Getting Off the Fitness & Fat Roller Coaster

Why do You Stop Exercising?

Here are a few common experiences that can put a halt to it. Jane poured her heart into a routine with good intentions, but never found just the right thing and gave up. Susan found the exact wrong thing for her body shape and alignment. Lacking results, nursing aches and pains, and feeling bulky rather than fit she got turned off and stopped!

What you, Jane, and Susan may have in common is the lack of a personal connection to exercise that is grounded in your personal body image. Into this void has flowed a torrent of quick tips, non-specific information, bogus claims, and sales images. Feeding off of your insecurities and competiveness, your rational mind has turned into a consumer mind. You may have forgotten to connect the dots back to you. The INLINE Art of Exercise will provide you those dots.

Fat Can Make You Irrational

Do your anxious attempts to rid fat from your body like an alien parasite make you act irrationally? During the thousands of hours I have spent with clients, fat has revealed itself as the greatest unbalancing obsession.

The story very often goes like this:

Despite the reasons Jane at first allows fat into her life, its mere existence drives her to extreme emotional lows and calorie highs. It compels drastic self punishing solutions that reprimand her over indulgent inner child. Sometimes it sends her to an authoritarian figure for boot camp workouts.

Even if she gets results, the fat disguises them and she can’t enjoy exercise because she feels she has to flog herself over her lack of perfection. Each and every time she looks in the mirror and sees that fat and her imperfect body, she changes her exercise plans in search of a faster solution. How can any rational decision be made while this cycle is occurring? So I provide Jane a revolutionary way of seeing herself that stops the insanity. I will do the same for you.

Fat vs. Girth

Much of the girth of your body under the thinner top layers of fat can be overly enlarged muscle and tissue called fascia. Fascia combines with muscle in response to overuse and creates regions of thick and immobile tissue. It also tends to make muscles look bumpy and bulky. Amongst other areas, it is extremely common on the tops and side of the hips. Once you understand where and how your body naturally bulks up and why, you will be able to make exercise choices that give you total sculpting control.

Momentary Suspension

So let’s suspend the fat issue for the moment. Just long enough for you to become motivated by the amazing changes you can make to your true body shape, if you focus and have some patience. Once you are on the right path, we will then decide the best combination of resistance training, aerobic exercise, and nutritional habits that will keep you trim, INLINE, and in the game.

How Thighs Get Bigger: Run, Jump, Squat, Lunge, Don’t Stretch

The female hip flexor and upper quad muscles have an amazing ability to produce power and (to many women’s dismay) girth.  In the majority of modern weightlifting programs and classes, and on the well pounded sidewalks of every major city the upper thigh dominates in motion.  It becomes thick and knotted, and shuts down effective use of the lower stabilizers of the knee, the hamstrings, inner thigh, and butt muscles.  One of your friends may possess the notorious thick thigh flat butt outcome.

As the quad/hip flexor group becomes stiff and glued on its lateral edges to the IT Band it exerts terrific pressure on the knee, changes the knee cap tracking angle and contributes to “crepitus” – otherwise known as “crunchy-poppies”.  Every day I release another woman from the “grip” of her upper thighs, flatten her front, and retrain her how to use her other leg and butt muscles without bulking her thighs.

The correction techniques are many but first you should learn how to PREVENT the problem.

Disclaimer:  This program is a facetious example of what NOT TO DO. It is an amalgam of the many crazy behaviors I see every day and often rescue people from.  Take these 10 steps to blow up your upper hips and quads like a power lifter, tighten up your IT bands so bad your knees buckle in, and if you’re lucky give you “cankles” in the process!

1.) Begin by waking up tight from yesterday’s run and workout, skip a stretch, and drive to work during rush hour with short hamstrings and tensing your quads in response to the stress.

2.) Sit at your desk all day with shortened hip flexors and hamstrings and in slumped over posture.

3.) Drive home from work in rush hour traffic, squeeze your quads some more, and pump that brake foot extra hard.

4.) Change into your running clothes, skip a stretch, and run to your gym with the same muscles you have been shortening all day.  (Ignore the pain creeping up your shins into your knees and back)

5.) Get to the gym and start with some weighted squats, followed immediately by power box jumps, and then weighted medicine ball squat tosses. (Or just do Cross Fit)

6.) Grab the dumbbells and start walking lunges being sure not to use your butt or hamstrings in the movement, focus on the searing pain in the middle of your hip and quad.

