Good morning Team DMA,
Shout out to those of you who showed up to Coach Tone’s boxing class last night on Zoom. That was excellent. Feel free to invite friends (just share the link Sam sent) to Tone’s workout next Thursday at 6pm.
Let’s wrap up the week with Part 2 (actually technically parts 3 & 4) of Dr. Sam’s mobility protocols – this time focusing on core or “pillar” and leg strength. These are detailed, thorough and very professionally curated exercises. You will find a ton of benefit here guys!
I look forward to hearing your feedback!
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****Note that all of Dr. Sam’s recommended movements have tutorial vidoes on his YouTube channel if you aren’t sure how to perform these movements. Go here and search the name of the exercise: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC3C70xmvNg32t7qlXKkeusw/search
Dr. Sam has excellent content here – so take your time and go through this in detail. He also generously includes his contact information for anyone who needs extra support from a medical professional.
Cue Dr. Sam’s workout….
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Part 3: Pillar Prep
Some think the “core” is just their abdominals, but I prefer to use the term “pillar” to refer to all of the areas near the midline of the body that can benefit from some pre-training dynamic stabilization exercises. As athletes and martial artists, we can all benefit from a stronger pillar because the dynamic movements we produce with our arms and legs are only as powerful as our core / pillar / midline! POWER COMES FROM THE INSIDE OUT!
1. Bear Crawl Core sequence (2 rounds per variation)
-Full Body pillar prep (Shoulders, shoulder blades, abdominals, hips, quads, ankles, toes)
a. Bear lift holds (10-20 sec x 5 )
b. Bear holds with shoulder taps (alternate 20-30 taps)
c. Bear holds with foot lifts (alternate 20-30 lifts)
d. Bear crawls (20 steps forward, 20 steps backward, 20 steps left, & 20 steps left)
2. Hip stability sequence (2 rounds per variation)
-4 directional hip stability training!
a. Side Hip Lifts (10-20 reps / per side)
b. Copenhagen inner thigh plank lifts ( 10-15 reps / per side)
-Perform from knees if first version was too challenging or uncomfortable:
c. Cook Bridge (10-20 reps / per leg)
-Alternate legs or perform all 10-20 on one side first. Raised knee is actively driving UP into opposite hand.
d. Tall Plank Hip flexion marches (Alternate 10-20 reps / per leg)
-With or without mini band around the middle of feet.
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Part 4: Single Leg strength
If you’ve ventured outdoors during this quarantine you surely noticed the significant spike in runners! Although humans were made for running, I’ve seen a lot of ugly running through my neighborhood lately. I am not a running coach and I’m not here to lecture on running form, pacing, or heel strike vs midfoot running. I am here to let you know that 80 to 100% of running is on 1 leg. Running is essentially a series of single leg squat jumps occurring quickly and repetitively. Running is technically like falling forward and catching yourself over and over again. So let’s focus on single leg strength today to finish our workout!
1a. Isometric Lunges with front heel raised (4 sets x 10-60sec HOLDS / per leg)
-Shoulders in-line with your back knee. Back knee within 6 inch from the floor.
-Nose breathing throughout, no breath holding.
-Heel slightly raised to add challenge and athleticism to the exercise
(most of athletics / sports involves pushing off through the ball of the foot, not from a planted foot or on the heels)
1b. Russian Lunges ( 4 sets x 5 reps / per leg )
-A perfect progression from the isometric lunges from above. Russian lunges are designed to force your body to quickly absorb and produce force through the lower extremities. THE KEY is to not allow yourself to “sink down” into the lunge when you land. NO soft landings! FOCUS on STICKING the landing and then springing up again for sets of 5, per side.
2a. Learning the single leg hip hinge (10 reps of each / per side)
-Learn to hip hinge with stick / dowel:
-Learn to hip hinge on 1 leg with foam roller:
-Learn to feel your glutes on 1 leg (IMPORTANT):
2b. Single leg Romanian Deadlifts (4 sets of 8-15 reps / per leg)
-The videos show a dumbbell or kettlebell and a long exercise band. These may be challenging enough for some of you to perform with just your bodyweight or hold something in your hand (purse, backpack, a gallon of water, etc)
-With weight or with bands
3. Rear Foot Elevated Split squats (4 sets of 8-15 reps / per leg)
4. Eccentric step-downs (4 sets of 10 / per leg)
-Eccentric strength or the ability to decelerate is super important for sports and running.
I know this was long and wordy, but I wanted to use this opportunity to teach everything some new things that you can take with you going forward. I would love to hear your feedback, so please email me at Dr.Sam@PerformanceCareClinics.com with any questions.
My physical therapy clinics (Courthouse, McLean, & DC) are currently taking new online, video Telehealth clients and have extended our sale until the end of April. We are offering our lowest rate ever ($125/per session) and you can purchase packages of 3 or more visits now and use them later in-person or NOW via our online telehealth sessions!
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That’s a wrap for the week guys. Have a great weekend. You all have done an excellent job of maintaining focus and keeping up with the workouts.
Proud of you all!
Best,
Scott
District Martial Arts
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