Skip to main content

Work That Core!

Got five minutes?  Got a band?  Try adding these five core exercises to your next workout.  You will want a band that is challenging but not so tight that it restricts your range of motion.  Perform 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps of each exercise.

Banded Bicycle Crunch

This is a great variation of the standard bicycle crunch.  Adding the band increases the challenge for the hip stabilizers.  Keep your knees separated through the entire movement to add extra challenge to the gluteus medius.


Banded Dead Bug

Similar to the bicycle crunch, adding the band encourages extra activity in the hip stabilizers.  Keep your knees separated throughout the movement, and make sure your lower back stays softly connected to the mat.


Banded Side Plank with Abduction

This is a great exercises for the side body.  It works shoulder stability, obliques, and gluteus medius on both legs.  





Banded Bridge with Abduction

Make sure you keep your hips lifted when you abduct the the legs!  The butt wants to drop as the knees open.  Don't let it.  This exercise is great for all of the glute muscles.


Banded Bird Dog

This movement works the cross connection between opposite hip and opposite shoulder which is great for spinal stability.  Adding the band creates extra work for the glute.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Beginning

  "I just need a copy of your insurance card," I heard the office manager say as I walked down the hallway toward the waiting room. "I gave it to them next door.  Can't you get it from them?" a male voice replied. I grimaced as I continued toward the waiting room.  The physical therapy office where I worked was in the same building as an orthopedic surgeon's clinic.  Most people assumed we were the same business.  The office manager had to clarify multiple times a day that we were two separate businesses, and the repetition made her cranky.   As I reached the waiting room, I listened to her icily launch into her speech about how the two businesses were separate and we needed our own copy of the insurance.  I stopped and waited for her to finish, looking at the back of the man standing in front of her window.  He was tall, with broad shoulders, thick hair. and muscular calves.   After the manager finished her tirade, the man shrugged...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rescue Boats

  I stood in a dark room in the bottom of a sinking ship.  I felt the ship listing, heard water pouring into the openings.  I glanced to my left and noticed a doorway.  Just outside the doorway was a staircase.  Water came gushing down the stairs, roaring in anger as it tried to consume the ship.   I have to get to a higher place on the ship,  I thought as I scrambled toward the doorway. I fought my way up the staircase against the flood of water pummeling down on me.  One step, then another, water heavy on me, trying with all its might to push me down to the bottom of the ship.  I struggled, forcing my legs to move.  Another step up.  More water threatening to take me back down.  Another step, then another, and another.  Finally, slowly, I managed to reach the top of the staircase.  The staircase opened onto the top deck of the ship.  I rushed to the railing and looked out at the sea, wondering how I was go...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Heavy

  I keep wondering if I'm approaching my breaking point.  What does that look like? It's too much.  But I've been saying it's too much for a while now.  So when is it actually too much? I pushed "Send" and my text whooshed off to my best friend, Denise.  Three dots immediately popped up on my screen.   You're stronger than you think.  Tell your brain to shut up.  You got this! I smiled at her reply, even if I doubted her confidence. In August, my husband of 17 years died.  One day, he was alive, healthy, vibrant, and strong.  The next day, he was dead.  Just like that.  No warning.  No preparation.  In an instant, my world crumbled into a million tiny bits that flung themselves to the far corners of the solar system.  I couldn't fathom how to get through that day, or the next, or the next.  I remember thinking, What does November even look like?  Or next summer?  How do I even get there? ...
Post a Comment
Read more