Tis’ the season for beautiful coloured leaves and a drop in temperature! I know not all of us are excited for the cold but, unfortunately… it is coming and we should all be prepared for it!
When the temperature begins to drop that means the possibility of ice on the ground! EEEEK! Simply going for a nice outdoor walk can be scary and treacherous. But! We want to help make that walk more manageable with some corrective strength exercises to improve core stability to help improve our balance for your activities of daily living.
Here are 3 of our favourite core stability exercises for you to try at home:
Pallof Press
- This can be done in a double kneel, half-kneel or standing position
- Come out as far as you can laterally with either a band of pulley system
- How do I know if I am far enough? Take lateral steps away from the point of contact until you feel your core engage even just a little bit!
- Make sure you feel your core, but make sure the band or pulley system is not pulling you harder. Ensure your body and hips stay square forward for the duration of the exercise.
- Tips on stabilizing yourself (no matter which type you do):
- Belly breath in (small brace of your core and breathing)
- Dig your toes into the ground
- squeeze your gluteal muscles
- Have your shoulder blades down in a more relaxed position
- Hands together at your chest to start
- Extend your arms out forward as straight as you can. Not allowing the band or pulley to pull your arms towards it.
- Then bring your arms back to your chest
- How should I breathe?
- exhale on the press
- inhale when bringing your arms back in
Bear Plank
- Start in four points with your knees on the ground
- Ensure your knees are just below your hips
- Ensure your hands are just below your shoulders
- Keep the shoulder, elbow and wrist stacked on top of each other
- Take a big belly breath in
- Press up slightly so your knees are just floating
- ensure your hips are inline with your back (we do not want them all the way up in a downward dog position)
- neutral spine
- push knees out for some more stability and gluteal activation
- hold for 30-60 seconds and continue to breathe
Bosu Ball Squat Hold Abductor Single Arm Kettlebell Press
Okay… okay… OBVIOUSLY… this one was a joke. But! There are some good components to this specific exercise.
There are a lot of great BOSU exercises to help with balance no matter which side you use.
Some sort of isometric hold exercise is almost ALWAY an amazing addition to your current training regime.
Single arm Kettle Bell Shoulder presses are simply a great shoulder stabilizing exercise but ALSO great for anti-rotational core work.
Strengthening those gluteal muscles or more specifically your abductors is great for stabilizing the whole TRUNK!
So I repeat… DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME OR AT THE GYM. This was a joke! haha! 🙂
But, this does show that there are VARIOUS core stabilizing exercises to help with fall and injury prevention. I know that the idea of seeing a physical therapist or chiropractor for prevention does not always come up until it may be too late but, now is the time to get you started on the right foot. Come in for an assessment. You don’t have to be injured to come to RISE Physiotherapy and Performance. Let’s get you started on a corrective exercise program to help with fall and injury prevention.
