This week's Movement of the Week is the Bilateral Dumbbell Swing with Bungee Row. In this movement you will be working with the coordination of the right and left side of the body.
We have been practicing incorporating an equal and opposite push / pull with other movements up to this point, and now you will be intentionally working with each motion on opposite sides using a bungee and dumbbell to create resistance. This movement focuses on three components:
As you pull into the row, engaging the lat on one side of the body you're simultaneously pushing the dumbbell overhead using the glutes to create momentum through the swing on the opposite side of the body. This movement feels really good as you find the flow through the movement and I am confident that you'll have a lot of fun practicing this movement.
Here's your checklist:
1. Start in a bilateral stance, feet hip width apart. 2. Hold the bungee in one hand, pulled into the row position. 3. Hold the dumbbell in the opposite hand, with the arm extended overhead. 4. As you hinge forward, swing the dumbbell along the side of your body while simultaneously extending the rowing arm out in front of you. 5. Reverse the movement by driving through the hips to power the dumbbell back up over head while simultaneously pulling the bungee into a row. 6. Have fun!
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This movement builds upon last week's movement, giving you even more time to practice this coordinated combination of movements. Last week's movement had three elements:
1. Hinging at the hips with a flat, neutral spine. 2. Stepping foot work. 3. Row with t-spine rotation. This week we're adding a fourth element, a press. If you think back to a few weeks ago the move of the week focused on going from a row position in a low lunge, pulling with the opposite hand as you stepped forward, and powerfully pressing overhead. These same principles apply to this week's movement in combination with last week's movement. The movement starts out EXACTLY like last week's movement, starting in a split stance with the dumbbell in the hand on the same side as the back leg. You will swing the dumbbell between the legs while maintaining a flat back in your hinge. Next, you will step forward with the back foot and pull the dumbbell into the row, continuing to focus on your timing. Next is the new piece - you will take another step forward, pressing the dumbbell up over head while rotating slightly over your front leg. This movement should be a ton of fun because you've already practiced 3/4s of the movement last week. I hope that you'll see how we can build upon movements by adding simple additions that incorporate new elements that benefit your whole body.
Here's your checklist:
1. Start in your split stance with the dumbbell in the same hand as the back leg. 2. Hinge at the hips, keeping your back flat, as you swing the DB between your legs, rotating slightly over the front leg. 3. As you swing back up, using the momentum of the dumbbell, step forward. 4. As with the previous week's movements, timing is key. As your new front foot touches down, simultaneously pull the dumbbell into a row. 5. Using your free hand, pull into a slight row and step your back foot forward as you press overhead with the dumbbell. 6. Repeat in the reverse order, stepping backwards 7. Have fun!
This movement builds upon a lot of skills that you've been working on in the gym.
The dumbbell swing focuses upon hinging through the hips while maintaining elevation through the ribs and a flat, neutral spine. The stepping movement builds off of the mobility stick steps that you've been practicing in your training sessions, and most recently in the pre-warm up activation sequence, where you will focus on maintaining your elevation and posture as well as foot work. And finally, the row builds off of the work we've been doing with the MOW over the past few weeks, activating the lat muscle by keeping the elbow in line with your torso, increasing range of motion through your row by increasing your t-spine rotation over the front foot, and squeezing your elbow towards your ribs. This movement incorporates three elements - the hinge-swing, the step, and the row with rotation. It is a coordinated movement that will help to build a foundation for increasingly complex movements that are a ton of fun to practice. As we always do with the move of the week, we will be breaking this down over the course of the week to help you dial into each of the three elements listed above, and then we'll tie it all together with the full movement at the end of the week. Take your time with it and have fun!
Here's your checklist:
1. Start in your split stance with the dumbbell in the same hand as the back leg. 2. Hinge at the hips, keeping your back flat, as you swing the DB between your legs, rotating slightly over the front leg. 3. As you swing back up, using the momentum of the dumbbell, step forward. 4. As with the previous week's movements, timing is key. As your new front foot touches down, simultaneously pull the dumbbell into a row. 5. Repeat in the reverse order stepping backwards. 6. Have fun!
