Dynamic Warmup
APRIL
::Grab a mat and some floor space::
Cat Cow
X 15
Birddog
20 Seconds per side
dynamic childs pose
X 10
plank
30 Seconds
side plank
30 seconds per side
supine trunk twist
X 10
bridge
X 20
Supine Stretch-and-Reach
x 3
Dynamic thoracic spine stretch
x 5 per side
hula hoop
x 20 each way
squat
x 10
(don’t have to go super deep for the warmup, but feel the heightened awareness and strength of your trunk/spine/core/axial skeleton and supporting muscles/soft tissue.)
push-up
x 10
with same awareness. Push-ups are just dynamic planks, so keep the core engaged and the posture nice and tall.
EXERCISE BREAKDOWN:
Cat Cow
- Begin on all fours with shoulders over your wrists, hips over your knees, and a neutral spine. Palms are flat on the ground and fingers engaged, gently gripping floor.
- Calmly exhale, contracting your abdominal muscles as you arch your back upward like a cat. allowing your head to curl under such that your gaze is directed back toward your hips.
- Extend the exhalation for a moment before gently inhaling as you lower your back past neutral into a downward curve like a cow, engaging your spinal erector muscles, and allowing your head and gaze to return to the horizon or slightly upward.
Birddog
- Begin on all fours with shoulders over your wrists, hips over your knees, and a neutral spine. Palms are flat on the ground and fingers engaged, gripping floor.
- Inhale, engage the core, and exhale as you reach out with your right arm and reach back with your left leg, creating a straight line from heel to wrist.
- Hold position for 20 seconds, breathing naturally but maintaining statuesque control.
- Return to starting position and repeat on other side (i.e. using left arm and right leg).
Dynamic
Childs Pose
- Begin on all fours with flat hands shoulder-width apart under shoulders and knees hip-width apart beneath hips. Feet are facing “laces down” at hip-width.
- From there, broaden the knees into a wider positioning, bring the big toes of the feet in contact with one another
- Take a deep breath and gently exhale, lowering your butt back down toward your heels, maintaining length in your trunk and arms with shoulder blades anchored on your back away from your ears.
- Pause for a moment at the bottom with your head resting on the mat
- Inhale and return to the beginning
Plank
- Begin lying face down with elbows shoulder-width apart on the ground and toes curled under at hip-width.
- Engage the core, pushing away from the floor into a level plane - visualize balancing a glass of water on your back
- Avoid sagging at the hips or shoulders and steer away from hiking the hips way up. Stay level.
- Maintain for specified time,
Side Plank
- Begin on your side with a straight body line with legs outstretched (or knees bent modified), resting on the elbow of the side of your body that is facing the ground or mat.
- Engage the core and push away from the ground at your bottom elbow and foot (knee modified) as you elevate your hips from the ground
- Maintain a straight body line with shoulders stacked and hips stacked for specified time
Supine Trunk Twist
- On back, knees bent and up in table top
- In a slow and controlled manner, rotate at trunk so that knees approach floor on one side and then fluidly returning to the top and down toward the other side.
- Doesn’t need to be a huge range of motion - just to where it feels good. Focus on control.
Bridge
- On your back with knees bent and feet flat on the ground hip-width apart, exhale and engage the glutes/hamstrings, stabilize the core, and bringing your pelvis up.
- End position creates a straight line from your knees to your shoulders. Avoid overextending to where your hips elevate beyond that line.
- This is a great exercise for your back as you are LENGTHENING your hip flexors and engaging your posterior and core, which helps counteract the negative effects of sitting at a desk, in a car, etc.
Supine
Stretch-and-
Reach
- Lying on your back with your legs straight and arms outstretched above you.
- Inhale deep and reach up with your hands and lengthen your neck tall as if pulled from a string attached to your crown, simultaneously reaching strongly and actively with your heels in the opposite direction.
- You should feel a great stretch in you trunk, and that you are decompressing your spine. Calmly breathing, keep this active stretch going for a good “5-Mississippi” count, relax, and repeat a few times.
Dynamic
Thoracic Spine Stretch
- Come to a kneeling position on your mat
- With a neutral spine and kneeling tall, place hands behind your head, inhale deep and exhale controlled as you rotate your shoulders about 45° to one side
- Continuing your controlled exhalation, keep your hands on your head as you bring your lead elbow down toward your ribcage and reach up-up-and-away with the trailing elbow.
- Still continuing that initial exhalation, return to the center. (This motion thus far should only be a few seconds - it’s a dynamic stretch not a static hold).
- Now having returned to the starting position, Inhale, exhale, and stretch to the other side.
- We want our thoracic spine (upper back) to be mobile and our lumbar spine (lower back) to be more stable. This exercise helps maintain that balance with good focus/technique.
Hula Hoop
- Come to a standing position in front of your mat
- Simply mime the act of hula hooping in each direction. ::actual hula hoops welcome::
Squat
- Feet shoulder-width apart
- Weight in the heels (advanced: “tripod” feet)
- Stick butt back and then down like you’re sitting in a chair
- Maintain a neutral spine (i.e. not unnaturally curved in either direction)
- Push through heels and return to standing
Push-Up
- From a prone position facing the ground or a mat
- Hands shoulder- width apart with flat palms and finger/wrist muscles engaged somewhat “gripping” the ground
- Arms at about a 45º angle with trunk
- Feet at hip with apart with toes curled under (modified put hands up on a box or bring knees to ground or on mat instead of feet)
- Core and quads are engaged with a neutral spine like in a plank position
- Push away from the ground and elevate body, shoulder blades sliding apart (protracting) at the top
- Avoid shrugging at the shoulders and/or sticking your head and neck out or down. Maintain a tall plank posture, slightly tucked, with a straight body line from heel to head. (We should be able to rest a dowel on our back making three points of contact - back of the head, between shoulder blades, and around the sacrum/tailbone area)
You’re ready to roll!
Pay attention to your core strength and proper spinal alignment throughout your training. You should notice an improvement to your performance in this regard.
Break a great sweat and enjoy!
Cheers!
The SPAC Team