Routine 2

Quick Description: On your hands and knees. Knees are under your hips and hands are under your shoulders. Extend your spine and look up towards the ceiling, then round your back and tuck your chin towards your chest, tuck your tailbone as well. Then proceed back into the extension, chin up and tailbone up. Breathing throughout. Repeat 10 repetitions.

Starting Position: Let’s begin this exercise in the quadruped, also known as the table top position or hands and knees position. Come down to the floor and support your weight on your hands, knees, and the tops of your feet. The hands are flat on the floor, putting your wrists in an extended position. Your hands should be directly under your shoulders with your fingers pointed in front of you toward 12 o’clock. Your hands should be just slightly wider than your ribs, and should be in line with your chest, not up by your upper shoulders or neck. Your elbows are fully extended, or straight and your scapula, or shoulder blades, are slightly retracted, or pulled back, creating a flat surface for your upper back. In other words, you’re not allowing your back to round up toward the ceiling too much, but staying very neutral. Your nose is pointed toward the floor, because this is in alignment with your spine which is currently parallel with the floor. Retract your head back, or in this case, up, to maintain that good alignment. Another way to say it, keep your nose pointed toward the floor, but lift your head as high as you can, like your trying to touch the ceiling with the back of your head. Your belly should be squeezed in tight with your lumbar with your lower spine, curved anteriorly, in this case toward the floor, very slightly. For your spine, from the top of your head to the top of your buttocks, we are aiming for neutrality, an elongated spine with shallow curves. Your knees are directly under your hips, and your knees and feet are the same width as your hips, approximately six inches of space. Finally, the tops of your feet are resting on the floor with your toes pointed behind you toward 6 o’clock.

To Perform the Exercise: Slowly alternate between full flexion and full extension of your spine. For the first position, put your spine into full extension by simultaneously raising your head and looking up as high as you can, and pushing your chest and belly toward the floor as far as you can. Keep your elbows straight and don’t move your hands, knees, or feet. Then move into the second position, which is full flexion of the spine, by dropping your chin down toward the floor and then toward your chest, and simultaneously pushing your shoulders and back up toward the ceiling as high as you can. Again, keep the rest of your body in the exact same position. When raising your spine up, try to pull your belly button into your spine for the full contraction. Repeat for 10 repetitions.

Muscles Targeted: This will lengthen and stretch the core abdominal muscles, as well as the spinal muscles such as the erector spinae (the large muscles on either side of your spine), and the small muscles that run between your vertebrae.

Common Mistakes: One common mistake is sitting back on your heels when performing this movement. Stay up in your table top position with your hips over your knees.

Another common mistake is not rolling the hips when arching the spine. As your spine drops down, think about trying to push your tail bone and the back of your head closer together, and when your spine raises up, thing about pushing your chin and your groin closer together, rolling and turning the hips with each movement.

Quick Description: Starting on your hands and knees again in the table-top position. Extend your left leg out behind you as you extend your right arm straight out ahead of you. Keep the back of the neck long as if looking straight down towards the floor. Reach out in opposite directions and balance and hold this position for about 10 secs as you breathe. Return to the start position and repeat on the other side, extending the opposite arm and leg, keeping the spine quite still.

Starting Position: Let’s begin this exercise in the quadruped, also known as the table top position or hands and knees position. Come down to the floor and support your weight on your hands, knees, and the top of your feet. The hands are flat on the floor, putting your wrists in an extended position. Your hands should be directly under your shoulders with your fingers pointed in front of you toward 12 o’clock. Your hands should be just slightly wider than your ribs, and should be in line with your chest, not up by your upper shoulders or neck. Your elbows are fully extended, or straight and your scapula, or shoulder blades, are slightly retracted, or pulled back, creating a flat surface for your upper back. In other words, you’re not allowing your back to round up toward the ceiling too much, but staying very neutral. Your nose is pointed toward the floor, because this is in alignment with your spine which is currently parallel with the floor. Retract your head back, or in this case, up, to maintain that good alignment. Another way to say it, keep your nose pointed toward the floor, but lift your head as high as you can, like you’re trying to touch the ceiling with the back of your head. Your belly should be squeezed in tight with your lumbar with your lower spine, curved anteriorly, in this case toward the floor, very slightly. For your spine from the top of your head to the top of your buttocks, we are aiming for neutrality, an elongated spine with shallow curves. Your knees are directly under your hips, and your knees and feet are the same width as your hips, approximately six inches of space. Finally, the tops of your feet are resting on the floor with your toes pointed behind you toward 6 o’clock.

