Today, I wanted to go through 5 Awesome Resistive Band Exercises you can do anywhere.

A couple of weeks ago, I left snowy Kelowna. We got two feet of snow. I headed down to Miami. One thing I brought was a loop resistive band. The five exercises that I am going to go through are little routines and some exercises that I do in my hotel room.

5 AWESOME Resistive Band Exercises You Can Do ANYWHERE!

CLICK HERE to watch the YouTube video.

This resistive band is really easy to put in your backpack or your carry-on. It doesn’t take much room and it is really light. The only problem is sometimes when you go through security, when the TSA or whatever they are called, take this out and ask you what it is. It is an awkward experience having to explain and demonstrate some of the exercises to the security but if you are okay with that, here are a couple of exercises that you can do. I will get Donnalee to demonstrate.

#1 – Overhead Band Reverse Lunge

Donnalee is stepping on the tubing with one leg. She is going to press it overhead and then she is going to end up stepping back and going into that reverse lunge, coming back up and bringing the feet together.

Overhead Band Reverse Lunge

A regression for that if you can’t bring your arms overhead is you can have the tubing just at your shoulder height.

Tubing at Shoulder Height

Right leg is on the tubing, left leg is stepping back and then you are coming back. That is a regression you can do if you can’t do the overhead.

Shoulder Height Band Reverse Lunge

But with the overhead, it’s really great because it is challenging and activating the core a lot more which is important when it comes to preventing numerous common pains like shoulder, back, hip and knee pain. And when it comes to the reverse lunge, it puts less stress on the knee joints. If you have funky knees, or knee pain or an old knee injury, try that reverse lunge especially with that loop tubing.

#2 – Side Shuffle with Straight Arms

Donnalee is going to step on the tubing, move back to hip width apart and then she is going to bring the tubing to the front and she is going to Side Shuffle.

Side Shuffle with Straight Arms (front view)

I will get her to demonstrate from the side.

Side Shuffle with Straight Arms (side view)

You saw with Donnalee that she didn’t have her arms way overhead and she didn’t have them straight out in front of the shoulder. She had her arms a little bit below because that will put less stress on the shoulder joint.

A regression you can do if you can’t bring the arms out in front is you can bring the tubing just to shoulder height.

Side Shuffle with Arms Shoulder Height

When it comes to the side stepping, I am going about 30 to 45 degrees. I don’t need to go at 90 degrees and I am moving with one and then I am following with the other. I am trying to maintain that resistance on the tubing.

Now with the arms out in front, what it does is working those shoulder stabilizing muscles which is super important when it comes to shoulder health but then it also ends up really activating and challenging the core. If you don’t have the strength to do that, like I said, you can regress and hold the tubing at shoulder height.

#3 – Push Up with the Loop Tubing

You are going to take the loop tubing. You are going to loop it in behind your back. A big thing you want to remember is you want to have it relatively low because you don’t want to flip up and bonk you in the head which isn’t fun and it leads to the exercise stopping pretty quickly. And when it comes to where you have the tubing, you have it wrapped around your hand.

Back and Hand Positioning of the Loop Tubing

Sometimes you are going to wrap it around your thumb but it puts a lot of pressure on your thumb. But if I have it over my whole hand that is going to be easier, I will have a better grip and it puts less stress on the fingers and the hands.

You go into a push up position. You can go from the toes but with Donna we are going to regress her. She is going to go from the knees. We get her to go from the knees and tight through her abdominal area, good alignment, and going into that push up movement and back.

Push Up with the Loop Tubing

With this one, what happens is it gets easier on the way down and then on the way up it starts to get a lot more challenging as the tubing is increasing in resistance.

That is a great exercise to do. It challenges the push up movement and the end of the push up movement. A lot of times a lot of people bring in the chest down to the floor which is the most challenging and straightening out is being easier but with that resistive loop tubing it makes it more challenging.

#4 – Squat into a Press

Donnalee is going to step on the tubing, get into that squatting position.It might be a little bit wider than hip width apart, toes are often times pointed out a little bit. She puts the tubing up into that shoulder position almost like a rack position and then going into the squat and then she is going to come out of the squat and press overhead.

