Knees Archives | Page 3 of 35

Hips & Ankles: January 4

First Monday of 2021, let’s go! For your low back and knees to feel their best, we need to work on your almighty hip flexors. Tight hip flexors can and usually do lead to low back and or knee pain and injury. The hip flexor rotation movement in today’s routine is one of the most effective out there!

Equipment needed: 1. Couch, Box, Bench, or Wall. Basically something to put your back leg against for a couch stretch rotation technique. 2. Padded Mat. It’s a great day to move well! Today we are working on the flexibility, mobility, and stability of your hips and ankles.

We are starting off with a couch stretch end-range stretch activation technique to stretch out and activate your hip flexors. There are two options here: 1) Come up into a full lunge/half kneeling position. This can be difficult for a lot of people, so use the second option. 2) Leave your front knee on the ground. Your goal from here is to keep your abs engaged, and to not let your low back arch. Next rotate as much as possible to one side and then the other. Next we are working on an end-range stretch activation movement for your inner thigh muscles aka adductor muscles. The key with this one is to continue to drive your heel into the ground as you push your hips back. You are activating your adductor muscles, while you stretch them out. We are finishing up with an ankle end-range stretch isometric technique. This one will get your quads activating as well.

Flow: January 3

Three Flow days in a row! What?! Yep, another amazing Movement Vault Flow routine to start 2021 off the right way. 2021 is the year to be nimble yet strong, and most of all resilient. If we have learned anything from 2020, it is that the more resilient our bodies are, the healthier we will be. Great health = Feeling great! Let’s get your joints, muscles, fascia, and ligaments resilient and feeling great!

Equipment needed: 1. Padded mat. Today is a flow day! We are working on just about everything today. We have two flow days per week as part of the Movement Vault program.

Flow: January 2

Day 2 of your restart! And if you never “stopped”, then just keep doing what you are doing. For those that were a little ehhhh in 2020, no worries. The first step is to analyze, and then iterate. Essentially this means asking yourself “Are my actions matching up to what I want to achieve aka my goals?” If so, keep it up! If not, it’s time to switch it up, become more consistent, etc. The key with anything and especially the Movement Vault program is staying consistent. And more so, consistently performing effective techniques. We’ve got your back, hips, shoulders and every other joint in 2021!

Equipment needed: 1. Padded mat. Today is a flow day! We are working on just about area of your body today. We have two flow days per week as part of the Movement Vault program.

Flow: January 1, 2021!

Happy New Year!!! 2020 is behind us and 2021 is right here, right now. It’s a new year and a new beginning if you chose to make it so. The new year is a great time to check in with yourself and note the things that are working for you and those that are not. It’s also a great time to reevaluate your goals. If one of your goals is to feel amazing, move amazing, and continue to improve your performance in your day to day life, in the gym, and in your sport, you are in the best place. I alluded to it yesterday, Movement Vault has big things launching in early 2021. Stay tuned!

We are starting the new year off with a standing flow day. We are switching it up this weekend and having a full flow weekend. We are starting with a standing flow routine because we / you are not sitting 2021 out. No excuses in 2021. We are getting after it!

Equipment needed: 1. Padded mat. Today is a flow day! We are working on just about every area of your body today. We have two flow days per week as part of the Movement Vault program. We love to hear from you guys and the social media love! Take a pic or video doing Movement Vault, or doing something Movement Vault is helping you do better and tag us in it on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter @movementvault. Get it guys!

Hips & Upper Body: December 31

It’s the last Movement Vault routine of the year! Wow, has it been a crazy year to say the least. No matter what happened for good or for worse, you stuck with it and continued to give your body exactly what it needed in the form of precise body maintenance. Give yourself a huge high five because you deserve it! And your body loves you for it. You are now in the perfect condition to start 2021 feeling great. I’m sending you a huge digital high five as well!

We are finishing 2020 with a sitting splits routine because let’s face it, 2020 had us all feeling like we were in the splits. We have some very exciting news that you will know about in the beginning of 2021. We can’t give specifics yet, but it’s going to be amazing!

Equipment needed: 1. Padded Mat (optional). Today we are working from the sitting splits position aka straddle position. We are working on just about everything today, but focusing in on the flexibility, mobility, and stability of the hips and upper body. We are incorporating four different stretch and activation techniques while in the sitting splits position. During this routine, focus on slow and controlled movement. Really focus on quality movement and putting your “brain” in the muscle / area of the body that you are moving.

Hips & Ankles: December 30

It’s time to get fired up! More specifically, it’s time to fire up your glute activation. Your glutes are the group of muscles that make up your butt. Let’s face it, everyone likes strong glutes, it’s an evolutionary thing. The issue is there are a lot of weak glutes “floating” around out there, specifically your gluteus medius, which is located on the side of your hip. We are going to work on all the glute activation today!

Equipment needed: 1. Padded Mat (optional). We are getting your gluts and hip rotators firing today! We are working on the flexibility, mobility, and stability of your hips and ankles.

