Welcome to Day B of Phase 1 of your Homeworkout. Let's dive into the separate exercise descriptions straight away:
A Step ups
Position yourself in front of a stable chair, stair step or any other stable object / furniture that is not higher than knee height and can support your full body weight without breaking.
Position one leg onto the object and step up while keeping a stable and tense body. Try balancing your body mass over your active foot (the one on the object).
It is crucial that you keep your balance and don't tip forward with your upper body.
You can hold extra weights in each of your hands to allow for better balance and more challenge.
Once you finish the step up try lowering yourself in a controlled way and repeat for the intended amount of reps.
B Kneeling Pushups
Set yourself up in a pushup position but instead of having your toes on the ground you use your knees as a contact point. For comfort reasons it is advisable to put a folded towel or mat under your knee caps. Your hands are approximately shoulder-width apart and your arms are vertically extended under your chest. Keep your body and especially your core tense.
Lower yourself in a controlled way by bending your elbows till your chest is a bandwidth away from the floor.
Reverse and push your self back up while making sure that your hips and chest travel at the same pace while keeping alignment (= no bending or arching at the lower back).
C Hip Thrust
Place your shoulderblades on the edge of a couch, comfort chair or edge of a bed and bend your knees while having your feet flat on the ground.
Thrust your hip up by contracting your glutes and pushing through your heels. Your hips should now be on a horizontal line with your knees and chest while your lower leg should be vertical (= 90 degrees behind your knees).
Make sure to drive your buttocks up by driving from your hip muscles and not your lower back. If you find your lower back arched at the top position try rounding your shoulders slightly.
Hold the top position for around 2-3 seconds and then lower yourself back down under control.
D Bent over "Y" and "T"
In order to execute this circuit set of "T's" and "Y's" set yourself up in a bent over position and let your arms hang down vertically. You can grab small weights like 0,3 or 0,5 l water bottles.
For the "Y's": pull your straight arms up into an overhead position and hold there shortly.
For the "T's": pull your straight arms up towards your sides into an abducted position (= 90 degrees at your arm pits) and hold the tension shortly.
Each time lower the arms back down slowly and controlled.
E Plank
Support your body on your forearms while having your elbows under your shoulders and your body ~ parallel to the floor. Besides your forearms your toes are the only other contact point with the floor.
Engage your core and maintain full body tension in order to have your body aligned in a way that draws an imaginary straight line from your heels, through your hips to your head.
Hold this position for the given amount of time.
In order to avoid an arched back or hip sac keep your glutes engaged and squeezed.