’t just mobilizing the hip but also activating muscles to improve our hip stability!

With this move you’re hitting your glute max, medius and even your abs!

Side Lying Series:

The glute medius is key to improving our hip stability and even our glute max activation, which is why it’s essential we include activation exercises for it.

Strengthening this muscle will help us avoid hip pain and even help us lift more and run faster!

One of the simplest but most killer activation series for it, is the Side Lying Series. It is key though that you avoid letting your TFL take over.

Using a slight internal rotation of that lower leg, so turning the toe down toward the ground is key.

Do not let your body rotate open. AND if you’ve had piriformis issues, definitely be careful you don’t start to turn that toe open or externally rotate your hip.

So often we want to allow our TFL or piriformis to compensate for that glute medius.

You’ll then lift the leg up at least 8-10 inches off the bottom leg. This will engage the glute before you even start.

You’ll then run through all, or a combination of side lying moves on one side before switching. Do not rush through or disengage by lowering your leg.

You can do the side lying leg raise, front kicks, back kicks, front to back kicks and then even the bicycle.

All of these hit different aspects of the glute medius AND work it while in both hip flexion and extension.

This series is amazing for runner’s especially using the bicycle because it works on that hip mobility through a full gait motion.

SUMMARY:

The best way to avoid annoying chronic hip pain is to do prehab or those mobility and activation moves to address common postural distortions or previous injuries BEFORE pain adds up.

These moves can be used in your warm up to even help you get more out of your workouts by improving your range of motion and helping you prep proper recruitment patterns BEFORE you lift or run.

If you’re looking to prevent ankle, knee, hip and lower back aches and pains, check out my BOOTY BURNER program!

–> LEARN MORE

 

STOP Torturing Your Rotator Cuff (Do This Instead)

STOP Torturing Your Rotator Cuff (Do This Instead)

by | Jul 8, 2021 | Blog, Exercises, Foam Rolling, injury-featured, Pain Relief

Rotator cuff injuries are all too common.

And often when a muscle gets injured we blame it for being weak.

So in our attempts to recovery we include a ton of moves to work and strengthen those muscles.

But what if this extra strengthening work is actually holding you back?

What if these exercises are actually perpetuating the issues long-term instead of addressing the true culprit of the problem?

Because so often muscles, like our rotator cuff, become injured because they are actually OVERWORKED and OVERUSED.

These smaller, weaker muscles end up overstrained and overworked because of joint mobility restrictions and other muscles not pulling their weight.

That’s why rotator cuff injuries especially are becoming more and more common.

That’s why a proper recovery and mobility program can’t just focus on rotator cuff strengthening moves.

It actually needs to focus on your thoracic, scapular and shoulder mobility as well as proper engagement of the larger muscles of your upper back as well as your serratus anterior.

But before we dive into the moves you need to include, it’s key we have a better understanding of the muscles that make up our rotator cuff and what they do.

What does your rotator cuff do?

While each of the 4 rotator cuff muscles does contribute to a different joint action, all four muscles play an important role in stabilizing your shoulder, which is a ball and socket joint.

A great way of understanding the importance of these muscles and their role in shoulder stability is to think of your shoulder as a golf ball on a tee. Your rotator cuff muscles hold that golf ball in place so it doesn’t rotate off the tee.

However because each rotator cuff muscle does contributes to a different joint action, it can be helpful for your recovery to know which one is injured and have a better understanding of how they function.

What are the 4 muscles of your rotator cuff?

– Supraspinatus 
– Infraspinatus
– Teres Minor
– Subscapularis 

The Supraspinatus abducts the shoulder or helps you raise your arm out to the side.

The Infraspinatus and Teres Minor externally rotate the shoulder. For a visual example of this, place your elbow in by your side and bent it to 90 degrees with your hand out in front of you. Then open your arm out to the side. That movement is external rotation.

The Subscapularis, on the other hand, internally rotates your shoulder. So if your elbow was bent in the same position, your hand would move in toward your body.

Your rotator cuff muscles are also made up of mainly type I muscle fibers. So if you are working to strengthen them to improve your shoulder stability, higher reps and lower loads will be key.

But remember, while keeping these muscles strong for stability is key, if that golf ball isn’t properly aligned on that tee, or other muscles aren’t pulling their weight, your rotator cuff can easily become overworked which can lead to injury.

That’s why you want to include these 4 exercises to foam roll, stretch and activate and keep your shoulders healthy and happy! These moves will help you work on your thoracic, shoulder and scapular mobility and stability.

