Mobility and Recovery Exercises (10 Minutes)

How to Do a Good Morning and Baby Backbend

1. Start in a standing position with your feet shoulder-width apart and core engaged.
2. Place your hands gently behind your head, elbows wide. Squeeze your shoulder blades together to activate your upper back.
3. With a soft bend in your knees, hinge at your hips to lower your torso forward until it’s roughly parallel to the floor. Keep your spine long and core engaged.
4. Reverse the movement, driving through your heels to stand tall, returning to starting position (torso upright).
5. Inhale as you reach your arms overhead, stretching tall through your fingertips and spine — this is Mountain Pose.
6. Exhale, lower your arms to shoulder height, bending your elbows into a goal-post shape to open through the chest.
7. Return your hands behind your head to complete the sequence.

How to Do a Calf Raise and Tib Raise

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and toes pointing forward. Option to place hands on a chair or countertop for additional balance support.
2. Lift your heels off the ground as high as you can, pressing through the balls of your feet. Focus on squeezing your calves at the top. With control, lower your heels to the ground.
3. Slowly lift your toes towards your shins while keeping your heels on the ground. With control, lower your toes to the ground, returning to the starting position.

How to Do a Wide Squat Shoulder Drop

1. Start in a wide stance, feet wider than hips, toes slightly turned out. Place a hand on each thigh, avoiding pressing directly on the knee joint.
2. Bend your knees, lowering your hips to find a low, wide squat, aiming for 90-degree bends in both knees.
3. Hold this squat position, then drop your right shoulder towards your left knee, gently pressing into your right thigh with your right hand as you rotate through the spine.
4. Return to center, maintaining a low squat position.
5. Then repeat on the other side, dropping your left shoulder towards your right knee and pressing into your left thigh with your left hand.

How to Do a Lateral Squat and T-Spine Rotation

1. Start in a wide stance, feet wider than hips, toes slightly turned out.
2. Shift your weight to the right as you bend your right knee and push your hips back and down. Think about performing a single-leg squat on the right side. Left leg remains extended.
3. Hold this lateral squat position as you reach your left arm across your body, grasping your right foot with your left hand.
4. Inhale as you rotate through the spine, opening up your chest as you lift your right fingertips toward the ceiling. Your gaze should track toward your right fingertips.
5. With control, reverse the motion, returning to the starting position.

How to Do a Standing Quad Stretch and Hinge

1. Start in a standing position with your feet shoulder-width apart and core engaged.
2. Bend your right knee to bring your right heels closer to your right glutes, then reach back with your right hand to grab your right ankle or foot. Knees stay together and pelvis remains neutral (avoiding overextension through lower-back).
3. Engage your glutes to gently press your hips forward, feeling a stretch through the front of your thigh and hip.
4. Then, hinge at the hips, lowering your torso until it’s parallel to the ground. Option to extend your left arm for balance support.
5. Press through your left heel to stand tall, returning to the starting position.

How to Do a Standing Shoulder CARS (Controlled Articular Rotations)

1. Start in a standing position with your feet shoulder-width apart and core engaged. Place your hands gently behind your head, elbows wide. Squeeze your shoulder blades together to activate your upper back.
2. Straighten your elbows, extending your arms out to the sides. Both arms should be at shoulder height, palms facing away from you.
3. Rotate your palms to face the back of the room, then bend your elbows, bringing your hands behind your back (backs of your hands touching your lower back).
4. Return to the starting position by straightening your elbows, then rotate your palms, bending your elbows, ending with your hands behind your head.

How to Do a Standing External Hip Rotations

1. Start in a standing position with your feet shoulder-width apart and core engaged. Option to place one hand on a wall or chair for balance support.
2. Shift your weight to your left leg, maintaining a soft bend in your left knee.
3. Bend your right knee to 90 degrees, lift it in a large circle, bringing your knee hip towards your hip, and slightly rotate the knee outward as you lower it behind you. I like to imagine I’m stepping over a chair or stool to get a full range of motion.

8. Standing Figure 4

Targets: Outer glutes, quads, hip flexors, piriformis, calves and core.

How to Do a Standing Figure 4

1. Start in a standing position with your feet hip-width apart and core engaged. Option to lean your back against a wall for additional balance support.
2. Shift your weight into your left foot, keeping a soft bend in your left knee.
3. Then lift your right foot and cross it over your left thigh. Right ankle rests above the left knee and the right knee should point out to the side, forming a “figure 4” shape. You can grasp your right ankle and slightly pull it towards your left hip to deepen the stretch.

9. Standing Cat/Cow

Targets: Erector spinae, rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, shoulders and neck.

How to Do a Standing Cat/Cow

1. Start in a standing position with your feet shoulder-width apart and core engaged. Place your hands gently behind your head, elbows wide. Squeeze your shoulder blades together to activate your upper back.
2. Inhale, lifting your chest and chin towards the ceiling and arching your back to find cow pose. Open through the chest, feeling your spine extend from tailbone to crown.
3. Then exhale to find cat pose, rounding your spine, tucking your pelvis under and letting your head and shoulders gently roll forward, gaze falling towards your navel. Think about pulling your belly button towards your spine to engage your core.