Full Body Structural Balance Part 2
This is a full body workout designed to be performed twice a week for 3 weeks. We will often start personal training clients on a program like this as it addresses potential weak areas and provides great preparation for the more demanding sessions to come.
The exercises are paired in a super set manner – with a lower body movement paired with an upper body one.
In this program the reps are have been lowered to predominantly 6-8 which is in the ‘functional hypertrophy’ range. Tempo is kept slow and we aim to introduce some new movements critical for overall structural balance.
The premise of each session is to work up to a heavy set. This means we want you to start light and add weight with each progressive set.
Exercise A1 – Single Leg Step Down
This exercise is performed on a step – set at mid shin height. The aim is to stay very upright and just bend through the knee ensuring your knee tracks over your toe. All your weight must be in the standing leg, you then tap the floor with the other foot and stand up.
We are looking for good femur control which will enforce good motor patterns whilst simultaneously strengthening the ‘VMO’ and glute medius.
The reps are high ( 15-25 ) in order to provide adequate time under tension to get a training response.
Exercise A2 – Seated Cable Row
It is especially important to perform this exercise with good form as not doing so will cause more harm than good. The key principle is to hold good posture and maintain shoulder position.
It is important to retract the scapular with each row ensuring a strong contraction of the rhomboids, mid traps and rear delts. It is also vital to stop the shoulders protracting on the eccentric portion of the lift.
We like to see a 10 sec isometric hold on the last rep of each set just to reinforce the stimulation to those all important postural muscles in the mid back.
Exercise B1 – Lying Hamstring Curl
In order to maintain good knee health it is important to develop the knee flexors. The lying hamstring curl is fantastic exercise for this.
Due to the relative fast twitch nature of hamstrings we like to see the reps kept low most of the time with this exercise. We also like to develop good eccentric strength in the hamstrings as this is integral to injury prevention.
You can stimulate the different hamstring heads by manipulating foot position. If you are new to this exercise we like to start with feet in a dorsi neutral position as this tends to be the strongest initially.
Exercise B2 – Standing Single arm DB Press
We are a big fan of ‘over head’ strength here at CoActive as it is so important if you want healthy balanced shoulders.
The easiest way to start with over head work is with a single arm DB press. We like to see this exercise performed with a staggered stance with the rear leg kept straight. This ensures you don’t use your legs to move the weight.
Exercise C – Prowler Sprints
A good progression from last months sled drags – you can easily manipulate the weight on the prowler to make even the toughest gym goer go weak at the knees.
Aim for consistent pace and try to stretch your distance travelled each workout to mark progress.
If you would like additional support or are considering working with a personal trainer, don’t hesitate to get in touch.