So usually, on a Monday I go to training after work, then I come home and do the Movement Monday. This Monday however, Ive been knocked down with illness, and it seems theres no exercise for me at the moment.
As you can see being sick has taken its toll on me, physically, psychologically and fashionably. However, a day wrapped up in robes and fluffy Lilo hats will see me back stronger than ever next week
And believe it or not I actually do wear that hat around the house - its suprisingly warm
Todays movement is another mobility type movement, and one you've probably seen before.
The bridge is often done by gymnasts, and its a great exercise to stretch the shoulders, back, hip flexors (front of hip) as well as the chest and abdominals. Its called the bridge because old russian coaches used to play the card game "bridge" on young gymnasts stomachs...and gullible isn't in the dictionary.Yes it looks like a bridge! congratulations Igor.
Doing it is rather simple: start on your back, try to put your heels as close to your buttocks as possible - this will give you more leverage when pushing up. Put your hands, facing your feet by your shoulders and ears. Then all you need to do is push up into the bridge. If you lack flexibility its gonna be tough, but this exercise will help improve it, so dont give up. Do the bridge for timed holds, starting at 10seconds, then as you get better you can work up to 30seconds - 1 minute.
The goal is to get the arms and legs straight while in the bridge. You can probably see from the pic I need to work on shoulder flexibility a bit more. More bridges for me, woohoo.
Each Monday Im going to post up a movement I like. Now Im assuming the masses that read this blog..ahem,..the two people that stubbled across it while looking for porn, are not educated in areas like anatomy, physiology and the like, so I'll refrain from using technical terms where possible.
Im not gonna give you a training plan, but just exercises that Ive come across from various places that I use and think are useful and that people might like to try, and possibly include them in their training if they feel they are beneficial
Ok, so the sumo squat is named so because, well, sumo wrestlers do it. But dont be fooled, they are amazing athletes and there's muscle under that there blubba'
To do the squat, start standing with feet about shoulder width apart or a bit more, now turn the feet out. Its best to start small and aim for about 45 degrees turnout from your centerline. Now all you need to do is squat down while keeping your feet flat on the floor. You can place your hands on your knees for support, and try to maintain a straight back.
The goal is to increase the depth of the squat while maintaining good body alignment. Take it easy on the amount of foot turnout (external rotation) at the start because if the hips arent flexible enough it can put a bit of strain on the knee, like all things take it step by step.
This is not really an exercise to be done for high repetitions, as its more for flexibility in the groin and is great for increasing range of motion in the groin and hips. I like to do it in the morning for 10 or so reps and maybe 2 or so sets, good for loosening up. There you have it, now give it a go.
Note: You can do this with weight, but get the movement and flexibiliy down first before adding weight unless you like injuries - also there is a deadlift version of this exercise, but the mechanics are different.
