ADVENT CALENDAR OF CORE: DAY 6

ADVENT CALENDAR OF CORE: DAY 6

Day 6 is upon us and I’m sure there are a lot of festivities planned for this Saturday night. Don’t despair, there is always time to treat your core as the Christmas chaos creeps upon us!

As always click the link for your bauble. : )

Today we are back to going around the world with an extra hamstring treat thrown in. Enjoy!

Hamstring Bridge Exercise Cues

Right, let’s get those hamstrings firing! There are pictures below to follow for the visual types among us. Most important to remember, muscle ache is good but pain is not so listen to your body and stop if you need to.

As in the picture, the Hamstring Bridge requires a prop. Make sure it’s a sturdy one as you will be putting a lot of weight onto it, depending how much pudding you’ve had already. We are going to activate our hamstring by extending our hips. During the exercise, try not to lock your knee and don’t use the opposite leg to gain momentum as you extend.

This exercise starts with you laying on your back with one foot on a platform higher than the floor. The higher the platform, the more difficult the exercise. From this position, slowly extend your hip using your hamstring to drive. Using control rather than speed is key here. Slow the movement, remembering to keep your hips level by activating your core. The two stages should look like this:

Hamstring Bridge Wild Runners

Hamstring Bridge Wild Runners

The Exercise Set:

In today’s set, we call upon Day 4’s Around the World exercise in addition to the Hamstring Bridge. Here we go:

StepInstructionLevel 1Level 2Level 3
1Hold a Front Plank20 seconds30 seconds50 seconds
2Rest30 seconds30 seconds20 seconds
3Hold a Side Plank on your left arm20 seconds30 seconds50 seconds
4Rest30 seconds30 seconds20 seconds
5Hold a Glute Bridge20 seconds30 seconds50 seconds
6Rest30 seconds30 seconds20 seconds
7Hold a Side Plank on your right arm20 seconds30 seconds50 seconds
8Rest30 seconds30 seconds20 seconds
9Perform a Hamstring Bridge controlling your speed4815
10Rest2 mins1:30 mins1:30 mins
11Repeat Circuit1 more time (2 sets total)1 more time (2 sets total)1 more time (2 sets total)

Great job!

Let us know how you went; we love hearing from you. You can comment on our web page or post a picture on Facebook with #CalendarOfCore

Are you local? Wild Runners is running a weekly competition to win 4 weeks free training with The Brisbane Trail Running Series. Check out the competition HERE

Even if you don’t win, feel free to come along and test us out for free. Our training sessions have an emphasis on strength and technique making them a great way to improve your running even if you are a dedicated road runner. A session on trails each week will help you make big gains on the asphalt… and you may just get addicted to running wild in the meantime!

See you tomorrow, Wild Runners.