This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in April of 2023. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/kpJgcExIF7Y
Mike: Want to improve your posture, strengthen your legs, and alleviate pain in your back, hips, and knees?
Brad: We have seven daily exercises that you can do and they're specific so that they're going to improve your posture and get you stronger so you not only feel strong, but you look incredible. What do you say to that? It's true. Good posture, you look better. Yeah.
Mike: Onward and forward. The first exercise we're going to show you is called the split squat, which we've talked about many times. You can do this many variations, but you're going to put one foot forward, one foot back, you support if needed and you're going to go down. You can touch your knee to the floor if you need. Don't ram it into the floor hard though, and go nice and controlled. Just try to do 10 reps if you can on each leg. Switch after 10 and you're going to get a good single leg strengthening aspect to this exercise.
Brad: We get some stretching on the hip flexor of the back leg as well, so it's a really nice complete exercise for the legs and hip. The next one is snow angels. It's going to be done on the floor, carpeted or hard floor. Take a sock, roll it up, and you're going to put that right below your neck and this is going to help your posture and mobilize the thoracic spine and the upper area between the scapula.
Brad: It feels good. Simply lie and relax. Bring your hand up over your head if you can keep your hands dragging on the floor. Now my left shoulder was tight for a while and it would literally come off the floor and I'd feel a stretch, but after working on it for the last month or so, I can go flat to the floor and I'm very happy. Typically 10 repetitions is all you're going to want to do. You can do more if you'd like.
Mike: So the next exercise is actually a stretch. So you lay down on your back and you're going to start with both knees to your chest, making sure your back feels comfortable. You're going to scoot to the edge of the mat, however much you can, and feel safe. Then you're going to lower one leg down while keeping the other knee towards your chest. You're going to try to hold this for 30 seconds.
Brad: So you notice he's bringing his foot under the table. That helps stretch the hip flexors and thigh. This is going to be done on the edge of your bed. So you can obviously accomplish this or you could try it on a table if you've got a good solid table.
Mike: Yes. Then you're going to bring both knees back to the chest and then switch legs. You could do two sets of 30 seconds on each leg.
Brad: Relax and breathe with all of these right from the beginning. All right, the next stretch is the doorway stretch. If you're not tall enough, as you'll see, you'll use a broomstick, a dolly, or Booyah stik. So you'll see it very briefly.
Mike: Okay, the first exercise we're going to do is actually a stretch. So what you're going to do is bring your arm up to the top of the door frame. You're going to push into the top of the doorway and then you're going to lean into it. Try to get that shoulder blade to go back up in place. You could hold this for 10 seconds or so and then come out and try to do that three to four times.
Brad: I just want to explain why this works. So here we've got his shoulder blade and he's going to actually drop his weight down. This is going to pull the shoulder blade up, stretching these muscles, allowing that shoulder blade to get up where it needs to be so we don't have that impingement and those other irritants going on causing that shoulder pain. How do you feel, Mike?
Mike: I feel good. Now we're going to show you another option if you can't lift your shoulder this high.
Brad: Or if you've got a really tall door.
Mike: Or if you're short.
Brad: Yeah, yeah.
Mike: Okay. An alternative is if you can't reach up to a doorway or your shoulder pain is limiting you, go as high as you can on a stick, mop handle, broom handle, or whatever. You could be sitting or standing for this and then try to lean into it. It's the same exact concept. Take it away, Brad.
Brad: Yes. The mop is a little short, so if I do it seated, it's too short. So you can put it up on the table or the cupboard and reach up as far as you can. I'm going to drop down and that's stretching the muscles, allowing that shoulder blade to get up where it belongs. Again, five to 10 seconds, three to four repetitions, and do it four or five times a day.
Mike: The next exercise is wall slides. You'll need a wall for this. Put your thumbs up, pinkies touching the wall, and go straight up the wall as you can tolerate, and then come back down.
Brad: Now there are a few things that you really need to focus on with this. You're not going to be pressing hard into the wall. It's a gentle slide up, very little, just a touch. Now when you start to go up, there's one thing you need to focus on and we're looking at the scapula here. Now, lift up your shoulder blades. So you elevate the shoulder blades. I want you to think about that and come back down. This is kind of hard to visually see. Let's tighten up that. Now, elevate the shoulder. There you go. Right there. You'll feel your scapula actually move across your rib cage when you do that. 10 repetitions are good. Great for posture, and neck pain, if you have headaches, all these can be helpful because of repositioning the shoulder blade with this exercise.
Mike: The soldier blade.
Brad: All right, sideways walking. For this, we're going to walk sideways obviously, but we want to have soft knees. In other words, flex the knees. Get in a good posture. You can put your hands on your hip and do this without resistance like I'm demonstrating now. 10 to 15 feet to the left, 10 to 15 feet to the right. If you want more resistance, and some of you will, you may want to get a loop band like Mike has. Go ahead. Show them how to do it.
Mike: I have a little booty band. Make sure it is taut, not slack. Bring your knees out and you're going to step sideways. Obviously, my range of motion is going to be a little bit smaller than Brad's because this has resistance to it, so it's kind of hard. I'm feeling the burn here.
Brad: This specifically strengthens the hip abductors, which is great for your gait, your stability, and walking as well as that lower back. You can do it if you have regular resistance bands, works great. If you want to get a little more resistance, you can pull it up or reposition your feet and that makes a big difference. You'll clearly feel these muscles burn after just a minute or two of doing that.
Mike: Also great for line dancing. The last exercise we're going to do is called glute pumps. So you're going to get on all fours or you can get on your elbows as well, depending on what's comfortable for you. You're going to kick your butt up towards the ceiling, but you're not going to go through the full range of motion. You're going to pick a range in here and just kind of isolate it and go up and down. Try to do 30 repetitions in total.
Brad: A little key on this one to isolate the glute is to rotate your heel or your leg in and then do it. You get a little more isolation into that glute, which is helpful. If you don't want to go in this position, you can go up to a cupboard or a table, and again, do the same thing. I'm going to rotate that femur, externally rotate it, and work those small isolated, kind of like doing plyometrics, but it's not really. Do that for 15 to 30 seconds. Feel those glutes burn.
Brad: All right, there you go. That's seven exercises altogether. Do them all, or you may not want to do all of them, but you can do them at least once a day. Some of them you can do throughout the day.
Mike: Yes, and make sure to be healthy.
Brad: Be happy.
Mike: And be helpful
Brad: And?
Mike: Be careful.
Brad: Yeah, goodbye. It was a good time.
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