Shifty's Exercise of the Day

[Shifty]

To kick things off here is one of my all time favorite exercises, the Turkish Get Up or TGU

This is a great exercise for core stability, shoulder stability, and balance. It is also a great total body exercise.

Here is a video of senior RKC instructor David Whitley teaching the get up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BKq-G5IOQ8

[Trigun472]

Bleh, your exercise is boring. Tri's favorite - Doggy Style. Good replacement for squats

Here's a video of how it's done..

nm don't want to have to ban myself >>

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Seriously though; nice thread, I'll be checking in occasionally. I don't know if I'll ever get around to trying any new exercises though, I'm lazy and like to do the usual standard crap.

[Shifty]

Thanks Trigun!

Today's exercise really strengthens that hip-hinge action that is so important in Trigun's favorite exercise. Seriously though, The power for just about any power move in any sport comes primarily from the hips.

Todays exercises is the shoulder elevated barbell hip thrust. It strengthens the major muscles involved in many athletic movement like sprinting and jumping (glutes, hamstrings and quads) If your not interested in athletic movement this is also one of the best exercises out there to make your butt look good.

Here it is performed by Bret Contreras MA, CSCS

http://www.youtube.com/user/bretcontrer ... VlQhlKf-5Q

[DK]

OMG how much weight does that guy have on those things? Am I allowed to do this with, like, 5 lb weights?!

[Shifty]

Brett is using 405 lbs in the video. You can certainly start with light weights or body weight and work your way up. You'd be surprised how fast you can work up to some fairly heavy weight on this exercise though because it uses the largest and strongest muscles in your body over a fairly short range of motion.

[Shifty]

Rather then throwing up a random exercise every day I thought I'd be a little more organized and post series of exercises.

I thought I'd start with the overused buzzword: core training.

The core is basically the part of your body that would be left if your arms, legs, head, and neck were all removed.

The most important part of core training is the exercises that you don't do!

Flexion, extension, lateral flexion, and rotation of the lumbar spine should be avoided. The research of world renown spine biomechanicanist Dr. Stuart M. McGill from the University of Waterloo clearly shows that these lumbar movements are the mechanism for lumbar disk herniations. In a resent interview Dr. McGill compared the lumber spine to a coat hanger that can be bent quite a few times but eventually breaks. In other words you can get away with doing these movements for for years without out any symptoms but eventually you will herniate a disc.

Ruling out these movements rules out most traditional core and ab exercises such as sit ups, crunches, and back extensions.

So if these traditional exercises are contraindicated, how should the core be trained? I'll attempt to answer that here over the next couple weeks. For now I'll just say that it is important to teach the body to move from the joint below the lumbar spine (the hip) and the the joints above the lumbar spine (the thoracic spine) while keeping the lumbar spine braced and stable.

[DK]

So is this related to, when doing sit ups/leg lifts/etc at the class I take at the gym, they are so adamant about keeping your lower back flat on the floor, not arching it?

[Shifty]

Yes keeping your low back pressed to the floor gives you a reference point so that you can keep it stable while moving from the hip for example. (in the case of a leg lift) However this puts the spine in a bit of a kyphotic curve. (a big arch in the low back would put the spine in a lordotic curve)

I prefer a more neutral (in between) position with a little bit of arch in the low back. You can place your hands palms up between the low back and the floor so that you can feel that there is no movement there. You'll see this technique in tomorrow's exercise

[Shifty]

I thought I'd start core exercises with Dr. McGill's “big three”; the curl up, the bird dog, and the side plank.

