Strengthen the Whole Body

First, let’s make sure we open our chest and warm up our backs, After just lying around on the roller during our warm-up our back muscles should be ready for some action! When we pull, we use our back, but we always want to tap into our core/trunk for extra support and power. Many of us think in terms of upper body, lower body, and abs! They are all connected people, let’s integrate them! Today’s movements are a perfect example.

3 Variations from Easy to Challenging.

The very common bird dog is not really known for a strength exercise, but I included it to show where our baseline should be. If you are having trouble with the arm or leg lift or you shift a great deal when you do it, do not go on to exercise #2. Work on the bird dog, and feel free to stretch with a child’s pose between your movements.

A large number of stabilizers are working in the back and front to help support you from dropping or rocking too much. These muscles are small and fatigue easily so a quick child’s pose or other stretch gives them a bit of a break.

Let’s break out our mats and weights and get started!

1. Bird Dog – 8-10 reps on both sides – for a challenge, try this on the top of a Bosu! Keep your hips square, think of your hip bones as lights, pointed down to the ground. Shoulders are away from the shoulder and rib cage is not flared.
2. Bird Dog with Weight #8 – pretty simple addition- rather than reaching out with hand put weight in free hand. This is more core than pure strength so not super heavy on the row.
3. High Plank with Row or Rogue Row – the most challenging of the 3. I alternated with right and left, options are single arm right for 8-15, left for 8-15. Try not to rock those hips too much as you shift weight. Again more stabilizing than strength, but everything is working here. Make sure you are pulling closer to the hip than the shoulder, a common mistake, that can lead to shoulder injuries.

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

There are lots of options and I am sure you can add one yourself! Enjoy!

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