7.) Lay on the floor (or use the hanging leg raise chair) and do straight leg raises with minimal abdominal activation and pulling mainly with your hip flexors.

8.) Convince yourself more is better and skip any kind of stretch in favor a few more walking lunges so that you can have dessert later.

9.) Go home and eat your dinner and your dessert.  Then convince yourself that the pain of the walking lunges has to be worth two servings and have a second!

10.) Go to bed without stretching and feeling guilty about your second dessert serving.  Set your alarm early for a morning run to try and burn it off!  Go Back to 1.

For a great alternative example of what TO DO for long lean balanced legs see the video INLINE Slider Exercises for Butt, Hamstrings, & Inner Thighs http://youtu.be/4zcMhINX-3Q

Before Choosing a Trainer Consider This

The mainstream fitness icons that many trainers emulate are utterly useless and damaging to most potential clients.  Especially in vogue are boot camps and want-to-be athlete training programs and trainers, each containing more “Insanity” , “X’s, “Bells”, or “Pump” than the next.

Hasty, haphazard, and high intensity exercise without regard to form or purpose becomes simply a test of pain tolerance.  Exercise does involve muscular breakdown, recovery, and adaptation.  Yet, you must ask yourself, what should you break down and why?  Will you break down the right muscles to reach your goals or are you injuring joints? Can you recover positively without undo side effect?  Do your muscles adapt to the stresses in the manner you intend? Or do you create imbalances that make you look unattractive?

In an effort to simply lose a few pounds you may lift way too many weights with poor form and beat yourself  into the ground. Ending up tight, bulky, lumpy, and shortened is probably not the “result”  you were looking for.  If you want to be “tough” then train with America’s toughest trainer.  If  you want a beautiful body then seek out a body artist.

Alas, even the more “gentle” forms of exercise can create injury when the trainee gets wrapped up in “doing” the exercise rather than adapting it to the needs of their body.   This issue was recently addressed in the New York Times Magazine   | January 08, 2012 How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body  ,By WILLIAM J. BROAD  The author proposes, “Popped ribs, brain injuries, blinding pain. Are the healing rewards worth the risks?”

However, it is not Yoga, Pilates, weightlifting, or athletic conditioning that is “bad”.  Exercise only becomes “bad” when it is poorly applied to one’s body alignment.  An ego that strives for prideful short-term achievement while sacrificing the integrity of the body’s tissue creates “bad” exercise.

Without knowledge of one’s unique shape and how it should look when enhanced by exercise, people blindly plod forward into number goals and mimicry.  Too often people imitate the workouts of others and think they will get the same result.  Then when it doesn’t work they just do more!  What is missed entirely in most programs is the ART of applying exercise to any given shape or form.

Simply stated, your body alignment creates your shape.  If you try to force your hourglass shape through a square shape exercise program you may wind up looking and feeling very unhappy.  You may also get injured in the process.  Unfortunately, most people don’t know what shape they are, what shape they could be, and what exercises will get them there.  Most trainers don’t either.  Most only see the surface.  They can see the paint but not the painting.

The ability to undo compensations and create a specific shape through exercise is a process that involves study, experience, talent, and honed intuition.   Your trainer should possess these qualities.   They should also be able to motivate you by involving you in the vision.  Both of you must believe that your body is a work of art in process!

The world’s gyms are filled with under experienced part-time trainers who will be doing something else in few years.  Most of them have achieved a novice level, knowing mainly how to train themselves with fair to even great result.  But they may be light years away from knowing how to analyze the postural shape of a new client and develop a vision for them.

To find out if your trainer has moved beyond the novice/ apprentice level of training and is perhaps a a true body artist ask a few questions.

1.)    How will you help me lose weight?  If they plan on trying to “beat” the weight off you using resistance exercise and pounding cardio this is a red flag.  Weight lifting is to become stronger or sculpt your muscles. Cardio is to train your cardiovascular system.  Any fat loss benefit is strictly secondary to these purposes.  Your trainer may bankrupt your body trying to cash the checks your mouth can write.  Address fat loss at the point of intake!  Discover your daily metabolism and make the dietary changes necessary.  Check out bodymedia.com

2.)    When I train my legs with too many squats and lunges my pants fit tighter in the front, how can I avoid that but still create tone?  They may suggest that you just don’t do them and do other exercises.  The best answer is to modify them so that you work the weaker muscles (hamstrings and glutes) and not the stronger ones (quads and hip flexors).

