Table of contents:

• ​Foundation Principles
• Class Structure
• Alignment, modifications, adjustments
• Exercise methodology
• Pregnancy
• Succeeding in this course

• ​​Upper Body exercises
• Lower Body exercises
• Abdominals
• Obliques
• Stretches
• Case Studies

    Case Studies:

• Diastasis recti
• Pregnancy addendum
• The spine
• ​Disc Bulges/Disc Herniations
• Movement analysis (muscles)
• Movement Analysis (forces)
• Full routine analysis

Full routine analysis

Below you will find a breakdown and analysis of a full routine. Saul was gracious enough to be our model. I decided to use a video of a one 2 one class as I felt the focus and intent would be clear. Before studying these videos you should be familiar with the class structure.

Our first block is a Leg Block.
The supine leg series is our most common starter block as it provides the following benefits

• Easily accessible to most clients
• A good initial grounding ( Bringing our focus inside our bodies )
• A warm up

Our next exercise is the pelvic curls. Here we attempt to engage with the deeper abdominals and connect with the pelvic floor. We are also working on articulating the spine.
The final exercise in this block is the kneeling leg presses.​
You will notice as we transition to the kneeling arms series we already are kneeling. We always consider the flow of the routine when chaining exercises.

Our second block is an arm block.
The kneeling arm series

• Initial setup in important. We want to make sure we are in correct alignment and our muscles are properly engaged. Watch out for hips behind the knees, excessive back arch and head leaning forward.
• This series is adaptable and consists of between 3 and 6 exercises. 

The third block is an abdominal block.

• Wheelbarrow. Saul has a tendency to drop the belly resulting in an over arched back. The cue is to pull the abdominal inwards and feel the lift.
• Catfish through a plank transition. Maintain a flat back and try not to round the back as the knees come in
• Pikes. Make sure the head moves in tandem with the upper body. Plank finish

A child-pose stretch is given after this sequence to release the abdominals and the back

Our fifth block is a one sided leg block

• A floor lunge with a scooter finish. During lunging it is important to keep the grounded knee stable. In this case the left knee should always remain on top of the ankle
• Side lying leg work with feet in loop. Even though we are laying, we need to maintain proper back alignment. Back in neutral and not collapsed. Knees aligned with their respective hips.
• Supine leg work. Generic name here as these aren't in our base repertoire

We finish up with a hamstring and glutes stretch 

Our sixth block in an arm block

• Some rotator cuff work with the lazy waiter
• Chest openers. Watch out for the back over arching and the neck leaning forward
• Low back flies. ​Chest opened, shoulders back, we hover over the heels to keep the quads active

Our seventh block is an abdominal block

• Reverse crunch
• Cat & cow stretch to help reset the spine
• Superman
• Plank with some variation/extra challenges

Our eight block is a one sided leg block

• You will notice this is the mirror of the other side (5th block)
• A floor lunge with a scooter finish
• Side lying leg work with feet in loop
• Supine leg work. Generic name here as these aren't in our base repertoire

We finish up with a hamstring and glutes stretch
Our final block is the long spine

• The long spine is the generic name of the base series named after the long spine exercise (not actually done in this occasion).
• A lot of flexibility in the exercises chosen here. The idea is to bring things to a slower pace: A cool down.
• We finish with an open split stretch as well as a butterfly stretch