HOW: Stand on top of an elevated surface. Shift your weight to one leg and bend the other knee up. Begin to bend the knee you are standing on and hinge forward at the hips as you straighten your other leg directly behind the surface. Once you have reached a point that is as low as you can comfortably go, push back into the surface and return to the single leg balance position. 

 

FEEL: You should feel the muscles in your thigh working. 

 

COMPENSATION: Don’t twist your body as you squat down on the one leg.

HOW: Stand on top of an elevated surface. Shift your weight to one leg and bend the other knee up. Begin to bend the knee you are standing on as you straighten your other leg down to mimic you stepping off of the surface. Once you have reached a point that is as low as you can comfortably go, push back into the surface and return to the single leg balance position. 

 

FEEL: You should feel the muscles in your thigh working. 

 

COMPENSATION: Don’t twist your body as you squat down on the one leg.

HOW: Start by lying on your back with a swiss ball underneath your feet. With your legs together, slightly push into the ball with your heels and bring your knees up towards your chest. 

 

FEEL: You should feel your hip muscles working. 

 

COMPENSATION: Don’t go too fast, slow and controlled.

HOW: Start with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width. Place the band loop just above your knees. Keeping your weight even, begin to squat down. As you squat down, push out with your knees and hold that for the prescribed amount of time.

 

FEEL: You should feel the muscles in your hips and glutes working.

 

COMPENSATION: Keep your weight centered. Don’t squat too far forward or backward. Don’t slouch your back as you squat. Keep the tension in the band as you hold the squat position.

HOW: Find a step or elevated surface. Line yourself up sideways to the step and place your leg on it. Push yourself up and hold a single leg balance position.

 

FEEL: Keep your core and glutes squeezed as hard as you can to maintain your balance and to keep your pelvis level.

 

COMPENSATION: Do not let your hips/pelvis drop. Image a straight line across your hips or think about your pelvis being a glass and don’t spill it!

HOW: Begin in a standing position with your feet about hip-width apart. Place a dowel behind your back with one end making contact with your head and on your tailbone with the other end, the middle of the dowel should also be in contact with your mid-back. Make sure you keep contact with these three points for the entirety of the movement. Then bring your chest forward by hinging primarily at the hip. This is achieved by bringing your torso forward and pushing your butt back. Lower yourself as far as you feel comfortable while maintaining all three points of contact, then pull yourself upright by using the muscles in the back of the leg. Squeeze your butt once you are upright to ensure that you stand fully erect.

 

FEEL: You will feel the muscles in the back of the legs work with this exercise. As you hinge over you will feel a pull in the hamstrings, the back upper thigh muscles.

 

COMPENSATION: Avoid rounding the back as you lean your torso forward. Movement should primarily be at the hips. Don’t allow the knees to go forward past your toes with this exercise. Maintain the 3 points of contact during this exercise, (tail bone, mid-back, and back of the head). Keep your balance

HOW: Sitting in the leg press machine, move the seat back as far as possible. Ideally you want to start with your knees as straight as possible..  Toes are facing up towards the ceiling and your feet are comfortable hip width apart
Use the arms to stabilize the upper body and core. Press the machine as away from you using your toes. . Point and flex back and forth with the ankles.
Repeat for the prescribed repetitions. 

 

FEEL: You should feel the back of the lower leg. Feel more tension at the top position and more stretch at the bottom. Can also feel work in the toes and feet. 

 

COMPENSATION: Do not let the knees bend. Do not let the legs rotate in or out.

HOW: Find a seated position in the leg press machine with your feet comfortably hip width apart. Stabilize the upper body and core by grasping the handles to the side.
Bring the legs up to the plate of the leg press. Keeping pressure through the toes and the heels, push the plate away from you by straightening the knees. Slowly lower the plate to the starting position.
Repeat for the prescribed repetitions. 

 

FEEL: If the feet come down towards the bottom of the plate, this will be a more knee and quadriceps dominant feeling. If the feet come towards the top of the plate, this will be a more hip and gluteal dominant feeling. 

 

COMPENSATION: Do not let the legs rotate in or out. Do not lock out the knees at the end of the press  motion.

HOW: Begin laying on your back with the barbell racked above you with the appropriate amount of weight.  As you lay down, your eyes should be directly under the barbell. From here, be sure your feet are flat on the ground, squeeze your shoulder blades together, keep your core engaged, and grab the bar with hands about shoulder-width apart. Bring the barbell over your chest and slowly lower the weight down towards nipple level allowing the elbows to drop down towards the ground. Push the barbell back up to the starting position and perform for the prescribed amount of reps. 

 

FEEL: You should feel your chest and core muscles working as you perform this exercise.

 

COMPENSATION: Keep your core engaged and feet pressed into the ground. A slight arch in the back is okay but do not overextend with a focus on keeping your core muscles engaged.

HOW: Holding a barbell in a landmine rig with both hands in front of your chest, perform an overhead shoulder press. However, use your lower body to generate power to perform the push press. Focus on timing, see the video for more tips and instructions.

 

FEEL: You should feel your triceps, deltoids, and shoulder blade muscles working. You will also feel your core and lower body working to maintain position and generate power with the push press.

 

COMPENSATION: Do not arch your back, do not shrug your shoulders.  

HOW:  Get a band or cable anchored somewhere between waist and shoulder height. While standing perpendicular to the anchor and holding the handle with both hands, press your arms forward away from your chest until your elbows are fully straight, then raise your arms completely overhead. Return back to starting position in a slow and controlled fashion and repeat. Keep your hips and shoulders square facing forward the entire time.

 

FEEL:   You should feel your core and shoulder muscles working to maintain optimal position and form. If too easy you can walk further away from the anchor, if too difficult move closer towards the anchor.

 

COMPENSATION: Do not let the band rotate your upper body, keep your arms straight and hips facing forward.

HOW: Start with your hands on an elevated surface in a high plank position. Begin the exercise by letting your shoulder blades move in together towards one another while keeping your elbows straight. Return to starting position by pushing into the surface with your hands and spreading your shoulder blades apart and repeat. All while doing this – you’re maintaining a good high plank position.

 

FEEL: This should feel like a shoulder blade workout along with challenging your arms and the rest of your body to maintain optimal high plank position.

 

COMPENSATION: Do not let your elbows bend, do not lose optimal high plank position, slowly control the movement with your shoulder blades.