Five Principles for Every Exercise
Merry Christmas! I know it was a few days ago, but my Christmas wish is for everyone to understand how to do every single exercise.
That’s not too much to ask, is it?
It sounds like a lot, but it’s not as hard as it seems. Like many things, there are foundational principles that apply to every exercise, and the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious thing about that is that those principles also apply to how you should move in real-life! (IRL for the kids out there.)
Here are 5 principles for every exercise.
Know what your shoulders and hips should be doing. Your shoulders and hips are either stabilizing or moving during every exercise (there’s some exceptions, but very few). Understanding their function is crucial to getting the most out of any exercise because how they move and/or stabilize determines nearly everything about how the rest of you moves and/or stabilizes. Feel it in your back? Watch your hips. Feel it in your neck? Watch your shoulders. The list goes on and on. (I know this is a complicated concept. Let me know what questions you have about it.)
Get tall. I don’t care how tall you actually are, get yourself into a tall position whether you’re standing, sitting, lying, or anything else. You do that by making your spine as long as possible. Also, don’t hunch and always keep your head up! This will put your shoulders in a good position, and if you don’t know how important that is, refer to #1.
Engage your core. DO NOT do this by sucking your belly in. Read that again. And again. Yes, it’s that important. Here’s how you do it. Stand up tall (#2) and push your fingers into each side of your belly. Use your abs to push your fingers out. Feel that pressure and tightness wrapping around your midsection? That’s what an engaged core feels like. And it also helps keep your shoulders in a good position (there’s #1 again!)
Don’t neglect your set-up. Every exercise starts before you even move. That’s called the set-up, and a bad set-up means a badly performed exercise. Get your position set and feel your hips and shoulders (geez, #1 again!) to be sure they’re doing what they need to be doing before anything else happens.
Know what you’re trying to do. There is a purpose behind every exercise and knowing what it is gives you a much greater chance of achieving it. For example, just because you move your arms during an exercise that doesn’t make it an arm exercise.
Applying these principles makes it much easier to get the most out of your fitness routine, no matter what exercises you do. You’ll stay healthier, move better, and feel better, and if you see a new exercise pop up on your program, you’ll be able to attack it with confidence.
