A Move You Should Do MONDAY – Dynamic Warrior III

Talk about getting the best bang for your buck, the Dynamic Warrior III is an exercise that activates the large muscles of your hips and thighs, unlocks your subtalar joint and wakes up the transverse abdominus, the deepest abdominal stabilizer of your spine. Give it a try.

Why does this matter?

1. The gluteus medius is the primary stabilizer of your pelvis when you walk. Have you ever seen someone teeter from side-to-side when they walk? This is a sign of a weak gluteus medius and often the cause of lower back pain.
2. The gluteus maximus and hamstrings are powerful muscles of locomotion. Not only do they need to be strengthened, but they need to be able to be strong in their lengthened position.
3. The subtalar joint is a small joint in your ankle responsible for shock absorption. Upwards of 7x your body weight in ground reaction forces needs to be dissipated when you walk. It also is key in activating the biggest muscle of your body, the gluteus maximus. That’s right. When your foot hits the ground and your subtalar joint everts (rolls in), this causes tibial internal rotation which then causes femur internal rotation, and that is what loads your butt muscles.
4. The transverse abdominus muscle, by way of its attachment to the thoracolumbar fascia, stabilizes the spine and creates a waistline. Studies show that dorsiflexion (pulling your toes towards your shin), helps increase the activation of this muscle.

All that from this simple move. Practice it for 30 seconds a day to wake up your legs and protect your back.

Because nobody has time to be in pain.

Until next time…