TheNeuroStrengthCoach

This is a great active mobility exercise to help to work on hip mobility and control. If you need an easier variation you can perform these with bodyweight or using a wall, PVC pipe, squat rack, for support. Go slow with these and make sure you are maintaining tension and not just stretching too passively.

This exercise works the transition between the horse stance and sumo stance to work on active hip mobility. This is difficult and takes lots of body awareness and control. Don't be discouraged if your's doesn't look like this. As your mobility improves your horse stance and sumo positioning will get stronger and look cleaner. You can perform these with bodyweight if you are not ready for load.

This is a great warmup or accessory exercise for the lower back, glutes and hamstrings. This is shown with a thinner band but can be done with an extremely thick band.

This is another variation of a good morning with a front loaded nature to it. This is great for grapplers or combat sports athletes to work on tying together the lower back, core, and hamstrings for takedowns, scrambling, etc.

This is another variation of a single leg Romanian Deadlift that is great for grapplers due to the front loaded nature of it.

This compound exercise will work the upper body dynamically while the lower body gets worked isometrically. It is a great way to tie in balance, strength, and coordination for accessory work. Feel free to use a kettlebell, dumbbell, or even a barbell if you are limited on equipment.

This is an great exercise to work the lower abdominals and core while maintaining lots of time under tension in the hollowbody position. Feel free to use a plate, dumbbell, medicine ball, or whatever equipment you have access to. If you are a beginner you can use a yoga block or something super light.

This is an intermediate variation of a russian twist in order to work multiple parts of the core and incorporate the upper body as well. You can use a plate, medicine ball, dumbbell, kettlebell, or whatever you have access to.

This is ab exercise that will help you work on your internal abdominal control as well as learning to use your abdominal muscles to help with hip flexion.

Start by sitting in the leg press machine with both feet on the platform to ensure your upper body is in the proper position. You can work quads by having your legs towards to bottom of the platform and more glutes and hamstrings by having your feet towards the top of the platform. Remove the second leg and place it on the ground below the platform. Push the platform away slightly and use the handle to release the safety mechanism that is blocking the platform from moving. Push through the heel of your working foot to straighten your leg and press the weight up, keeping your back and core engaged throughout the movement. Pause for a moment at the top of the movement, then slowly lower the weight back to the starting position. Repeat for the desired number of reps and sets before switching legs. When you are done, push the platform away from you and secure the platform with the safety arms via the handle. Trainer Tips: If the weight is on the lighter side locking the knee at the top is okay as long as you are squeezing your quad muscles to ensure you don’t hyperextend the knee. When you are lifting extremely heavy weight it is not recommended to lock out the knee as it can cause catastrophic injury. This is due to the fact that people can usually leg press way more weight than they can squat and the connective tissue is not strong enough to keep up with the muscles.

These are 3 options that are great for a full body warmup or finisher. The first variation involves starting with your hands a little bit farther out that normal in case you can’t touch your toes. You can also bend your knees to start this movement. Walkout until you are in a pike where your hips are high and your hips are bent. Walk your hands back towards your feet, push off the hands and stand back up. The second variation will complete the walkout until you are in a high plank aka pushup position. This will require a little bit more core strength and will incorporate more of your body. The third variation will then add a pushup at the end to add more arms, chest, and core. Trainer Tips: These will be progressed over time as your mobility and strength improves, but sometimes can be progressed in the same training session after a set or 2 of warming up. For example you may do the beginner variation for the first set, and then the intermediate version for the second and third set!

TRX Y's is an exercise that utilizes a TRX (suspension trainer) to work the muscles in the back and shoulders, specifically targeting the lats (latissimus dorsi) and the rhomboids. The exercise is performed by gripping the TRX handles with your hands and leaning back while extending your arms out in front of you. The more vertical your body is the easier these will be. Perform them by raising your arms into a “Y” shape to pull your torso forwards trying to reach a perfectly straight line from your feet to your hands. The Y shape of the movement is created by the position of your arms during the exercise, hence the name TRX Y's. Repeat for repetitions.

