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Happy Friday beautiful babes!!
Today I’m sharing a workout that will strengthen all the muscles in you shoulders and hips…but I promise, that doesn’t mean that it’s easy.
In fact this workout is sure to get your heart rate up, and you’ll feel your entire body working to keep stable — including those abs.
But first, let’s talk about stability a little bit.
Why is it important?? Well, to be honest most of your stabilizing muscles are smaller muscles in your shoulder girdle, hips and pelvis, and the muscles that run along your spine…AKA they are muscles you don’t normal work a ton or think about. However, they are important to keep your body healthy, they improve your posture, and they help to prevent injury.
Shoulder and hip injuries are SUPER common, and as a trainer I work with people almost everyday that have some kind of injury to their shoulders, hips, or back. So, let’s be proactive and strengthen all those muscles before we get hurt.
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Yoga Design Lab Combo Mat (in Chevron)
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Hip + Shoulder Stability Exercises
- Arm + Leg Reach – Start on your hands and knees with your wrists directly under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Pull your belly button up towards your spine to engage your abs and imagine your are in a plank position. With control and without letting your hips and shoulders wiggle, reach your RIGHT arm in front of you as you reach your LEFT arm back behind you. Lower everything back down to the floor and repeat, reaching the opposite arm and leg out. Continue switching side to side for 10 repetitions total. Make sure to go slow so you can work on your stability through your shoulders and hips.
- Plank Front Raise – Come up into a full plank position with your feet a little wider than usual to help with stability. Hold onto a light right in your RIGHT hand, so that you are in a single arm plank. Reach your RIGHT arm out in front of you making sure your don’t lock out your elbows. Think of drawing your shoulder blade down your back. Lower the arm down towards the floor, without letting it touch the floor and repeat. (If this exercise is to challenging for your, lower down to a plank on your knees, or come into your hands and knees position to modify.)
- Reverse Toe Taps – Come back onto your hands and knees, and engage your abs to keep your hips steady. Without letting your hips wiggle, lift your RIGHT leg back pointing your toe in the sky, and reach your LEFT arm back to tap the toe behind your back. Lower the arm and leg back down with control, and then repeat on the other side. Remember to go slow and keep your torso stable. Complete 10 repetitions on both sides.
- Marching Booty Bridge – Lay on your back with your feet flat on the floor and knees bent. Lift the booty into a bridge position and press into those heels. Keep your hips stable by engaging your lower abs. Then, lift one leg at a time, really pressing into the opposite foot, as if you were marching your legs. Get ready to feel the booty!
- Shoulder Raise to Down Dogs – Come back to your full plank position with your feet a little wide, and holding a light weight in your RIGHT hand. Reach the arm forward like in your front raise, then shift your hips back and use your abs to come into a single arm down down reach your RIGHT hand towards your LEFT foot. Come back to your plank front raise position using the shoulders to bring your forward, and repeat 10-15 times, and then switch sides.
- Side Plank Crunch – Come into a side plank position and reach your top hand towards the ceiling or place it on your top hip. Lower the bottom hip down towards the floor, and lift the hip back up by engaging the lower oblique muscles. Complete 10 repetitions.
- Oblique Twists – Come into a side plank on your elbow. (You can stagger your feet, or even have your lower knee on the mat as a modification.) Keep your lower obliques strong, and reach your top arm up to the sky. Keeping your hips stable, twist from your torso to bring the top elbow down towards the floor. Untwist back to the top, and repeat 10 times on the right side before switching to the left for both side plank exercises.
Remember, go slow with these exercises. Focus on keeping as steady as you can through your shoulders, hips, and spine! You’ve got this ladies! ♥︎
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