Pull-ups are impressive, which means that for many athletes, they’re aspirational. If you can’t do one, odds are you’d like to. If you can, maybe you’re gunning for the single-arm or weighted variation. Once you’re able to do a few pull-ups, it’s easy to see how you might build up to more. But if you can’t do even one, where do you start?

Most people have what they need to lift their own body weight—the issue is accessing all of the muscles needed for the job. People tend to rely on the upper trapezius and elbow flexors, such as the biceps brachii, which shrug the shoulders and bend the elbows butÌęfall short when it comes to lifting the whole weight of the body. Other critical muscles, like the and the , might be dormant or just hard for the brain to activate.

In the image below, you can see the line of strength that connects the rock climber’sÌęhand all the way down to his lower back. This system of muscles spans from the flexors of the hand, forearm, and elbow to the back line of the arm, shoulder extensors, external rotators, and latissimus dorsi muscle, as well as into the rest of the core. ActivatingÌęall this gives us the capability to paddle, climb, and swim for hours—and perform a single pull-up.

The latissimus is a powerful muscle that depresses the clavicle and scapula—the shoulder girdle—and lifts the waist up to the arms, while also pulling the upper arm bones toward the trunk and into shoulder extension and adduction (see the illustration below). This is the most important muscleÌęto focus on when learning to do a pull-up. You can identify your lat by feeling with your fingertips at the back of your armpit and side ribs; squeeze your arm down like you’re trying to press juice out of a grapefruit in your armpit, and you should feel a bulk of muscle tissue contract that you can grab with your whole hand. You can increase the contraction byÌęsimultaneously lifting the waist on the same side up toward the armpit.

The moves below are designed to safely increaseÌęin difficulty. As you develop strength, you can use the entry exercises as warm-ups for more difficult ones. This process will likely take weeks to months, depending on your level of entry. These exercises aren’t just for show, either: pull-ups, and the moves that help you build up to them, can help improve your strength-to-weight ratio, tone your upper body, and serve as cross-training for many different sports and activities.

The Moves

Inverted Rows with Suspension Straps

What they do: This is an excellent entry-level pull exercise that engages the upper back muscles, specifically the latissimus dorsi.

How to do them: Loop suspension straps over a branch, bar, or other secure, elevated structure. Begin standing, with the grips in both handsÌęand your arms straight in front of you, and walk your feet forward until you feel challenged by the body-weight load. The more you walk your feet forward, the more difficult the move will be. Pull yourself up and into an inverted plank position with a rowing motion, bending your arms and pulling your elbows behind you. Your shoulder blades will start wide on your rib cage, then slide toward the spine as you reach the top of the movement. Focus on engaging your lats, core, and the backs of your shoulders, instead of relying on the upper trapezius or elbow flexors. Reverse this movement as you slowly lower back to the starting position. Make sure you can hold that starting position with straight arms and maintain good form throughout the entire range of motion. Progress to the next exercise after you build confidence and strength with this move.

Volume: One to three sets of five to eight repetitions, holding for a few seconds at each end range. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise two to three times per week.

Hip Hinge Pull-Ups with Suspension StrapsÌę

What they do: This move brings you through the full range of motion of a pull-up—but with the assistance of your heels on the ground. It engages the latissimus and triceps muscles by engaging your shoulders in a wide-arm T-shape position. You should feel the lat work to pick your waist up and pull your elbows down toward your trunk, especially at the top of the move.

How to do them: Begin by adjusting the strap handles to be at about hip height when standing. Then sit down, with your legs straight out in front of you,Ìęand start with straight arms gripping the handles in an inverted row position. You can keep your hips on the ground here if you need the assistance. Pull up into a seated hip-hinge position, widen your elbows, and pull them straight down toward your sides. Your front and back core should be firing to help lift you into this 90-degree hip-fold position. At the top of the position, you should feel your lats activate to lift your bottom up from the ground, like you are trying to go chin over bar at the top of a pull-up. Hold for one second, then slowly unfold back into the starting position of the inverted row. Your heels and legs should stay in the same place throughout the move. You will probably have to wiggle around to find the right place to begin and end relative to where your straps are anchored.

Volume: Perform one to three sets of five to eight repetitions, holding for a few seconds at each end range. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise two to three times per week.

Box Assisted Pull-UpsÌę

What they do: This move helps you find all of the necessary muscle activation for a pull-up without too heavy of a load. Take what you’ve learned from exercises one and two and apply your strength here.

How to do them: Place a stable box beneath a bar, and let your legs hang limp and heavy on the box as you hold onto the bar. Do not push with your feet. Try hanging here at the starting position. Activate your lats and shoulder muscles to pull your shoulders down, away from your ears. Then imagine that you’re trying to squeeze a grapefruit tucked into your armpits. This will draw your upper arm bones toward your waist and send your trunk up toward the bar. Keep pulling until you sneak your chin over the bar. Congrats! You just did a reduced body-weight pull-up. Lower slowly back to the starting position.

Volume: One to three sets of three to eight repetitions, holding for a few seconds at each end range. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise two to three times per week.

Band Assisted Pull-ups

What they do: This is another way to feel the work of a full pull-up without lifting your entire body weight, using a large resistance band to reduce the load.