3.)    I sit at a desk all day do you think that affects my upper body tone?  The obvious answer is yes because you are not exercising.  But more importantly, fixing your posture is the key to getting muscle control and the tone.  They should speak about opening your chest, lowering your shoulders, raising your head and rib cage, and stabilizing your scapula.

4.)    Even though I have some fat to lose I feel like I am losing my waistline over the years.  How does that happen?  Can you fix it?  If they say you should do side bending exercises with weights, run! The correct answer is you may have a loss of postural support that is causing your rib cage to move closer to your pelvis.  Create core strength that supports a long upright posture and you may gain it back.

After just a few questions you will have enough information to proceed with caution.  Don’t be afraid to back out, the cost of moving in the wrong direction can be high.  You may decide to continue your search for a potential body artist right away.

Until the INLINE Art of Exercise has reached more trainers I only have a few recommendations.  There are few that I trust beyond Pilates instructors.  So let’s start with them:  Lisa Johnson in Boston, Brooke Siler and crew at Re:AB Pilates in NY, Katy Striebinger and Gloria Tremonti in Chicago, Vanessa Pinkham in Johannesburg.   Trainers in the D.C. area:  Aaron Sterling, Shane Harris, and Chris Radousakis at Sterling in Adams Morgan.  And of course if you are ever in Maryland come see me and my team at INLINE Private Training!  I hope to add to this list soon.  Meanwhile, I will just have to teach you to help yourself!

The Truth About Lengthened Muscles : Part 1

INLINE Lengthened Resistance Training™ with Josh Kirk

You will often hear that certain types of training creates long lean muscles.  Soon afterwards an offended weightlifter may declare “you cannot make muscles longer!”.  Soon the conversation descends into muscle builder vs. Pilates / Yoga types clamoring for positions on who is correct.  In part one of this blog I hope to reach a peace by using a broadened vision of what muscle length really means to the body.  In part 2 I will address the word “lean”, discuss fat vs. girth, and the aesthetic appeal of balance.

It is true that the potential length of any muscle is finite.  A muscle will only stretch so far before tearing.  You are limited as to the distance your bones can move away from each other.

However, there are many shorter lengths your muscles can assume.  Your muscle length at any moment determines how far one bone is away from another.  The sum of all your muscle lengths and bone to bone distances results in your posture.  Your standing posture at rest defines your actual muscle lengths, not your potential lengths.

When you assume a shortened posture many of your potential muscle lengths are also reduced.  Simply put; you slouch, your bones move together, and your muscles are shorter than they otherwise could be.

The longer you stay in an abridged posture the stiffer your muscles become and your potential for muscle length and upright posture is decreased.  If you develop muscle girth while living with daily poor posture, the effect is enhanced.

Necks get lost in upper backs, knees flex too much or hyper-extend backwards, shoulders roll in and chests collapse, rib cages fall and stomachs pooch.  The results of overly short or slack muscles are reflected in the human postural imbalances all around you. Unfortunately, these imbalances are rarely taken into account by many fitness programs.

If you train for muscle balance, emphasize strength in a lengthened position, and maintain optimal posture your muscles will exist in a longer state.  It is correct to say that the full potential length of the muscle is unchanged by training.  But we exist not at our potential, only varying degrees of it.  Thus, what you see is what you get.

Among other training modes, INLINE Lengthened Resistance Training ™ and Pilates have optimal muscle length, strength, and posture at the core of their purpose.  They will help you unravel your individual muscle and posture potential.

Fashion Model Imitation: A Quick Path to Aging

Question: other than these mannequins missing the tops of their heads what is wrong with this picture?  No, it’s not their brilliantly white skin either; it’s their deplorable posture and resulting body shape!  Maybe their sense of attractiveness was lost with the tops of their heads…

I don’t understand the “hip thrust forward, upper back hunch allure” promoted by models and the fashion industry.  Thrusting your pelvic femininity forward may scream “I’m a skinny fashionista hear me roar!” , but it certainly doesn’t make the clothes look any better.

Bottom line:  this type of  posture looks awful and teaches damaging habits to young women who don’t know any better.

