This weeks move of the week is really going to test all of the little nuances to our split stance row & press. I love this variation of the movement because we usually focus on moving the upper body and bracing through the lower body. This week we are going to have to keep that tension through the upper body in order to move our feet position without letting that band pull us around. It's a great challenge to the core and how much stability we can create through our push and pull. This move is similar to last week where we want to create as much tension as possible to help create stability and strength through the proper channels throughout the body. Such as; cross body lat to glute connection, mobility through thoracic spine, elevation and expanding the rib cage, and full body functionality are all ways we can see these pieces come together. When we learn to do these "simpler" movements to our best ability it makes the more complicated sequences easier to learn and to connect with. When performing this movement we will want to make as much connection to our glute as possible before we rotate into our row and press, followed by holding our core, lats, and chest tension as much as possible to switch our feet. This will result in constant work as we challenge ourselves to disconnect the movement at our hips, working our lower body and upper body at different times to coordinate this sequence of moves. Make this move challenging for yourself. This is a great opportunity to test out what you have been learning. Get a little more tension on the band to help fire up those muscles! If this feels easy we need to find that extra effort to make those connections. Slow down the movement to recognize the sequence of steps and what you feel with each movement. This will help our body to learn what we are asking of it so we will continue to learn to move better. During our training sessions we are learning to move efficiently through the proper muscles and not just muscling through it. This is where we see injury and pain. Recorrecting those pathways brings success, strength, and moving better in our everyday life. Here's your checklist: 1. Posture! This move will be a lot of core work. Strong posture and elevation will allow us to hold the necessary tension we need to move our feet. 2. Small Strides in our split stance will allow us to maintain strong connection to the ground. 3. Slightly hinge to feel those glutes kick in and help with our tailbone tuck to get our lower abdominals activated. 4. Take your time moving. Setting yourself up to brace will allow you to control the bungee tension. 5. See how much tension you can create for yourself! Have fun!
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This week we really want to focus on that cross body connection through the lat and glute. This is an extremely important connection that impacts how efficiently we move through life. From walking, running, and throwing we will function better with a strong glute to lat connection. Just like the core it may not be a muscles you think about often as you move through life but they are always working. If these muscles aren't firing properly this is where we experience dysfunction and pain when we move and try to do things. This move is a little different than how we have focused on our bungee row in the past. We will still set up in our rotation over our front leg and bungee on the opposite side. The difference is staying stationary for the rest of the row instead of stepping back into the row. This is going to help us to learn to make the connection through our lat and the opposite side glute first in preparation for eventually stepping back into the complete row. This move should be extremely taxing on the glute, core, and lats when done correctly, with extreme focus on the thoracic rotation to come into a neutral position from our row. This is where the mind body connection from our hips will take place. As we start to rotate towards our row we want the opposite hip pushing forward to deepen the connection and hold our hips forward. This should increase connection through the glutes and down through the floor connection in your feet. Creating a strong hold all the way from your head down to your toes. An exercise like this should only take a max of 5 reps before we are fatigued and need rest, making this a great opportunity to listen to our body and create discipline around what we are feeling. Moving slower is better and allows us to be deliberate about engagement. When we make those small corrections to our form we make corrections to how we move in the rest of our life. This is a great chance to recognize the value in getting 1% better every time you make that connection correctly. You will hopefully leave from this move feeling like you worked your hardest, feeling stronger, more mobile, and more connected to your body. Break this move down to as many steps as you need to assure you are hitting all those key points. Good luck! Here's your checklist: 1. Set up in your best split stance; front foot opposite of bungee hand, pulling the floor with our feet 2. Hinge through the hips to deepen glute connection. Tuck your tailbone to connect to your lower abdominals and elevate through the spine and get the front of your abdominals engaged. 3. Start in a slight rotation over the front foot and hold. This is where we will start the row. 4. Pulling through the lat into our row making sure to not allow our elbow to move passed our shoulder, keeping the shoulder blade as flat as possible. 5. After the row pull out of your rotation so your ribcage is in line with your hips. Maintain your row & lat connection as you do this. Push your hip forward on your bungee side to keep your hips in line. 6. Return back into the rotation and then release the row accomplishing one rep. This should be DIFFICULT. Remember 3-5 reps max to reach that fatigue. 