POSTURE !

Cathe , You got me at "posture" !
"There are many benefits to functional training, some of the most important of which are improved posture,..."
I am VERY interested in how these new workouts will focus on this.
The new workouts will incorporate many corrective exercises throughout all of the DVDs to address and improve rounded shoulders, tight backs, tight hips, stiff necks, etc.
 
My PT has been having me do these tricky 1-legged deadlifts with knee drives lately to help with my lower back issues.


It's just insane how off-balance I am. I'm about to tip over on every rep when balancing on my right leg while my left is solid. No wonder my left side is so tense all the time - it's taking up the slack for my right.

While there's a lot of 1-legged dead lifts in Cathe's workouts, not many have you go into full balance like this, so it's sneaky - you don't catch balance issues if you're keeping even a toe on the ground.

I suspect we're going to see a lot of unilateral exercises in this series, for sure.
 
In Cathe's earlier LB workouts, Jai and Lorraine often raised their leg behind in the one-leg deadlifts - all the way up to Xtrain series I think. It really makes you focus on balance. Jessica Smith also incorporates a lot of balance work in her workouts but most of her workouts are shorter. I'm one of those people who needs to incorporate balance challenges. Uni-lateral work helps me notice imbalances too so I appreciate them.
 
I try to do the one leg deadlifts with balance, but have to be careful with my lower back. I have learned to use lighter weights or no weights and there is alot of work with just the balancing. I need to add the knee drive.
Yes, even going from body-weight only to 3# weights is eye-opening. I'm up to using 5# weights and it's still quite a difference.

Can't imagine doing these with heavier weights like in XTrain, at least not in my current state. Goals.

That knee drive plays a huge role in the balance challenge. It's one thing to just let your leg extend out behind you then tap the toe down to the floor - it's another to swing it through to the front in a knee drive and never put that foot down until you're done with all your reps. (I also couldn't imagine doing a bunch of these with heavy weights on tempo!)
 
It's just insane how off-balance I am. I'm about to tip over on every rep when balancing on my right leg while my left is solid. No wonder my left side is so tense all the time - it's taking up the slack for my right.
I'm the same. I wobble all over the place when balancing on my right but I'm a lot more stable on my left. I guess it makes sense being right-handed (and right-legged), if I were to kick a ball I would balance on my left and kick with my right foot. My left leg is tighter, and I don't have the same range of motion as I do in my right.
 

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