Move of the Week - DB Squat Curl to Press - 11/14

​This week we will be focusing on timing and posture being the big components to this exercise. Posture, just like all the moves we focus on will help us brace and connect to our body allowing us to be strong through the movement especially starting out in the swing. The momentum of the dumbbells will want to rock you around pulling you off your feet if you are not starting in your very best braced posture. Timing will be connected to using the right muscles at the right time to ensure working the correct muscles.

Posture means more than just standing as tall as you can and yanking your shoulders back in space. It start all the way down at our feet and works on making connections all the way up through our body. Do you ever think about your glutes when getting into your best posture? What about if your knees are bent or that you are evenly pushing through your feet? All incredibly important details to understanding and supporting a good posture. We want the correct muscles to be firing and working for us to give us the best support. This is also why we talk about elevation so much because we are constantly working against gravity to pull us down into the ground. We want to lift those ribs up off the hips creating space and connection through the core and up through the spine. Your best posture will keep you in control of this movement as you release the swing from up above your head and letting your arms follow through the flow of momentum, staying braced and tall through your body.

As the swing comes back up in front of us we will continue to maintain an upright posture but come down into a squat catching the weight with our legs. This will be our timing component in waiting to catch the dumbbells but not wait too long so that are arms are doing all of the work. Once we catch the weight another pause in timing to make sure we are braced and in our best squat form, still elevating through the ribs with core engaged. This tension is going to push us back up into a press in our starting position. It should feel like we are launching the dumbbells through the ceiling with our whole body working to lift the weights, especially thorough our glutes. It should feel like light work to the shoulders as our lats and core are helping to hold those weights for us.
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This will be a great opportunity to push yourself in getting some heavier weight in your hands. This can help us not rely upon our arms to do the work, which is easy to do when using too light of weight. When we get a little heavier we start to naturally recruit other muscles to help us out. This is where we want the tension from the squat to help us out in lifting that weight up above our head again. As we come back up into our press we should return to our best standing posture to maintain good shoulder control and support through the lower back, and ready to set up again for the next rep. This week will provide a great challenge in connecting to the whole body and working on the timing of swings and letting momentum help us out. Remember to slow it down and work on each individual step to find the flow of the movement.

Here's your checklist:
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1. BEST POSTURE: protect the shoulders and lower back, connect to as many muscle groups as possibly especially the glutes and core.
2. Feel the fluidity of the swing. Let the swing do the work for you.
3. Catch the weight with the squat to take pressure off the shoulders.
4. Keep your best elevation and power through the glutes to press. You want to feel like the weight can launch through the ceiling
5. Have fun! Create that power to swing some heavy weight around!