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banded good morning how to guide

Featured Move

Featured Move is an Exercise Index for the Alternative Fitness Enthusiast. The main purpose to inform, educate and demonstrate exercises.
banded good morning how to guide
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Banded Good Morning: Develop Stronger Links In Your Posterior Chain

The banded Good Morning is an exercise used to strengthen the posterior chain.  The hamstrings, glutes, and low back can be activated without heavy compression on the spine when performing the banded good morning.  This movement can be programmed into a fitness routine to introduce proper hip hinge execution without the use of eccentric loading. The low impact benefits of the banded good morning allow the user to develop new movement patterns, making it an ideal exercise for the novice lifter.  Banded good mornings are also good for warming up the glutes and hamstrings before moving on to more advanced exercises or as an accessory movement after your main lift. This exercise is best performed for high repetitions.

how to perform the banded Good Morning

begin with a large resistance band around the back of your shoulders. Make sure your shoulders are retracted and your chest is pushing out. This allows for better form during the movement. Grab the band and step on it with both feet. Stand up so there is tension on the band. Begin with knees slightly bent, keep your hands gripping the bands and start to push your hips back. Maintain a neutral spine and allow your back to become perpendicular to the ground while still maintaining proper form. Stand back up to the start position and squeeze your glutes. Repeat for desired reps. When executing this exercise aim for a 3:1:1 ratio. This means, a slow 3 count on the downward movement, 1second pause at the bottom, and 1 second back to the standing position.

Bear Crawl
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Crawl Your Way to a Fitter Physique: Bear Crawl | Exercise Video Guide

CRAWL YOUR WAY
TO A FITTER PHYSIQUE
Bear Crawl

Bear Crawl

The bear crawl is a total body movement that will challenge you from many pathways including, strength, coordination, stability, and mobility. This exercise is performed in the quadruped position (on your hands and knees). Make sure you are properly aligned at the starting position.  Your hips will be directly over your knees while your shoulders, elbows, and wrists are vertically stacked. From there, lift your hips and knees simultaneously, hovering only a few inches off the ground.

how to perform a Bear Crawl

To initiate the bear crawl your opposite arm and leg will lift, move then land in unison. It is important to keep your hips level while maintaining a neutral spine. To help with this we use a tennis ball for self correcting posture cues and to develop fluid movement patterns. This type of accountability prop also helps with increasing focus throughout the exercise. Your crawl should be slow, controlled and deliberate.  

 

Barbell Hip Thrust
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How to Barbell Hip Thrust | Hybrid Movement

barbell Hip Thrust

The barbell hip thrust is a triple threat for the glute and hamstring muscles. This exercise is a display of power, strength, and muscle hypertrophy through hip extension. This hip dominated exercise can be performed as the big movement of the day or as an accessory exercise to your main lift. The barbell hip thrust not only builds strong and powerful glutes but also stronger hamstrings. This exercise will also improve lower back strength and core stability. The lower back and core must remain stable and strong in order to support the weight load for the hamstrings and glutes to fire properly and thrust the bar to full hip extension.

how to perform the  Hip Thrust

Start by sitting on the ground with your legs under the bar and your back against a bench. Your upper to mid back (about right under your shoulder blades) should be supported on the bench and your hands will be holding the bar in a wider grip. Bend your knees so that the bar is on your hips. Press your heels through the ground and raise your hips up allowing your upper body and head to slightly lean back. Pause at the top for a moment and don’t forget to squeeze your glutes. Return to the start position. Pro tip: the barbell can be uncomfortable on the hips so wrap a yoga mat or something soft on the bar for maximal comfort.

Skull Crusher
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Building a Monster: Skull Crushers | Video Exercise Guide

Skull Crushers

barbell

The Skull Crusher is a single joint pushing exercise for increasing overall strength and mass in the triceps.  Stronger triceps improve all pushing exercises such as bench press and vertical press. There is a greater amount of stress placed on the long head of the tricep when performing the Skull Crusher.  The Skull Crusher is also known as a Skull Splitter, Nose Breaker and Lying Tricep Extension.  There is a subtle yet significant detail that must be implemented when performing the Skull Crusher effectively.  As much as I prefer the name Skull Crusher and Nose Breaker, it really does not paint an accurate visual for execution.  The barbell is not lowered to the nose or forehead.  The wrists, elbows, and shoulders are not stacked.  The barbell is held above the forehead and lowered behind the head then pressed back up to extension.  Align the bar slightly above eye level and begin the exercise.  The bar path is critical in this exercise. Positioning the bar placement slightly above eye level lengthens and loads the long head of the tricep throughout the duration of the exercise.  A grip placement inside of shoulder width is commonly used but this is preference.  It is not recommended to have hand placement any greater than shoulder width. In this demonstration the exercise is performed with a cambered bar but dumbbells can be used.

how to perform a Skull Crusher

Initiate the exercise by slowly lowering the bar behind your head and quickly press the bar back up and away from the body until you are at full extension.  Repeat for the designated repetitions.  If you feel any discomfort in the shoulder end the exercise.  If you can not maintain proper bar path, reduce the amount of weight.  