How to do them: Hitch a large resistance band to a bar. Pull the loop down and step one foot into the loop while you set up your starting position. Keep standing in the loop as you get your hands positioned on the bar. Try hanging here at the starting position. Activate your lat, shoulder extensors, and core to pull your shoulders down away from your ears. Then draw your upper arm bones toward your waist, and lift your trunk until you sneak your chin over the bar. Choose the amount of assistance you require from the elastic band by determining the appropriate strength of band (10 pounds, 25 pounds, etc); you may need quite a bit of assistance from the band to start in some cases. Reduce the strength of the band over time.

Volume: One to three sets of three to eight repetitions, holding for a few seconds at each end range. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise two to three times per week.

Isometric Pull-ups

What they do: After the entry-level exercises have been mastered, isometric exercises help you get the feel of holding your body weight in various pull-up positions without the more difficult tasks of lifting and lowering.

How to do them: Position a box under a bar, stand on the box, and grab the bar. Create a 90-degree elbow and shoulder position, and hold firm in this shape. You are about to lift your feet off of the box. Hold tight and squeeze your core, lat, and shoulder muscles that you’ve strengthened and activated in exercises one through four. Once you have held this for the allotted amount of time, back onto the box. Do not lower or lift into the position. Rest. The 90-degree shape is a great angle to train, but you can also perform isometric hangs at higher and lower angles of the pull-up motion. Choose to perform the holds in angles where you feel you need the work. Sometimes this is at the start of the pull-up, when your elbows are extended to around 160 degrees.

Volume: Hold for three to eight seconds. Perform one to five sets of one hold. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise two to three times per week.

Eccentric Pull-ups

What they do: It’s easier to slowly lower out of a pull-up than to slowly lift into one. Lowering uses eccentric strength, which utilizes a protein in our muscles called titin that helps us resist lengthening, thereby allowing us to produce more force. Be sure to warm up before attempting this move.

How to do them: Position a box under a bar that is tall enough to allow you to grab it and start at the top of a pull-up without having to lift yourself into position. Hold the starting position, and lift your feet away from the box. You should be able to stay here for a few seconds, then slowly lower until your elbows are nearly straight. Step onto the box or touch down on the floor. That’s one repetition. Rest, then restart at the top.

Volume: Two to five sets of one repetition. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise one to two times per week. As you get stronger, you can perform several reps back-to-back, performing one to three sets of three to five repetitions as your strength improves.

Body Weight Pull-up

What they do: Congratulations! If you have arrived here, that means you put in the work to get to know your whole pull system and you’ve increased your strength to match your body weight for a full pull-up. A body weight pull-up will help strengthen the entire chain of muscles that you have been training throughout the program, and it’s a great cross-training tool for any movement or sport that involves pulling or overhead lifting.

How to do them: Be sure you’re fully warmed up before attempting this move. Stand under a bar and begin by hanging with your elbows nearly straight but your shoulders firmly drawn down away from your ears. You should feel your whole “pull” line activate from your fists to your core. Contract the system together, leading the way with the lats working to draw the upper arm bones toward your trunk. Pull up the front of your core. Keep everything working to the very top and as you lower.

Volume: Two to five sets of one repetition. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise one to two times per week. As you get stronger, you can perform several reps back-to-back, doing one to three sets of three to ten repetitions as your strength improves.

Esther Smith, a doctor of physical therapy certified in mechanical diagnosis and therapy, has specialized in treating athletes (specifically rock climbers) for the past decade. She is a storyteller, mountain athlete, and high-performance coach for the . You can find Smith’s written and video resources cataloged at and learn more about her physical-therapy practice at .

The post How to Do a Pull-Up (for Beginners) appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

Mobility encompasses all the features of a healthy joint: flexibility, stability, elasticity, strength, and coordination. Good mobility has cascading positive effects—hip and ankle mobility can help resolve knee and lower-back pain, spinal rotation helps us access powerful parts of our bodies as we run and twist—while poor mobility can lead to pain and injury.

Our joints act like springs, offering shock absorption and elastic rebound. And for springs to be powerful, they need to strike the right balance between laxity and stiffness. Mobility training helps us fine-tune this balance. If you take inventory of your body every day, before or after you work out, you’ll start to learn where your limitations lie. Where are the springs too loose? Where are you restricted or hypermobile?

Mobility training is more than just passive stretching—it isn’t just a matter of flexibility, and you don’t gain joint mobility through stretching or foam rolling alone. In addition to stretching and myofascial release techniques, one of the best ways to improve mobility is to train with resistance and use your muscles to actively bring the joints through their full range of motion. Addressing joint limitations requires a targeted approach that biases those places where a joint (or a series of joints) needs to roll, glide, slide, pivot, or hinge. Joint-mobility exercises often use bands, anchors, light weights, and trigger-point balls, which help to more specifically target the joint(s) of interest.

Everyone is unique in their mobility, influenced by things like injury, genetics, and lifestyle, so it’s important to assess your own range of motion to determine which areas need more strength and stability and which need more stretching and flexibility. You can receive a thorough mobility assessment from a local trainer, a physical therapist, or an online consultation with a coaching service.