If a potential client walked in after years of assuming this posture I would (in my mind) declare them a total train wreck.  Most likely they will have lost muscle tone and usable tension in the majority of their muscle groups.  Depending on their age they may have the beginnings of the dreaded Dowager’s hump.

Tell me which of these pictures most resembles the mannequin?

The 3^rd one, scary right?  But such is the fate of the once young and intrepid fashion model imitator.

Even in a young client their rib cage will have slid down into their pelvis causing a total loss of ab tone and pretty good size “beginner’s pooch”.  The hip thrust forward position causes butt muscles to lose tone creating an excruciatingly flat bottom.  Rounded shoulders and unstable scapula typically result in “spaghetti arms”.

What about that neck craning forward?  In fitness and orthopedic terms (and all fitness is orthopedic) it’s an indicator for possible TMJ, pinched nerves, spinal stenosis, and pre-cursor to rotator cuff injuries.  Like I said train wreck and high liability!

Luckily, I had a moment to consult with the half headed mannequins as my wife and I were Christmas shopping (she pretended she didn’t know me as I took pictures).  We agreed they would now display their audacity by finding the top half of their heads, holding it up high, and keeping their hips underneath it.

Being stuck in one place they don’t like to work out much, but once I explained that using the INLINE Art of Exercise they would remain younger and sexier for much longer I walked away with two new clients!

Avoid Shopper’s Back & Be Joyous

Last week one of my clients arrived for her training session looking like a young female version of Quasimodo.  I was shocked! She was limping and leaning to one side and her shoulders were completely out of level.  It was definitely not her best look.  As we stretched her story unfolded.

She had spent the weekend shopping with her girlfriend in New York.  This sounded tiring but didn’t fully explain her tightness and pain.  So using a little body and talk therapy we discovered the habits and postures that had created her personal version of “shopper’s back”.  This blog contains our findings…

Shopping is no doubt a physical and emotional event you should prepare for!  It can be a lot of fun too, but mainly when you’re winning.  When you’re losing you may start to stress, get achy, and become inefficient in your search for gift perfection.  After long hours you may become a candidate for “shopper’s back”, which is best described as leg tightness, sore back, and a bow of your body to one side. You may also have a real pain in the neck (that is not related to you).

To stay balanced in mind, body, time, and wallet there are a few physical things you should consider when shopping:

1.)    Being on your feet for long periods of time, often in confined spaces.

2.)    Swaying your upper body away from the rack so you can see the clothes.

3.)    Prolonged leaning to one side, with one arm full of potential purchases.

4.)    Lack of sensible shoes (especially if you dress up to go out in the high fashion district).

The more comfortable you are in body, the better your mind can focus on your search for the correct size and style.  Then with the time you save you can exercise and stretch afterwards 😉

Here are some common sense tips that will defeat repetition injury:

1.)    Be sensible about the shoes!  Comfortable padded flats or low wedges are best.  Save the stilettos for New Years.

2.)    Search racks left to right AND right to left, thus you will avoid leaning your head or torso to one side only.

3.)    Switch your clothes holding arm! Learn to be an ambidextrous shopper!

4.)    Engage your core and level your pelvis, avoid excessive arch, sway, or lean.  Think of your shopping trip as a really long standing up Pilates class.

5.)    At the very least stretch your feet, calves, hamstrings, and lower back when you get home.  (See the instructional video “Only You Can Prevent You Cankles“)  You will recover faster and be ready to return to the craziness if necessary.

As lovely as the holiday can be emotions run high.  The more relaxed your body the better your mood.  And heaven knows how badly you want to spread joy to the world this year!

Aynsley’s Story : A Dancer’s Body Shape Recovery

What does a training studio owner from Maryland have in common with an ex-dancer from Colorado? Twitter!  I admit at first I was skeptical about the whole “I am going to Tweet” idea, but a few highly rewarding connections later I was hooked.

Aynsley Stephenson (@Ayns719) contacted me through my INLINE Art of Exercise (IAE) website with this email a couple of months ago.  She heard about the studio through @jami2joy who I had connected with on Twitter.  Jami had attended a class, loved it, and wrote a wonderful review in her blog  Daily Jams

After reviewing the information on the IAE website Aynsley’s asked great questions regarding the possibility of changing 2 major things about her body shape – overdeveloped calves & upper back/shoulder hump

Aynsley wrote:  Hi Josh!  