The curl up is a flexion exercise for the thoracic spine. The lumbar and cervical sections of the spine should be held stable. (the lumbar spine is found in the low back, the cervical spine is in the neck, the thoracic spine are the 12 vertebra between the shoulder blades that are above the lumbar spine and below the cervical spine) Some key points:

* This is not a crunch. (a crunch flexes the lumbar spine and is contraindicated)
* The range of motion should be very small.
* Use your hands under your low back to feel and make sure that the lumbar spine is held stable.
* Do not move your neck. (your shoulders and head should leave the ground at the same time)

I couldn't find a video of Dr. McGill teaching just the curl up, so here he is teaching four core exercises. The curl up is the first the one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kukmaW9CmSU&NR=1&feature=fvwp

[Shifty]

Today's exercise is the bird dog

The video shows a variation by strength coach Mike Boyle MA, ATC, using a dowel rod balanced down the length of the back making three points of contact; the back of the head, between the shoulder blades and the butt. This makes it nearly imposable to cheat. If you extend the spine the dowel falls off. The video shows extension of just the hip. A true bird dog is a more difficult progression where the opposite arm is extended at the same time.

http://www.youtube.com/user/mbscvideo#p/u/33/2FCsOZhZ5aE

Some important points:

* Contract the your abdominal and low back muscles to hold the spine stable while moving from the hip and/or shoulder.
* Contract the glute to extend the leg at the hip
* Only extend the leg as far as your hip range of motion allows (you can get allot bigger range of motion by cheating and extending the lumbar spine which is exactly what we are trying to avoid) http://www.youtube.com/user/mbscvideo#p/u/37/OvCrmpoY2MY

[Shifty]

Today's exercise is the side plank or side bridge

The video is from strength coach Dewey Nielsen, PES. It shows four versions starting with the easiest; from the knees, from the feet, and feet elevated. The last progression with hip abduction shows some pretty sloppy form. It appears to me that Dewey's client isn't quite ready for this very difficult version. I will cover it later on another day. Dr. Stuart McGill recommends holding the side bridge for ten seconds, resting a second and holding again for another ten seconds. When you are able to do ten ten second holds on each side you ready to try the next progression.

Some important points:

Your body should form a straight line from head to toe. (or knees)
Your glutes and abs contract isometrically to maintain the plank
Keep your hips forward. Don't let them fall back or sag. In other words don't pike your planks.

http://www.youtube.com/user/deweynielse ... tf63Xo5YFE

[Shifty]

Todays exercise is the chop. It was popularized (along with tomorrow's exercise; the lift) by strength coach and physical therapist Grey Cook, MS, PT, OSC, CSCS. The purpose of these exercises is to maintain a tightly braced core while a diagonal force is applied across the body.

The video shows the chop being done in a half kneeling position. It could also be done in a tall kneeling position of standing with or without a staggered stance. It can be done with a variety of cable attachments or with bands or tubing.

Important points:

* Keep your core tight and unmoving while pulling the load down and across your body with your arms in a diagonal pattern.
* Maintain a tall upright posture throughout.
* Narrow the base of support to add difficulty before increasing weight.

The first video by strength coach Mike Robertson, MS, CSCS, uses a cable bar and is preferred for beginners.
http://www.youtube.com/RobTrainSystems# ... IV09v90-nQ

The second video by strength coach Mike Boyle, MA, ATC, uses a rope attachment and looks a bit different.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MichaelBoyl ... j_j6dM7rP0

[Callie]

oh my god. Side planks. Ohhh the horror. I hate them sooo much. I got decent at them when I was doing yoga 3+ times a week but I think if I tried now the results would be terrible.

[Shifty]

There is a great alternative to side planks which works the core in a similar fashion. It is called the Pallof press and it can be done from a standing or kneeling position. Stay tuned I'll show it in a week or two.

[Shifty]

Todays exercise is the lift. It is the counterpoint to yesterdays exercise, the chop, in that it works the opposite diagonal pattern pressing up and across the body.

cable bar version:
http://www.youtube.com/RobTrainSystems# ... iIyEQbj0M0

rope version:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MichaelBoyl ... 1s7cgOM6JQ


Grey Cook gives a much more in depth look at the chop and lift in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MyTPI#p/u/19/q7gACSxA9oM

And in these four articles:
http://www.functionalmovement.com/SITE/ ... __lift.pdf
http://www.functionalmovement.com/SITE/ ... lift_2.pdf
http://www.functionalmovement.com/SITE/ ... lift_3.pdf
http://www.functionalmovement.com/SITE/ ... ower_4.pdf

[Shifty]

A common misconception about the rectus abdominus (ab muscle in the front) is that it's primary functional purpose is to flex the lumbar spine (movement done in an abdominal crunch) It's real primary purpose is prevent extension of the lumbar spine thus protecting it. In other words it purpose is to work as a stabilizer to prevent movement not as a prime mover to create movement.

