Position:

Lie on your belly on a very firm surface, place your neck wherever you want and melt, breathing into your lower belly to inflate your “safety airbag”. Then rest your forehead on the back of your hands.  Bend your knees 90 degrees, keeping your knees and feet hip width distance apart. If you sense any strain or discomfort pause and perhaps do the head lift/glute squeeze variation with your legs straight.

Movement:

Inhale, lift your head and squeeze your glutes together to rotate your pelvis backwards then exhale and release the contractions as slowly as possible. Once your head has returned to the floor and your glutes are off, release both feet back to the ground as slowly and as smoothly as you can. Sense both hamstrings working equally. Once your feet have returned to the floor, relax completely, placing your head wherever you’d like. Rest and repeat this as many times as you’d like.  

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Application:

We walk like a pepper grinder: the ribcage faces one way while the pelvis faces the other. For a very brief moment as you switch from one foot to the other, your ribcage and pelvis face in the same direction, then the pelvis stays facing the foot you are on while the arms swing, and your ribcage turns in the opposite direction. Then you repeat this on the other side. This all happens in a millisecond! Your muscles need to be able to turn on and off in a beautifully orchestrated pattern to achieve this.

Try this: Step forward with L foot and R arm, your R heel leaves the ground. Note that your ribcage and pelvis are both turned L. Feel your L heel, L hamstring, L Glute, L ab and L lower shoulder blade muscle. Now keep your pelvis turned L with your L ab and hamstring, step forward with R foot and switch your arms. Keep your weight on the L foot and keep your L ab and hamstring engaged. Note that your pelvis is L and your ribcage is R.

Now, keeping your L foot back and R foot forward, shift your weight to the R foot by lifting your L heel. Allow your pelvis to turn to the R and note that your ribcage and pelvis are both turned R. Feel your R heel, R hamstring, R Glute, R ab and R lower shoulder blade muscle. Now keep your pelvis turned R with your R ab and hamstring and step forward with L foot, switch your arms. Keep your weight on the R foot and keep your R ab and hamstring engaged.  Note that your pelvis is R and your ribcage isL.

If you cannot sense any of these pieces, return to the corresponding exercise and take time to practice that element. Your lower back muscles, your hip flexors, your pecs, your lats and your quads need to be strong but relaxed. Your abs, your hamstrings, your lower traps, your glutes need to be relaxed and strong. It takes SMART muscles to pull this off! Walking is the best exercise to do throughout your lifespan and this program can help you recover from an injury and more importantly, prevent an injury or disability from occurring. Thank you for your enrollment and hard work! It will pay off for you!

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