They are important to include in your upper body training routines if you have a desk job especially and can easily be combined even into a quick warm up before your workouts.

4 KEY MOVES TO DO INSTEAD TO PREVENT ROTATOR CUFF OVERUSE INJURIES

EXERCISE #1: Chest Foam Rolling

Your pec minor and major can become shortened and tight, especially if you spend a ton of time hunched over throughout the day.

This can lead to both internal shoulder rotation but also anterior tipping and downward rotation of our shoulder blades and create overuse of the rotator cuff.

That’s why it’s key we first use foam rolling to relax this overactive muscle!

To roll out your chest, you can use a larger ball against the ground or a smaller ball in a doorway.

Start with the ball just inside your shoulder joint and under your collarbone. You will not roll back and forth but hold and relax as you apply pressure. Be careful and very gentle if you start to work the ball toward your sternum.

As you hold with the ball pressing in to your chest just inside your shoulder, you can lift your arm overhead and slowly lower it down if standing in a doorway or rolling out against a pole.

If you’re lying on the ground, you can make a snow angel movement as you hold to help create tension and then relax to help the muscle relax and release itself.

EXERCISE #2: Active Foam Roller Star Stretch

Spinal mobility is key so that we don’t seek out extra mobility from our shoulders to perform exercises like the overhead press, which can strain our rotator cuff.

Proper spinal mobility also allows us to have proper scapular movement so we properly engage the muscles of our upper back to support our shoulders.

That’s why the Active Foam Roller Star Stretch is a great move to include.

Place a foam roller or block on the ground to one side.

Lie on your back with the roller running parallel to your body and bend your knee on the side further from the roller to about 90 degrees.

Pull your knee across your body to place it on the roller with your opposite hand as you place your other hand behind your head so your elbow is open and out.

Rotate that elbow in front of your face to touch the elbow down to the ground in front of you.

Then lift the elbow up as you rotate your chest open toward the ceiling. Rotate through your spine as you try to touch your shoulder open to the ground.

Focus on twisting through your spine without letting your knee come up off the roller. Open up, pause and then rotate back closed. Repeat all reps on one side before switching. Do not just flap your arm.

EXERCISE #3: Lying W Pulldowns

To help support your shoulders and improve your posture, you then want to activate the muscles of your upper back, like your mid and lower traps especially.

A great way to improve your shoulder health and target these muscles, as well as your lats, is with activation moves like the Lying W Pulldowns that work on retraction and scapular depression.

To do Lying W Pull Downs, lie face down on the ground with your arms extended overhead, thumbs facing up toward the ceiling as if giving a thumbs up. Engage your upper back to lift your face and arms just off of the ground. You can also put a towel under your forehead if you struggle with engaging your neck.

Then begin to bend your elbows, pulling them down and in toward your sides.

Feel your shoulder blades pinch slightly together as you pull them down. Feel yourself initiate the movement by the movement of your shoulder blades.

Pull your elbows down and in as if you pulled your chest up to a pull up bar.

Then keeping your hands off the ground, extend your arms straight out toward the wall in front of you. Reach out overhead the bring your hands back down and in.

Feel your back and even your lats as you pull your elbows back down and in to your sides.

EXERCISE #4: Serratus Anterior Press

The serratus anterior is a primary scapular stabilizer and weakness of this muscle has been linked to neck, shoulder and even upper back aches and pains.

A strong serratus anterior is key as it will help posteriorly tip the shoulder blade as well as help you perform proper upward rotation of the shoulder blade. It will help you avoid those rotator cuff muscles becoming overworked!

To strengthen your Serratus Anterior include the Serratus Anterior Press in your activation routine.

Start in a staggered stance with the opposite foot forward from the hand holding the band in at your chest.

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

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

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

SUMMARY:

To keep those shoulders healthy and happy and avoid rotator cuff issues, try combining these 4 moves into a quick mobility routine or use them as a warm up, performing 30-45 seconds per move or side.

With these moves remember you are working to improve your shoulder, scapular and thoracic mobility while activating the muscles of your upper back to help prevent those rotator muscles from becoming injured because they’re overworked.

We want to make sure we’re addressing the underlying cause of the injury and not just torturing our rotator cuff more!

How To Do A Sit Up Properly – 3 Tips To Help

How To Do A Sit Up Properly – 3 Tips To Help

by | Jul 1, 2021 | Blog, Core, Exercises, Pain Relief

Sit ups get a bad rap because of the spinal flexion involved in the movement.