The moves presented hereÌęprovide a gentle way to begin the self-assessment process, working from the ground up with ankle mobility all the wayÌęthrough the spine and shoulders. If you’re new to this type of mobility work, ease into it, introducing load and speed gradually. If you feel pain during an exercise, reduce the range of motion or the force or load being used. Adjust the movement to work for you.

The Moves

Ankle Dorsiflexion Mobilization with a Band

What it does: This move increases ankle dorsiflexion: the front-to-back plane of movement, which is critical for running, walking, squatting, skiing, and more. If an ankle doesn’t bend well, other parts of that foot and leg will compensate—which can contribute to foot problems like hammertoe and bunions, as well as issues in the knees, hips, and spine. An ankle injury can impede dorsiflexion long after the injury heals. Good range of motion in the ankle gives us more elastic potential in the Achilles tendon, which is helpful when running and jumping.

Typical ankle dorsiflexion is anywhere from 15 to 30 degrees of forward bending while bearing weight, depending on influences like genetics, injury history, and use patterns. You can measure yours with a simple knee-to-wall test, outlined . Having limited ankle dorsiflexion (usually less than 15 degrees) could show up as an early lift of the heel when walking uphill or squatting or difficulty going straight down steps without subtle compensations such as overpronating the foot to make up for the lack of hinging at the ankle joint. The goal is to have a functional and symmetrical range of motion in both ankles that is appropriate for the individual.

How to do it: Fix a thin, with about 15 pounds of resistance a couple of inches off the ground. Start in a single-leg kneeling position, with the band looped around your front ankle. Use your hands to gently push your lower leg forward as you rock forward until your knee is beyond your toes. You should feel a stretch but no pain. To intensify, move farther away from the anchor point, or place a light weight on top of the thigh to help drive the heel into the ground and add pressure to the mobilization.

Volume: One to three sets of five to eight repetitions, holding for 5 to 30 seconds each. Perform this move anywhere from two to seven days a week.

Internal and External Knee Rotation

What it does: Knee rotation is an often overlooked part of knee mobility. When the knee straightens, the larger lower leg bone (the tibia) subtly externally rotates. The opposite happens when the knee bends. If you’re struggling with stiffness or pain in your knees during squatting, kneeling, running, jumping, or going up and down stairs, this could be an important plane of movement to evaluate and train. This move can help you take inventory and address rotational limitations by regularly performing the internal and external rotation action to its end range as part of your mobility training.

How to do it: Begin seated on the floor. Bend one knee to 90 degrees and hold the ankle at 90 degrees. Locate the bony prominence on the front of the tibia called the tibial tuberosity (located at the top of the shin; see the blue dot indicator, pictured above). Without moving your thigh bone or rotating through the foot or ankle, try to rotate your lower leg (shank) inward and outward as pictured. Your foot and ankle will follow the swivel of your shin. You may feel deep muscles working behind the knee, like the popliteus, which creates the inward rotation motion of the tibia. As you fully rotate inward and outward, you will know when you’ve gone far enough based on how your other knee functions and feels. Healthy joints have a feeling at the end range that’s like pressing into a moist, pliable sponge versus a brick wall or a piece of leather. If one direction feels limited or stiff, then your goal is to condition it through movement and for your end-range stretch to become hydrated and extensible.

Volume: Perform one to three sets of five to eight repetitions on each knee, holding for 2 to 20Ìęseconds at each end range. Do this one to five days a week.

Hip Mobilization with a Band on Four Planes

What it does: The hips are the powerhouse of the core and hold massive elastic potential in foot-powered and throwing movements—but you need mobility to access that potential, and the hips are also a major place of congestion and limited range of motion. Your day-to-day life likely isn’t doing you any favors. Our modern environments are conveniently set up so we don’t have to deeply squat to lower ourselves to the floor to sit, or reach very high or low to get things off of shelves, which means we can move through our everyday lives without using our full hip mobility. Sitting a lot, whether in your car or at your desk, doesn’t help either. These static stretches use a band to apply decompressive force on the hip joint in a variety of directions by pulling the femur bone statically toward the anchor. By varying the direction of pull on the elastic band and changing the position of the leg, you can bias different areas of the joint capsule and other soft tissues.

How to do it: Fix a wide, strong elastic band (offering between 30 and 65 pounds of resistance) at an anchor point close to the ground. Once you find a deep, comfortable stretch in each position, hold for several breaths. Go to the point where you feel a good stretch, but not pain, gently nudging the joint into its end range of motion.

Hip Flexion: LieÌęon the floor with your knees bent and your feet on the ground. Place the band in the fold of your hip joint, where the thigh bone meets the pelvis. Orient your body so the band anchor is directly parallel to the direction of your spine (the band should be heading straight out from your tailbone to the anchor). Once the band is nestled into the hip fold, slowly bring your knee straight into your chest, using both hands to guide the hip into flexion. You are looking for a gentle stretch in your hip flexors, glutes, and upper hamstring, as well as a decompression deep in the hip joint and lower back. To intensify this movement, bring your knee closer to your chest or move farther away from the anchor point by scooting your whole body.