Just came across your videos via one of your new students, Jami (@jami2joy) who I’ve been introduced to on Twitter. I wish you were either in Denver or that I could be in Baltimore as I love your philosophy!  I’m hoping you can answer 2 questions for me…

 What are some ways to lengthen and stretch calves? I watched the “cankles” video but would love more ideas…I have my dad’s giant calves! 

I have a fun video on the IAE site entitled “Only You Can Prevent Cankles”

My shortened response was:

1.      The video contains the best basic technique. YOU MUST RELAX the muscle and give in to the deep stretch, your calf is so strong there is no way to push or pull it into a stretch forcibly, so it must be from your mind.

2.      Myofascial release using a foam roller or body worker before stretching also helps a lot!  It’s great for the sides and the front of the lower leg which may be bulking and are locked up.

3.      If you are genetically gifted in this area, then your calf muscle will build easily when stimulated.  Running and compacting cardio exercise although great for burning calories will without a doubt thicken your calves.

Aynsley:   I watched the lat pull video and would love more info on reducing the “shoulder hump”. It runs in my family too and I’m already noticing the beginning stages due to lots of time in front of a desk, a nearly non-existent cervical curve and really tight traps/shoulders.

My response:  Watch these videos Chest Isolation Exercise, Chest Flyes Exercise, Shoulders & Biceps for Statuesque Top

These will teach how to OPEN your front, and bring your head up which balances your rib cage and corrects your curve.  Once the rib cage is in place then the back muscles can activate and help hold you there.  But the effort must come from your core (which your head is the most important part).  Do the chest first, then the shoulder/biceps.  The shoulder exercise will teach you to relax your upper back and traps also.

Aynsley responded:

Josh, this is awesome. Thank you! I’m taking tomorrow off work so it will be the perfect opportunity to begin your recommendations. 

I will send you pictures and will also be on the lookout for your book. From your innovative methods I’ve seen so far, it sounds like a must buy! Btw, I was a dance major in college and I can imagine your book being a key resource in kinesiology or one of the other classes! I’ll pass it on to my old dept head once it’s done!

Now that I knew that Aynsley was a former dancer, I began to suspect many other things about her ability to recover from this activity and establish a sustainable relationship with exercise! These suspicions were confirmed when she sent me some pictures and said…

 I used to be a dancer and did Pilates but was hit by a drunk driver in 2005 which put an end to my career. Ever since I’ve had back and neck issues and I’ve noticed my posture and general shape deteriorating more and more. 

You said you might have more advice if I sent pics…hopefully I’m not a helpless cause!

Aynsley’s pictures revealed the classic example of a beautiful and powerful physique that had begun to collapse in on its self.  Her hip flexors and quads were severely overdeveloped causing a major hyper extension of her knees, forward tilt in her pelvis, and arched back that was pushing her abdomen forward.  Her head had also begun to move forward to compensate for her knees moving backwards.  Not to mention the buildup of stress in her upper back.  Much like the figure to the left.

After years of helping to correct this classic posture and muscle imbalance I knew just where to begin her recommendations!  I recorded a video consult for her and started her on the process of UNDOING before she begins DOING.  I plan on more coaching and training with her using SKYPE.

Thanks Aynsley for helping me believe in the power of social media to connect with people and bring good work to the world.  After helping thousands in the studio I am ready to reach out in a major way.  Your quote of Lao Tzu still rings true for those seeking solutions to their body shape.

“When I let go of what I am I become what I might be”

Cooking with Exercises Made to Body Taste

Exercise is an art.  Just like sculpting, painting, or cooking.  In fact, creating a fitness program that matches your body shape is like finding a complimentary blend of ingredients and  spices to make the perfect dish!  But no two pieces of art (or chilis;-) are the same.  So before you begin to exercise, cook, paint, or sculpt there are some basic things you should consider about your art project.

These common sense principles will help you make great decisions in the gym (and maybe your kitchen).  They are part of a much larger release that I hope to bring to you soon!

The INLINE Art of Exercise Individuality Principles ™

©2011 INLINE Private Press

1.)  Exercise that does not consider your individual body shape can create problems and set you up for failure.

For example, let’s say you have a short neck and tense traps (upper back and neck), mainly from your relentless desk computer job.

You go to body pump class after work and do intense shoulder shrugs and upright rows as a regular part of your weightlifting class.  The possible result: a large masculine upper back and tightness that could lead to a tendon injury or nerve impingement. OUCH!

