Bodyweight Activation Exercises
Try these awesome bodyweight activation and stability drills to wrap up your stretch sessions or use them as part of your warm ups!
Activation Drill Suggestions
*Perform reps slow and with control. Squeeze target muscle at top of each rep with minimal amount of movement elsewhere
*1-2 sets for 10-20 reps
*Perform immediately after any stretching or mobility drills and before your first main strength or workout exercise of the day
Have a mini band? Click below to see the full list of banded activation exercises!
Bear Hold Shoulder Taps
Prone Overhead Pulldowns
rockback Glute liftoffs
Pigeon Pose Lift Offs
Bird Dogs
*Coordinate and activate the entire backside: glutes, upper back and core muscles
*Narrow your base to make it a very challenging balance and stability drill
*Remember to keep back flat and reach for length, not height!
90/90 Trail Leg LIftoff
*Use this move to improve hip internal rotation by activating the deep rotators of the hip
*hold for 5-10s and work up to a max strength contraction
*works best after static stretching and mobility drills have been performed
90/90 Lead Leg Lift off
*Use this move to improve hip external rotation and utilize a reflex to relax the glute muscles by activating the groin muscles
*Keep spine tall and imagine pulling your knee to chest
*hold for 5-10s and gradually work up to a max strength contraction
Side-lying Clamshells
*Make sure hips and shoulders stay stacked and don’t rock backwards, using a wall helps to keep lined up
*Imagine lifting knee to sky by squeezing muscles on outside of hip
*Lift knee as high as possible and hold for one second at the top
Baby Get ups
*Keep elbow directly under shoulder and bend knees
*Lift hips off ground and lift top knee to sky up at the same time
*Should feel burn in both bottom and top hips used to strengthen glute minimus and medius
Side plank hold
*Great for activating obliques, QL and core musculature
*Keep elbow directly underneath shoulder and keep whole body tensed
*Imagine squeezing the downside hip and ribcage together
Reach, Roll, LIft
Prone I’s, Y’s, W’s
*Used to activated and strengthen posterior delts and trap muscles.*Helpful for improving/correcting posture and avoiding the forward slump we tend to have while spending time on computers!
Quadruped Hip Cirlces
*Useful for prepping hips for any lower body exercise
*Utilizes 360 degrees of motion with maximal hip movement in all planes of motion
Fire Hydrants
*A regression of the hip circle activation exercise
*Fire hydrants are focused more on hip abduction and trying to lift leg out to side in one plane rather than any rotation
Dead Bug
*One of the best warm up, coordination and core activation drills you can do!
*Brace stomach and core as firm as possible to keep low back secure to the ground
*While maintaining this brace, coordinate opposite arm and leg to reach to floor without back coming up, repeat other side
*Work on moving in coordinated fashion and avoid moving same side arm/leg at the same time
Cook Bridge
*Hug knee close to chest while other leg performs single leg bridge
*Note how high and how easily hips are able to get off ground
*Targets glute muscles to reveal weakness in glutes and/or tightness in hip flexors
Glute Bridge
*Foundational movement to warm up hips and glutes
*Squeeze glutes together firmly at top of motion and hold for brief pause
*Keep chin tucked and abs braced firmly so that you do not compromise form
Supine Hip Flexor Isometric Hold
*Hug knee as close to chest as possible while keeping opposite knee mostly straight
*Prior to letting go of knee with arms, pull knee closer to chest as best as possible with the muscles of your core and leg
*Imagine theres a tomato between your thigh and stomach that you’re trying to squish!
*Hold for 5-10s