Squat into a Press (front view)

I will get Donnalee to face this way and we will look at it from the side. Squatting down and pressing up.

Squat into a Press (side view)

A regression if you can’t do the press movement is just leave it in this front rack position and then you are going into that squatting movement.

Squat into a Press (front rack position)

I like pressing overhead because it is really those shoulders and those stabilizing muscles in the shoulders which is really important and also overhead work really challenges the core.

#5 – Cross Band Bent Over Row

Donnalee is going to step on the tubing and then we are moving little bit further than hip width apart. She is going to cross over with the tubing. And then she is going to pull back and drive up with those elbows and really work that mid back.

Cross Band Bent Over Row (front view)

I will get her to shuffle from the side. She is bending through the hip, everything else is straight, grabbing across the tubing. Head is in good alignment and then driving those elbows up and relaxing.

Cross Band Bent Over Row (side view)

With this you are bending through the hips to whatever level that you can. The deeper that you can bend through the hips without losing your low back curve, the better. The better it is when you can isolate that mid back area. But if you only come down a little ways and go through with this, it still going to be beneficial. You just need to be cautious of overworking those upper trapezius muscles.

Those are the 5 Awesome Resistive Band Exercises that you can do anywhere. Next time you go traveling, throw a resistive band into your carry-on or into your luggage and bring it with you and go through these five exercises. When it comes to sets and reps, I would start off with 5 repetitions to get the movement down and to train your body on how to do the movement correctly then you can progress to 10 repetitions or even to a certain amount of time, twenty seconds or thirty seconds or a number of repetitions that you do during that time. You can go through things once or you can go through things a couple of times, two or three times. If you go through things two or three times and going through ten repetitions each, you will have a really good workout that you can pretty much do anywhere.

Now if you are looking for a program to help you overcome your back pain, then check out Fix My Back Pain, here:

Take care.

Rick Kaselj, MS.

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I wanted to go through a great exercise that you can do in order to strengthen up your knees.

If you have difficulty or it is painful to go through squatting movements, here is an excellent loop tubing exercise that you can do that will strengthen your knee and will put a lot less pressure on your knee compared to squatting. It’s called the Tubing Reverse Lunge.

AWESOME Exercise to Strengthen Your Knees

CLICK HERE to watch the YouTube video.

I am going to get Donnalee to step on the tubing with her right leg. She is going to bring the tubing up and just start off with the tubing in the front rack position. She is going to step back and then bring the knee down. She is going into a lunge position and then coming back up and back to the start.

Tubing Full Reverse Lunge

For progression, you can add an overhead press.

Overhead Press

Level one would be from that front rack position, holding it and then stepping back into that lunge and coming back up.

Now if you can’t get into that deep lunge, you could do a half reverse lunge. You need to step back and you are just going to go half way, and then coming back up and stepping forward.

Tubing Half Reverse Lunge

A progression that you can do is have the tubing overhead. You can step back and go into that full lunge.

Tubing Full Reverse Lunge with Overhead Press

You can go into that half lunge position and have the tubing overhead, back up and stepping up.

Tubing Half Reverse Lunge with Overhead Press

The overhead really works those shoulder blade muscles which is really important and also challenges the core. The stronger you have your core, the better you will be able to recover when it comes to knee pain. Also, it will be better to prevent knee pain if you have a great core.

There you go. If you are having difficulty squatting, give that loop tubing reverse lunge a go and you can pick whatever progression you want. You can do a full reverse lunge, a half reverse lunge or you can add that overhead reverse lunge, full lunge or half lunge.

If you are looking for a program to help you overcome knee pain, then check out Fix My Knee Pain…

Take care!

Rick Kaselj, MS.

I wanted to give you 3 Great Exercises to Loosen Up Your Mid-Back at Work. They are really easy, all they require is a chair and you are just going through some movements around your chair.

3 Great Exercises to Loosen Up Your Mid-Back at Work

CLICK HERE to watch the YouTube video.

I know a big complaint that I am getting from clients is that their mid back is tight and sore. They ask what they do about it. These are three great exercises that you can do at work which will help ease your mid-back.