External Hip Rotation: With the band in the same position, orient your body so the band anchor is slightly perpendicular to the direction of your spine—you can adjust this angle depending on where you want to focus the stretch. Do this by scooting your whole body on the floor. Once you’re settled on your angle and the band is nestled into the hip fold, slowly bring your hip out into a figure-four position, placing your ankle on the opposite thigh and opening your knee outward. Use both hands to guide the knee and foot to produce external rotation at the hip joint. You are looking for a gentle stretch in your hip flexors, glutes, and deep hip rotators, as well as a decompression force deep in the hip joint and lower back. To intensify this, move farther away from the anchor point by scooting your whole body, and adjust the depth and angle of the figure-four position.

Hip Adduction: From the same position,Ìęslowly bring your knee toward the midline of your body. Use both hands to guide the knee toward your chest and across the midline. You may feel a gentle stretch in your hip flexors, glutes, and deep hip rotators, as well as a decompression force deep in the hip joint and lower back. To intensify this, move farther away from the anchor point and adjust the position of the leg.

Hip Extension: Start in a single-leg kneeling position, facing the anchor point, with the band looped around your rear leg. Place the band in the crease of your buttocks where your hamstring meets your glutes. Orient your body so the band anchor is directly parallel to the direction of your spine (the band should be heading straight out in front of you, toward the anchor). Gently settle into a lunge, allowing the band to apply a pull on the femur toward the anchor. You will likely feel a significant stretch in your hip flexors and quadriceps. To intensify, deepen the lunge, press gently forward with your hand on your buttocks, or move farther away from the anchor point by scooting your whole body. You can also lift the corresponding arm, creating length and stretch along the entire side of your body.

Volume: Do one to three sets of each move, holding each for 5 to 60 seconds, varying the ranges of motion. Work through these stretches one to five days per week.

Standing Hip Range of Motion

How to do it: Begin standing. Find your balance on one leg, supporting yourself with one hand at a wall if necessary. Guide the moving thigh into flexion, bringing the knee into the chest as much as is comfortable. Slowly lower the thigh to 90 degrees, then open the hip outward fully and slowly straighten the knee, attempting to hold the leg directly out to the side in while keeping your trunk upright. Next, turn the leg into internal rotation, pointing your foot toward the floor, and swing the leg slowly behind you into extension. Tip your trunk forward only as far as is necessary to maintain a straight line from your spine through your lifted heel. Return to start position. Ideally, you should be able to lift your hip until your thigh touches your chest; hold the leg out to the side at hip height, and lift your leg into extension at hip height behind you. Feel free to support yourself with your hands at the end of each movement.

Volume: Do one to five reps of this move on each hip, holding each position for a few breaths. Perform this move one to five days a week.

Spinal Rotation with External Shoulder Rotation

How to do it: Begin standing perpendicular to a wall, with your feet hip-width distance apart. Place the inside arm against the wall with a 90-degree elbow bend. Actively press that arm into the wall, creating a static external rotation force. Keep your pelvis and hips squared forward. Raise your outside arm in a windmill motion: in front of you, overhead, and then behind you. Simultaneously rotate your whole spine away from the wall, leading with your sternum. Return to the start position and repeat.

Volume: Do one to three sets of five to ten repetitions on each side, holding for a few breaths wherever you feel tension or stiffness. Perform this move one to five days a week.

Esther Smith, a doctor of physical therapy certified in mechanical diagnosis and therapy, has specialized in treating athletes (specifically rock climbers) for the past decade. She is a storyteller, mountain athlete, and high-performance coach for the . You can find Smith’s written and video resources cataloged at and learn more about her physical-therapy practice at .

The post A Simple Mobility Routine for Happy Joints appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

During a long layover in a major airport the other day, I watched hundreds of people walk and run to their gates. I could see why so many common orthopedic problems, like lower-back pain, hip arthritis, and plantar fasciitis, are caused by how we move. Somewhere along the way, many of us have lost touch with our intuitive gait and developed inefficient patterns, letting the front of our bodies do the work instead of our powerhouse posterior chain. To put it simply, we don’t use our backside—our buns and our guns.

The way we walk is a product of both evolution and learned behavior. Conveniences of modern life impact biomechanics: treadmills don’t require you to push to move forward, some furniture eliminates your need to get up from the floor, and grocery stores are designed so you rarely need to climb or squat to reach food. Cultural influences and footwear choices alter our movement patterns, too: children walk similarly to their parents, people of the same cultural background often display similar gaits, and high heels and cushioned sneakers alike will change your stride.

When you walk, you arms should swing reciprocally with your legs, propelling you with a pattern of extension and flexion. Your triceps muscle engages to draw your arm behind you, stretching the soft tissues of the chest like a rubber band that then releases to spring the arm forward with free, elastic energy. That elastic movement can help offset some of the work done by the front of your body. If you can harness your posterior chain effectively, you also benefit from increased power and endurance from the glutes, decreasing your chance of injury. If you’ve ever dealt with hip-flexor pain, anterior-knee pain, or lower-back painÌęon a long walk or run, then you might lack back-line participation.

Here are five simple moves that can build back your triceps and glutes and get you moving like you were designed to.

The Moves

Triceps Toner with Band

What it does: Helps you practice an efficient pattern of flexion and extension in your upper body, while strengthening your triceps. The resistance band encourages you to engage the back of your arm during extension and relax into the forward arm swing.

