We will continue to work on our hinge swing this upcoming week in a Kettle Bell Swing to Lunge. Hinges may be one of the most difficult movements we do in the gym. They require our full attention to doing them right as this is a common way we lift in everyday life. When we hinge properly we protect our back and are capable of moving without pain and fear. Adding a swing further intensifies the need to doing these movements properly, helping us build glute and core strength that we use every moment of the day even when just sitting in a chair. This movement is a new twist on a normal kettlebell swing which will hopefully help you continue to connect to your glutes, create power through your legs, and reduce tension through the lower back and shoulders. The grip on this swing will also be different than a normal kettlebell swing as we will hold the kettlebell by the side handles. This will help reduce the range of motion in your swing and allow you to have a little more control in the momentum coming up and down through the movement. The most important goal of the hinge is maintain excellent posture so our core stays stable protecting our low back, while connecting to our glutes to power us through the swing.

As we come up out of our swing we will step forward into a lunge and catch the kettlebell in a row on the same side of our front leg. This will create great thoracic rotation connecting to our obliques and pulling through our lats to hold the kettlebell to reduce tension off the shoulders. When landing in our forward lunge we want to drive our front heal into the ground making connection with our quad and glutes. This is crucial to keeping our knees safe by not pushing through our toes. This will also allow us the power to push back up to our standing position and ready to swing back down into our hinge.

As we complete each swing we will alternate lunges creating a dynamic full body movement. This exercise will work your coordination in trusting your feet as you step through the movement. Along with coordination you're creating power through the back of the body in the hamstrings and glutes as well as the front of the body by pushing through the quads in our lunge. Lastly we will continue working on connecting to our lats and obliques so we can create less tension through our shoulders helping us maintain proper posture and elevation.

We are going to have a lot of fun with this movement! The Dumbbell Pendulum Hop & Row is a deceivingly cardiovascular movement. It will get your heart pumping AND give you an incredible sense of accomplishment once you get the timing.

The timing is critical to nailing this movement, as is the case with many of the movements that we've been practicing lately. In this movement when you get the timing right the push and pull of your arms will help you lift your body up onto the box, and hop gently off of the box.

Your arms will work like pendulums, so keeping your arms straight is key to creating the momentum that will help you flow on and off of the box. As soon as you bend your elbows you no longer have a full pendulum. When we get this this technique right it takes all of the work out of the arms, shoulder & neck and puts it into the core.

This is a push / pull movement, and it's through this push and pull that your entire body will move. As you swing your arms up give them time to get to shoulder height and then pull into the row. This pull will simultaneously help you pop up onto the box. Conversely, when you punch your arms out in front of your chest your body will push off of the box. Allow gravity to flow with you, letting the dumbbells pendulum back to your sides, pulling you back into your hinge, and setting you up for the next repetition.

The last piece to be thinking about as you work on perfecting this movement is how far your elbows come back in the row. You don't want to have your elbows coming back behind your shoulder joint. Try to keep your elbows in line with your shoulders or even in front of your shoulders when the row stops. This will prevent you from over rowing and losing that connection with your lats.

Be patient with yourself at the beginning of the week & you will nail the timing of this movement. Once you've nailed the timing, you will actually feel your body "floating" up and down off the step. The pendulum will help you achieve this!
ENJOY!

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​Here's your checklist:
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1. Strong standing posture prior to moving
2. Your very best hinge (deadlift)
3. Keep those arms straight until you are ready to row
4. Punch the dumbbells out until your arms are straight after you row
5. Soften those landings!!
6. Have fun!

This week's Move of the Week is the Dumbbell Swing to Step Row to Step Press. This movement is A LOT like last week's movement in that it includes a hinge, to a step row and a press. The difference is that this movement requires us to step forward instead of backwards, it includes TWO steps and the hinge is a swing movement.

This movement will give you the opportunity to build upon the skills that you developed in last week's movement while continuing to master the timing of each step and the corresponding swing, row and press.

When done correctly this movement really flows and is a lot of fun to do. The areas that we'll be focusing on this week include a nice flat back in the hinge swing and not swinging too far between the legs causing us to lose our back posture. We'll also be working on the timing of the step and row, and really connecting to that lat. Next, we want to work on pressing through the lat, taking pressure off of the shoulder, as well as the timing with the step and the press, using the power of the glute in the step.

As always, we'll be breaking down this movement over the course of the week so that you can ease into each of the components of the move. You're also welcome to work on a version that we practiced earlier in the week instead of progressing to each new piece of the movement. Taking time to feel really comfortable with each step (literally) will give you the confidence to put all of the pieces together in time. Once we build up to this movement over the course of the week we'll be able to bring this movement into our training sessions in the weeks to come so that you can keep practicing it, so let us know what you think about this movement. I think you're going to LOVE IT!

This week's Move of the Week is The Pitchfork.  This is a super fun movement that incorporates a lot of muscle groups and movements that we practice routinely in the gym.  Performing compound movements brings a lot of value in a training session - not only are they more fun and provide a full body workout, but they also require us to work in a sequence of movements that help us make brain body connections.  Even though we may not realize it, when we move in sequence in our daily life, and moving in sequence in the gym helps us create connections that allow us to move better in daily life.

In the Pitchfork we will work on our split stance, connecting a hinge, a step row, and a press all together.  

When setting up our split stance we want to be sure that our feet are in proper length and width position.  Remember, everything starts at the feet and it is through our feet that we create stability.

In the hinge we will continue to focus on a flat back, which protects the lumbar spine from injury.

In the step row we will continue to focus on maintaining stability through the feet and connecting to the lat.

The press in this movement is over the shoulder with a slight rotation.  The press originates from the lat rather than the shoulder, and requires a strong connection to the core and excellent posture.

This movement will provide you with a lot of opportunity to put together all of these elements that you have been practicing over many weeks or months. 

It's a really fun movement, and provides an amazing sense of accomplishment when done well.  

Here's your checklist:
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1) Stand in a split stance hand opposite your front foot forward.
2) Hinge forward with a flat back, bringing the bungee end of the bar to your front knee with a slight rotation.
3) Step back into your split stance row, connecting to your lat, and rotating slightly over your front foot.
4) Press through your lat over your shoulder.
5) Have fun!

This week's Move of the Week is The Squat Rotational Press.  This movement builds off the foundational movement of the squat, and adds a rotational element that demands focus on three key areas:

1) Full rotation through the back foot and hips with strong engagement of the feet with the floor.
2) Tall posture with the press going straight up, bicep to ear.
3) Creating power through the glutes & lats.

This movement can be broken down into three smaller components - the squat, the rotation, and the press, or combined into a smooth and fluid movement with a great focus on creating power through the glutes and lats as you press up out of the squat and into the final standing posture with the press.

It's easy to rush through this movement, which leads to several common compensations:

*Not rotating fully through the back foot and hips, which leads to instability and tension on the joints.
*Rotating too early, and while still in the squat, which leads to a loss of posture and control of the movement.
* Not pressing straight up, resulting in weight load being held on the shoulder in a way that causes discomfort and possible injury.

Focus on this movement will provide practice with using our feet to create stability, connecting to our glutes and lats to create a powerful movement, and building awareness around posture and where our body is in space.

Here's your checklist:

1) Holding dumbbells at the shoulders, start with a squat.
2) Once at the top of the squat, rotate fully through the back foot and hips.
3) Press the dumbbell on the same side as the back leg straight up, with the bicep ending next to the ear.
4) Work on connecting these three steps together into one fluid, powerful movement.
5) Have fun!