Hi guys, Kris from Custom Fitness here, your Amarillo personal trainer. Today I’m going to be showing an exercise that is going to help you stretch, tone, strengthen, and flow. If you have any questions about today’s blog, then please give us a call at (806)-322-3188
So an exercise that’s going to help you stretch, tone, and strengthen sounds perfect right? Being a personal trainer in Amarillo means that I am busy, so being able to multitask in a workout really helps me out.
This is also an exercise that you at home or wherever you happen to be. I’d say if you’re working in a mass office, maybe not the best place in front of everyone out in the open, but if you have your own office or space than that might be the right place.
So what is this exercise?
It’s called the yoga flow. And I don’t know if you know, but we actually do some yoga over here at Custom Fitness. It’s something that helps a lot of our clients recover from their workouts, and build their flexibility. It also builds their muscle tone and their balance at the same time, so it’s great to throw that in with some functional training.
So we use some exercises from yoga in our normal training program, and then we use more of them in just a normal yoga set up where we have the body warm enough and ready to do the exercises.
So what are we going to do with this?
Well you’re going to be able to stretch through the lower body. Through the calves, hamstrings, up into the glutes. Also through the front of the body in the abdomen and the chest, you’ll really be able to open the body up and allow everything to kind of reset.
Areas that you typically strengthen during your normal workouts would be your calves and your hamstrings, working all through that area-working the chest and the abdomen, so you tighten everything. So this is a great exercise to really get to stretch and open up.
So what do you strengthen or tone during this exercise? Well, you’re going to get the triceps, shoulders, chest, into the abdomen, basically the entire front of the body. So you’re going to be able to feel different things working than what you during something like a squat, or a chest press, or the typical exercises you get in your workout.
So how do you do it?
Well, you’re going to start off down on the floor in a high plank pose. So you’re going to have your hands lined up with your shoulders and step your feet back. Keep that core strong. From that point you’re going to keep your hands and feet right there. So you’re not going to walk them in and out, or change position. And you want to make sure that your hands aren’t too far apart into a pushup, but that they are lined up with your shoulders in a plank.
So you’ll start off by taking it into a Down Dog. You’re going to press back into an arch. You’re going to want a straight back and straight legs. And when you press back, you’ll notice that the heels drop down, so you’ll want to press your heels down towards the floor. Press the heels, relax through the legs, and press the chest back through the spine. Now during this, you’re going to feel the pressure of the body through the heel of your hand and up through the side of your pinky.
Now from your Down Dog, you’ll move forward back into your plank. And if you need to, you can modify this to be on your knees if you need. You can be in a high plank, or you can drop your knees. If you drop the knees, also extend the toes behind you. Don’t stay curled up on them.
From there you’re going to take it into a crock, and you do that by bending your elbows. And your goal is to get your nose to the floor before your hips do.
So what you’re going to do is pike the hips up. You don’t want to be up the way you were in the last exercise, but up enough to where your head is lower than your hips. So pike the hips, take it down, and then hover. If you can’t quite hover yet, then you could take it down and lower everything to the floor and rest there. Then press through the hands and lift the chest into an Up Dog. And what you want to watch for is if your shoulders are almost touching your ears, you don’t want that. Instead you want to open and pull those shoulders back. From there you curl the toes under, and press it back into Down Dog again.
Now remember, for a modified version of this you’ll come from your Down Dog and onto your knees. Extend the toes, lower the chest down (maybe you can hover and maybe you go all the way down to the floor), go and up and lift back into Up Dog, curl the toes, and step it back into that Down Dog.
If you aren’t modifying, then you wouldn’t drop the knees until that Up Dog. So you’d come forward into that plank, and drop it down into that crock while keeping your plank, then you would slide through. And if you want you can lift the thighs and the hips a little bit higher-staying on top of the feet. From there you would curl the toes and press back into that Down Dog.
So how can you add this into your routine?
Well, if you have an exercise routine already, then you can add that in during the beginning or the end. You could use it as a morning stretch and go through about 10-15 reps. Or you could use it right before bed to calm the mind. Either way, I hope this add something great that you can try today and maybe add into your daily routine.
So, if you’re wanting the accountability and help with creating an action plan to see results, or are wanting to someone to help create a workout plan to push you to your greatest potential, then that’s what we’re here for. We have an entire team of dedicated professionals to help you with your health and fitness goals. To get your consultation set up, give us a call at 806-322-3188 or email us at info@customfitness.biz At Custom Fitness, we are YOUR personal trainers in Amarillo, Texas. Have a great day.