Active mobilization of the thoracic spine in a split stance.

Use a blackroll to retain the contra-lateral hip in a neutral position.

Lack of t-spine mobility is often compensated by acessory movements of the hip, pelvis and/or posterior shoulder muscles.

In case the rotatory element is still hard to perform, remain moving through the “opening - closing” motion.

Loaded mobility of the shoulder joint in an overhead (apparently vulnerable) position, while engaging the whole body in a movement „around“ the shoulder joint.

Try to keep firm and conscious contact with the ground and have your eyes on the kettlebell. As you move through sequence bend the knees as little as possible.

Preparatory motion to move the hip through the sagittal and transverse plane while maintaining a neutral spine.

Assume a midstance position, put a small weight underneath your big toe joint. This puts further emphasis on the pronation of your foot, which is an integral part of force transmission through your foot in dorsiflexion.

Glut max activity should be the prime driver of hip extension, not the muscles of the trunk.

As bipedal creatures the glut max in humans developed to stabilize the torso on the stance leg. This is crucial for pelvic and spinal stability, especially in running.

During triple extension stance leg gluteus maximus and psoas muscle must work in a synergistic fashion to ensure pelvic and axial stability in hip extension.

This allows for a better force transmission at toe-off, a powerful flexion of the swing leg hip and less compensatory movement of trunk and hip muscles.

This pattern is reflex-driven, therefor it should be executed with max intend. Try to keep a neutral spine, maintain a peripheral gaze, don’t lean back into your lumbar spine cheating your body into a hip extension, keep conscious contact with the ground, especially with your front foot and hallux area. Glut max and psoas activity should be felt before continuing with the next repetition.

Strong glut max and psoas capacity are prerequisites to any other biomechanically coherent movement of the human gait.

Creating felt awareness for hamstring activity in a position of length.

Since the hamstrings are a group of bi-articular muscles, biomechanically speaking they like to work at a particular length. This is apparent when analyzing joint position of hip and knee during the gait cycle. Furthermore, this muscle group shows a relatively high content of connective tissue.

These particularities account for the hamstrings to preferably work in an isometric fashion, especially in running. Max isometric strength then enables the surrounding fascia to better absorb, transmit and release kinetic energy.

To ensure proper execution of this exercise try to maintain a neutral spine. The lumbar portion in particular must not be overstrained into hyperextension. Trunk erection happens mainly due to lower limb activity and not via erector spinae contraction.

Hamstring activity could be triggered by gently pulling the towards the butt.

Exercise to create a felt awareness for hamstring activity during the eccentric portion of knee extension.

The structural make-up of the hamstring group enable them to generate peak isometric forces. This is especially apparent during high intensity sprinting. During the different phases of the gait cycle the hamstrings rarely change their absolute length.

Since many people are short at the distal portion of their hamstrings (i.e. at the knees) this exercise will bring back competency to generate an appropriate force while becoming longer at this site.

Hamstring group must then be trained in a more contextual manner.

Loaded mobility of the spinal column.

This exercise fosters the multifidi muscles peculiar mechanical behavior under eccentric loading.

Due to their high cross-sectional area and particular fiber arrangement the multifidi muscles are able to answer eccentric loading with an equally high concentric force. This ensures integrity of the joints of the spinal column in movement.

Assume an upright poster, establish proper contact with the ground. The bar is lowered through flexing one vertebra after the other. Elevation of the front foot allows for a better felt sense for the posterior chain.

Ascending back up should be accomplished through conscious erection of each vertebra. Feel the spinous process reach, dragging the vertebral body with.

Our spine is designed to move through various planes of motion and it is designed to do so in a powerful manner if necessary.

Context-related shoulder strength in a disadvantageous position.

Overhead position of the arm requires great strength and coordinative capacity from the stabilizers of the shoulder joint to keep the scapula in place. Especially lower trapezius strength is asked for.

Dropping and instant catching of the weight add a perturbatory element to the movement, the shoulder joint and the adjacent structures must learn to answer a varying sensorimotor context.

Carrying a load with both of our hands is one of the many more primal movement patterns of us humans.

The hanging position requires a great deal of grip strength. This particular capacity has been identified to be a valid predictor of overall mortality in the elders.

Lengthen the spine and try to maintain a peripheral gaze with all the variants.

Carrying the load at the shoulders or overhead both post variations that will increase the perturbatory element our trunk muscles have to answer properly.

Upper limb movement for further stabilization of the posterior aspect of the shoulder.

The arms start from an internally rotated position, both thumbs should stay abducted.

Pull the cable as close to your face as possible while maintaining proper posture and a good connection with the ground.

Move from internal to external rotation as the cable comes closer to your face. The abducted thumbs lead the way to the back.

Keeping the arms at almost 90° elevation will engage the supraspinatus muscle more.

Often the posterior structures of our shoulder joint are poorly developed. Especially in overhead movements we lack shoulder stability. I personally found it useful to then seek the overhead position in some form or another and move it under load.

Upper limb movement for further stabilization of the posterior aspect of the shoulder.

In order to engage the rear deltoid muscle more sufficiently, the arms should be elevated to almost 90°. The arms stay internally rotated to further foster rear delt activity.

Pull the cable as close to your face as possible while maintaining proper posture and a good connection with the ground. Try to keep scapular movement at a minimum.

Often the posterior structures of our shoulder joint are poorly developed. Especially in overhead movements we lack shoulder stability. I personally found it useful to then seek the overhead position in some form or another and move it under load.

Fundamental exercise making use of the elastic properties of our myo-fascia.

As we age adults tend to not jump any more. Besides the functional benefits of jumping, it also is a joyful activity very capable of up-regulating our mood.

Combinations of different eye and spine movements.

Eyes, head and t-spine constitute the three distinct elements of this motion which are moved together or separate in different variations.

As the eyes often become overly attached to the muscles of the neck, often a result of excessive screen time or an overly charged sympathetic nervous system, problems of postural and movement organization arise.

This exercise teaches to detach excessive eye - neck connection.

Evolutionary speaking, a sudden interconnection between eye and neck movement was a necessary answer to a sudden danger. The gaze needs to be stabilized to further assess the potential threat, the subsequent tension of the muscles of the spine (diaphragm included) stabilizes our posture.

Exercise specific for awareness plus preparation of the shoulder joint and its adjacent structures.

While maintaining a neutral spine laying in prone position, two light weights are moved through different planes of motion regarding the shoulder joint. Try to maintain control of your scapula, especially in the overhead position.

Since our shoulder is the joint is one the most mobile joints in our body, it should be moved through as many planes of motion as possible. Strength then does not become bound to one specific movement (e.g. pressing), but can be accessed in diverse joint positions.