The best way to train the rectus is to provide a force that attempts to pull the lumbar spine into extension while actively contracting the rectus to prevent that from happening. This brings us to today's exercise: the roll out

Some key points:

* Move from the hips, knees and shoulders while maintaining a tight stable core.
* Only roll out as far as you can while keeping lumbar spine from extending.

The video today is by strength coach Dewey Nielsen, PES
http://www.impact-pt.com/media/Ball_Rollout-elbows.html

Strength coach Mike Boyle, MA, ATC, provides more detail about the roll out and how to progress it in this article:
http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_arti ... aining&cr=

[Shifty]

We have already covered the side plank/bridge but there are two more common positions for bridging; prone and supine. Today's Exercise is the supine bridge or glute bridge. Like the side bridge performing ten 10 isometric holds of ten seconds in the top position is a good goal. The video by strength coach Nick Tumminello shows one second holds which works well when using this exercise for glute activation during a warm up. The longer holds are preferable for core training.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Performance ... U2xYwNzV4c

Key points:

* Maintain the body in a straight line from knees to shoulders.
* Contract the glutes to maintain hip extension while contracting the abdominals to prevent lumbar extension.
* Drive though the heels not the balls or toes of the feet.
* If you have difficulty with this exercise place your hands on your glutes to feel and make sure that they are contracting

[Shifty]

I wasn't going to post exercises on weekends so this is a bonus. While looking for videos for the chop and lift I stumbled across this video of the Turkish get up by Grey Cook. I have already covered the get up but I really like how Grey explains it.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MyTPI#p/u/20/l-MMnltV1h8

[Shifty]

Today's exercise is the front plank or prone plank. Like with the side plank and glute bridge, ten isometric holds of ten seconds is a good goal.

The video by strength coach Dewey Nielsen, PES, shows four progressions: from the knees, from the feet, feet elevated, and alternating march. It is not shown in the video, but like with the bird dog, balancing a dowel bar across the back making tree points of contact (back of the head, between the shoulder blades, and butt) makes this exercise nearly fool proof.

Key points:

* Contract the muscles around the core to maintain the bridge.
* Maintain a slightly piked position not letting the hips sag.
* In addition to the progressions shown in the video this exercise can be made easier by widening the position of the feet and harder bringing the feet close together.

http://www.youtube.com/user/deweynielse ... z8di_PPjdg

[Shifty]

Today's exercise is the Pallof press named after physical therapist John Pallof. It works the core in much the same way as the side plank and is a great alternative for those that find the side plank too difficult or for those who wish to train the core from a more functional standing position. The load puts a lot of rotary stress on the torso making this an excellent anti-rotation exercise for the core. There are many variations. It can be done standing, tall kneeling, or half kneeling. It can be done for reps, for long isometric holds, or you can go back and forth between the two positions (arms in and arms out) for short five or ten second holds. The arms out position is more difficult then arms in.

In the videos strength coach Mike Robertson, MS, CSCS, demonstrates three possible variations.

Key points:

* Move only the arms keeping the rest of the body braced and stable.
* Contract the core muscles through out to prevent torso rotation.
* Keep the scapula (shoulder blades) back and down through out
* Maintain tall (not slouched) posture through out

http://www.youtube.com/RobTrainSystems# ... JqiH13ziTQ
http://www.youtube.com/RobTrainSystems# ... ADXK_0_Gx8
http://www.youtube.com/RobTrainSystems# ... eF59F68ngU