Recover Bonus: Day 4

Outline:

Equipment needed:

– Pilates ball or towel.
– Chair or bench

Complete 10 repetitions and 1-3 sets of each exercise.

1. Cat Cow
2. Transverse Abdominal Breathing
3. Glute Bridge with Ball Squeeze
4. Bird dog Knee to Elbow
5. Serratus Press with Chair
6. Clam Shells
7. Swimmers

1. Cat Cow

This exercise will help warm up your spine.

– On your inhale, arch your back, let your belly relax and go loose.
– Lift your head and tailbone up towards the sky.
– Exhale and pull your abdominal muscles in.
– Push your back up to the sky.

2. Transverse Abdominal Breathing

Activate and coordinate your pelvic floor with your transverse abdominis.

– Lie on your back with one hand above and the other below your belly button.
– Take a deep inhalation through your nose.
– Make sure to breathe deep into your back body filling all the spaces in your lunges so your abdomen and diaphragm expand.
– Exhale
– Open your mouth and say “HA” while doing so pull your ribs together and narrow your waist line.

3. Glute Bridge with ball squeeze

This exercise mainly targets the gluteus maximus but the hamstrings and the transverse abdominis also get on board to assist. By adding the ball between the knees we can activate the inner thighs and the muscles of the pelvis.

– Lie on your back, with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Keep your arms at your side with your palms down.
– Place a ball between your knees.
– Lift your hips off the ground until your knees, hips and shoulders form a straight line.
– Contract your glutes and hold for a few seconds before returning to start.

4. Bird Dog knee to elbow

This exercise primarily targets the erector spinae, transverse abdominis and rectus abdominis. Bringing the knee and the elbow together makes the exercise more challenging.

– Start in table top position. Knees under hips and wrists under shoulders.
– Engage your core and ensure you have a flat back.
– Extend right arm and left leg at the same time and upon return to centre bring elbow to knee.
– Ensure that your back remains flat throughout the movement and that your hips stay in alignment.

5. Serratus Press- Chair

This exercise aims to activate the serrarus muscles that are under your armpit and along your ribcage. These muscles are responsible for movement of your scapula, arm as well as ribs during breathing.

– You will need a stable chair or bench.
– kneel in front of the chair and assume plank position with hands placed securely on the chair.
– Ensure that your core is active and engaged.
– Shoulders should be down away from the ears.
– Arms extended but elbows are not locked.
– Slowly sink your chest towards the chair and then raise up again to a flat back.
– The focus is on the serratus muscle which is located on the side body just under the armpit.
– *there is no need to squeeze the shoulder blades together with force.

6. Clam Shells

This exercise targets the gluteus medius and maximus as well as the abductors. This exercise helps stabilize the pelvis and strengthen the pelvic floor.

– Lie on your side with knees bent at 90 degrees.
– Align your hips so that they are stacked one on top of the other.
– Lift your knee up while keeping your feet together.
– Raise your leg and do not allow your hips to come out of alignment.
– Squeeze your glutes at the top of the movement.

7. Swimmers

This exercise will activate your posterior chain, working the muscles along your spine as well as your shoulders and glutes.

– Lie on your stomach face down.
– Arms lying on floor overhead.
– Raise your chest and legs off the floor slightly and press hips into the floor.
– Raise right arm and left leg high and then switch and raise left arm and right leg higher.
– Continue in a “swimming” pattern.