#1 – Standing Wall Twist

Donnalee is facing the chair. She is going to lift the left leg up on to the chair and then she is going to rotate her body towards the wall. She is going to place her hands on the wall and hold that position so she can feel a light stretch in that mid back and upper back area. She can shuffle her hands to intensify the stretch depending on how much she is looking for. I am looking at holding it for 10 seconds.

Standing Wall Twist

#2 – Standing Twist

Standing Twist

The same thing, facing the chair, bringing that left leg up, hands are out front and then rotating to the opposite direction. Hold it for 10 seconds and then coming back to the start and relaxing.

#3 – Chair Shoulder Drop

Donnalee puts her hands on the edge of the chair and then what she is trying to do is lightly bending the knees, bending through the hips and trying to drop those shoulders, looking at getting a little bit of an arch in that mid back area. We want to go with a 10 second hold when it comes to that stretch.

Chair Shoulder Drop

What I suggest if it’s your first time to go through with these exercises is to make sure you are doing the exercise right and hold them for about 5 seconds. Make sure you get the technique perfect then you can progress on to about 10 seconds hold and you can go through things 2 to 3 times to loosen up your back.

Give those exercises a go. They are three great exercises to loosen up your mid back at work.

If you are looking for a program to help you overcome back pain, then check out Fix My Back Pain….

Rick Kaselj, MS.

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One of the most common injuries for people who workout are shoulder injuries.

Today I wanted to go through the….

BEST Stretches To Alleviate Shoulder Pain

CLICK HERE to watch the YouTube video.

#1 – Top Corner Chest Stretch

I’ll get Dan to come up and go through the stretches.

We will go through the top corner chest stretch.

If I pretend that I have a door frame, I move up to the top of the door frame, right arm up and right leg through. I am not looking to having any twisting of the body, upper body through, hips through looking for a stretch in front of the chest and then stepping back.

Pec Stretch (Top Corner)

#2 – The 90-90 Chest Stretch

The next one is a 90-90. The elbows are a touch below shoulder height, forearms on the wall or the door frame. Stepping through with the trunk, the hips not twisting in any way, and we are looking at stretching that chest again.

Pec Stretch (90-90)

#3 – Low Corner Chest Stretch

And the third one is that low corner one, stepping through with arms straight and back.

Pec Stretch (Low Corner)

With each of them, you just pick the one that works best for you.

Some people don’t have the arm movement so they can’t get their arm up, so the low corner one ends up working the best. Some people will really find this 90-90 hits and some people find the corner one hits. So pick the one that works best.

Tip to Hit Pec Minor When Performing Chest Stretches

I want you to do the way we’ve described it but then now to target pec minor which also pulls that shoulder out of centration or good alignment and we want to move it back in the good centration or in good position I end up adding a twist.

I’ll get Dan to do a 90-90 one, so he’s going to step through and he is going to add a little bit of a torso twist that hits the pec minor better.

90-90 Pec Stretch with a torso twist

Stepping through, hips and shoulders are square, and then I add a little bit of a twist to target pec minor. So I can do first hit pec major and then add a twist to hit the pec minor.

There you go. Pick the chest stretch that works best for you or that your shoulder will do and remember the tweak that I gave you in order to hit pec minor.

Okay,

That is it, have a great day!

If you, a friend, family member or colleague have shoulder pain, then I would recommend to check out Fix My Shoulder Pain, here:

Rick Kaselj, MS.

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Not sure if you saw it or heard it, but Tiger Woods dropped out of a golf tournament because his butt shut down.

If you don’t believe me, lets have Tiger explain things: 

When I heard this all I could think about was this song.

A very cheesy song from my high school days……

Now Tiger didn’t “Blame It On the Rain”.

He “Blamed It On His Butt”.

A quick solution maybe for Tiger to go out and get this…

Okay, okay, enough of the mocking and joking around.

Lets get serious.

Should Tiger Blame It On His Butt?

With all of the lower back issues that Tiger has had over the year, yes he can blame it on his butt.

It is very common for people that have back pain, to have issues with their butt or more specifically, their gluteus maximius.

