Routine 1

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. 

Purpose: This is an exercise designed to open up the joints and  activate the muscles of the spine and hips. 

Quick Description: On hands and knees similar to the cat-camel exercise. As you extend and round your spine, you will move through one leg as well. As you tuck in your chin and tailbone, also bring your knee towards your chin, rounding through the spine. Then as you extend your chin and tailbone upwards, you will raise the bent knee behind you, extending at the hip, sole of the foot towards the ceiling as well. Repeat the same leg about 10 times and then switch legs.  

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, 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, along with a full extension and flexion of one hip. For the first position, put your spine into full extension by simultaneously raising your head and looking up as high as you can, pushing your chest and belly toward the floor as far as you can, and raising one leg up behind you, keeping your knee bent and pushing the bottom of your foot up toward the ceiling as high as you can. Keep your elbows straight and don’t move your hands or the knee that is still on the ground. Now, 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, pushing your shoulders and back up toward the ceiling as high as you can, and bringing the knee of the leg you lifted in toward your chin as close as you can. Again, keep the rest of your body in the exact same position, and when raising your spine up, try to pull your belly button into your spine for the full contraction. Your leg should remain bent to 90 degrees through the entire sequence. Repeat about 8-10 times for each leg. 

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. It will also open up the Psoas (hip flexors and the glutes (buttocks). 

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 twisting, or rotating, the hips to the side as the leg is lifted and then tucked in. Imagine that there is a glass of water on your lower back, you’re trying to flex and extend your spine as much as you can, but you are trying to avoid tipping to the side. Focus on keeping your belly tight and pointed toward the floor through the entire movement and not toward the wall at your side. 

Quick Description: From table-top position, take a slightly wider stance with your knees and sit your hips back towards your heels. Walk hands forward slightly and let the chest fall towards the floor. Focus on breathing into the rib cage, inhale to expand the ribs and exhale. Hold for 3-4 breaths. Walk hands towards the right and hold and breathe. Then walk the hands to the left and hold and breathe. 

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 as wide as your shoulders just on the outside of your ribs, with your fingers pointed in front of you toward 12 o’clock. Your hands should be up slightly from your body, in line with your face, and not by your chest as we normally would have them.  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, 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 in a stance slightly wider than your hips instead of directly under your hips like we would normally do, and your knees and feet are the same width, approximately 10-12 inches between your knees and the same between your feet. 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 sit your hips back toward your heels and lower your chest toward the floor at the same time. As your chest comes down, you can walk your hands out further away from you until your face and chest are just a few inches from the ground and your arms are fully extended out over your head. You can increase or decrease the tension as needed by sliding your hands further forward away from you or back towards you. Take one hand, and place it on top of the other, stretching that arm and shoulder across the mid line of your body. Repeat on the other side and be sure to take slow deep breaths as you feel the muscles and joints in your back, shoulders, and chest stretch open. You can hold each position for 3-5 seconds, and repeat as needed. 

Muscles Targeted: Primarily the Latissimus Dorsi (the large muscles of your back on the side of your body), but it also stretches open the muscles of your chest, shoulders, and belly, as well as potentially your hips and buttocks. 

Common Mistakes: Keeping the knees too close together. You don’t need to open your knees so much that you feel the stretch in the groin, but you want to get a slightly wider base than normal to allow your hips to sit back further and get a better stretch in the torso. 

Quick Description: Laying on your left side, your right knee is bent at 90 degrees at hip level on the floor in front of you, left leg straight on the floor. Let your head rest on your left arm. Reach your right arm forward slightly and then with your exhale, raise the arm up and over and behind you as you twist your upper body towards the right as far as you can towards the floor. Return to the starting position and repeat about 10 times per side. 

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 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. Now, take your top arm and place it on the floor out in front of you perpendicular to your upper body. 

To Perform the Exercise: Take your top arm which is forward from your body, and then with a big  exhale, raise the arm up and over and behind you as you twist your upper body, trying to push your scapula (shoulder blades ) towards the floor as far as you can. Your top leg that is bent and on the floor in front of you should not move at all, and as you twist and push your shoulder blades back, you are trying to point your chest toward the ceiling without moving your hips or legs. Return to the starting position and repeat about 10 times per side. 

Muscles Targeted: Most of the major muscles in the chest, shoulders, and core. 

Ways to Increase Intensity: If you want to increase the intensity of the stretch, you can straighten your top leg out perpendicular to your body instead of having a bent knee. This will extend the stretch further into the hips and hamstrings as well as the thoracic spine. 

Ways to Decrease Intensity: If you want to decrease the intensity of the stretch, you can decrease the level to which you raise your top leg out in front of you. For example, bending your knee slightly and keeping your feet a bit closer together will allow your hips to roll just a bit more as you twist the shoulders, and in turn this will decrease the tension in the muscles you are stretching. 

Common Mistakes: One common mistake with this and other stretches is holding your breath during the movement. Taking in deep breaths and releasing them slowly while trying to relax will improve the effectiveness of the stretch. 

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: Laying on your back, knees bent and feet are flat on the floor and about hip width apart. Push into the floor with both feet as you lift your hips and butt up towards the ceiling. Release back down to the floor and repeat 10-15 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 your knees 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.   

To perform the exercise: keep your feet flat and your shoulders and head in contact with the floor, and lift your hips up off the ground toward the ceiling as high as you can, squeezing your glutes (buttocks) at the top.  Then, slowly lower back down to the starting position. Repeat 8- 10 times. 

Muscles Targeted: the hamstrings (or back of your legs), your glutes (or buttocks), and your lumbar Erector Spinae (or lower back).   

Ways to Increase Intensity: If you want a little more of a challenge, you can place your feet on a raised or unstable surface. Some examples are a bottom step, a foam roller, a stool, or small stability ball. 

Ways to Decrease Intensity: If this exercise is challenging, place your arms on the floor at your side with your palms down so that you can press into the floor with your hands and use a small amount of leverage from your arms as you lift your hips. 

Common Mistakes: One common mistake with this movement is not keeping the feet parallel. There should be equal spacing between your toes and heels, approximately 6-8 inches, or as wide as your hips. Don’t allow your toes to turn out or in, as this can place a twist in your knee. 

Another common mistake is not squeezing and activating the glutes at the top of the lift. Be sure to push your hips as high as you can, tightening your buttocks at the top.