But guess what?

Our abs are worked by spinal flexion.

Yes they work to stabilize and prevent extension and brace to protect our spine, which is why planks are key too, but they do power spinal flexion.

And yes, we do work our core through all the amazing compound exercises out there like pull ups and squats and deadlifts, but that doesn’t mean we can’t also safely include spinal flexion moves to target our abs with a movement pattern they are MEANT to perform.

The key is learning to do sit ups properly so we aren’t compensating and overworking our lower back or relying simply on our hip flexors to sit up.

Here are 3 tips to help you get the most out of this basic move to work your abs through spinal flexion.

3 Tips To Improve Your Sit Ups

#1: Don’t sit up – roll up!

If you want to really focus on using your abs to sit up, don’t simply hinge and sit up at your hips. Focus on rolling up one vertebra at a time.

Think about truly curling your spine to come up.

You’ll realize this makes your abs work a lot harder and you feel your hip flexors working a lot less.

We have to remember that our abs power spinal flexion. And that curl to roll up is the spinal flexion we need to target our abs.

When we simply sit up and lie down, we often are performing the movement mainly as hip flexion. To get that ab engagement, we need that spinal flexion.

So focus on rolling up one vertebra at a time before sitting up nice and tall at the top. Then roll back down.

Even slow down the movement to focus on your abs over rushing through!

#2: Drive your heels down into the ground.

One of the best ways to relax an overactive muscle is to engage the opposing muscle group.

Often with sit ups, you see people’s legs flopping all over the place. Their legs lift and their hip flexors engage.

Next time you do sit ups, set up at the top and drive your heels down hard into the ground. Even think about slightly curling them back toward your butt. This will engage your hamstrings ever so slightly and help shut off your hip flexors.

Then slowly roll down.

Keep that tension, pushing your heels down into the ground as you roll down and come to rest at the bottom.

Keep that same pressure, pushing your heels down, as you sit back up.

You not only won’t feel your hips as much, but you may feel your abs more.

If you really struggle with your hips becoming over worked, you can even do a little hamstring hack, looping a band behind your heels to help you better engage those hamstrings if you struggle with applying pressure down into the ground.

#3: Don’t swing your arms overhead.

I know it can feel like we need the momentum to help us get back up, but swinging your arms is not only a way to cheat and not use your abs, but it can also cause you to arch your lower back at the bottom of the move and result in your lower back becoming overworked.

When you lie back down, you can bring your hands under your chin and then extend them toward your legs as you sit up if you do need a very slight assist in rolling up or you can keep them extended toward your legs.

The key is slowing down this move over trying to power through more reps.

If you really can’t get up without using the momentum, try a Seated Hinge variation, doing a top down variation of the sit up. Start at the top seated and only round to hinge back as far as you can control instead of starting lying on the ground.

This can help you learn to roll back to start.

SUMMARY:

Too often we take for granted this very basic ab move. And we demonize it for causing lower back pain when we simply aren’t performing it correctly and using the spinal flexion to work our abs.

Try these 3 tweaks and make your abs work during this basic move and stop relying on your hip flexors while overworking your lower back!

5 MOBILITY Moves To Do Every Day

5 MOBILITY Moves To Do Every Day

by | Jun 5, 2021 | Blog, Exercises, Foam Rolling, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief

Use it or lose it.

If we want to move well, we need to be intentional with our training. We need to do things to restore proper joint range of motion, flexibility and even stability.

We can just constantly smash our bodies into the ground and expect not to get injured.

That’s why it is key at points we not only regress to progress but focus on getting the correct muscles working while addressing postural distortions, limitations caused by previous injuries and even areas of immobility from our repetitive jobs and often sedentary lifestyles.

That’s why we need to include mobility work in our daily routine, even simply as part of our warm up before our workouts – whether we are lifting, doing interval training, running or cycling.

Our warm ups should include a 3-Part Prehab Process of Foam Rolling, Stretching and Activation.

This way we can relax overactive muscles, improve our joint range of motion and activate underactive muscles to be able to move better and use the correct muscles more efficiently when we train.

This can not only help us avoid compensations, overload and injury but even help us get better benefits from our actual training sessions.

So what are 5 amazing mobility moves you can do every day?

5 Amazing Mobility Moves To Do Every Day:

Move #1: Foam Roller Snow Angels

We spend so much time hunched over a computer, driving in the car or texting on our phones.

Not to mention neck and shoulder pain are an all too common complaint.

