Exercises

The plié squat is a great variation of the traditional bodyweight squat, that involves a wide stance and feet pointing outwards. This stance opens up the hips during the squat, putting more emphasis on the inner thighs and adductors. Although it shares similarities with the sumo squat, there are some differences, as we’ll discuss later […]

The Thread the Needle stretch is a calming, beginner-friendly yoga pose, that targets the back, shoulders and neck. It involves a gentle rotation of the spine, which creates a deep stretch across the thoracic region of the back (an area that is often hard to reach). The Thread the Needle exercise also lends itself for

The Sorenson Hold is an effective isometric exercise to strengthen the lower back, as well as the rest of the posterior chain. It originates from an assessment in Physical Therapy from the 1960’s, that was designed to examine someone’s muscular endurance in their lower back. Today, the exercise has become popular in all sorts of

Whether you’re a seasoned gym-goer or a fitness newbie, resistance band deadlifts offer a unique twist on the traditional deadlift that can take your workout to the next level. Like the traditional barbell deadlift, resistance band deadlifts are a great way to fire up the posterior chain and engage the glutes, hamstrings, quads, calves, core,

The book opener stretch is a thoracic stretch that helps to improve mobility in the upper back, chest and shoulders. It is popular in Physical Therapy and Pilates, and can be used to relieve stiffness caused by poor posture or being sedentary for long periods of time. The book opener stretch requires no equipment but

The wall supine straddle is a passive stretch that targets the inner thighs and adductors. It is popular in yoga, splits training and hip injury rehabilitation. We also use it as a way to aid adductor flexibility for better strength training performance too. Tightness in these muscles can often increase the risk of groin injuries,

The sprawl exercise is a great way to improve strength, endurance and quickness. It’s also sometimes referred to as “gorilla burpees” and although the exercise looks relatively straight-forward, it’s unquestionably tough. But, for those willing to take on the challenge, the sprawl exercise is a great movement to include in all sorts of training plans,

The hip airplane exercise is an effective hip strengthening movement that is common in physical therapy and hip injury rehabilitation. The exercise can also be used within warm-ups for weightlifting to increase performance, as well as testing your overall stability, balance and control. We find it’s useful to both strengthen the muscles around the hip,

The Chinese plank is a bodyweight exercise that targets the lower back, core and posterior chain. Like the conventional plank, this exercise is isometric and involves holding the position for as long as you can (or for a specific duration). It’s a really underused exercise and especially if you’re working out at home and don’t

Hip thrusts are a great way to strengthen your glutes and hamstrings… and once you get the hang of just using your bodyweight, you may want to start adding some additional resistance to progress your workouts. Along with a weighted barbell, using the Smith Machine is one of the most common ways to do this.