7. Make those connections!! Good luck! You have accomplished so much over this past year. Every one of you should be extremely proud for all the work you've put in. With every challenge comes new lessons learned. As you know, sometimes the hardest days are just getting through the door. Over time we learn that motivation wanes, life and everyday stresses take over, and sometimes that question of "why" is overwhelming, BUT you are here and you've made it another year. Working on being a better you every time you walk through those gym doors. As you know we aren't just working our body in new ways here at the gym but also our brain through focus, making connections, coordination, and taking one step at a time. Slowly everything starts to feel a little more familiar, a little smoother, than the day before. This translates into how we deal with our life outside of the gym. When we feel our best by eliminating pain, moving more freely, and feeling confident in our body, we also feel better in our day to day life. Over this year we have put major focus on thoracic mobility, connecting to our best standing posture, staying out of our shoulders and lower back, and connecting to as many body parts as we can. We have been waking up muscles you didn't even know you had or forcing your body to move in ways you didn't think were possible. Here you are doing all of it and then some!! This upcoming week we are going to bring back many of the moves that you have been working on over this past year to help you realize all of the things you have learned. Things that may have been so difficult for you at one point may be feeling better than ever. Some moves may also be great indicators of where you could be focusing your attention. There is always something to work on and get that 1% better every time we hit the floor. This time of year is a great time for reflection and I hope you reflect in all that you have accomplished in the gym. Moving better, becoming stronger, more coordinated, feeling better physically and mentally, or any other thing the gym as brought you. Happy Holidays and we hope the New Year brings you many more fun challenges you can conquer! End of the year wrap-up reflection: 1. How's your best standing posture from when you first started? 2. Think of all of the things you have accomplished! 3. What still needs work? 4. What are your goals going to be for the New Year coming into the gym? 5. Remember to have fun and even when things are difficult and frustrating it doesn't mean it will always be that way! As always, getting to the gym 10-15 minutes early is important to your overall success. The movements we have chosen are familiar and provide a ton of value when it comes to learning how your body moves! We also designed this version of our Pre-Training Activation Sequence to be super-efficient. GOOD NEWS: You can get a tremendous amount of benefit from just 3-5 minutes of quality practice. Here are the most important aspects of performing these movements:
This week we want to focus on correctly moving through our thoracic spine in our rotation and our thoracic bend. When we move properly through the thoracic spine we are less likely to hurt our back and shoulders. One of the biggest difficulties is knowing where our shoulders are in space and making sure we aren't shrugging through the movement but using our core and lats to help. Keeping our shoulders in place through elevation and our best standing posture helps us to not overwork our shoulder joint. This translates into everyday life by staying away from rotator cuff injuries, strains, and impingements, helping us to stay mobile and strong. Keeping our shoulders in place by not shrugging or letting our shoulder blades wing helps us to use our muscles properly which allows us to get stronger and creating even more mobility in our thoracic spine. Even though these cues in a session can feel monotonous and hard to connect to it makes the world of difference for our skeletal structure and staying strong and healthy. When we work through our rotations we should feel the majority of the work coming from our lats and core while also connecting down into our glutes through our split stance. These are the muscles that keep us moving and feeling good on a day to day bases. So as we approach this move with some complicated footwork and moving through our rotation and bend properly remember all of the health benefits and the WHY around what you are doing. We want to continue to feel and move better and we can do that by digging into the little nuances of movement. Making our body work in the most optimal capacity that it can. There's not many things about this move that you haven't seen before, but we want to continue working on the little details. Working through our best standing posture, moving correctly, efficiently, and with purpose. This is how we feel better after every session and make that 1% progress each day. Before you know it your aches and pains are going away and you are moving freely through life without a second thought. Here's your checklist: 1. Split stance best standing posture. Connect to as much of your body as possible specifically through the lats, abdominals, and glutes. 2. Soft protraction of your shoulder blades while maintaining your best elevation and thoracic tension to keep shoulder blades in place. 3. Pull through your lats and core to rotate and bend. Not too much range of motion is needed here to make these connections. 4. Shoulders stay low when we keep our arms close to our body. There's no need to extend all the way into a press (straight arms) with these movements. 5. Look for those little details and connections so you feel like your best self. We are so excited to be celebrating Martha Fogler and Irwin Gross as this month’s Athlete’s of the Month.
Irwin started off working 1:1 with Bree while he rebuilt his strength & confidence in the gym. Over time he transitioned back into group training while occasionally scheduling a 1:1 with Bree to refine some of his skills.
This kind of commitment is what allows Martha and Irwin to live their very best life in defiance of their age. They recognize that their commitment allows them to move like they’re decades younger, but they don’t take it for granted. They know that a body in motion stays in motion, and a body at rest stays at rest. They both intend to stay in motion for as long as possible and have so much still to explore and enjoy.