This week's Move of the Week is the Bosu Lateral Step with Quick Feet Scissor Hop. This is building off of a movement that we have been practicing on the bosu for a while now - The Bosu Lateral Hop.
Many of you have commented on how this movement really helps to demonstrate the importance of creating a connection with your back foot when in a split stance. Connection with the back foot is critically important to maintaining balance and stability, and with out it you'll feel off balance. Creating this stability will help you master different movements with greater ease. In this movement we are taking the bosu lateral step to a new level by adding a quick feet motion in between each lateral "hop". As you change your foot position in the split stance position you are always rotating over the front leg. This movement will help you improve your:
Here's your checklist:
1) Set up your split stance with your back leg on the side facing the bosu ball. 2) Drive off of your front foot to laterally hop towards the bosu ball, making contact with your back leg foot. 3) Push yourself off of the bosu ball landing in your starting split stance position being sure to engage the back foot by pulling it forward against the floor to create that balance and stability. 4) Do a quick switch step with both feet rotating over the front leg in both directions, ending in your original split stance position and then go into your next bosu hop. 5) Have fun! I am so happy to be celebrating Becca Hill as our February client of the month! Becca started training with us this past summer. As the Mom of two young children she wanted to gain energy, feel better, and be an active Mom while also gaining strength and muscle tone. She knew that working out at home just wasn’t an option. It’s difficult to keep up with a routine at home and she knew that she’d find motivation when working in a group setting. I’m so happy that Becca found us and trusted us to guide her on a path towards reaching her goals. After just 6 months Becca is already noticing improved energy levels through her commitment to doing something good for herself. She sees this gain in energy as a real victory given that she achieved it during a pandemic while also raising her two young and active boys.
Nutrition is a big part of getting great results, and Becca has recognized over the course of her training program that not planning for her healthy snacks can really set her up for a crummy day. When we identify healthy habits that set our day up for success it’s also important to consider what obstacles can get in the way….because they will! And when we can anticipate those obstacles we can be prepared to overcome them. Becca tries to include her snacks in her weekly meal planning and get them ready the night before, but sometimes that doesn’t happen with everything else that’s going on, but Becca is prepared with a plan for these circumstances. If she does need to stop for a quick snack she tries to make time to run into the grocery store for something healthy rather than resort to fast food convenience.
Great work Becca. We are all so happy to have you in our community and to have the opportunity to support you in reaching your health & fitness goals.
This sequence of movements, when practiced regularly, will help you improve your footwork, your core engagement and therefore your core stability and your overall posture.
Foot work is the foundation of every movement. It helps to create core tension and this connects to good posture. Foot work is essential to all movement and is going to determine the quality of your movements. When you footwork is misaligned, either when stationary or in movements, you will form bad habits that will create compensations that lead to pain and eventually injury. Perfect footwork, core engagement and posture will help you improve how you move exponentially, both inside and outside of the gym. The video shown below is running in the gym to provide you with a resource as you learn these moves. The trainer team is available to answer questions and to provide additional guidance, so don't be afraid to ask questions. However, taking the time to work your way through these movements, thinking about how your body feels while you're doing them, and figuring out adjustments as you hone in on the movement will help you create long term connections between the brain and body that will benefit you both inside of the gym. Be patient with yourself as you learn these movements, and most importantly have fun with the process!
This week's Movement of the Week is the Split Stance Stepping Dynaball Wall Slam.
This movement is going to build upon last week's movement, the Dumbbell Stepping Press. Just like last week this movement is all about timing and power. You will start in a low lunge / split stance, rotating over the front leg, pulling the ball into a row position. You will engage your lat in that row position, and as you push through the quad of your front leg, stepping forward to create power as you slam the dynaball into the wall. This movement is a ton of fun to practice. We want to make A LOT of noise as we power that ball into the wall, imaging that we are throwing the ball THROUGH the wall into the parking lot outside. The noise creates some nice feedback to help us assess the power we're creating through our glutes and lats and we step into a powerful throw.