How to do it: Stand with an exercise band anchored above you. (You can tie a knot at the end of the band and place it over the top of a door. Close the door so that the knot is caught on the other side.) Stand facing your anchor point, and grasp the band with one arm, keeping it straight and extended in front of you at approximately a 45-degree angle. Using your triceps and the muscles behind your shoulder near your armpit, pull back against the band, moving your whole arm straight behind you, past the midline of your trunk. You should feel your shoulder blade slide toward your spine. Then relax and allow your arm to swing forward passively in one smooth, slow motion. You should feel your shoulder blade relax into a neutral position. Keep your elbow straight the whole time. After training this pattern with the band, try transferring this reciprocal action to walking and running so you tone your triceps with every stride.

Volume: One to three sets of 10 to 30 repetitions on each side. Rest one minute between sets. Perform this movement often throughout the week to help retrain your brain.

Bent-Row Triceps Toner with Free Weight

What it does: Works the triceps and muscles along the back of your shoulder. The bent-over position encourages you to stabilize your trunk and engage involved muscles against the free weight and gravity.

How to do it: Place your left knee on a bench, and stabilize with your left fist. Keep your hips and shoulders level. Let your free arm hang perpendicular to the ground, weight in hand. Bend that arm to row the weight up beneath your shoulder, then extend your arm back, behind the midline of your trunk. Be sure to completely straighten the elbow here. You should feel your shoulder blade slide toward your spine. Reverse the move by bending your elbow, releasing your shoulder blade away from the spine, and slowly lowering the weight back to the starting position. Choose a weight that allows you to completely straighten your elbow at the end of the move—it might be surprisingly light.

Volume: One to three sets of five to eight repetitions on each side. Rest two to three minutes between sets. Perform this move one to three times per week.

Triceps Dip with Chest Opener

What it does: Shoulder extension might feel foreign, given how much time most of us spend engaged in forward-oriented postures and movements, like typing or texting. This move orients the shoulders into full bilateral extension, allowing us to put the work into the triceps instead of the chest. Folding at the hips while maintaining a vertical spine is an added challenge with an open chest.

How to do it: You’ll need a stable chair and grippy floor surface. Begin with your palms on the chair behind you, fingertips forward. This position encourages the shoulder blades to pull back toward the spine and down toward your buttocks. Keep your trunk vertical, with your hips close to the front edge of the chair. Begin bending both elbows, lowering into the dip. Only go as low as you can maintain good form: shoulder blades squeezing toward the spine, chest broad and open, feet and knees parallel, and elbows narrow behind you. If lowering into the dip feels too hard, just hold the starting position. Push back up to straight elbows and repeat. Keep your back close to the front edge of the chair during the whole movement.

Volume: One to three sets of three to eight repetitions, with two to three minutes of rest between sets. Perform this move one to three times per week.

Single-Leg Bridge

What it does: Engages the posterior chain without much margin for cheating. When you have to push your trunk up and forward using a single leg, you get a feel for how much your backside should be working to push you forward when you are walking, hiking, and running.

How to do it: Begin by lying on your back, with your knees bent, your feet flat on the floor and hip-width apart, and your shins vertical. Your arms should rest by your sides, palms facing down. Engage the backs of your shoulders, arms, and hands by pressing them into the floor. Then push your feet into the ground and lift your pelvis up into a bridge, drawing a straight diagonal line from knees to chest. Imagine pulling your heels toward your bum, which should help activate your glutes and hamstrings. Lift and extend one foot, then lower your pelvis down to the floor and back up with that single leg. If you cannot lift and lower, hold the one-legged bridge position for 30 seconds. The majority of the work in this move should be concentrated in the back of your hips and legs, not in the quads or lower back.

Volume: One to three sets of five to eight repetitions, with one to two minutes of rest between sets. Perform this move one to three times per week.

Reverse Lunge

What it does: When you walk, your glutes stabilize the pelvis and initiate hip extension, providing a powerful push forward that extends all the way down your posterior chain to the foot. This exercise helps you identify the origin of that movement while in a standing single-leg position. It also challenges balance.

How to do it: Begin by standing in a squat-ready position, with your feet hip-width distance apart. Shift your weight to one leg and extend the free leg behind you into a reverse lunge. Try to lower the back knee to within an inch of the floor and touch just the toes of that foot to the ground.ÌęThen engage your glutes and hamstrings on both sides to raise back up to the starting squat position with minimal back-foot contact time. This puts the bulk of the work on the front leg and should bias the glutes more than the quads. If you feel wobbly, reduce the distance of the reverse lunge or use two trekking poles for support. If it feels too easy, add free weights in both hands.

Volume: One to three sets of five to eight repetitions on each side, with two to three minutes of rest between sets. Perform this move one to three times per week.

Esther Smith, a doctor of physical therapy certified in Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy,Ìęhas specialized in treating athletes (specifically rock climbers) for the past decade. She is a storyteller, a mountain athlete, and a high-performance coach for the . You can find Smith’s written and video resources cataloged atÌę and learn more about her physical-therapy practice at .