This week we are continuing to work on our cross body swing. Last week we worked on foot work, how to lengthen through the swing in our thoracic bend and also finding activation in our crunch through the obliques and lats. This week we are going to make things just a little more complicated because WHY NOT? It's a great way to continue testing our abilities and what we are capable of. You are already familiar with all of the pieces of this movement, and now we'll be pulling them all together in this coordinated movement, which will test our brain body connection even more. The more we continue to push our body to being uncomfortable the more we learn and the better we move. The foot work and timing with this move will be important in helping us move fluidly and comfortably. This is one of those moves where really listening to your body and recognizing if something feel wrong and learning to adjust will serve you well as you progress through this movement. Making sure we aren't feeling any tension in our shoulders, overworking one muscle over another, ensuring that we're not feeling any lower back or any other joint pain is always important. Just like learning any other move, start light in weight, figure out the form first, and then start pushing yourself to test those muscles & coordination. This is a great opportunity to work on our full body rotation and knowing where our feet are. This move will have a single leg full body rotation and a full body rotation moving both feet. Knowing where are feet are in space will be critical to nailing down this sequence. Take your time with each step and breaking it down. The swing is just like last week where timing will be key to helping us pull into our row and press with the bungee. This is where the fluidity of the movement will come in as the momentum of the swing will pull us into our rotation and stabilize in the row to press. Remember when you get lost along the way its always better to reset, find your best posture, and focus on one step at a time. These are all moves you've seen before, now just in a slightly more complex sequence. Here's your checklist:
1. Find your lats! This is the biggest thing to staying out of your shoulders. Whether holding the dumbbell or the bungee, find your lats in you standing position first. 2. Let the momentum of the dumbbell pull you through your swing extending through your thoracic bend to maintain control. 3. Work on the timing. Wait for the swing to be past you to pull into the row. Creating the most momentum, least resistance, and most lat activation as you row. 4. Let those feet follow you! We want our hips to be turning with us into our row to press so power through the rotation is important! 5. Start slow, focus on what you do know, and add in the new things little by little. Have fun! This week we will be continuing to work through our thoracic bend and creating length through the lateral side of our body. We will do this by working through our elevation of our rib cage on one side and crunching through our oblique on the other. We know from this past weeks movement that the thoracic bend can be a difficult movement to connect to with a lot of little pieces to think about. The thoracic bend is so important to our everyday life and being able to move through the thoracic spine freely in all directions. The more mobility we create, the better we will feel and move, along with reduced risk of injury to our shoulders and lower back. When we have strong thoracic mobility this also helps us connect to our posture and core, allowing us to hold ourselves taller and stronger. Footwork will be a key component in this weeks move as we will need a solid base for stability and being confident with where are feet are going and landing. A soft hinge will be critical for staying connected to our glutes and pulling our feet together to stay grounded and strong all the way through the floor. The front foot is our driving foot where our power from the push off will come, while the back foot helps create stability and continue to hold our engagement. Starting out in our row and thoracic bend we want to create lots of tension through our lat and core. This will ensure power comes from our side and not through our shoulders. We also have a lot more power from these muscles when we can properly connect to them. Using our lats and core to launch the weight out away from us will create momentum to pull us through our swing. As we swing we will follow the dumbbell across our body using the thoracic bend to lengthen through the swinging arm and crunch the obliques on the other side. Timing and momentum are working with us as we start to swing back. We want the dumbbell to be almost past us to pull ourselves back through the lateral step and into the row. This will create a fluid momentum where we aren't ever fighting the dumbbell but letting it pull us through space and help us out. Feeling like we are pulling ourselves to the dumbbell and not the dumbbell to us. This will help us with reducing overuse of the shoulder and create efficiency through the whole body by working together in one fluid movement. When we can really start to nail movements like this it opens our abilities up to do even more. Building onto movement and sequences is important for our body to keep on progressing. Building strength, endurance, and coordination along the way. So this move may feel frustrating and awkward at first, but by starting off slowly with the movement, connecting to each component, we will work together to build that 1% improvement each day, and before you know it you are doing moves that used to be brain breaking and now feel great and powerful, owning the movement and what your body is capable of. Here's your checklist:
