Happy Monday Warriors. Were going to get the week started by really keeping your whole body active –– from your core to your lower body.
Block 1 is all about bear squats. Lock your legs and keep your spine long at starting. If it hurts your knees, reduce the range of motion. Keep your arms pushed up and back the entire time. These are awesome for your quads and the functioning of your knees. Start in a downward dog position and freeze your upper body and then bend your knees as close to the ground as possible, and then extend them back up to downward dog. Challenge your legs to do a lot of the work. Your legs are doing the work here so it’s important to keep your upper body frozen and not use your arms to do this movement.
Let's do reverse crunches in block 2. These are much better than standard crunches and will actually get you that flat stomach you want because they work your rectus abdominus, or your lower abs. They target the correct muscle group, but you need to make sure you hold that core strong and tight, while using your legs to change the pressure on your abdominal muscles while you tap your heels on the ground and back up. Hold that core strong and tight and make sure your legs are actively changing the pressure on your abdominal muscles while you tap your heels on the ground and back up.
For block 3, we'll do table tops. If you have neck pain or back pain from poor posture, these can really help you. Make sure you open your chest and squeeze those shoulder blades back and together to stop bad posture and make sure to dig through your heels to activate the movement. You don’t want to use your arms to push up, but use your legs. Keep that chest open and squeeze those shoulder blades back and together. This will help your posture. Remember that you’re pushing through your heels to activate the movement, and it’s your legs that are making it happen, not your arms.
Next up are split squats. Your front heel is the one doing a lot of work! So on the right side squats, your right leg is forward and your heel is being pressed while you’re trying to sink backwards through your hip. You should feel this in the hamstrings of your front leg and the front and calf of your back leg. This is a great exercise to help teach your body how to move properly in walking, running and so on. These are great for building up your hamstrings. If you sit a lot for work, these are going to really loosen up any tightness.
Then we'll do kneeling planks. People tend to get lazy with this exercise but you want to keep your body active by keeping your glutes squeezed to bring that pelvis forward which will challenge your lower body. Focus on tension in your abdominals by thinking about dragging your elbow towards your belly button to make it difficult. The kneeling plank shouldn’t be super easy, you should really feel it challenging your whole body.
We'll wrap block 3 with one of the absolute best exercises you can do for your back, posture and even flexibility - drinking birds. It seems like a simple exercise, but you want to make sure you’re keeping your legs, back and upper body engaged. Once you master this variation, you can move on to one-legged exercises that will help strengthen your legs and feet. That might sound weird, but strong feet will prevent plantar fasciitis, ankle pain and other pain in your legs. Be sure to keep your feet planted straight and really focus on keeping the weight on them as you push your butt backwards for this move.
Now let’s feel the burn from the core and beyond!
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<img class="img-fluid" src="https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/wm-wmade-static-media/media/public/Assets/Block_1.png" alt="Round One">
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Block 1
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<h4>20 seconds work ｜10 seconds rest ｜8 rounds</h4>
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<img class="img-fluid" src="https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/wm-wmade-static-media/media/public/Assets/media/exercises/beginner/BEAR_SQUAT.gif" alt="BEAR SQUAT">
<p>BEAR SQUAT</p>
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<img class="img-fluid" src="https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/wm-wmade-static-media/media/public/Assets/Block_2.png" alt="Round Two">
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Block 2
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<h4>20 seconds work ｜10 seconds rest ｜8 rounds</h4>
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<img class="img-fluid" src="https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/wm-wmade-static-media/media/public/Assets/media/exercises/beginner/REVERSE_CRUNCHES.gif" alt="REVERSE CRUNCHES">
<p>REVERSE CRUNCHES</p>
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<img class="img-fluid" src="https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/wm-wmade-static-media/media/public/Assets/Block_3.png" alt="Round Two">
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Block 3
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<h4>40 seconds work ｜20 seconds rest ｜2 rounds</h4>
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<img class="img-fluid" src="https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/wm-wmade-static-media/media/public/Assets/media/exercises/beginner/TABLETOPS.gif" alt="TABLETOPS">
<p>TABLETOPS</p>
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<img class="img-fluid" src="https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/wm-wmade-static-media/media/public/Assets/media/exercises/beginner/SPLIT_SQUAT_RIGHT_SIDE.gif" alt="SPLIT SQUAT RIGHT SIDE">
<p>SPLIT SQUAT RIGHT SIDE</p>
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<img class="img-fluid" src="https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/wm-wmade-static-media/media/public/Assets/media/exercises/beginner/SPLIT_SQUAT_LEFT_SIDE.gif" alt="SPLIT SQUAT LEFT SIDE">
<p>SPLIT SQUAT LEFT SIDE</p>
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<img class="img-fluid" src="https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/wm-wmade-static-media/media/public/Assets/media/exercises/beginner/KNEELING_PLANK.gif" alt="KNEELING PLANK">
<p>KNEELING PLANK</p>
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<img class="img-fluid" src="https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/wm-wmade-static-media/media/public/Assets/media/exercises/beginner/DRINKING_BIRDS.gif" alt="DRINKING BIRDS">
<p>DRINKING BIRDS</p>
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