What this is call is gluteal amnesia and I have done  a previous interview with David Weinstock where he talked about it in detail.

CLICK HERE to listen to the interview

 What Should Tiger Do About His Butt?

#1 – Exercises That Help with Butt Pain

Here are three….

CLICK HERE to watch the video on YouTube

Doing more exercises is not the solution, he also needs to do the next 5 things.

#2 – Exercises That Target The Gluteus

Here are 6 that will help….

CLICK HERE to what the video on YouTube

#3 – Three Keys to Muscle Stability

I talk about this a lot in Muscle Imbalances Revealed but he needs to work on the three keys of muscle stability which is very important for an injury, injury recovery and preventing re-injury.

This is working on the activation, endurance and strength of a muscle. Especially the muscles around the back.

#4 – It is More Than Just The Gluetus Maximus

Tiger needs to work on more than just gluteus maximus. He need to work on his gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, internal rotators of the hip, external rotators of the hip and his core muscles.

Just focusing on one muscle will leave the others weak and not help with recovery.

#5 – Try to Stay in Position of Low Load of Stress

When you move from lying on your back, to standing, to sanding bent forward and then finally to sitting, there is an increase in the load in the spine.

Since he is a golfer and needs to play golf for multiple hours, he is in the standing and standing bent forward position a lot. This put a lot of stress on the back.

Plus since he is a golfer and travels all over the world, he spends a lot of time, sitting. Sitting on the plane. Sitting in the car. Sitting at meeting. This puts the greatest amount of stress.

Doing what he can to decrease the stress on his back will help with his pain and back pain recovery, but with his work and profession, it will be challenging.

#6 – Realistic Expectations

Tiger is dating the 30 year old skier, Lindsey Vonn while he is 39 years old.

With most professionals sports, Tiger would be near the end of his career. Since he is a golfer, he can continue playing for as long as he wants as a professional.

Tiger may have peaked in his 20s while many other golfers peak in their 30s or 40s.

This might be the reality.

He might have moments of greatness but his consistency might be gone.

No professional athlete can stay on top forever. It might be time to enjoy what he can to and be thankful of his time on top.

Okay, if you know Tiger or if you have a problem like Tiger, then this program will help you out….

Rick Kaselj, MS

P.S. – If you want other blog posts related to gluteus maximus, then check these out:

• 6 Exercises to Fire Up Your Glutes
• 7 Bodyweight Glute Activation Exercises 

P.P.S. – Okay, if you are bathing the memories of Milli Vanilli, here is another one from 1989:

P.P.S. – Feel free to forward this article onto anyone that may benefit from it.

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A couple of days ago, I sent out a video on the best stretches to do if you end up sitting all day. Someone got back to me and asked…

“I can’t do some of those stretches because I wear a skirt all day. Is there any hip flexor stretch you suggest for people who wear skirt at work?”

BEST Hip Flexor Stretch If You Wear Skirt At Work

CLICK HERE to watch the YouTube video.

This specific stretch that she was not able to do because she wore a skirt was a 90-90 hip flexor stretch.

90-90 Hip Flexor Stretch

You can see that if you wear a skirt to work, it is difficult to do this exercise.

#1 – 90-90 Hip Flexor Stretch 1st Alternative

90-90 Hip Flexor Stretch 1st Alternative

An alternative is you can take feet hip width apart, take a step back and then you are tightening up your abdominal area, you are tightening up your gluts and you are bringing your hips forward and you are looking for a light stretch in hip flexor of the back leg. This is a great alternative.

#2 – 90-90 Hip Flexor Stretch 2nd Alternative

90-90 Hip Flexor Stretch 2nd Alternative

Now depending on what type of skirt you wear and if you are wearing the most recent fashion of skirts, I don’t know if you have seen it where it is almost like impossible to walk; this is the second alternative to do.

You stand hip width apart and I stagger my feet as much as I can and then what you are doing is tightening up that abdominal area, tightening up that glut and arching back. You are looking for a light stretch in the hip flexor of the back leg.

So, there you go!

If you are sitting a lot and you are wearing a skirt,  stretch out those hip flexors from sitting for a long period of time with those two different stretches especially if you can’t do the 90-90 hip flexor which I think is the best when it comes to targeting that hip flexor.