Start by facing the TRX anchor point and gripping the handles with your palms facing each other. Step back until your body is at a slight angle, with your arms extended in front of you. Keep your core engaged and your body in a straight line as you pull your chest towards the handles, squeezing your shoulder blades together. Pause for a moment at the top of the movement, then slowly release back to the starting position. Repeat for the desired number of reps and sets. Trainer Tips: Feel free to play around with rowing width and hand position. You may find that you can get a little more range of motion by adding some rotation to the handles (pronated grip to neutral grip or pronated grip to supinated grip). Make sure to squeeze your back muscles and don’t just perform these using the arms.

Set up with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart, about a foot or two behind the bell. Slightly bend your knees forward and bend forward to grab the handle with both hands. Pull your shoulder blades down and back, keep your spine neutral, and hike the weight back behind you. Try to keep the bottom of the bell above your knees throughout this part of the movement. Engage your glutes to quickly drive your hips forward, straightening the knees until you’re in an upright position. Keep your elbows soft to avoid excess back involvement. Keep your body in a vertical line (don’t hyperextend the back) as the kettlebell floats up around chest level. Stabilize and guide the weight back down its path back behind you. Again, aim to keep the bell just below your groin instead of getting close to the ground (to avoid over-utilizing and possibly arching your thoracic spine). Trainer Tips: Less is more, the whole point is to sit the hips back and then drive them forward utilizing the hips, hamstrings and glutes, and minimize spine involvement. You don’t need to bring the weights up too high – I usually stop the weight at about chest height or slightly below with soft elbows.

Start by setting the power rack to a height that is comfortable for you to lift the barbell from. This will typically be just above your knee level. Load the desired weight onto the barbell and place it on the supports of the power rack. Stand facing away from the power rack and grasp the barbell with an overhand grip, hands placed just outside of shoulder width. Your palms should be facing away from your body. Take a deep breath and lift the barbell off of the supports of the power rack by extending your hips and knees. Walk forward a few inches to avoid hitting the rack. Keep your back straight and avoid rounding your shoulders. Once the barbell is at shoulder level, exhale and shrug your shoulders upward towards your ears. Hold the contraction at the top for a moment before lowering the barbell back to the starting position. Repeat the exercise for the desired number of repetitions.

Start by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and holding a dumbbell in one hand with a neutral grip. Keep your chest up, shoulders back, and engage your core. Slowly bend to the side with the dumbbell, lowering your torso towards the hip of the same side. Hold the contraction at the bottom of the movement for a moment, then slowly raise your torso back to the starting position. Repeat for desired reps and sets, then switch to the other side and repeat the movement. Remember to keep your form, keep your back straight and avoid twisting your torso, also make sure to focus on the muscle you are training, the obliques (and spine). Trainer Tips: You can keep the non-working arm perpendicular to your torso straight out, or resting on the side of your body. Sometimes it is a better gauge of distance traveled when the arm is perpendicular but this is based on preference.

For this exercise we will need to adhere to the “Goldilocks’ Principle!” and select a weight that is light enough for us to front raise under control, but heavy enough to get us into a deeper squat and work the core effectively. Start standing with dumbbells next to your body and initiate this movement with a rearward swing until the dumbbells are held out in front of you in line with the shoulder/chin area. Then perform a deep squat by sitting your hips back and bending the knees to go as deep as possible. Pause for a second and then complete the squat by pushing through the floor and utilizing your glutes, hips and legs to return to the standing position. Take a slight break with the front raise after this by lowering them down with some momentum to start another swing for the next repetition.

Start by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and holding a pair of dumbbells at shoulder level. Keep your chest up, shoulders back, and engage your core. Lower your body into a squat by bending your hips and knees, keeping your back straight and your weight on your heels. As you stand up from the squat, press the dumbbells overhead by extending your arms. Lower the dumbbells back to the starting position and repeat the movement.