Panther Walk for Upper Body Development

This week we are going to show you an exercise that you can do if the wall push-ups are too easy or slow for you. Many younger readers, athletes, and martial artists will be interested in maintaining and improving their "fast-twitch" muscle fibers, which will allow them to move quickly and precisely. If that is your goal, then the panther walk is the upper body exercise for you.

Essentially, the panther walk is a push-up, but when you push up off the ground, you want to push with your hands and feet so that you hop up off the ground completely. This is how you move forward, backward, or sideways while doing the exercise. You will probably bend a little at the hips to help you with the hop, because you'll be activating your abdominal muscles too. This is fine, but try to keep your body as straight as possible throughout the exercise.

Of course, this exercise also has all the strength benefits of the wall push-ups, and develops bone density as well. However, if you are only trying to increase bone density and maintain a basic level of strength, then the wall push-ups that I review in the video are probably a better choice for you.

Happy Stretching!

Achieving Physical and Mental Balance: The Complete Series

Hello mind-body students! This week we are going to organize all of the exercises you've seen from the last seven posts into one easy-to-reference workout post. Next week we will be moving on to new material. Until then, here is my mind-body prescription for Achieving Physical and Mental Balance.

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Complete Mind-Body Prescription for Achieving Physical and Mental Balance

Part 1: Flexibility

1. Hamstrings - Do the "Vitamin-H" stretch 3 times during the day, for 3 minutes each time.
2. Calves - Loosen your calf muscles with these stretches or these stretches. Twice a day, 3 minutes each.
3. Quads - Continue to relax the leg muscles with this stretch, or the heron stretch, if you know it. Twice a day for 2-3 minutes.
4. Hip Extension - Finally, use this new stretch video to learn the "flamingo" stretch for the hips. This stretch should be done twice a day for 2 minutes on each leg.
5. Outer Hip Stretch - People always forget this one! Do this stretch (either on a chair or on the floor) 2 times per day, for 3 minutes on each side.
6. Chair Twists - A great movement for releasing tension in your back and taking pressure off your organs. This one should be done 2 times a day for 2 minutes to each side.
7. The Rainbow Stretch - Try to keep your arm unbent while you do this one. 2 times a day, 2 minutes for each arm.
8. The 5 Musketeers - This is our new exercise for the week. You may have seen three musketeers in a previous video, but this new one has more information and a better angle to see the correct form. Go through all the positions 2 times a day, for 2 minutes in each. That's a total of 10 minutes, 2 times a day.

Part 2: Strength

1. Up and Down - The key to this exercise, which helps to build bone density better than just about any other exercise, is to remember that there are two sets that you need to do. First with your legs apart, and then with your legs together. Build up to 30 repetitions of each kind, 3 to 4 times per week.
2. Sit Ups - Begin with this exercise on a chair if you need to, and then work down to the floor version of the sit ups over time. Build up to 30 repetitions, once every other day.
3. This new technique will help strengthen your calves, the muscles that sit at the back of your knees and stretch all the way to the bottom of your feet. This muscle pair is incredible important for stability while walking, climbing stairs, going uphill, and more. It's time to lift those heels off the ground! Build up to 30 repetitions every other day.
4. Wall Push-ups - you should all know this one by now. Remember that there are two sets, one with elbows in, and one with elbows out. Build up to 30 of each type every other day.

Part 3: Experiencing your Mass/Weight

1. Stand on One Leg - The easiest way to simulate being off-balance is by standing on one leg. We all have a different level of balance when we start off, so you may be able to do this easily, or you may need a lot of support to keep yourself up. Start wherever is safest for you, and work your way to the free-standing version of the exercise. Do this for 1 minute on each leg, twice a day. (See the video below).
2. Duck Walk - This funny-looking exercise is about controlling your center of gravity and your balance as you get lower to the ground. It also builds leg strength while you do it. Do 50 steps twice a day, and try to move lower over time.
3. Tai Chi Walk - This exercise might remind you of the duck walk, but it has a very different "feel" when you do it. Where the duck walk uses small leg movements and strains a lot of your quad muscles, Tai Chi walking (also called "The 50 Steps") requires big, exaggerated movements that activate more stabilizer muscles. Both are necessary for great balance. Move lower and perform the walk slower over time as you improve. You should do 50 steps a day.
4. Moving Down to the Floor and Back Up Safely - Lastly, we are going to practice actually going to the ground and getting back up in a safe and controlled manner. This is not supposed to be done quickly, but it does need to be repeated many times to imprint this reaction into your brain. Once you have done it enough, you'll automatically fall more safely than before. Do this ten times a day, alternating the side that you support yourself with.

Bonus Exercise: Rolling

1. You can aim for ten rolls every other day. It is very important to keep good form while you practice rolling so you don't hurt your neck, back, or other joints. If you feel yourself losing good form, then take a break. The purpose of these rolls is to create a pattern in your body that you can use unconsciously when you are falling. If you repeatedly do rolls with bad form, then when you fall you will probably have bad form then too

That's it for this week!

Happy Stretching!

Achieving Physical and Mental Balance, Part 7

Welcome back mind-body students! Like we hinted at last week, we will be adding the final (bonus) technique to our series on Achieving Physical and Mental Balance today: rolling.

But first, you can see the last six parts of this series here: Part 1 & Part 2 (Flexibility), Part 3 & Part 4 (Strength) and Part 5 & Part 6 (Experiencing your mass and weight).

