Next stop on the #glutesofglory train...hip extension!

I tend to spend too much time on the floor with my workouts so this is my attempt at getting up off the floor gradually and working towards standing postures for strength. Here’s to facing fears and getting strong.

Bridges are tough for a lot of people because it is so easy to do them wrong, and for me it is a trick and a half to keep my back out of it.

Enter: ottoman hip extensions! This video is sped up 4x so take it SLOW, feel the good burn, and really feel your glutes contracting and working here. I am gently activating lower abs and fully relaxing my back and letting the ottoman serve as my solid base. Bent knee takes hamstrings mostly out of the equation so you can focus on glute max.

Feel the burn and make sure to breathe throughout this one.

Yes, those are skinny jeans, and yes, that is a kid fort in the background :) 

Bridges! Probably the second most prescribed exercise in physical therapy clinics across the U.S. Second only to clams. So much going wrong with them basically every time I see someone do them. And they are a great exercise for hip extension and building those #glutesofglory so today’s post is a quick tip on using better form.

Feet closer to bum = more glutes, further from bum = more hamstrings. Make sure to get a great 360 inhale first then exhale and use your lower abs to tilt pelvis posterior, pushing low back into the floor. Hold a nice brace at the end of your exhale and inhale again, still maintaining a gentle abdominal brace. On the exhale, tighten your brace slightly and push the ground away from you, contracting those glutes.

Remember 1.0: pubis in same plane as lower ribs, and ribs knit down with a nice abdominal brace. Breathing 360 under a brace is a skill and you may need to practice this. A lot. No breath-holding here, please!

Remember 2.0: don’t make your back work to create the movement. Keeping good core control will help keep the paraspinals soft so you can focus on using those glutes appropriately.

Remember 2.1: breathe throughout the entire exercise. NO BREATH-HOLDING!

Try it out and see what you think!

When you are growing some #glutesofglory they sometimes need us to show them some myofascial release love.

​Here is an easy one you can do without having to flop around on the floor or get awkward with a foam roller. But that is fun, too!

Grab ye a small ball. I have a tennis ball and a racket ball that is slightly smaller and less squishy. Lean against the wall with the ball placed in the glute area. Roll around until you find some hot spots and hang out there some and see what you can work out. Breathe into the really sticky spots.

Make sure to also spend some time in the gluteus medius which is along the upper rim of the pelvis. Stay OFF of the outside of your hip (greater trochanter). That’s a no-fly zone due to the feisty bursa there.

After 30-60 seconds on each side, jump into your glute strengthening and you’ll reap much greater rewards. What you release, you must then teach. Otherwise you’ll just keep losing the gains.

And remember...your glutes ARE your pelvic floor and vice versa.

Have fun!

It’s hump day so how about some more stretches for a tight pelvic floor? Sure!

Now, I say "hypertonic" because that is unfortunately the verbiage used most commonly, but it implies something neurological in nature and generally that is not the case. What we should actually be saying is a "tight/weak pelvic floor." Because, anything that is tight is also weak, just as anything that is loose is also weak. But loose is also a terrible way to describe a hypotonic pelvic floor (which is less common). I digress...

Back to a tight pelvic floor! Happy baby pose is another favorite of mine. Bottom photo is the typical way it is performed. Hold your legs so they feel relaxed and shins (anterior tibialis) are relaxed as well. Breathe deeply and slowly into your belly/back/sides (360 breathing!) for up to two minutes. Note: don’t send your breath down *past* your bum, but aim *for* your bum. Breathing so far down actually puts too much pressure down and out. No need to go crazypants on us here.

Top photo is a modification in a more prone position. I bolster under my bum so that my hip flexors can relax and my back stays long and relaxed. Too much rounding of the back and your canister (i.e. your core) isn’t aligned appropriately. Breathe deeply and slowly into your belly/back/sides and down to your bum. Really try to feel your rib cage expanding in your back and imagine that pelvic floor expanding more and more with each breath.

Ahhhhhhh 🧘‍♀️🧘‍♀️🧘‍♀️

Part 4 of Car Seat Calisthenics!

This one will help wake up that core! I want you to think TALL, chin tucked slightly, abs engaged from the bottom up, ribcage down, and hip hinge from the glutes/hips. Only go as far down as your hamstrings allow in order to keep that good hinge. Set the car seat on something to make it higher if needed.