1. Start at the base! Work on the lateral split stance step making a strong connection to the floor, connecting to your glutes and bracing through your legs. 2. Posture is key! When we elevate and have good posture it is much easier to connect to our core and lats helping us with mobility through our t-spine 3. The thoracic bend is where our power will come from connection to your lats and obliques to help push the dumbbell around. 4. Timing will be critical to finding the fluidity of this movement to connect to the right muscles. Staying out of the shoulder to push the dumbbell around 5. Have fun! Get comfortable with the uncomfortable! This week we will be continuing our focus in the split stance and specifically the thoracic bend and using our core to help us move. The more mobility we have in our thoracic spine the more mobile we are throughout our whole body. Keeping us safe from pulling out our lower back and also taking the pressure off our shoulders to do the work. Thoracic mobility is a big indicator of our core strength and how able we are to move our thoracic spine using our core muscles and wrapping around to our back muscles. Our thoracic bend will engage our obliques (each side of stomach) and lats (biggest muscle in our back starting right behind the armpits). These muscles are huge but often lack the proper strength and coordination to do the work we need them to do. This results in overuse of shoulder and lower back movement that results in pain and injury. Our activation training will be a huge help in this weeks move because it helps you make those mind body connection to your core as well as warming up the mobility in your thoracic spine before you even hit the gym floor. The more you become competent in these connections the better you will move and the better you will feel. Starting off in our best split stance by having our feet properly connected to the floor we will work our way up the body, creating tension to ensure that our glute is firing, holding us stable and ready to push us forward. The glute is extremely important in preventing back pain. A small hinge with an intentional tailbone tuck will help you engage your glute while also pulling your lower core in to help engage and stabilize. Working our way up the body finding your oblique crunch on the side of your front leg you are now ready to push forward through the step using your glute and pulling through the elongated side into our next oblique bend. It should feel like your core is doing most of the work to help propel you forward and stay stable. From here, going into our step press using our chest and thoracic rotation to, yet again, help that glute drive us forward into our final step. Now it will be all about control through our lats, core, and glutes, to help us walk backwards and return to our starting position. This can be a very challenging area to make a mind body connections. We don't normally think about this movement in our everyday life, but that doesn't mean we aren't using it constantly. When these muscles are strong, your everyday life and movement will also feel strong. You may not even notice it at all because you won't be in pain, questioning your abilities, or turning down opportunities because of fear. You will just move through life the way you want to because you are strong and capable and know your body is ready to take on whatever task at hand big or small. Here's your checklist:
1. Very best split stance and posture helps connect from the floor all the way through to your glutes and core. 2. Crunch through one side of your oblique pulling your ribcage down towards your hip while the other elongates up to ceiling creating elevation 3. Push through your glute and pull through the opposite (elongated) oblique and lat to step forward 4. Stay out of your shoulders! Don't over press or bend to ensure shoulder safety 5. Connect! Connect! Connect! Have fun and take this opportunity to slow down to find that engagement. This week is going to put your Pre-Training to the test! It's all the same footwork with a little bit of ✨spice✨. That means getting those steps down in your lateral to forward split stance footwork will be crucial this week to understanding what you are doing in this movement. These are the reasons we want you to continue practicing the pre-training. The more comfortable and connected you are with these movements the easier the more challenging sequences will be. The footwork is all about creating a strong foundation from the floor up. Making sure we are connecting through our feet creates stability and power. Planting the back foot keeps us steady as the front foot is ready to drive off into that next step. In the lateral step we are looking for that cross body connection pushing through the front foot, and activating the glute as we pull through the opposite oblique and lat into our rotation. The more we can connect to this cross body connection the better our coordination will be and the more power we can create. Each time you step laterally it is crucial to get the back foot intentionally placed under your hip with tension to the floor, creating stability & balance, preparing you for the next step. The foot switch in the split stance to the slam is all about our thoracic spine moving in all the directions we want it to. By pulling through the rotation to switch our feet, and staying rotated over the front foot, we will be set up to thoracically bend and pull the dynaball overhead through our lat and core into the slam, landing our feet back in its original position and set up to do it all again on the other side. There is SO MUCH to think about when it comes to a move like this. Just when you think you have the footwork down there are many of other areas to focus on. This is a great opportunity to look for the challenge in each step of the movement. How are you going to keep challenging yourself and reaching that next opportunity to get better, dig a little deeper, work a little harder? One step at a time! Our work will start at our feet, first making sure we are connected to the floor and getting that foundational stance down and then slowly working our way up to the thoracic rotation and bends. After that we can really start honing in on those little details making sure we are working efficiently and correctly through our muscles. Every correct step and connection is a huge accomplishment that we will be celebrating to its fullest. That's what makes us better, stronger, and more capable with every new movement we throw together. Here's your checklist: 1. Footwork! We've got to get those feet moving the way we want them to in our very best split stance, knowing where our feet are going. Without footwork the rest doesn't matter. 2. Strong posture: making sure we are using our core to help us move. This will give us the best range of motion through our T-spine in rotation and bending. 3. Cross body connection through our lateral hop. Push through the glutes and pull through the opposite lats and obliques. 4. Use the Thoracic bend to engage your lats and core and not raise through your shoulders. Ensuring safety and proper shoulder control. 5. Remember we are always rotating or landing over our front foot in the split stance. 6. One thing at a time, have fun! "Its not a full body workout if it doesn't work the brain as well" 😈😇 -Bree |
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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