We are starting off with an end-range stretch rotation activation movement. The key with this one is to stretch out your hip as far out to the side as possible. Once here, rotate your hip in both directions. If you experience any pinching in your hip, decrease the amount that you flex your hip out to the side. We are then moving on to hip fire hydrant holds. Fight to lift your leg as high as possible. We are finishing up with a core and ankle movement to open up the front of your ankles. Think about kicking your back leg into the ground. Have fun!

Full Body: December 29

It’s time to move and groove. It’s time to give your joints exactly what they need in the form of full range of motion activation techniques. Your joints, specifically the cartilage in your joints, receive their nutrition through a pumping action of a fluid that is filled with nutrients. You need this fluid to pump into and reach every corner of your joints. Let’s pump some nutrition for your joints today!

Equipment needed: 1. Padded Mat (optional). A shortie, but a goodie today! Today we are working on the flexibility, mobility, and stability of your entire body. Each movement today is all about range of motion and activation. You goal is to put as much focus and concentration with each movement. Try to take each of your joints through it’s absolute full range of motion. If you have pain in a specific range of motion, you should avoid this range, and just move through your pain free range. Get it guys!

Hips & Back: December 28

Happy Monday MV Fam! We’ve got another action packed routine that is sure to get your Monday off to a great start and help your body prep for the new year. This is a great routine for all of you runners out there as well a great deadlift prep routine. Basically, if you have hips and a spine, you need this routine today.

Equipment needed: 1. Foam Roller. 2. Padded Mat. Today we are working on the flexibility, mobility, and stability of your hips and back. We are starting off with a muscle/fascia release for your hamstrings. Next, we are moving on to end-range stretch isometrics for your hamstrings. The key with these are to push your hips back as far as possible to get into your maximal stretch before starting to contract these muscles. Next we have end-range stretch isometrics in a 90/90 position. Remember when you are folding over your front leg, keep your belly button pointed toward your ankle. We are finishing up with a movement that will activate all of your muscles that surround your spine and will stretch out every spinal vertebrae. The key is to move one spinal vertebrae at a time as if you are making a wave of motion up and down your back. Have fun guys!

Flow: December 27

It’s time for another cool….refreshing…Movement Vault routine. You know that feeling when you get done with your Movement Vault flow? Your joints feel like joints again, and your body moves like you know it should. Oh and I forgot to mention you feel like you can do anything and everything. Yep, you are going to feel that way in about 15 minutes. Have fun!

Flow day! Equipment needed: 1. Padded mat. Today is a flow day! We are working on just about everything today. We have two flow days per week as part of the Movement Vault program. We love to hear from you guys and the social media love!

Shoulders & Back: December 26

Power Saturday Movement Vault style. At this point in your busy holiday schedule, your rhomboid muscles definitely need some love!

Equipment needed: 1. Mobility ball or lacrosse ball. 2. Padded Mat (optional). We’ve got an action packed routine for you today! We are working on the flexibility, mobility, and stability of your shoulders and back.

We are starting off with a muscle/fascia release for your rhomboid muscles. These are the muscles in between your shoulder blade and spine. Explore around and find the areas that you need to spend time on. And remember the active punching portion is very important, punch to the sky. We are then working on shoulder end-range stretch isometrics to increase your overhead position. Make sure to stretch your shoulder out maximally without pain before you start the activation. We are finishing up with a stretch and activation movement for your low back and upper body. Focus on squeezing and activating all of the muscles on one side of your body as the other side stretched out.

Ankles & Hips: December 25

Happy Holidays MV Fam! This is the time of year to relax, recover, eat a lot of delicious (and hopefully somewhat healthy) food, and most important of all, work on and improve your hip flexor mobility. Mobility is the foundation for everything we do in life and in the gym. Let’s go!

Hip Flexors take all the blame. This is for good reason, but not always warranted. Most people think that they have tight hip flexors. This could very well be the case. It could also be the case that your hip flexors are weak and it usually is. This is why passive stretching alone is not effective at improve your “tight” hip flexors. This is why we are going to maximally stretch out and improve the strength of your hip flexor muscles.

Equipment needed: 1. Mobility ball or lacrosse ball. 2. Padded Mat. Today we are working on the flexibility, mobility, and stability of your ankles and hips.

We are starting off with a muscle / fascia release for the front of your ankle muscles. This will help decrease the tightness in the front of your ankle, freeing up your ankle so that it can move well in all directions. Next we are maximally stretching out these same muscles and then contracting them while they are being maximally stretched out. This technique is called end-range of motion isometric contractions. Do your best to maintain a maximally stretch while maximally contracting these muscles. We are finishing up with a stretch and activation movement for the front of your hips aka your hip flexors and the front of your ankles. If this is too challenging for your balance, hold on to a wall or piece of furniture for support. Also, make sure to keep your core muscles engaged so that you don’t arch your lower back.

Flow: December 24

When you’re down with the flow, you’re in the know. And you know you are in the right place with Movement Vault.

Equipment needed: 1. Padded mat. Today is a 90/90 focused flow day! We are working on just about every area of your body today. We have two flow days per week as part of the Movement Vault program.