As we mentioned last week, rolling is not for those simply looking to improve their stability. This is an advanced balance technique that will improve younger students' athletic and martial arts performance. If you know how to roll, then you are less likely to be hurt by martial arts throws and takedowns, football tackles, as well as trips in baseball, track and field, soccer, and more.

As for how many rolls you should do, you can aim for ten rolls every other day. It is very important to keep good form while you practice rolling so you don't hurt your neck, back, or other joints. If you feel yourself losing good form, then take a break. The purpose of these rolls is to create a pattern in your body that you can use unconsciously when you are falling. If you repeatedly do rolls with bad form, then when you fall you will probably have bad form then too!

The take away with rolls: quality over quantity.

I hope the slow-motion replays helped you see the technique better.

Happy Stretching!

Achieving Physical and Mental Balance, Part 6

Hello mind-body students! Glad you are back to read more of the series on Achieving Physical and Mental Balance! You can find the last five installments in the series here: Part 1 & Part 2 (Flexibility), Part 3 & Part 4 (Strength) and Part 5 (Experiencing your mass and weight).

This week, we add the last two exercises onto the third part of the series: Experiencing your mass and weight. I talked last week about how important it is to have a feel for your body's movements and weight, and how beneficial it can be in a situation where you lose your balance. Today, we're going from the beginner level techniques of the last post to more intermediate level techniques that will improve our balance and our ability to move in a smooth and controlled way.

1. Tai Chi Walk - This exercise might remind you of the duck walk, but it has a very different "feel" when you do it. Where the duck walk uses small leg movements and strains a lot of your quad muscles, Tai Chi walking (also called "The 50 Steps") requires big, exaggerated movements that activate more stabilizer muscles. Both are necessary for great balance. Move lower and perform the walk slower over time as you improve. You should do 50 steps a day.
2. Moving Down to the Floor and Back Up Safely - Lastly, we are going to practice actually going to the ground and getting back up in a safe and controlled manner. This is not supposed to be done quickly, but it does need to be repeated many times to imprint this reaction into your brain. Once you have done it enough, you'll automatically fall more safely than before. Do this ten times a day, alternating the side that you support yourself with.

Did you catch that tidbit about rolling that I mention in the video? If you did, good! That means you were listening closely. And now you've gotten a sneak peak into what I'll be showing you next week: how to roll correctly for martial arts.

Rolling is not an exercise for older people looking to improve balance, but I want to include it at the end of this series for younger mind-body students who are looking to achieve better performance in their athletics.

See you next week,

Happy Stretching!

Achieving Physical and Mental Balance, Part 5

Welcome back to the series on Achieving Physical and Mental Balance! To see the previous installments in the series, look here: Part 1 & Part 2 (Flexibility), Part 3 & Part 4 (Strength).

This week, we kick off the next and final section of this mind-body prescription: Experiencing your Mass & Weight.

Keeping your balance and protecting yourself from harmful falls is not all about being strong or limber. Plenty of strong and flexible people fall down and injure themselves every day. There is a third piece that is as important as the other two, and that piece is about experience. You have to be familiar with the experience of being off-balance, or shifting your center of gravity, if you are going to react appropriately in dangerous situations.

Our natural instincts when we lose balance can help us, but they can also hurt us. Think: when someone slips and falls, their arms often flail outward in all directions. This can be good if there is something around to catch ahold of. If there isn't, then this could be bad. Many people have broken an arm or wrist because they landed on it with their entire body weight.

What we have to practice doing is feeling off balance, and then moving our center of gravity in a controlled way that gets us safely to the ground (if that's where we need to go).

So, without further ado, here are the first two exercises in the third section: Experiencing your Mass and Weight.

1. Stand on One Leg - The easiest way to simulate being off-balance is by standing on one leg. We all have a different level of balance when we start off, so you may be able to do this easily, or you may need a lot of support to keep yourself up. Start wherever is safest for you, and work your way to the free-standing version of the exercise. Do this for 1 minute on each leg, twice a day. (See the video below).
    
2. Duck Walk - This funny-looking exercise is about controlling your center of gravity and your balance as you get lower to the ground. It also builds leg strength while you do it. Do 50 steps twice a day, and try to move lower over time.

That's it for Part 5! See you next week for Part 6!

Happy Stretching!

Achieving Physical and Mental Balance, Part 4

If you haven't checked out the flexibility portion of this routine, you can see it here: Part 1 & Part 2. Once you are all caught up on the stretching, start the strengthening portion of the routine with Part 3.

To finish up the strength section, we present two other exercises today. The first one will be new to some of you mind-body students, and the second is an old favorite.

Make sure you are paying attention to the number of repetitions and sets you should be doing, and be sure to keep your deep breathing and empty mind going as you do these techniques.

1. This new technique will help strengthen your calves, the muscles that sit at the back of your knees and stretch all the way to the bottom of your feet. This muscle pair is incredible important for stability while walking, climbing stairs, going uphill, and more. It's time to lift those heels off the ground! Build up to 30 repetitions every other day.
   (See the video below)
    
2. Wall Push-ups - you should all know this one by now. Remember that there are two sets, one with elbows in, and one with elbows out. Build up to 30 of each type every other day.

And that's it for strength! Next week, we move onto the third section of this mind-body prescription: Experiencing your mass/weight. This part will be a crucial step in improving your stability and balance, mentally and physically.

Until then, Happy Stretching!