That’s why it’s key we work on reversing the constant forward flexion and stretch out our chests while improving our shoulder mobility.

The Foam Roller Snow Angels are a great way to do that!

This is a great move to use even before bed to relax after a long day.

To do the Foam Roller Snow Angels, lie on a roller with it straight down your spine and your head supported.

Let your arms fall open and swing them up overhead into a Y position. Feel a nice stretch through your chest.

Then slowly sweep them own and out to your sides and down toward you feet. Hold in any place and relax the backs of your hands toward the ground to feel a nice stretch.

Even actively engage your back to stretch your chest as you sweep your arms down toward your feet and back overhead.

Move #2: Teres Minor Foam Rolling

Rotator cuff injuries are an all too common issue.

And one rotator cuff muscle that can often become overworked and lead to shoulder pain is the Teres Minor. Trigger points in this muscle can lead to shoulder pain and even referred pain down your arm.

Especially if you are working to improve your shoulder mobility, or planning an upper body workout, it can be key to roll out this muscle prior to help prevent it from compensating during your training.

To roll out your Teres Minor, a ball works best. You are basically going to be rolling out the back of your armpit as you reach your hand overhead on the ground. You want to be able to relax into the ball so make sure you aren’t holding up your weight with that arm.

You can do this against a wall to reduce the pressure if needed, reaching your arm overhead.

As you hold, breathe into it. You aren’t rolling quickly. You can move your arm down and back overhead as you hold.

Move #3: Superman Wave

Activate the muscles of your backside with this amazing move. The Superman Wave is a great move to improve your shoulder and scapular mobility and stability as well as your thoracic extension. It is even a great glute activation move that works to improve your hip hyperextension.

The key is correctly working to extend your thoracic spine as you engage your glutes to NOT overload your lower back.

Too often when we do moves like this or the basic superman, we try to rely only on our lower back. But we want to make sure muscles, like our glutes, are doing the work they should to actually prevent our lower back from becoming overworked.

If you’ve been doing the basic superman, take the move to the next level and garner even more shoulder and scapular benefits by adding in the wave.

To do this move, set up as if doing the basic superman. As you lift your chest and quads up off the ground, focus on using your glutes to lift as you extend your mid back. Do not rely on your lower back.

Squeezing your glutes to lift your legs, feel your upper back working to lift your arms. Holding this superman position, sweep one arm out to the side and down. Then bring it back overhead and switch to sweep your arm down on the other side.

Keep everything engaged to stabilize and hold yourself up as you feel that scapular movement as you sweep your arm.

Feel the backs of your shoulders working as well as your entire upper back. Remember to also feel those glutes working to extend your hips over relying on your lower back!

Beginners may modify if they feel their lower back taking over by keeping their legs down.

This is a great move to use as part of your activation in your warm up routine after you foam roll and stretch.

Move #4: Posterior Adductor Rolling

When you’ve attempted to do glute moves, have you ever felt that area under your butt and toward your groin working instead?

Or do you constantly have piriformis issues you can’t seem to clear up?

You may need to pay attention to those posterior fibers of your adductor magnus.

When we think of our adductors, we think of movements where we are adducting (or drawing our legs together). And we may even think of hip flexion since they do contribute to that joint action.

That is, except for the posterior fibers of the adductor Magnus which can contribute to external rotation and hip extension on top of adduction.

This puts these muscle fibers in a unique position to become overworked if our glute maximus and medius are underactive.

So to help yourself better activate your glutes, try rolling this muscle before your activation moves.

To do the posterior adductor foam rolling, a ball works best up on a bench or box. Place the ball toward your groin under your butt. And sit on the ball. Hold and breathe, don’t roll quickly.

You can also extend your leg out and then relax your leg to help the muscle relax and release as you hold.

You can do this on a roller or off the ground, you just won’t be able to apply as much pressure. This is good if you find you can’t fully relax when sitting on the ball. You do not want to tense against the pressure.

Move #5: Mini Band Glute Bridge with Abduction

Activate your glute maximus and medius with this one amazing bridge variation. Bridging is a great way to isolate those glutes and work to improve your hip mobility and stability.

By adding the band and abduction, you help activate your glute medius better to improve your hip stability. And it can also help you activate your glute max better to prevent your hamstrings from compensating.

If you have lower back, hip or even knee pain, this is a must-do warm up move to include before your lower body lifting sessions, runs or rides.

To do the Mini Band Glute Bridge with Abduction, place a mini band around your legs above your knees. Lie on your back and place your feet together on the ground, just beyond your fingertips when your arms are down by your sides.

