Quadruped Torso Rotation Exercise

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This spinal rotation exercise and stretch will wake up the muscles in your obliques and upper back.

Start on all fours with your hands below your shoulders and your knees below your hips. Place your right hand behind your head and then rotate your torso to point your right elbow toward the ceiling, as far as is comfortable. Pause, then slowly lower back down, pointing your right elbow to the floor.
Do 5 reps, then repeat on the other side.

Cautionary note: If you have osteoporosis, twisting and bending moves may not be right for you. Talk to your doctor about safe exercise.

Stay-At-Home Exercise Moves – May 11

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Romanian Dead Lift (for core, back, glutes, hamstrings)

dumbbell_dead-lift.jpg        romainian dead lift_m

Perform wearing flat training shoes or in stocking feet.
(2-legged: use either dumbbells or barbell; any weight you can comfortably hold for all repetitions).

  1. Use an overhand grip to hold the weights at hip level.
  2. Draw your shoulders back and keep your spine straight throughout the exercise.
  3. Push your hips back (hip hinge) as you slowly lower the weight toward the floor and below your knees.
  4. Press your hips forward to come into a standing position with the weights in front of your thighs.
  5. Repeat repetitions (as noted above) with single leg hip hinge (pictured below).
    Note: keep hips level.

(1-legged; improves lower leg & foot strength, stability, and balance).
                       Single-Leg-Romanian-Deadlift-1    1 legged dead lift

  

Stay-At-Home Exercise Moves – April 27

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Wall Sit and Stay (for core, back, shoulders, and leg muscles). 

Wall Sit 3

Wall sits: Perform 1-3 repetitions of 30 seconds per sit, every day.

  1. Stand with your back pressing against a wall, arms along the sides of your torso with hands flat against the wall. Your feet are about 2-ft away from the wall, legs hip-width apart or a little wider. Toes may be pointed slightly outward.
  2. Slide your back and arms down the wall until your hips and knees are at a 90-degree angle. Your shoulders, upper back, lower back and back of your head should all be flat against the wall. Distribute your weight evenly between both feet.
  3. Engage your abdominals, relax your shoulders and breathe evenly while counting to thirty. Recover for 15-seconds by standing up, shaking legs out, walking around.
    Then, repeat the remaining repetitions.

For progression: Hold arms out in front of your chest. Keep shoulders and lower back pressed against the wall.                 wall sit2

Stay-At-Home Exercise Moves – April 20

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Bird Dog Slides (for upper body strength, core stability). Note: Perform Bird Dog Slides on tile, concrete or wood floor surface, use a small towel, rag or other item that will slide across your floor surface. If this exercise is new to you, perform all repetitions by extending one limb at a time (i.e. you will have three points of contact with the floor rather than two).

bird dog slides

Source: RedefiningStrength.com

Bird Dog Slides (in bare or stocking feet); practice your walk out maneuver from last week to get yourself into position. Perform 10 – 15 repetitions, 1-2 sets every other day. Do all repetitions on one side  then switch to the other.

  1. Place a slider (or towel) under the ball of one foot and set up on your hands and knees with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips.
  2. Drive your foot down into the slider and slide out, extending your leg while reaching your opposite hand toward the wall in front of you. Keep your hips square to the ground and brace your abs as you extend out. Feel your glute working to extend your leg as you drive down into the slider. Then slide back in, bringing your knee back under your hip as you touch your hand down to the ground. Feel your abs working as you bring your knee back in. Then again extend back out.
  3. Really press down into the slider as you extend and tuck. Move slowly and control the movement, bracing your abs and even pausing to feel your glutes when fully extended. Complete all reps on one side before switching.

Alternative exercise: Perform a traditional bird dog maneuver without a slide under your forefoot. From the quadruped position, extend the opposite arm/leg while keeping the hips level. Do all repetions on one side, then switch to lifting/extending the opposite limbs.