Emma’s Exercise
“Plie Squats”
Squat time!

*Knee concerns? Make your knee bends smaller! Don’t bend so deeply. You can stay up high and practice micro bending at the knees.*

Find your best standing NEUTRAL spine and pelvis posture with your legs separated as far as comfortable. Your feet are turned out to about 45 degrees-check in and make sure you are turned out (externally rotated) at the hips and knees as well. Activate your obliques to weave your upper abs and lower ribs together so that you set your ribcage in neutral and stack it right on top your pelvis (no overbite-think UNDERBITE). Keep it here the entire time-esp after we add movement! And finally your head. Whew. It’s nice to do these alignment checks against a wall as you are first starting out to find YOUR neutral.

The challenge is to keep all that lovely alignment you just found AND keep it as we add movement! #somuchfun
So keep imaging that you are gliding your back side up and down a wall. It will allow you to be stable.

Now, you will be moving your arms above your head (if it feels okay for your shoulders). This means THREE connections will be tempted to move out of alignment—-

1st- your neutral shoulder blades. Be sure to fire serratus! Work from the roots of your arms. Keep the feeling of your armpits being hollow.

2nd-your ribcage. Keep firing your obliques! Resist the urge to have it move into an over bite. THIS TAKES WORK!
Even though it may not LOOK like it!

3rd-your spine. Automatically one of your 24 vertebrae will be guaranteed to want to move. They think they are invited to the party!

Fight those and stay strong!
You’ve got this!

Lastly, make your quads (tops of your thighs) active! It helps to think about pressing your feet into the earth. Pressing the corners done w/o flattening the insteps-keep that amazing curve on your insteps lifted! Ooooh that is fun to do too!
Make the tops of your thighs LIFT your kneecaps! Keep tracking them right over your toes.

OH, and hey……one more layer….are your glutes on???

Have fun practicing!