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Hi, I'm Ashley Borden, with Perfect Form. We're gonna be doing a warm-up using this
stick that is gonna help you with your alignment, so you can have perfect form with your workout.
I love to use these, because if you don't have somebody to watch your form, you can't
always tell when your head is out of alignment, or you feel like maybe you're pushing forward
with your tummy, and then your feeling it in your lower back. So I like to use a stick,
because it gives you immediate feedback of what's going on with your spinal alignment.
But we have a couple different other moves that you can use it. And again, it weighs
nothing, and it's just a great piece of equipment for you to have in your arsenal, okay. So
we're gonna start first with a shoulder warm-up. And I want you to take your grip so you're
a little bit wider when you're looking down -- you're about two feet wider than your hip
on either side. And you'll feel: If you're really tight and you're going up and over
and you can't do it, just bring your hands a little bit wider, okay. So another thing
I want you to see is that I'm not pushing my head forward. So when I'm stretching to
the side, I'm keeping my head in line with my spine, and I'm not really seeing my hands
-- you wanna keep that grip, okay. And you're gonna do that about ten times, okay. And I
want you to feel that deep stretch into your biceps, and you can feel it into your chest,
okay. So it's a great way of warming up that whole upper shoulder harness. And you wanna
do about ten reps. And again, if it's too tight, you can bring your hands a little bit
wider. Okay, next one is a Split Squat. So again, I'm gonna take that position that I
showed you guys before. You want your feet to be about hipbone width apart to start.
You're gonna take a big gigantic step back. So when I'm starting from here, my weight's
on my first and second toe, my tushy's tight, my knee slightly bent, and my weight is in
my front heel, okay. You want it in your heel, so you connect to your glute. If your weight
is in the ball of your foot, or it's in the mid-foot, you're gonna feel it in your knee,
okay. So I'm starting from here with my alignment: I'm gonna drop down, squeezing the glute,
and then all the way up, okay. So you'll notice, if you're head's here that's actually shortening
your spine. So I want you to keep your spine long, you're gonna keep your chin slightly
tucked. Down and up. Keep that glute tight when you're dropping down, all the way up.
And I would say you wanna do ten on each side. Really squeezing that glute. And all the way
up. Very nice. Okay, so now I wanna move to a Side Lunge with a Single Leg Squat. Same
thing with the position of your stick. I actually like you to kinda change your hand grips.
So if it feels tight on one side, you can change up your grip, okay. You're gonna start
with your feet together. So a side lunge, an active side lunge: When you're going to
the side --let me break down the movement for you real quick-- you wanna feel like your
weight is on the outside edge of your heel --I'm sorry, outside edge of your foot and
your heel-- you're squeezing your quad, and you're visualization is that it's wrapping
out. So when I'm sitting back in this glute, I feel a deep stretch in my abductor. And
then you push up to center, okay. So using this stick, you can't cheat with your alignment.
So you're gonna sit to the side, and I'm pushing up. And then a single leg squat: I have just
a little bit of weight based on my back toe -- I sit back in my heel and all the way up
to the top, okay. And again: Out to the side, my head follows the alignment, all the way
up, little base or none -- if you're more advanced, and you can do a single leg squat
without that base, go ahead. Sit back in the bum and all the way up, like I didn't do.
Okay, and again: To the side, all the way up, sit back in that heel, feel that weight
in this *** and all the way up to the top. Let's do two more. Out to the side, my weight's
in my heel. All the way up, sit back in the ***, belly button in, and up. Last one: Out
to the side, my weight's in my heel, I'm also squeezing this quad, up to the top, and single
leg squat. Very good. Okay, Single Leg Birddog with a Torso Rotation is what we're doing
next. This is a tricky move, but the key with this is that you're keeping four points of
your core very tight between your hipbone and the bottom of your ribs. You wanna feel
like this is all one piece when you rotate. And I'll show you, okay. So I'm using my stick
for a little bit of balance. Standing leg, my weights in my heel, my knee slightly bent.
I'm gonna extend my back leg all the way back, and my foot's gonna feel like it's slightly
pigeon-toed to start, and my core is really tight. From here, you're gonna drop that hipbone
in, so you'll feel a stretch and a connection to that inner thigh of your standing leg.
And then I want you to rotate all the way open with your torso. So you're gonna drop
down further than that hipbone, all the way down, and then open up that torso and that
hipbone. This is a little tricky, so again, you wanna feel like when you're doing it:
If you need a base with two hands that's totally fine, but this will help you with your connection
when you're doing single leg work that you're not dumping in your back, and that you feel
that full connection when you're standing on a single leg, okay. So you would do about
ten times on each side with that. And again, if it's too hard, go ahead and you can use
a table, or you can put your fingers, both fingers, on something that's stable, as opposed
to just the stick. Alright, next move: We're gonna be doing Lateral Bounding. So I'm gonna
use the stick as a visual for how long I want the jump from side to side. Now a lot of times
with the lateral movements, a lot of people pull off their standing leg, and then they
just jump with abandon, okay. I want you to feel connected to the movement and understand
where you're pushing from. So when I'm starting with my knee bent, my weight's in my standing
heel, my knee is aligned with my ankle, and I already feel my hip and my *** on this
side, activated. When I'm pushing this way, I'm pushing off of this foot and I'm landing
toe-ball-heel, okay. So other side: Stretch, toe-ball-heel, and I'm trying to get the length
of the stick, side. Push off that leg, so I'm pushing off this ***, and side. And
push. Good. Okay, so I would do about ten on each side. And again, you wanna really
think about where you're pushing from and how you're landing, okay. That way, you're
really connecting to all the muscles in the leg and the core -- and you can tell, it'll
bring your heart rate up. Okay, last one I wanna do is a push-up, but it's a moving push-up.
So I'm gonna use my stick again, in the center. And you can do this on all fours, or you can
do it in a full push-up, okay. So I'm gonna start in a full push-up. When you wanna go
to a full push-up and you need a little help, go wider feet. Closer together makes it harder.
So I'm starting in a push-up position: I'm pushing up, I'm not dropping my core. I walk
the hands and the feet to the other side position. And up. Turn, rotate, move the hands. And
push. Whew, she's hard. All the way up, okay. So you're not touching the stick, you're letting
those feet move, and that core stays tight. Whew, alright. So that is your full-body workout/warm-up
using your stick. And again, I wanna remind you guys that I want you to do a Full-body
Rollout with the roller. So the link below is Ashley Borden Fitness on Facebook. Go on
my Facebook, for free, you can download my full-body, comprehensive, beautiful guide
on how to roll-out, and I want you to roll-out before you do your workout, any workout, but
especially this one, and then incorporate this. It's worth it to go get a stick -- like
I said, you can get it at any hardware store. 4 1/2 feet by a 1/4 diameter, and you can
start incorporating that into your workout. You'll feel more aligned, more upright and
more connected.