Bend your elbows and press your upper arms into the ground. Your legs should be together as you even create tension through your upper body.

Perform a posterior pelvic tilt, pressing your lower back into the ground as you tuck your hips toward your ribs.

Bridge up, driving your knees toward your toes. At the top of the bridge, press your knees open against the band.

Press open to feel the sides of your butt working then bring your legs back together and lower down. Do not let the band pull you.

Bridge back up. Make sure not to arch your lower back but focus on your glutes driving the hip extension. And really feel your glute medius working to press your knees open against the band.

SUMMARY:

Using these 5 moves you can work to improve your mobility and stability from head to toe.

They are great moves to use even as part of your warm up or as a separate prehab routine.

You can even include them as a series, performing even a single round through, working for 30 seconds per move or side.

–> Foam Roll + Stretch + Activate = The COMPLETE Prehab Process

Leg Lowers – You’re Doing it WRONG (3 tips to help)

Leg Lowers – You’re Doing it WRONG (3 tips to help)

by | May 30, 2021 | Blog, Bodyweight, Core, Exercises, Pain Relief

Constantly feel your lower back or hip flexors during ab moves like leg lowers?

Do you just push through figuring your lower back is weak?

STOP!

Not only is this NOT helping you get the desired ab strengthening results you’re trying to work toward but it may also result in lower back and even hip aches and pains.

Here are 3 common mistakes I see people making with leg lower ab exercises and how to avoid them!

Mistake #1: Putting Your Hands Behind Your Lower Back

Stop cheating yourself out of really earning this move.

Putting your hands behind your lower back is a bandaid, a quick fix.

While yes, it can help you avoid lower back pain in the moment, it isn’t teaching you to actually use your abs correctly to protect your back and stabilize.

It allows you to do a move you haven’t truly earned.

Instead you need to regress to progress and modify the exercise to learn how to build up and engage your abs correctly.

Because you aren’t feeling your lower back because it is weak. You’re feeling your lower back because your abs aren’t yet strong enough, or you don’t have the mind-body connection yet, to keep them braced throughout.

Instead of pushing through this variation, if you want to get the full ab strengthening benefits, modify the move doing a single leg lower or even bent knee tuck.

It is always better to modify and get the correct muscles working than to push through a harder variation and compensate.

Modifying doesn’t mean you’re making it easier. It means you’re making it the level you need to work the muscles you want to target best!

You may even find you have to go back to that basic pelvic tilt movement and learn how to engage those abs and glutes correctly to stabilize and brace before adding movement!

Mistake #2: Swinging Your Legs

Leg lowers do work your hip flexors as they are a hip flexion movement.

And your abs are working to stabilize and protect your back.

But if to rush through this movement you start to swing your legs, you’re not going to get any of the benefit this move can have for your abs.

And you’re probably going to start to feel your lower back engaging as your hip flexors fatigue especially.

So stop swinging your legs and rushing through just to get the workout done.

Instead slow down the movement.

Focus on engaging your GLUTES even as you lower your legs a few inches from the ground. And even think about pulling your legs back up using your abs so you get that brace going as you lift.

Slow the movement down and focus on that control and what muscles you actually feel working.

Get more out of every second of work by being intentional!

Mistake #3: Not Focusing On Bracing Your Abs

Too often we just replicate a movement pattern without really being conscious of the muscles we feel working until we are in pain.

We let our lower back take over during this move and just keep pushing through.

We want to get the workout over with or we figure our lower back is weak.

But what we feel working during a move is what is going to “benefit” so to speak from the exercise.

So if you want to work your abs but you only feel your lower back?

Your abs aren’t getting the benefit of this move you’d like.

That’s why it is key you regress to progress and learn how to use that posterior pelvic tilt to your advantage.

While yes our spine has a natural curve, we want to know how to engage our glutes and abs using that posterior pelvic tilt.

Before you even start any level of the leg lowers move, lie on your back on the ground and think about engaging those lower abs to tuck your hips slightly toward your ribs. Even feel your glutes engage with the tuck.

From here you can do a bent knee march, double knee tuck, single leg lift or those killer double leg lowers.

But you should only advance as long as you can keep those abs braced.

If you lose that brace, you need to regress or shorten the interval of work, cutting back on time or reps.

Trying to do more without the correct muscles working is only going to backfire.

SUMMARY:

As much as we all want to do those fun and challenging exercise variations, at times we need to regress to progress and take our ego out of things.