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How to Perform the Triceps Pushdown | THE RIGHT WAY

Triceps Pushdown

The Triceps Pushdown is a single joint exercise for isolating the lateral (outside) head of the triceps.  I prefer using a rope, but a straight bar or a v-bar are also commonly used.  The rope gives me a greater range of motion at the bottom of the movement which allows me to contract the triceps more effectively.

how to perform a Triceps Pushdown

Initiate the exercise by gripping the rope handles.  Push the rope down towards your hips.  Bend your arms while simultaneously raising your hands back up until your forearms are in contact with your biceps.  Do not allow your elbows to shift forward.  Keep your elbows directly under your shoulders.  Push the rope towards your toes while expanding the gap between your hands until each rope handle spreads to the outside of your hips.

single best squat! rear foot elevated split squat
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The Single Best Squat: Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat

Rear foot elevated Split Squat

When it comes to selecting exercises that ad multi layers of value all in one movement, the exercise that comes to mind immediately is the rear foot elevated split squat. This exercise could arguably replace any bilateral squat movement without neglecting any strength benefits whatsoever.  This single leg exercise puts a great emphasis on the quadriceps and glutes while concurrently improving balance, stability, and hip mobility. The rear foot elevated split squat can also be performed with low back pain.  As with any unilateral exercise, the exposure of strength asymmetries can be identified and improved upon.  Demonstrated in this video the RFESS is executed with a sandbag. Your hand positioning will be determined by what type of weight you are holding. If you are just introducing to this type of squat begin with only your bodyweight. From there you can progress to a goblet hold, farmer’s hold (2 weights 1 in each hand by your sides), or in the racked position which is demonstrated in this video. We typically use a sandbag as a teaching tool for developing good squatting patterns as well as introducing new strength progressions. This particular combination of a sandbag is a hybrid of the elevated split squat and the front squat.  This front loaded single leg squat challenges thoracic stability under tension and transfers well to exercises like the  barbell front squat.

To set up for this exercise start by having your feet parallel to each other and in front of an object.  Elevated one leg back onto a bench, into a box, whoops, or onto a cosy chair. Begin by kicking your back leg up onto your bench with the laces of your shoes down. While maintaining an upright position begin to lower your knee to the ground. Your knee should tap the ground or come very close. Your thigh should be parallel to your knee. At this point your body will create a straight line from your head all the way to your back knee. It is okay to be on a slight diagonal but be aware that the chest stays up. Do not flex forward. Press your heel through the ground as you raise back up.

half kneeling pallof press
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Pallof Press | The Anti-Core Exercise You Should Be Doing

Pallof Press

The Pallof Press is an anti-rotation exercise used for improving core stability and strength.  This form of the Pallof Press shown in a 1/2 kneeling 90/90 position. This means the outside leg bent in a 90 degree angle and the back leg is also in 90 degrees. Your outside knee should be aligned with your ankle.  This exercise can be performed in a variety ways but the half kneeling Pallof Press is an efficient way for giving the clearest feedback on your current level of core strength.  Allowing for quicker adjustments which will lead to quicker results in strength and stability. This variant also prevents your hips from over compensating the band tension.  Foot placement and outside knee stability will also be clear signals of proper technique.  Basically you can’t get away with cheating on this exercise.  It’s very clear if you are performing this correctly or not.

how to perform a  Pallof Press

Grab a super band with your hand closest to the attachment point while your other hand can then rest on top. Pull the band to mid chest height around the bottom of the sternum, this is the rest position. Pull your shoulders down away from your ears and have your spine in neutral. Your neck should be slightly retracted with your chin slightly tucked down. Press the band out then return to the start position at the sternum. Make sure there is enough tension on the band so it feels as if the band will pull you towards the to the attachment anchor. Be sure that your shoulders stay even with each other. Keep your abdomen tight and squeeze your glutes. Do not let the band move you, stay rigid.

goblet squat
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How to Squat: Beginners Guide to a Perfect Squat | Goblet Squat

The Goblet Squat is one of the best progressions for a novice lifter learning how to properly squat. However, the goblet squat is widely used by lifters of all experience levels. Usually, the goblet squat is executed with a dumbbell or kettlebell. This style of squat is a front loading exercise that helps you descend deeper into your squat. To set up for this exercise start by holding the hex part of the dumbbell with both hands and position your feet a little greater than hip width apart or no more than shoulder width. Toes can be parallel or slightly externally rotated.

how to perform a  Goblet Squat

Begin by slightly bending the knees and descend into your squat. Hips and glutes are pushing back while you maintain a neutral spine. Chest is pushing out and your shoulder blades should be pinching together. Make sure that your elbows are squeezing together and should remain inside of your knees while in your deep squat. You should be breaking parallel in the squat. Press through your heels and ascend back to a standing position. Remember to finish the movement by squeezing your glutes and making sure your hips are tucked under in a neutral position, this means your pelvis is not tilting forward or backwards.

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