Exercises
Neck Extensors
Why: Strengthen the muscles that help maintain good cervical spine posture to reduce strain and to support the muscles in the upper back.
How: Bring ears back over shoulders giving yourself a double chin, slowly pivot your head to look directly above you (maintaining the position of ears back) and hold for 10 seconds. Slowly allow your head to return to neutral and reset before starting again.
Infraspinastus
Why: Maintain mobility and function of the rotator cuff. Activate this muscle before more strenuous shoulder exercise to make sure it is firing and working as hard as the other muscles.
How: extend arms straight out to your sides, bend the elbows to 90° and keeping the elbows perfectly still imagine there are resistance bands in your hands and you’re pulling them away from the floor in front of you and pull your forearms away from the floor slowly, hold for 10 seconds, then slowly return to neutral before starting again.
Subscapularis
Why: Maintain mobility and function of the rotator cuff. Activate this muscle before more strenuous shoulder exercise to make sure it is firing and working as hard as the other muscles.
How: extend arms straight down by your sides, bend the elbows to 90° and keeping the elbows pinned in place imagine there is a resistance band between your hands and you’re pulling them apart slowly against the very strong imaginary resistance, hold for 10 seconds at the end range, then slowly return to neutral before starting again.
Abdominals and obliques
Why: The first recommendation for curing low back pain is to strengthen the core, of which the abdominals and obliques are a component. Strong core = decreased incidence of low back pain.
How: imagine standing in loose sand feet hip width apart and brace the feet, tall spine, bent knees, tuck the tailbone and imagine a very heavy ball in your hands. Keep your lower body completely still, rotating at the waist, imagine you are passing that very heavy ball to someone behind you, then rotate to catch it again on the other side. Continue until you feel the burn… and then keep going!
Glutues Maximus
Why: The first recommendation for curing low back pain is to strengthen the core, of which the Gluteus Maximus is a component. Strong core = decreased incidence of low back pain. Stronger glutes means faster running, cycling, easier hiking and stair climbing.
How: any exercise that include the leg or legs extending straight back. One option is a glute bridge: lay on your back with knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Tuck your tailbone and lift your hips off the ground and hold them elevated for 10 seconds. Slowly bring them back to the ground and repeat.
Gluteus Medius
Why: Balance! A strong gluteus medius allows you to stand confidently on one leg, but more importantly, facilitates balanced movement walking, skiing, landing after a jump and helps maintain prefect posture.
How: Any single leg dynamic movement. One option is a single leg dead lift: stand on one leg with the other leg extended behind you (out of the way) and reach forward to lift a small weight or kettlebell off the ground. With a micro bend in the knee, straight spine, tailbone tucked, push through your whole foot and press the ground away to slowly bring the weight of your upper body directly over your hips as you thrust the hips forward standing perfectly upright and maintaining balance.
Gluteus Minimus
Why: Hip mobility and stability.
How: draw toe circles: lay on your side with legs fully extended and hips stacked on top of each other and neck supported by the bottom arm. Keeping your upper body completely still and your hips perfectly stacked, lift the top leg away from the bottom leg, toes pointed, and draw little circles with your big toe. When you start to feel the burn, switch directions and keep going the same amount of time. Repeat on other leg.
Hamstrings
Why: The key to living comfortably (pain-free) is to find balance in strength between opposing muscle groups. If you think your hamstrings are as strong as your quadriceps, you probably don’t need to worry about strengthening them. Otherwise… try these!
How: Modified glute bridges: set yourself up for a glute bridge by laying on your back, knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Then grab a foam roller and put it under your feet. When you tuck your tailbone and lift your hips away from the floor, keep your knees hip distance apart and slowly roll the foam roller in toward your butt, then slowly roll it away again with hips raised high the whole time. Repeat until you feel the burn… and then keep going.
Quadriceps
Why: So you can kick through piles of autumn leaves for the rest of your life.
How: lunges: Start standing with feet hip width apart and imagine they’re on railroad tracks, then take a HUGE step back keeping your feet on those railroad tracks and keeping your front knee directly above the ankle, allow your back knee to slowly lower toward the ground. Before it touches, allow it to hover and then come back up. Keep going until you feel the burn, and then keep going. Switch and repeat with other leg.
Adductors (inner thighs)
Why: The first recommendation for curing low back pain is to strengthen the core, of which the adductors are a component. Strong core = decreased incidence of low back pain. Strong adductors = improved knee stability and comfort.
How: modified glute bridges: lay on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Put a soccer ball or foam roller between your knees and tuck your tailbone and lift your hips up high pressing hard into your feet. After you’re up in the bridge, slowly pulse your knees squeezing the soccer ball or foam roller hard and then gently never allowing the ball or roller to fall and keeping your hips high. Continue until you feel the burn. Then keep going!
Calves
Why: Strong calves make walking up hills and stairs way more comfortable and contribute to ankle stability and single-leg standing balance.
How: Calf raises: Stand on a step firmly with the balls of your feet and let the heels hang off the edge behind you. Slowly allow the heels to drop below the height of the step, then apply pressure to the balls of the feet and toes to press your heels up higher above the step. Continue slowly lowering and raising until you feel the burn. Then keep going.