HOW: Start in the plank position with your elbow straight and your legs straight with your toes pushing into the ground. Bring one foot as far front as your can up on the side of that arm.  When the foot is as high as you can place it on the ground, drop your hips slightly and look up. Alternate this motion with each leg. 

 

FEEL: You should feel a stretch in your hip of the leg that is forward and even in the front portion of the hip that is behind you.

 

COMPENSATION: Keep your back flat, don’t arch it as you bring your leg up.

HOW: Get set-up on your side with your hand directly under your shoulder and your elbow straight. Have your knees bent at a 45 degree angle with your knees and feet supported on the ground. At the same time push your hips up and forward as high as you can and hold this position. With your top leg, extend your knee and lift your leg up towards the ceiling while keeping it straight. Lower your leg down to the ground while keeping your knee straight and repeat.

 

FEEL: This should feel like a full body exercise. Your shoulder and shoulder blade muscles will be working as well as your hip, back, and stomach muscles. You will especially feel your right oblique muscles and right hip muscles working if you’re laying on your right side. Follow the video for other cues and tips.

 

COMPENSATION: Do not let your hips or shoulder sag, do not let your body rotate

HOW: Get set-up with one foot behind you supported on a wall, have enough space between your foot on the ground and the wall so that your knee is not beyond your toes on the side you’re standing on. With a band on above and around your knees, performing a standing clam motion by driving your knee out to the side as far as you can on the side that is supported on the wall. Make sure the knee you’re standing on does not cave in.

 

FEEL: You should feel both hip muscles, especially on the outside of your hips working with this exercise. You will also be feeling more muscles working on the side that you’re standing on throughout the entire leg.

 

COMPENSATION: Maintain good trunk control, do not lean side to side, do not let the knee on the side you’re standing on cave in. Maintain a neutral low back position.

HOW: In a standing position, shift your weight to one leg. Apply pressure through all of your foot and slightly bend that knee. Hinge forward at the waist while keeping your back flat and kick the opposite leg back. Pull yourself back to the starting position by pushing into the ground and using your glute and hip muscles to bring your back up straight again. 

 

FEEL: You should feel your hamstring muscles working as you hinge forwards and back up. You should also feel your foot/ankle muscles working to balance your leg while hinging forward. 

 

COMPENSATION: Keep your back flat as you hinge forward at the waist, don’t twist it. Keep your hips level, don’t twist them as you kick your leg back. 

HOW: Get set up in a standing position with bands wrapped behind your knees and anchored to a sturdy surface. Depending on the band set up – you may have 1 band around both knees or use two bands – below the knees tends to be easier to set up and feel more comfortable. To begin the exercise, take a step back to get tension on the band(s). While keeping tension on the band, squat down by sitting your butt back as low as you can while keeping your chest up – hold this position for the time instructed.

 

FEEL: This should feel like a lower body workout, especially your quads. The rest of your body and your legs will be working as well to maintain ideal form and position.

 

COMPENSATION: Focus on keeping your chest up and sitting your butt back – this will help to isolate your quads better. Your knees should be stacked over your feet, don’t let your knees cave in. As you get tired, fight the urge to stand taller, stay low in your squat.

HOW: Step backwards and out to the side like you were to perform a curtsey, lower yourself into a lunge position. Keep most of your weight on your front leg, use the back leg for balance.

 

FEEL: You should feel a good glute stretch and your hip muscles activated. You should feel your glutes and quads working to lower yourself and stand back up.

 

COMPENSATION: Don’t put too much of your weight on your back leg as you step back, focus on good knee position with the front leg by not letting it cave in or bow out too much.

HOW: Start in a split stance position with one foot forward and the other foot behind you with your toes pushing into the ground. Load most of your weight into the front leg. From this position, lift your heels up. Make sure to lift your entire body up as your heels come up. Return to the starting position and repeat. 

 

FEEL: You should feel your calf muscles working. 

 

COMPENSATION: Keep your back straight up, don’t slouch forward. Keep a bend in both knees as you perform a heel raise, don’t straighten your knee.

HOW: Lean against a wall with your back flat against it and your feet out in front of you. Slightly bend your knees and sit into a small squat on the wall. From here, lift your toes up as high as you can. Do this up and down motion for the prescribed amount of reps. 

 

FEEL: You should feel your lower leg and thigh muscles working. 

 

COMPENSATION: Don’t bring your ankles directly under your knees, have them out a bit further to get more ankle motion.

HOW: Start by laying flat on your back. Perform the exercise by flattening your low back into the ground, then fluttering your legs up and down, back and forth about a foot off the ground.

 

FEEL: You should feel your abs, legs, and core working with this exercise.

 

COMPENSATION: Do not let your low back excessively arch. Try to keep your low back pushed into the ground. Do not let your knees bend, keep your quads squeezed to keep your knees straight.