The post 5 Moves to Engage and Strengthen Your Glutes and Triceps appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

Our bodies are a bit like buildings: the physical structure is constantly resisting gravity. Now, imagine a skyscraper with a collapsed foundation—it’s not just the ground floors that are compromised: the entire architecture is at stake. Our feet and anklesÌęare our foundation, and weaknesses here can lead to a host of issues elsewhere. Fallen arches—also known as overpronation—are a common source of local foot and ankle issues and can lead to issues further upstream, in the knees, hips, and spine.

Fixing Overpronation Is An Inside Job

Overpronation happens when the vertical, curved shape of our natural foot arch collapses while weight bearing. The structure of the hips naturally inclines the body to collapsed arches: the femur bones angle inward, from a wide pelvis to a more narrow base of support at the feet, exposing our bodies to forces that we have to combat with postural strength. Additionally, genetics, muscle and connective tissue weakness, alignment, and gait mechanics can all lead to fallen arches. Symptoms vary but include obvious pain, tendinitis, and numbness at the foot and ankle as well as more sneaky complaints up the kinetic chain like knee and hip pain.

Typically, overpronation goes hand-in-hand with excessive internal rotation of the femurs, which you can see in the video below. You can check out your alignment by referencing a couple of anatomical landmarks: the vertical tendons of the hamstring muscles behind your knees and the achilles tendons behind your ankles. These should be oriented straight back. With excessive internal rotation, you might see them angled slightly outward.

One common solution to overpronation is supportive shoe insoles, which fill the space of the arch and physically prevent it from collapsing. But that doesn’t address why the arch is falling in the first place. The hip muscles, specifically the external rotators, sit under the glute muscles and help reinforce the neutral position of the femurs and lower legs. Activating and strengthening these muscles supports good alignment through the lower body and can help naturally lift and support the arches. Over time, the human body’s intrinsic capacity to self-repair weak muscle, nerves, and connective tissue (including bone, ligaments, tendons, and fascia) allows us to make lasting changes to our structure. The below exercises will help you identify and maintain alignment through consistent strengthening and mobility work.

The Moves

Deep Hip External Rotator Activation: The Fingertip Lift

What it does: Engages the external hip rotators to align the anatomical landmarks we identified above and lift the arches. Helps build strength, elasticity, and resilience in the feet and ankles, knees, and hips.

How to do it: Stand barefoot and imagine that you have two flat discs under both of your feet. Engage the deep hip rotators by ‘spinning the discs’ without moving your feet. This will feel like a gentle twist of your left hip counterclockwise and your right hip clockwise. Your femurs should spin open into external rotation. Relax your quads—the effort should be coming from your hips. Maintain even pressure through the toes and the balls of your feet.

Your foot position should remain static except for a noticeable lift of the arch, enough to allow you to tuck your fingertips underneath your arch close to the front of your heel. Just go far enough to orient those tendon landmarksÌęin their ideal position—otherwise, you can overcorrect into supination, putting excessive weight on the outside of the foot and lifting off of the big toes. You may want the help of a mirror or a friend at first.

Volume: Do three to five repetitions of activating and relaxing. Perform this alignment several times per day, or whenever you find yourself standing.

The following moves are part of the Ground Force series from , where I work as a coach. They will help your body maintain the above structural alignments, and strengthen your foot and ankle complex all the way up to your hips, building a solid foundation for movement. Ditch your shoes for these exercises to get acquainted with muscles and connections in your feet and legs that you may have never felt before.

Foot Activation

What it does: Repairs the neuromuscular circuits from feet to brain, by activating dormant muscles of the foot and ankle.

How to do it: Stand barefoot with a corrected arch position. Then, activate the muscles of both feet by gripping the ground with your toes. It should feel like a quick snap that elevates your heels about a half-inch and brings you into an active forefoot stance. Keep your knees straight and soft, and avoid performing a calf raise—this should all originate with the feet. The gripping action should engage the achilles tendons, the calf muscles, the hamstrings, and the glutes. If you’re having a hard time performing this move, try placing a flat sheet of paper under your feet and attempting to scrunch it.

Volume: Perform one to three sets of five to fifteen repetitions. Perform this move often throughout the week.

Single Leg Forefoot Isometric Hold

What it does: Rebuilds the connective tissues of the foot and ankle, strengthens muscles from feet to trunk.

How to do it: Stand on one leg, shift your weight into your forefoot, curl your toes to grip the ground, and then lift your heel. Hold for 30 to 40 seconds. Use your free fingertips against a wall for balance if needed. You should feel the work in your feet, achilles tendons, calf muscles, and thighs. Your priority here is to keep your arch and your hips stable. Start with bodyweight, and add load in the form of a dumbbell or kettlebell if it feels too easy. If you opt to use weight, hold it in the same hand as the standing leg. Stop if you have any pain.

Volume: Perform one to three 30- to 40-second holds, resting for two minutes in between. Repeat two to four days a week.

Double-Leg Hop in Ground Force Foot Position

What it does: Promotes bone health, elasticity, and appropriate foot and ankle stiffness.

