Update
LIFESTYLE NEWS - Exercise is one of the ways to improve your physical wellbeing and it aids in great measure to get rid of ailments, aches and pains.
Follow the exercise programme provided by the biokineticists at Anine van der Westhuizen Biokineticist in George and feel the difference.
Biokineticist Lana Laubscher continues the series on hip stabilisation exercises.
This week we will move back to the floor again, into a "bridge" position.
This exercise is very similar to the previously discussed bridge exercise, but it comes with a twist, by activating different parts of the bum muscles.
To do this exercise you have to:
Lie down on your back (preferably on a hard surface, not your bed);
Bend your knees so that there is approximately 30cm between your heel and your bum;
Be sure that your feet are facing forward and about a fist width apart;
Place a small ball between your knees (if you don't have one, you can use an alternative, e.g. a pillow folded double);
Place your hands at your sides;
Now connect / activate your glutes one at a time (in other words, don't just clench your bum cheeks together);
Keep your glutes activated and use them to lift your hips up from the floor, squeezing the ball while lifting;
Focus on your left bum activation and put more pressure through your left heel (without lifting your toes). Then straighten your right leg, keeping the ball squeezed;
You will find that your whole left bum has to work very hard to maintain your hips in a lifted position and horizontal to each other at the same time.
Try to hold this position for 5 seconds and then switch over to the other side.
If you can't hold it for 5 seconds, do it for a shorter time and build up until you are strong enough to get to 5 seconds.
If you feel that 5 seconds aren't really doing anything for you, try 10 seconds or more.
It is not better to hold the position for longer if you lose your form (neutral position) in the process, so always make sure you hold the neutral position as perfectly as you possibly can.
With this exercise you use a little bit more of your gluteus medius (the side bum muscle), and you also activate your adductors (inner thighs) and medial (inner) hamstrings by squeezing the ball.
Read related articles:
- Keep the glutes going: Hip extension
- Keep the glutes going and strengthen them
- Keep the glutes going and make them stronger
- Now keep the glutes going continued
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