Push through your pinkies to engage shoulders and serratus anterior (remember her? She is besties with external obliques). Don’t sink into your shoulders, engage them!

Keep that core engaged throughout and move mindfully.

No bearing down my ladies with prolapse...none. Do what you can, skip what you can’t for now. If walking out and back with bent knees helps, do that.

Note: I have *no* baby in the car seat, which would have been helpful to keep it more stabilized. Empty made it a LOT more challenging!

Note again: This is sped up 2x so take it slow, breathing through the movement! Again, think: mindful movement, exhale on the effort.

Oh wait, another note: if these are too hard, modify!
~If hamstrings are a hindrance for hinging, put the car seat up higher.
~Bend knees to start and work up to straight legs if too challenging at this time.
~Hip hinge, hip hinge, aaaaaand hip hinge!
~Walk out as far as you can while keeping core engaged and without any doming/bulging/pooching.
~KEEP YOUR RIBCAGE DOWN! Yes, even in standing.
~Use a mirror or video yourself and see what is going on so you know what to fix or high-five yourself for doing well 😎

Well done 🙌 You now have a quick, four part, car seat workout that you can squeeze in without even having to wake up a sleeping babe 😁

Part 3 of Car Seat Calisthenics!

This time balance is challenged. We all need more balance, in all things 🧘‍♀️

I want you to think TALL, chin tucked, abs engaged from the bottom up, ribcage down, and hip hinge from the glutes (no rounded back! Only go as far down as your hamstrings allow in order to keep that good hinge. Set the car seat on something to make it higher if needed.

Keep that core engaged throughout and move mindfully.

No bearing down my ladies with prolapse...none. Do what you can, skip what you can’t for now.

Note: I have *no* baby in the car seat.

Note again: This is sped up 2x so take it slow, breathing through the movement! Again, think: mindful movement, exhale on the effort.

Oh wait, another note: if these are too hard, modify!
~If hamstrings are a hindrance, bend your stance leg more.
~If single leg deadlift is too challenging at this time and/or balance is not there then do a double leg version.
~Hip hinge, hip hinge, aaaaaand hip hinge!
~Don’t use any weight and then work up.
~KEEP YOUR RIBCAGE DOWN! Yes, even in standing.
~Use a mirror or video yourself and see what is going on so you know what to fix or high-five yourself for doing well 😎

Stay tuned for part 4!

Part 2 of the Car Seat Calisthenics over here. I worked up an actual sweat doing these 😎 Again.

I want you to think TALL, chin tucked, abs engaged from the bottom up, ribcage down!

No bearing down, my ladies with prolapse ...none. Do what you can, skip what you can’t for now.

Note: I have *no* baby in the car seat.

Note again: This is sped up 2x so take it slow, breathing through the movement! Think: mindful movement, exhale on the effort, and a delightfully neutral pelvis (pubis on the same plane as ASIS (bone on the front of your "hips"), on the same plane as lowest ribs...so bolster your head if you need assistance getting those ribs down).

Oh wait, another note: if these are too hard, modify!
~Keep one foot down at all times.
~Don’t use any weight and then work up.
~KEEP YOUR RIBCAGE DOWN!
~Only go as far overhead with shoulder flexion as you can while KEEPING RIBCAGE DOWN.
~Use a mirror or video yourself and see what is going on so you know what to fix or high-five yourself for doing well :)

Stay tuned for parts 3 & 4!

Part 1 of the Car Seat Calisthenics over here. I worked up an actual sweat doing these 😎

My nit picky eye sees some pelvic/lumbar rotation I wish I could unsee but alas....nobody is perfect.

I want you to think TALL, chin tucked, abs engaged from the bottom up, and engage those serratus anterior muscles by pushing away with your hands from the pinkies! They are besties with your external obliques and work best as a team. No bearing down my ladies with prolapse...none. Do what you can skip what you can’t for now.

I was playing around with kicking at different angles which may be part of my rotation issue but do what you can with *minimal* lumbar or pelvic motion and slow it WAY down, as in slower than you think seems reasonable. This should work those abs isometrically and glutes actively.

Note: I have *no* baby in the car seat. He was napping 😴

Note again: This is sped up 2x so take it slow and use your breathing to help with the movements! Think: mindful movement.

Stay tuned for parts 2-4!