How to do it: Assume your active forefoot position with corrected arches. Stiffen your ankle joint, holding it firm, close to a right angle, and begin hopping with low amplitude. In this move you are attempting to train your feet and legs to endure quick dynamic forces in the active forefoot position so that you can better perform fast movements like running and bounding without overpronation. You also may begin to feel the springiness of your plantar fascia and achilles tendons that allows us to hop, jump, and run with elasticity. Adjust speed, height, and amplitude over time, as tolerated. Stop if you have any pain or fatigue.

Volume: Hop for 10 to 30Ìęseconds, then rest for a minute. Repeat one to three times. Do this between two and five times per week.

Single-Leg Squat on Box or Step

What it does: Builds strength and power by improving the integrity of your arches and alignment, and challenges your single-leg squat control and depth.

How to do it: You’ll need a step and a kettlebell or free weight for this move. Stand with one foot on the step, knee bent, and the other foot dangling in mid-air in front of you. Your standing foot should be flat, with corrected arch position. Hold the weight plumb under your shoulder and next to your hip on your standing-leg side. Hold your shoulders secure and your trunk upright. As you squat, only go as low as you can while maintaining alignment through the hip, knee, and arch. Then, stay low and pulse deeper with each repetition. Use your free fingertips against a wall for balance if needed. Choose a weight that allows you to perform six to eight repetitions without sacrificing your form. Good form is the priority, and you should feel this in the deep hip rotators, glutes, and hamstrings less than in your quads. Stop if you have any pain.

Volume: Two to five sets of six to eight repetitions, with two minutes of rest in between.

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We rely on our wrists for so much of what we do: using cellphones, typing, taking care of the yard, and crushing our gym workoutsÌęand weekend adventures. Rock climber and adventure photographerÌęSavannah Cummins knows this well. “I depend on my wrist for my daily life and my job,” she says. “I’ve always focused on my shoulders and fingers: how to manage pain, overuse, and traumatic injuries in these parts of my body. But I hadn’t put much thought into preventing a wrist injury.” Then, earlier this year, she underwent surgery on her wrist to repair damaged cartilage and bone from overuse and small, repetitive traumas.

Fortunately, you can build the integrity of your whole upper body to improve performance and resolve dysfunction in the wrist. Common injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome, triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) damage, and general pain and stiffness can all be addressed with similar strategies: understanding the anatomy of the wrist, learning how to soothe pain, and mobilizing and strengthening muscles and tendons from your fingertips to your shoulders. The moves below are preventative as well, helping you build a solid base of strength and mobility to help avoid injury in the future.Ìę

Understanding Wrist Ergonomics

The wrist is complex and delicate. Eight small, bead-like carpal bones connect to the two lower-arm bones—the ulna and the radius—and to the metacarpal bones of the hand. Numerous muscles, ligaments, tendons, and connective tissue sheaths course through this area, woven in with arteries, veins, lymph vessels, and nerves. Pain and injury in this high-demand area often stem from the bones and soft-tissue structures undergoing repetitive compression, friction, or strain due to everyday movements.

Proper wrist ergonomics is your first line of defense against injury, especially at your keyboard and when lifting or pushing anything, from strollers to groceries. In general, our joints benefit from proper alignment and maintaining the space between skeletal connections. This means avoiding unnecessary collapse or compression of the sensitive anatomical structures of the wrist. Our tendons, ligaments, and muscles are happiest when they’re gliding, contracting, and relaxing in healthy patterns. Proper alignment preserves the cartilage (which our body can’t grow more of) between the joints and prevents excess wear and tear over our lifetimes.

Whether we’re handling a cellphone or punching away at keys, we can do our wrists a favor by maintaining even, proper alignment in all aspects of the wrist. This ensures that certain areas aren’t constantly working overtime.

You can see that the problematic position in the photoÌęto the right involves a “rolled inward” shoulder joint and elbow joint center. The wrist is also bent, causing structures like the wrist and finger extensor and flexor tendons to have to work harder under excess strain. These imbalances lead to injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome.

Notice that in the proper position in the photo on the left, all sides of the wrist are even, so your aligned skeletal structure bears the load, rather than your soft tissues. (Certain products, like or an , can help with this.)

The Moves: Wrists and Forearms

Gradual progression is key to injury rehab. With wrists, it’s often best to start with isometric exercises, which involve keeping your joints still and contracting muscles from that static position. The stable position allows you to tolerate heavier loads, which helps with pain reduction and tissue remodeling. Loaded strengthening signals the body to repair damaged tissue and replace it with strong, well-aligned material, so you can get back to using your wrists without pain.

Make sure to stay light with the loads and avoid any discomfort. Immediately after performing these movements, your range of motion should increase or, at the very least, stay intact. If it’s reduced, then the exercise isn’t beneficial for you at this point in your recovery.

Isometric Wrist Extension

What it does: Helps restore range of motion, which is especially crucial with wrists because they tend to get stiff.

How to do it: Prop your elbow at 90 degrees, and focus on maintaining alignment at the wrist, arm, and shoulder; don’t collapse or pinch at any of the joints, and keep your shoulder, elbow, and wrist in the same plane. Choose a weight that you can hold stable for 45 to 60 seconds—if you can hold it for much longer, it’s too light. You can do this exercise kneeling or standing, depending on the height of the step, table, or chair you use to prop your arm.