To perform the exercise: raise one arm and the opposite leg off the floor and extend them out so that your raised arm and leg are straight and level with your hips and shoulders. Your raised arm should be pointed ahead of you toward 12 o’clock, and the opposite leg and foot, the one you have raised and straightened, should be pointed back toward 6 o’clock. Return back to your starting position by lowering your arm and leg back down, bending the knee again, and returning back to your quadruped position. Hold each of these positions for about 10 seconds per side, focusing on raising the leg and arm up as much as you can without over arching your lower back.

Muscles Targeted: Your traps, posterior deltoids, or rhomboids (your upper back), your glute complex (your buttocks), and your hamstrings (the back of your thigh).

Ways to Increase Intensity: You can make this exercise more challenging by adding wrist and ankle weights to the movement, or by beginning in a push-up plank position instead of the quadruped position, which would challenge your core much more through increased rotational and sagittal tension.

Ways to Decrease Intensity: keeping a slight bend in the knee and elbow will decrease the demand on those muscle groups. Fight for full extension, or straightening of those joints as you improve and become stronger.

Some common mistakes with this exercise: First, moving the spine out of it’s neutral position. The spine should remain neutral and steady throughout the whole movement, not over arching or rounding. Imagine that there is a glass of water on your back as you do this exercise, in order to not spill the water, you have to remain very steady in your torso and hips as you move your arm and opposite leg.

Next, not fully extending the leg and arm: When raising up, be sure to fully lock the elbow and knee of the extremities you are lifting for the full effect. Your arm and leg should raise to the same height as your hips and shoulders, creating a straight line from the finger tips of your raised arm, to the toes of your raised leg.

Another common mistake is allowing your head to drop down so keep your neutral alignment by pointing your nose toward the floor and pushing the back of your head toward the ceiling.

Quick Description: Laying on your left side, bend your right knee and place the right foot in front of you flat on the floor. Keeping the shoulders and hips stacked, lift the left leg upwards towards the ceiling, inner ankle towards the ceiling. You should feel the movement coming from the inner thigh muscles. Repeat 10-15 times and then switch sides.

Starting Position: Let’s start on the floor on a padded surface, lying on your side with your torso (upper body) and your legs straight, your legs stacked one on top of the other, and your top arm resting on your hip. You’re welcome to support your head on your bottom arm or on a pillow as needed. Take your top leg and bring your knee out in front of you with your knee bent to 90 degrees. For example, if you are lying on your left side, your right leg will be resting on the floor out in front of you with your right knee bent and at hip level, and your left leg still straight and in line with your body.

To Perform the Exercise: Simply lift your bottom leg up as high as you can, pushing the inner side of your straight knee and ankle toward the ceiling, and then slowly lower back down. You will not necessarily get a lot of range of motion from this movement and you may be able to lift your leg anywhere from 6-10 inches or so, but not much higher. Even with the short range of motion, this will helps strengthen those inner thigh muscles. Repeat 10-15 times and then perform the same movement for the opposite side.

Muscles Targeted: Gracilis and Adductor Brevis (inner thigh muscles)

Ways to Increase Intensity: You can increase intensity with this exercise by adding resistance to your leg from something like an ankle weight.

Ways to Decrease Intensity: If you need a little less tension for this exercise, you can limit how high you bring your leg. This will still challenge the muscles as you work toward strengthening your adductors and increasing your range of motion.

Common Mistakes: One of the most common mistakes with this exercise is trying to turn your hips and core as you lift your bottom leg. The short range of motion with this movement often makes people feel like they are not doing it right, so they will start trying to lift higher with their hips and abdominal muscles. Keep your hips fairly steady and your core tight, and just lift through your leg.