If you sit a lot and wants to loosen up your hip flexors, then check out….

Rick Kaselj, MS

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Today, I wanted to go through the Best Equipment Free Exercises To Do After a Long Flight.

A couple of weeks ago, I left the winter of Kelowna and headed down to Miami. After the long flight, I was kind of feeling stiff and a little bit off. So I went through these 4 exercises in my hotel room in order to loosen up my body and balance out my body because the long flight really wreaks havoc on the balance of your body and really pushes your body into muscle imbalances.

Best Equipment Free Exercises After A Long Flight

CLICK HERE to watch the YouTube video.

Now, the 4 exercises that I did when I got back to my hotel room are the following and I will get Donnalee to demonstrate.

#1 – Calf Stretch

You are starting with your legs about hip width apart. You are going to take a step back, toes are pointing straight ahead and you are looking for a light stretch in that calf.

Calf Stretch

Often times what I do is I will go close to a wall and put my hand on the wall because we are not worried about balance, we want to focus in on the stretch. With this one, I am holding a light stretch for 20 seconds and I am going to do it twice alternating back and forth.

#2 – 90-90 Hip Flexor Stretch

This is my favorite stretch. Once again, legs are hip width apart. You are going to take a step back and bring the knee down. And then, you are tightening up that abdominal area to lock in the pelvis. You are tightening up that glute, you are bringing the hips forward and you are looking for that light stretch. It could be down from the knee all the way up into the hip, so you are looking for a light stretch.

90-90 Hip Flexor Stretch

For some people this stretch might be stronger than the Calf Stretch. With this one,  we will do twice on each side, holding for 20 seconds.

#3 – Reaching for the Sky

I am in the starting off position, legs are hip width apart. I am going to bring the arms overhead so the palms are facing each other and then I am tightening up in that abdominal area. I am just going to start off with just reaching as high as I can and relaxing.

Reaching the Sky

The next one is I am going to try to link it up with breathing. So legs are in the right position, arms overhead, tightening up that abdominal area, reaching and I am breathing out. I am trying to reach higher up. With this one, I am decompressing the spine. I have been sitting for hours and now with that reaching I am decompressing the spine and then you can relax. You are reaching for the sky for about five seconds.

Reaching the Sky with Breathing

Now another way of intensifying that stretch is I can add a little bit of arch back. Legs hip width apart, bring the arms up, breathing out and then reaching up and then arching back a little bit in that lower back and then back down. Hold it for five seconds.

Reaching the Sky with arch back

I would do that at minimum 5 times, slow and controlled, but if it feels good you can continue on doing ten repetitions. But once again don’t go crazy because you are going to probably irritate things if you are going to do like 50 repetitions.

#4 – Bird Dog

I am going to get Donnalee to go into a 4 point position. Hands are underneath the shoulders, knees are underneath the hips. I am going to bring her knees up a little bit more. Rest of her body is in good alignment. She’s looking down on the floor. And then she is going to tighten up her abdominal area. She is going to reach forward with one arm and then reach back with the opposite leg. Good straight alignment, holding for two to five seconds and then coming back down. Relaxing that abdominal area and then switching sides.

Bird Dog

With this one, it is like reaching, looking right on the floor and coming back. She is reaching forward with the arm so it is in alignment with the body. I will get her to switch to the other side and reaching with the leg. She is not having much of a change in that low back which is excellent and back down. I am just going for 5 repetitions on each side, a total of ten so one set of ten.

Now the reason why you need to do that Bird Dog exercise, very similar to the exercise before which is Reach For The Sky, in that sitting position for a long period of time things are tightening up in the hips and in the back. Now when it comes to the Bird Dog, what often times happens with sitting for a long period of time is your stabilizing core muscles are not working properly. What we are trying to do is fire them up with the Bird Dog. Start having them activate and turned on properly so that they can work again and kind of protecting and supporting your back when you are out and about doing whatever you are doing on your holidays.

If you are looking for a program to help fire up other core stabilizing muscles in your hips and back, then check out:

Take care.

Rick Kaselj, MS.

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