Volume: One to three sets of three to five repetitions, with a 60-second rest between repetitions. You can spread these sets out throughout the day. Perform this sequence three to five days a week.

Isotonic Pronation and Supination

What it does: Challenges your ability to maintain a stable upper arm while isolating two motions of the lower arm called pronation (palm down) and supination (palm up). Try this exercise when your wrist can tolerate more dynamic motion with load.

How to do it: Prop your elbow at 90 degrees, and focus on maintaining alignment at the wrist, arm, and shoulder. Choose a levered weight with one lighter and one heavier end, like an adjustable dumbbell or a hammer, that you can rotate through the entire range of motion without breaking your form. Aim to stop a few repetitions before failure. The key with this exercise is to isolate the rotation feature of your forearm and maintain a stable shoulder and elbow, all while keeping the wrist in proper alignment during the entire range of motion. You can do this exercise kneeling or standing, depending on the height of the step, table, or chair you use to prop your arm.

Volume:ÌęPerform one to three sets of eight to ten repetitions in each direction, resting 60 seconds between sets. DoÌęthis sequence three to five days a week.

Band Spiderman

What it does: Lets you practice pushing and pulling through resistance while maintaining alignment in your upper arm and shoulder while performing full-arm reaching motions.

How to do it: Fold the band and grasp it with one hand six to eight inches from the looped end. Place the fingertips of your other hand in the center of the band. Begin with your palm facing downward and all fingers closed together in a “bird beak” shape, then press into the band from your whole arm, wrist, and fingers as you spread your hand wide and extend your arm fully forward. Return to the start position.

Volume: One to three sets of ten to 15 repetitions, three to five times a week.

Band Popeye Curl

How to do it: Fold an exercise band in half and grasp it six to 12 inches from the looped end. Extend the other arm forward at a 45-degree angle, with your palm up, and place those fingertips in the center of the band. Begin with all fingers in an open stretched-back position, then curl your hand into a fist against the resistance, moving steadily into a full biceps curl with your whole arm, wrist, and fingers. Keep resistance on the band as you slowly return to the start position.

Volume: One to three sets of ten to 15 repetitions, three to five times a week.

The Moves: Shoulder Support

Many forces drag us down into a forward and internally rotated shoulder position. This perpetuates abnormal stress and strain upstream and downstream, from the neck down to the wrists. The following exercises help to balance your shoulder and entire upper body, offsetting your repetitive patterns and aiding in injury prevention at your wrists.

Subscapularis Stretch

What it does: Stretches the front of your chest and the back of the armpit, where the subscapularis muscle is located.

How to do it: You’ll need a doorway and a tennis ball to perform this stretch. Place your forearm on the wall or door frame, and position the tennis ball just below the wrist, which helps to prop the shoulder in external rotation. Lunge gently through the doorway, and rotate your gaze, chest, and trunk away from the stretching shoulder. Hold for 30 to 60 seconds.

Volume: Perform one to three repetitions on each side, three to five days a week.

External Rotation with Band, Cable, or Weights

What it does: Strengthens the shoulder muscles through external rotation, opens the chest, and tones the back of the shoulders, all from a stable shoulder position.

How to do it: While standing, grasp the middle of a resistance band with your hands about six inches apart, palms up. Maintain a tall spine and focus on keeping your wrists aligned here as you pull the band apart, keeping your forearms level. Choose a resistance band that you can pull through the entire range of motion without breaking your form, and aim to stop a few reps before failure. You can also do this exercise using free weights, one arm at a time. Lay on one side on the ground, holding the weight in your upper arm and rotating it through the same motion.

Volume:ÌęPerform one to three sets of eight to ten reps, resting 60 seconds between sets. Do this exerciseÌęthree to five days a week.

Fists and Fingertips PlankÌę

What it does: Builds strength in the wrists, shoulders, and throughout the core and offers a good test of wrist recovery. If you can support your bodyweight in a strong plank without discomfort, both on your fingertips and from your fists, that’s a sign of good wrist health.

How to do it: Stack your hands directly under your shoulders, maintain your wrist and shoulder alignment across all aspects, and extend your feet into a high plank. Draw each hand into a fist or, for fingertips, lift until you’re holding your bodyweight on your fingertips, with your fingers splayed open for stability. Keep your shoulder blades firmly held across your back and engage your core by pulling your low belly in and up. Breathe. Hold for a few seconds to begin with and progress to 30-to-60-second holds as your wrists allow. You can make this exercise easier by elevating your hands on a step or a chair, which unloads some of the weight from your wrists.

Volume: One to three holds in each position, three to five times a week.

Our wrists help us to navigate and perform in this demanding world. When dealing with pain or injury, give your body the benefit of the doubt that it is capable of healing—you just need to supply the appropriate environment and stimulus.

“The healing process is fascinating to me,” Cummins says.” “With the right tools, healthy eating, proper sleep,Ìęand a good physical therapist, I experience improvement almost every day.”

Esther Smith, DPT, Cert. MDT, is a doctor of physical therapy who has specialized in treating athletes, specifically rock climbers, for the past decade. She is a storyteller, a mountain athlete, and a high-performance coach for . You can find Smith’s written and video resources catalogued on and learn more about her physical therapy practice at .

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