Quick Description: From the table top position again, keeping the right knee bent at 90 degrees, paint a circle in the air with the right knee. Start with a small circle, the knee is in the air circling around the hip. Keep the hips level, then switch directions of the circle. Perform about 6 in each direction, then switch sides. Maintain level neck, spine and hips throughout the movement.

Starting Position: Let’s begin this exercise in the quadruped, also known as the table top position or hands and knees position. Come down to the floor and support your weight on your hands, knees, and the tops of your feet. The hands are flat on the floor, putting your wrists in an extended position. Your hands should be directly under your shoulders with your fingers pointed in front of you toward 12 o’clock. Your hands should be just slightly wider than your ribs, and should be in line with your chest, not up by your upper shoulders or neck. Your elbows are fully extended, or straight and your scapula, or shoulder blades, are slightly retracted, or pulled back, creating a flat surface for your upper back. In other words, you’re not allowing your back to round up toward the ceiling too much, but staying very neutral. Your nose is pointed toward the floor, because this is in alignment with your spine which is currently parallel with the floor. Retract your head back, or in this case, up, to maintain that good alignment. Another way to say it, keep your nose pointed toward the floor, but lift your head as high as you can, like you’re trying to touch the ceiling with the back of your head. Your belly should be squeezed in tight with your lumbar and your lower spine, curved anteriorly, toward the floor, very slightly. For your spine in total, from the top of your head to the top of your buttocks, we are aiming for neutrality, an elongated spine with shallow curves. Your knees are directly under your hips, and your knees and feet are the same width as your hips, approximately six inches of space. Finally, the tops of your feet are resting on the floor with your toes pointed behind you toward 6 o’clock.

To Perform the Exercise: Keeping both knees bent to 90 degrees and your back and hips straight and neutral, lift one leg out to the side. Slowly move the knee in a circular motion, going forward, down toward the floor, back behind you, then back out to the side. Make several circles both directions, and repeat with the other leg.

Muscles Targeted: The Glute Complex, Piriformis, and some of the core muscles.

Ways to Increase Intensity: This exercise is mostly meant to mobilize your hip joint, but if you want an extra challenge you can lift your opposite hand off the floor, so that you will now have to balance more and utilize your core.

Ways to Decrease Intensity: If the movement is challenging, you can start by swinging your knee forward and back like a pendulum, and then side to side the same way to get the mobilization, and then work into making the circular pattern when comfortable with those movements.

Common Mistakes: One of the common mistakes seen with this exercise is extra movement in the rest of the body. When doing this exercise, picture yourself as a statue, nothing except that single leg is moving. This will help keep your core strong and your spine and hips in a good neutral position.

Another common mistake is over arching the lower back. As you lift the leg up and begin circling, contract your abdominals, pulling your belly button into your spine, which will keep you from over arching your lumbar. Imagine there is someone about to stand on your stomach and you have to squeeze it to protect yourself. This should help keep everything tight and stable.

Quick Description: Starting on your left side, stack your shoulders, hips and knees. Bend your left knee to 90 degrees at hip level resting on the floor in front of you and reach behind to grab your right shin/ankle. Bring your right knee or thigh backwards gently as you push your right hip forwards to feel a stretch in your right quad. Keep ahold of your leg as you bring it forward to release the stretch. Repeat 10 times holding the stretch for only 2 secs. Then switch sides.

Starting Position: Let’s start on the floor on a padded surface, lying on your side with your torso (upper body) and your legs straight, your legs stacked one on top of the other, and your top arm resting on your hip. You are welcome to support your head on your bottom arm or on a pillow as needed. Take your bottom leg and bring your knee out in front of you with your knee bent to 90 degrees. For example, if you are lying on your left side, your left leg will be resting on the floor out in front of you with your left knee bent and at hip level, and your right leg still straight and in line with your body.

To Perform the Exercise: Flex (bend) your top leg, bringing your heel back behind you. Grab the ankle of that leg with your top arm and pull your heel closer to your buttocks as you simultaneously push your hips forward. Hold for about 2 seconds, release the tension slightly, and then repeat about 8-10 times.

