A Move You Should Do MONDAY – Paloff Press Series

The Paloff Press series is a quick way for you to wake up the stabilizers of your hips and spine. Grab some tubing and tie it at chest height. Position yourself so the tubing is pulling laterally to one side. Then press the tubing forward for 6-10 repetitions in each of the following stances:

Feet shoulder width apart (neutral stance)
Feet wider than shoulder width apart (wide stance)
Feet together (narrow stance)
Stand on the leg closest to the tubing (single leg stance)

That’s it! Do 6-10 repetitions of each one in succession and in less than a minute you will have awakened the stabilizers of your hip and spine.

Why does this matter?

The body is designed in such a way that the more superficial muscles are prime movers and the deeper muscles are stabilizers. Conditions such as herniated discs, disc degeneration and osteoarthritis often occur in environments of prolonged instability. The Paloff Press series is a quick and easy way to challenge the deep stabilizers of the spine (transversospinalis muscle group) and hip (piriformis, obturators, gemelli and quadratus femoris). Give it a try.

Because nobody has time to be in pain.

Until next time…