Here's your checklist:
1. Start in a lunge (walking stride length) with right foot forward. 2. Hold the Dynaball with both hands, slightly rotated over right foot. 3. Drive off the front foot, connecting to the power of the stored energy from that heavily engaged lat on the right side. 4. As the left foot hits the ground the ball leaves the hands to powerfully throw into the wall. I hope you all have as much fun with this movement as the trainer team has had practicing it! Happy Training! There are so many ways we have created habits throughout our life - both good and bad. We develop habits from a young age by watching people around us, positive and negative reinforcement, and even our internal and external environment. We carry these habits through adulthood and fall into routines that can be incredibly challenging to break out of. Not all habits are bad but some may be less desirable than others. It's always a good reminder to be gentle with yourself and realize you have had years to create these habits so it may be years to create new ones. Let's talk about different ways we can create healthy lifelong habits that will continue to benefit us in our everyday life.
Choosing just a couple small goals can really impact your habits in a positive way. The key is keeping them SIMPLE! Some examples include:
These all may seem like simple things to do but holding yourself accountable and staying consistent with these goals can make you realize how challenging it really is to change your habits. Start small and work towards getting just 1% better every day. By being more consistent with more positive habits, the more likely you will be to self correct the negative ones over time. An example of this would be if you are more consistent with eating healthy snacks throughout the day you will have less cravings in the evening to binge on less nutritious foods. Habit Stacking is another great way to start adding new habits into your life. This is taking those small goals we just talked about and adding them to a habit you already have. For example, I drink a glass of water every morning while making my coffee. I always make coffee no matter what so to help me stay up on my water intake I add a glass of water to that habit to help me remember. Another example is setting reminders to take action during a regular event, such as a bathroom break mid-morning at work can also help you implement a new habit. When you get up to use the bathroom also grab. your snack from the break room, and eat it once you get back to your desk so that you don't lose track of time and forget to fit in your morning snack. Building upon habits can make it easier to stick to them. Practicing mindfulness will always be beneficial in helping you stay accountable to your goals. This involves taking time to reflect upon WHY you have set the goals that you have, and why these goals are important to you. Practicing mindfulness can lead to preparedness and help you combat obstacles that may get in your way. This could be meal prepping, planning out the times you are going to eat, running errands on a specific day to help you stay on track to not get take out. Checking in with yourself is a great way to hold yourself accountable to your actions. With mindfulness comes boundaries. When we are trying to create new habits this also may affect those around us and we may have to set boundaries to help reach our goals. For example, if you are trying to go to bed earlier but you have a friend that always wants to stay up and chat then this doesn’t align with your goals. Reaching out to that friend and sharing your goals with them will help you succeed by acknowledging what help you need from others. This can greatly benefit you and your friendship as well by inviting them in to provide the support that you need. Setting boundaries with yourself and those around you can help you stay on track and reach your goals. It is also important to set boundaries for yourself. For me I have a boundary of not allowing myself to buy chips. No matter how much I try to portion them out or reduce my intake I know I can not resist sitting on the couch and eating the whole bag. For this reason I don't allow myself to fail by keeping them out of my house. This also doesn't mean that I don't ever eat chips but I will have them only on occasion like in the summer with an ham Italian, or maybe with a burger when I go out to eat. I don't deprive myself of something that I enjoy, but I make the responsible decision to not make temptations I know I will cave to. This can be extremely hard to do but may be necessary depending on your health goals. Life has ebbs and flows and there may be a time where you might fall off your goals and life throws you every challenge it can.
What is important is that you continue to be mindful, make time for yourself to plan, and work towards becoming 1% better every day. Small consistent habits are going to lead you to the life you want to live. Consistency is key when it comes to making changes in your life whatever it may be. Finding ways that help you reach your goals will help you fall into routine faster and help stay on track. We shouldn’t feel like we are being punished in order to become our healthiest selves. Making commitments to yourself that you can keep will lead to a fulfilling successful life. |
AuthorHi! My name is Allison Hopkins and I am the owner of Wilcox Wellness & Fitness in Brunswick, ME. I am excited to bring WILCOX to Brunswick and share in my passion for living a great life through health and fitness. Archives
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