CONDITIONING
DAY 3
INTENTION SETTING
Elite athletes, high performers, yoga practitioners and Sequence 8 members all use intentions to learn more about themselves during physical activity.
Use this intention to give your training a deeper purpose and transfer any benefits from the session into your everyday life.
MOBILITY WARM UP
How you warm-up can dictate how well your session goes. This routine will make sure your mind-muscle connection is primed and you have an improved range of motion in each joint to achieve the various positions in the workout to come.
This is a general warm-up focusing around one joint at a time. 8 exercises 8 reps each. I am going through some key movement patterns that you must learn in order to get control of your body and decrease your risk of injury while training.
Feel free to perform the warm-up on your own, make it more individual or speed it up once you have the experience to do so.
SUN SALUTATION
Sun Salutation A or Surya Namaskar is a series of poses performed in sequence to create a flow of movement. It is the perfect sequence to add to your training, mainly to build a stronger awareness of your positions and utilise your breathing in sync with your movement. Inhale extend, exhale bend.
if it hurts your brain, to begin with, remember that is your nervous system learning new movements. Naturally, you will make improvements over the weeks until you can eventually memorise the whole sequence. It will serve to warm, strengthen, and align the entire body. It is a fantastic all-purpose tool to benefit your mobility and strength.
SEQUENCE 8 CONDITIONING
This conditioning circuit is going to have you moving and strengthening in every direction. Really take time to listen to the cues and ingrain them into your mind. This is going to work your muscular endurance and improve your cardiovascular fitness.
If you find you cannot achieve a certain position. I want you to really slow it down and work with control even if it means you only get a few reps. Never compromise form and If you feel pain back out, quality not quantity!
We are going to perform 8 exercises back to back with a 2-minute rest at the end of each round. Work hard and play it smart so you can perform better each week without injury or aches. Remember we just want the effective minimal dose. It's going to be a tasty one!
Recommended work time on each exercise:
Beginners - 15s
Intermediate - 20s
Advanced - 30s
MOBILITY & RESTORE
Now it is time to restore the joints and improve your mobility to benefit next weeks training. Do not skip this routine, if you have tightness this is potentially the most important part. I have seen these exact routines work wonders for clients with huge muscle restrictions and for those with 'hypermobility'.
The trick is to relax into the stretches and strengthen into the end ranges. That old saying if you don't use it you lose it. Learn the difference between closing angle joint pain (back out) and feeling a stretch (stay in it). Keep listening to your body if something doesn't feel right back out slightly.
I was doubtful that my mobility could improve for years. I can safely say I wasn't doing it consistently enough. I promise yours can improve with these routines. It will relieve so much stress, tension and you won't be barred by what you can do from your restrictions and niggles. Make this a must, keep learning and enjoy looking after your body.