Muscles Targeted: Quadriceps (thigh) and Psoas (hip flexor)

Common Mistakes: One common mistake with this stretch is over arching your lower back. You will naturally arch slightly more than neutral because you are pulling your hip back into extension, but focus on tightening up your abdominals and pulling your belly button into your spine, which will limit your anterior (forward) hip rotation and push the stretch into your hip and thigh instead of your lower back.

Quick Description: Laying on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Bring your left knee up over your hip and interlace your fingers behind your left knee. Keeping the head resting on the floor, gently straighten the left foot upwards towards the ceiling to feel a stretch in the hamstring. Hold the stretch for 2 secs and repeat 10 times. Repeat with the other leg.

Starting Position: Let’s start by lying supine, or face up, flat on your back. Bend your knees, and place your feet flat on the floor about hip width, or 6 inches apart, and approximately 6 inches away from your buttocks. Your toes, heels, and knees should be evenly spaced with your hips, and your spine should be neutral, meaning their should be a very small space between your lower back and the ground. If your lower back is flush with the floor, this is not a problem since you have your legs in a flexed position which will tend to rotate the hips back, flattening your spine more. Contracting your abdominals, your belly muscles, and lifting your lower back very slightly is good practice for core neutrality.

To Perform the Exercise: Raise your left foot off the floor to bring your left knee up directly over your hip, keeping your knee bent. Grab your left leg, interlacing your fingers behind your left knee. Keeping your head resting on the floor and your knee in the exact same place above your hip, gently straighten your left leg, pushing the bottom of your left foot upwards towards the ceiling to feel a stretch in the hamstring, or back of your thigh. If you cannot straighten your knee completely, this is not a problem, as it is still stretching through it’s full range of motion. Hold the stretch for approximately 2 seconds, then bend your knee again to about 90 degrees. Repeat 10 times, maintaining the same position for your knee the whole time. In other words, your knee will bend and straighten, but otherwise will not move. Then repeat the same movement with the other leg.

Muscles Targeted: Hamstrings (back of the thigh)

Ways to Increase Intensity: To improve the stretch for more of a challenge, focus on dorsi flexing, or pointing your toes more toward you, exposing the bottom of your foot to the ceiling, as you extend, or straighten, your knee. Remember that a stretch should be just slightly uncomfortable, and never painful.

Ways to Decrease Intensity: Positioning your knee further away from your chest so that your knee is not directly over your hip will relieve some of the tension in your hamstring as you stretch.

Remember that the goal is not necessarily to fully extend, or straighten, your leg, but to feel a good stretch in the hamstring.

Common Mistakes: One common mistake is stretching too forcefully, especially in the first few repetitions. The movement is meant to slowly warm-up and lengthen your muscles, and pushing it too far can have the opposite effect of improving range of motion. If you placed the range of motion on a scale of 1-10, 1 being barely a stretch and 10 being about to tear, you want a 4 or 5 at most.

Another common mistake is grabbing the leg below the knee at the calf instead of above the knee at the hamstring. This won’t hurt you, but what this does is convert the stretch from active to passive. A passive stretch is when you’re using an object like the floor or a wall to push a joint through a full range of motion while everything is relaxed and disengaged. An active stretch involves one of your muscles working to stretch another, in this case, your Quadriceps are extending, or straightening your leg to stretch your hamstrings. Active stretching is great before workouts, and passive stretching is great for after workouts. Keep your hands above your knee when stretching.

Quick Description: In the glute bridge position, raise the hips up off the floor. Keeping the hips up, dig the heels into the floor, lifting the toes up. In this position walk the heels away from the body towards straight legs. Then walk the heels back in towards your body. Repeat this 4-6 times.

Starting Position: Let’s start supine, or face up, on the floor, on a firm but padded surface such as a carpet or hard flooring with a yoga mat. Flex, or bend the knees, pointing them toward the ceiling and place your feet flat on the floor about 6 inches from your buttocks, maintaining about 6 inches between your feet and knees. The position of your arms and hands is preferential, you can leave them at your side palms up or turn your palms down, or you can fold your arms across your chest. Now, raise your hips up off the floor into a glute bridge (check out that lesson for more information if needed). Keeping your hips up as high as you can. Finally, dig your heels into the floor and lift your toes up a couple of inches off the ground, keeping all your weight in your heels and shoulders.

