This week's Move of the Week is the Single Leg Deadlift with KB Rotation. In this movement we are going to expand off our our Split Stance position and go into a single leg movement, further challenging our posture, balance and thoracic mobility.
In the split stance we have been talking about working on keeping the majority of our weight in our front foot, and using our back foot for added stability in certain movements. This practice will help you progress into this single leg hinge movement because you will be concentrating on keeping the weight over your front foot while you lift your back foot up off of the ground. In this movement we are also going to continue to work on our hinge. By starting in your split stance position, hinging slightly over your front foot with a flat back, and the majority of weight on your front foot, you will be ready to successfully progress into the single leg deadlift. What will be of great importance is that you work to move your upper and lower body together as you hinge forward. A common challenge with single leg deadlift movements is the tendency to let the back leg and chest drop where you find yourself in a weird single leg downward dog. In this movement we want to continue to focus on keeping the back flat and a nice straight line from the head to the shoulders to the hip and then to the ankle. Being a single leg movement, this movement is going to challenge your balance. Many of you have already made the connection between good posture and balance, and you're going to put this to work in this movement. By lifting your ribs up off of your hips and creating distance between each of your vertebrae you will engage your core muscles and create tension throughout your body that will help keep your joints in alignment and maintain stability throughout this movement. Last but not least, we will be working on a gentle thoracic rotation (and not over rotating) while keeping your hips forward, both in the hinged position and in a single leg knee drive position. This movement is going to challenge our patience as much as our balance, stability and control. Remember to create focus, use your breath, and stay calm as you practice this movement. Also remember that every time you touch your foot to the floor you are learning, and this is part of the process. I can't stress patience enough as we progress this movement throughout the week into the final version as a single leg deadlift with kettle bell rotation.
Here's your checklist:
1. Start in a split stance with a slight hinge, shifting 80% of your weight into your front foot. 2. As you lift your back foot off of the floor, equally allow your upper body to hinge forward while keeping alignment of your shoulders, hips and ankle. 3. Gently rotate over your front leg while keeping hips forward. 4. Maintain length through your spine and strong abdominals as you return to standing and bring your back leg into a knee drive. 5. Gently rotate over your knee. 6. Reset your posture and repeat. 7. Have fun!
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This week's move of the week is another slam movement - The Low to High Lateral Slam.
In this movement we will be starting in a low split stance position, just like last week, but this week we are going to move laterally, or sideways, to land in a high split stance position. You've probably noticed a lot of talk about our glutes and lats working together, and the important role that our obliques play in our movement. This week we are going to be working more on learning how to create length and tension through the lats and obliques as well as the opposite side glute. The combination of these major muscles used in sequence creates an explosive and powerful movement leading into your slam. We will also be focusing on creating proper rotation over the front foot... and in particular not OVER rotating. The set up of your starting stance is KEY to nailing this movement. The big focus that the whole team will be coaching is follow through of the slam. Notice how Bree's arms move past her hips as she powerfully slams through the contraction of her lats and obliques before loading her glute again to facilitate a nice clean lateral movement back to the starting position. This is a fun movement and I look forward to hearing how you notice how this movement influences how you move both inside and outside of the gym!
Here's your checklist:
1. Starting in a low split stance position rotate slightly over the front foot. 2. Lengthen through your lat and oblique (back leg side) by slightly shrugging the shoulder and bringing your elbow up over your head like you're trying to smell your arm pit. 3. Begin to contract your lat and oblique as you load the glute on the opposite side of the body preparing for your powerful lateral step. 4. Using all of these muscles together, laterally step, landing in a TALL split stance position, and SLAM the ball. 5. Be sure to FOLLOW THROUGH. 6. REGROUP and repeat. 7. Have fun! The goal of this movement is to have ONE powerful rep at a time. I challenge you to check in after each slam and reset your starting position so that you are set up for success in your next rep. It takes a lot of discipline to slow down and focus on QUALITY over QUANTITY and this movement is going to give you a lot of practice (and a lot of reward) if you accept my challenge!
This week's move of the week is the Jam Ball Stepping Slam. I love this movement because it will help us work on some key movement patterns that will allow us to get better in how we move both inside and outside of the gym and incorporates a nice bicep curl and tricep movement to help us buff up our arms for summer ?
In this movement you will be using a "Jam Ball" which is sand filled and does not bounce. Without concern that the ball will hit you in the face when it bounces back we will be coaching complete follow through of the slam and embracing power through this movement. You will be starting in a low lunge position, bringing you close to the floor so that you can pick up the ball and bicep curl it to your chest while maintaining good posture. As you prepare to press the ball up overhead, you will focus on pressing up through the glutes rather than through the shoulders, creating power through your lower body. This power will allow you to elevate though your ribs and work against compression on your spine as you rise up into your tall posture standing position. While maintaining tall posture in your split stance with the jam ball overhead you will pull the ball behind your head with triceps engaged creating tension through your lats and upper thoracic back, preparing your body to create power and follow through in the slam, returning you back to the low lunge position to repeat the process. I have coached this movement in a few sessions and people did amazing. It's a super fun movement and I'm excited to break this movement down so that you can connect to your lats and glutes for the purpose of creating powerful movement. I'm confident that you'll have a lot of fun with this movement and that you'll surprise yourself with your ability to connect to this movement with confidence by the end of the week.
Here's your checklist:
1) Starting in a low lunge you will bicep curl the ball to your chest. 2) Step forward in your split stance as you press the ball overhead. 3) Pull the ball behind the head with elbows bent. 4) Hinge forward as you step backwards in your split stance, following through with your slam. 5) Finish in a low split stance lunge with tall posture, ready to bicep curl the ball to your chest and repeat the process. 6) Have fun!