Imagine you have flat feet and inward pushing knees.  But you choose running as your mainstay exercise.  Without awareness of this “shape” and how to compensate for it you may develop pain in your shins and knees, slowly bringing your motivation and running to a halt.

In both cases you did not consider the attributes and limitations of your individual body shape.  Why wouldn’t you consider this before exercising?  You may just be clueless as to how to look at yourself.  But don’t be embarrassed, not many do.  It’s why I have a job.

You may also want to be like somebody else, which brings up the next important point!

2.) No two physiques will have the same balance or look, only the best balance of body type, body shape, posture, and muscle tone that is sustainable for that individual.

Meaning no matter how hard you try you can only look like the absolute best version of YOU.  Not your friend or favorite exercise model.  It’s a simple fact that…

3.) Because we all differ in shape and physical coordination what works for one may or may not work for another.

Yes, we are all human (most of us)!  But, wow, just as every face and personality is completely diverse so are people’s movements and responses to exercise.  Resistance and weightlifting exercise especially.

Knowing and believing these principles gives you freedom!  Yes, freedom to do your own thing.  Freedom to break away from the crowd and create an individual program based on your body shape, and where you want to take it!

The INLINE Art of Exercise is here to help you.  I am here to help you.  You may talk to me about anything!  Simply comment on this blog, or send an email to josh@inlineartofexercise.com or fill out the subscription form at The INLINE Art of Exercise website.

I WILL BE PROVIDING FREE BODY SHAPE CONSULTATIONS THROUGH EMAIL, PICTURES, RECORDED VIDEO, AND VIDEO CHAT!  ONCE YOU HAVE CONTACTED ME WE CAN DETERMINE WHAT WILL WORK BEST FOR YOU.

In return, I ask only that you click some of the buttons below; choosing to subscribe to this blog, like the INLINE Facebook Page, or follow INLINEtrainer on Twitter.

As I have helped thousands of people in my studio I can now help you.  Soon I will blog about  some real stories of those helped by The INLINE Art of Exercise that may also ring true with you.  Stay tuned!

 

Changing Your Shape with a Bridge

Hello!  Welcome to useful information about exercise and body types.

Let’s get started!

Are you this girl?  Even if not read on because you may be able to help one of your close friends…

Suzy is a voluptuous woman with a very deep arch in her lower back.  It has served her well in her youth, but recently she seems shorter, a little wider, and though she has not gained much weight her waistline seems to be disappearing… She has a “pooch” abdomen and the front of her legs also look really thick.  They cause her pants to pull tight and crease in the front around her pelvis.  Also the back of her legs seem relatively flat….

What should she do?  What muscles should she work?  Let’s see… exercise has a lot to do about positioning, so how should she position herself for the right muscles to work, and the wrong muscles to not work?

Well, what shape does she want? Answer: A slightly less arched back, a flatter lower tummy, less thick upper thighs, and rounder back of legs.

This means in an exercise: abs on (no pushing out!), hamstrings on, butt on, quads off, hip flexors off, lower back off

What not do: Squats

If your body is like Suzie’s this only make things worse.  Lunges, maybe, but not without specific instruction and some practice on the floor first…

Try this recipe for the basic bridge exercise, later we can try some modified lunges:

1.) Stretch your hip flexors (the muscles on the top front of your thigh) deeply using a runners stretch, and/or roll them out with a foam roller.

2.) Stretch your lower back using a prayer stretch, also opening up your sides

3.) Now that you are little longer lay on your back with your knees bent. Do 20 pelvic rocking motions flattening your lower back against the floor (be sure not to push your abs out!) Stop every time you feel your butt squeeze.

4.) On the last one hold the slight butt squeeze, push your feet into the floor, activate the back of your legs, and lift your hips into a low bridge.

5.) Be sure you stop and hold when you feel:

The back of your legs and butt squeezing

The tops of your legs stretching

Your lower back smooth and not arched, check with your hands

It’s really important that you get the final position right every time or the exercise may actually only worsen the final result (sorry it’s not super easy 😉

6.) Lower your spine down until your lower back touches and then “scoop” up again slowly, repeat 20x.  Check with your hands every time, chances are you will lose focus and start using your lower back after just a few reps.

The basic bridge exercise when done correctly and “to taste” starts the connection with the muscles and pelvic positions that will contour your shape!