To Perform the Exercise: In this position slowly walk your heels away from your body towards straight legs by alternately moving one heel away from you a few inches at a time. It is not a goal to fully lock your knees, just reach out until you feel the most tension you can manage. Be sure to keep your buttocks up off the ground as high as you can throughout the entire exercise. Once you’ve reached the furthest point you can without losing good form, then slowly walk the heels back in towards your body to the starting position. You can lower your hips to the ground if you need some rest, or keep them raised and continue immediately. Repeat this 4-6 times.

Muscles Targeted: Hamstrings (back of the thigh) and Glutes (buttocks),

Ways to Increase Intensity: To challenge yourself more, perform the 4-6 series of this movement without lowering your hips back down to the ground for rest in between.

Ways to Decrease Intensity: To decrease the intensity, you can rest in between series, and limit the distance to which you attempt to walk your heels out.

Common Mistakes: One common mistake is not engaging the core muscles during this exercise. A fairly challenging maneuver, it is easy to over arch the spine and not think about using your core.

To do this movement correctly, contract your abdominal muscles through the entire exercise and keep a shallow, neutral arch in your lower spine. A good way to think of this is to tighten your belly like someone is about to stand on your stomach, keep that tension to support your hips and spine.

Another common mistake is taking large rapid steps through this movement. As tempting as it is, you will get so much more from this exercise if you take your time and straighten your legs in alternating slow increments as opposed to large long steps. Slowly extend your legs and keep your body as steady and strong as you can.

Quick Description: In a kneeling position, bring your right foot onto the floor in front of you which will put you into a half kneeling position. In this position, get tall and tuck your tailbone under your pelvis. This should already put tension on your left hip flexor. Glide your right knee forward slightly for a greater stretch in the left hip flexor area. Glide back to release slightly and continue gliding forwards and backwards. Raise and reach up through the left arm to feel even more of a stretch. Repeat 5-10 glides and then switch sides.

Starting Position: For this stretch, let’s kneel down on the floor on a firm but padded surface, such as a carpeted floor or a hard surface with a yoga mat. In this kneeling position, both knees are bent to 90 degrees. Your front foot is flat on the floor in front of you with your knee up, and your back foot is turned down with the dorsi side, or the top of your foot, on the ground. Your bottom knee is on the floor directly under your hips, and your hips are directly under your head and shoulders with your arms at your sides. If you have decent range of motion already in your hip flexors, you can choose to slide your bottom knee back behind you a few inches to start, which will elongate the muscle a bit more. Be sure to squeeze your belly in tight and not allow your lower back to over arch through this movement, which will be a tendency in this exercise.

To Perform the Exercise: Glide your front knee forward slightly, which will pull your hips forward and force your leg that is down to stretch open the hip flexor at the front upper part of the leg that is down. Go until you feel a good stretch, then return to the starting position. Repeat 5-10 times, and repeat for the other leg.

Muscles Targeted: Psoas (the hip flexor)

Ways to Increase Intensity: To increase the stretch, you can raise the arm on the same side as the leg that is down. Reach your hand to the ceiling, and you can even try to reach the other hand toward the floor at your side. As you lean slightly to the side and push your hips forward, this will really open up the hip.

Ways to Decrease Intensity: Sometimes the kneeling position can be uncomfortable. You can perform this movement while standing up by keeping one foot on the ground and placing the shin of your other leg on a padded and stable chair and pushing your hips forward.

Common Mistakes: One common mistake is over arching your lower back. As you arch your spine, your hips are rotating forward into an anterior pelvic tilt. This will take pressure off your hip flexors and put tension in your lower back. Focus on tightening up your belly and imagine pulling your belly button into your spine, keeping your lower back from over arching.

Another common mistake is not pointing your front foot straight ahead. Watch your foot position as you glide forward, if your toe is pointed in or out, you could put a twisting movement into your knee.