This week's Move of the Week is a Lunge Row with T-Spine Rotation. We are going to simplify things a bit to allow us the opportunity to work on some fundamentals of a good lunge, proper form, and achieving a solid t-spine rotation without over rotating and turning the hips.
This movement is fairly simple, but does require a degree of coordination. Remember, coordination is practiced, and as adults we don't have a lot of opportunity to work on coordination the way that we did as kids. Playing on the play ground at recess provided us with tons of coordination practice. So we want to keep practicing coordination while also dialing in on these fundamentals. In this movement we are going to focus on maintaining elevation through the ribs while lunging. In other words, maintaining strong posture as we move through the lunge positions. We are also going to work on proper stride length. When we do a lunge our goal is to be able to create a 90 degree angle at both knees when in the full range of motion of the lunge. When we open up the chest in the rotation we are going to put a lot of focus on maintaining our elevation, rotating through the thoracic spine (the part of the spine attached to our ribs) and avoiding any rotation through the hips. Keeping our tailbone tucked throughout this movement will help us keep our lower abdominals engaged so that they are prepared to help us maintain stability and strength throughout the movement. As an added bonus, this movement is going to help us in connecting our glutes with our opposite side lat. When we move in daily life our glute on one side of the body and opposite side lat work together, and this movement is also going to provide us with practice at engaging our glute as you raise your body up out of the lunge, and simultaneously rowing with your lat on the opposite side. It takes time to feel these connections, so I encourage you to focus on which muscles are working in this movement, and imaging the glute of your back leg working hard to stabilize you in the "standing" portion of the lunge while your lat is working through the row on the opposite side. In time you'll feel these connections and will be ready to coordinate your lats and glutes to enhance movement both inside and outside of the gym.
Here's your checklist:
1) Start in your best lunge. 2) Hold onto the resistance band with your arm fully extended on the same side as your front leg. 3) While in your lunge, rotate through your t-spine with your free arm, opening up through the chest while maintaining tailbone tuck, elevation, and hips forward. 4) As you return to center from the rotation, come up out of your lunge, using your back leg glute to stabilize you, and pull your into a row using your lat. 5) Repeat....and have fun!
This week's move of the week is the Walking Dynaball Rotation with Pivot Slam and I hope you have a blast with this fun variation on the dynaball slam. This movement will definitely challenge your brain body connection, and with practice you'll feel super accomplished when you put all of the pieces together.
You have been practicing elements of this movement whether you realize it or not! We have been practicing TIMING with our mobility stick walking, which is part of the pre-warm up activation sequence. The goal with this mobility stick walk is to propel yourself forward using your core, more specifically, your obliques. The timing comes with each step - as you pull your front foot backwards and propel yourself forward using your opposite side oblique the goal is to land your stepping foot at the same moment that you pull through your oblique into your rotation. We are doing the same thing with this movement except that we're holding a dynaball instead of the mobility stick. After one step forward, and one step backward you will use your core to rainbow the ball up over head and pivot your feet to face in the opposite direction bringing the ball to the front of your chest. Next, you will pivot back in to your original direction, but this time you'll use your core and your breath to powerfully slam the ball. As you catch the ball you'll be set up to repeat the sequence of events again. Try not to overthink this movement. We will break down the steps over the course of the week so that you're prepared to confidently put them all together by the end of the week.
Here's your checklist:
1. Start in a split stance with the ball in front of your sternum, slightly rotated over the front foot. 2. Step forward by pulling your front foot backwards against the floor, and using your opposite side oblique to pull you forward into your step. Slightly rotate over the newly placed front foot. 3. Repeat this sequence stepping backward to your starting foot position. 4. Rainbow the ball up overhead, rotating in the direction of your back foot (if your left foot is back, start your rotation in the left direction) while pivoting your feet 180 degrees. 5. Land in your split stance with the ball in front of your sternum, slightly rotated over your front foot. 6. Rainbow the ball in the direction of your back foot to pivot 180 degrees back to your starting split stance. This time, as the ball and your body come back to the starting stance hinge slightly as you powerfully slam the ball into the floor. 7. Catch the ball and repeat :-) 8. Have fun!
Hey Everybody! This week's move of the week is a Split stance Kettlebell Deadlift Walk. We chose this movement because we see such amazing opportunity to dial in on a few fundamentals of movement:
1. Foot position 2. Hinging 3. Timing This movement is relatively simple compared to the movements of the past few weeks, but don't be fooled. When done correctly this movement will challenge you in many ways. What I love about this movement is that it allows us to slow everything down and work on improving upon our foot work by ensuring that our stance position is correct - not too wide and not too long. With each step you will also concentrate on ensuring that the back heel stays lifted and your front heel drops back down to the floor as you step forward. This movement will also provide you with practice on proper hinging, ensuring that you're not hinging too deep and losing your neutral spine position, and focusing on excellent posture once you come back to standing. This movement also incorporates practice with timing. As Bree prepares each step she is creating tension with the floor by pulling her back foot forward and her front foot backwards as if she's trying to slide her feet into a parallel position. The hamstring of the front leg is engaged and prepared to help pull her back foot forward into the step. She is also timing her pass off of the kettlebell with her step and rotation. Notice how as she comes to the top of her hinge she pulls through her feet and simultaneously passes the kettle bell to the other hand as she steps forward and rotates her t-spine over the front leg. Timing is what allows us to truly perfect many of these movements that we've been practicing, and I hope that you'll find this slower paced movement to provide you with a great opportunity to connect to timing as well as footwork and a strong hinge.
Here's your checklist:
1. Set up your split stance, pulling with the Front Foot 2. Hinge through the hips with a subtle rotation over the front foot. 3. Maintain strong abdominals & mid-back. 4. Stand tall prior to stepping. 5. Control your body as you move. 6. Have fun!
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!
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! |
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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