Learn how to engage those abs correctly and build up to earn that harder move so you can get more out of every rep of that amazing leg lower ab exercise!

For an amazing Lower Ab Workout, give this burner a try! It’s a great way to finish off your workouts!

–> Lower Ab Burner

 

the Most Underrated Glute Exercise

the Most Underrated Glute Exercise

by | May 12, 2021 | Blog, Bodyweight, Butt, Core, Exercises, Pain Relief, Warm Up

The stronger your mind-body connection is?

The more you can lift, the faster you can run and the further you can cycle!

Basically the STRONGER YOU ARE!

Strength is not just about brute force but also about neuromuscular efficiency – how quickly can you recruit the CORRECT muscles to perform a movement and produce force.

That’s why it is key we include exercises to really improve that mind-body connection and make sure we are able to engage the correct muscles whenever we need.

Because as much as we focus on form, proper form does NOT always mean you’re engaging the correct muscles.

Actually often the more experienced a lifter you are and the more athletic you are, the more you can mimic a proper looking movement pattern while compensating and recruiting the incorrect muscles to do so.

This can not only result in injury but often holds us back from lifting as much as we truly can.

It prevents us from being as strong as possible because we aren’t using muscles efficiently together. We aren’t making the correct muscles pull their own weight.

That’s why you need to include some isolation moves to activate those underactive muscles and make sure you’re engaging the correct muscles at the proper times.

One muscle that often needs to be the focus of our activation work is our GLUTES.

Our glutes are commonly underactive due to our modern lifestyle.

So focused activation work can help us improve our mind-body connection to better recruit our glutes during compound lifts and when we run or cycle.

One of my favorite moves, and a very basic and often underutilized move, is the Single Leg Bent-Knee Reverse Hyper.

This move is fundamental if you want to improve your hip extension and focus on isolating those glutes.

And it’s a really great way to test if your hamstrings tend to want to take over and compensate for your glutes.

Often our hamstrings can become synergistically dominant for underactive glutes and that can result in hamstrings strains, lower back, hip and knee pain.

So if you tend to feel your hamstrings even during moves like glute bridges? You need to give this reverse hyper variation a try.

To first test your glute activation, lie face down on the ground. You can relax your chin on your hands as you straighten both legs out. Then bend one knee to about 90 degrees. Flex that foot. Do not curl the heel in toward your butt as this will engage your hamstrings.

Then drive your heel toward the ceiling and extend your hip.

What do you feel firing first? Do you feel your hamstring first or your glute?

Do you feel both? Or can you just isolate your glute?

If you can just isolate your glute fabulous! Do 15-20 reps and pause at the top to really establish that mind-body connection and even get a little pump going.

If you can’t feel your glutes, try adjusting how you’re cueing and performing the move.

Here are a few tweaks to try.

#1: Focus on driving your hip down into the ground as you drive the heel back so you don’t rotate open. Think about almost pushing your hip bone down into the ground instead of just lifting up.

#2: Think about STOPPING the lift with your glute over just trying to lift up higher. You want to focus on that glute engagement over the movement itself.

#3: Kick just slightly out as you lift. Remember not to curl your heel in toward your butt. Our hamstrings are worked by that knee flexion so avoiding it can help. However, going too straight with your leg can also make it harder for some to focus on their glutes.

#4: Slightly abduct your knee or move it out to the side before you lift. This can better engage the glute medius to help engage that glute max. Just be careful you don’t rotate your hip open. Just slightly move the knee out to the side.

Try one of these tweaks at a time to see what helps. You may even find you need to combine all the cues to get that glute firing without the hamstring trying to take over.

As silly as it may seem, sometimes just changing how we cue ourselves to perform a movement with a very slight adjustment can really help us better establish that mind-body connection when we’ve struggled in the past.

Just don’t rush through the movement. Pause and assess. Be intentional with the exercise over just trying to get through the reps.

Doing the “right moves” without feeling the correct muscles working won’t get you the results you want.

Focus on activating your glutes.

SUMMARY:

Use this underrated glute isolation move as both an activation exercise but also a test of hamstring compensation. It is a great way to make sure your hamstrings aren’t trying to take over and work when your glutes truly should be.

Be conscious of what you feel working during your workouts and do not simply go through the motions.

The more we can truly create proper recruitment patterns and use the correct muscles efficiently and effectively, the stronger we will be.

Sometimes we need to take things back to basics to get results.

We are never above those simple fundamentals!

Working to improve your glute activation?

Check out my Booty Burner Program!

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