The Thang

Walk backward for 10 minutes- This gets your body used to getting your knees over your toes and warms up your tibialis (shin muscle). Yes, ten minutes feels like an eternity.

Tibialis raise x 25- stand with your back flat against the wall and take one step out with just your feet. You will now have your body on a diagonal. With your heels dug into the ground, raise your toes as high as you can keeping your knees locked out and your body as straight as possible. Flex your quads as you are pulling your toes up.

Calf raise x 25- hands against the wall step back as far as you can while being still being able to get your heels to the ground. Try to get your weight to shift up onto your big toes as you come up.

Tibialis raise x 25- Repeat the exercise. You will notice that it is significantly harder to get all 25 reps this time

Knees over toes calf raise x 25- Flip back around to face the wall. This time your feet wont be as far away. While keeping your knees and hips in a vertical line, bends your knees over your toes and then do a calf raise.

Patrick step x 25 on each leg- Stand parallel with the wall and use it for balance. Lift the leg that’s away from the wall off the ground (to form about a 45 degree angle). Lean back and bend the leg closest to the wall until the raised heal touches the ground. I usually feel this on my quad tendon just above my knee cap.

ATG (ass to ground) Split squat x 10 each leg- The easiest way to describe this is as an exaggerated lunge. Get your lead foot elevated (we used picnic benches). Keep most of your weight on that foot and lean forward enough to get that front heel off of bench and your knee over your toe. Your back leg should remain as straight as you can keep it. Flex your quad to fight to keep it straight. Make sure your torso and head are vertical. My hips were so tight when I started doing these that I couldn’t get knee over my toe. The modification is to get the front foot on an even higher surface until you can do it. Once your flexibility and your strength come around, you can do these flat on the ground.

*He makes note that the reason for doing most exercises one leg at a time is to eliminate having one side be stronger than the other. You will almost always compensate when using both legs. If one leg is stronger that the other, you will wind up hurting yourself when you change directions at speed.

Elephant walk (hamstring stretch)- With your palms flat on the ground, walk your feet as close to them as possible while still keeping your legs totally straight. Now bend your knees just a little to get your feet even closer to your hands. Peddle your feet back and forth to get one leg straight at a time. 60 total reps

L-Sit leg lifts- Sit flat on the ground with your leg straight out in front of you. Alternate lifting your heels off the ground for 60 seconds. The further forward you lean, the harder it is. The furthur back you lean the easier. Eventually you are supposed to be able to push your body of the ground with your hands, hold the pike and do the exercise. My brain cannot comprehend how that will ever be possible.

Couch Stretch (quad stretch)- Use a pillow or a pad under your knee if possible. Facing away from a wall, get down on one knee and get that knee as close to the wall as possible. Pull your foot up and lean back. if you can get your foot pointed straight up the wall that is ideal. I have found the more I work at this, the closer I am and the it really stretches out your shin too. 60 seconds each side

Ring merkins x 25- Get as close to horizontal to the ground as you can. Perform a merkin. The closer you are to vertical, the easier its gets. The reason to do ring merkins is so that you get the full range of motion. Keep your arms close to your sides, but go as deep into the movement as can. I’ve noticed a great stretch in the “down” position.

Ring Rows x 25- walk yourself as close to parallel to the ground as possible. Perform a row. Again, the straighter up you are standing, the easier it gets.

Calf stretch 60 seconds each leg- put your foot on a curb and stretch that calf

Hamstring stretch 60 seconds each leg- Keep your foot on the curb, flex your quad and lean down to try and touch your toe. With your calf extended and your quad flexed, you will really notice a difference in the stretch as opposed to just bending over and hanging.

Outer Glute Stretch 60 seconds each side- Lay on your back with you butt and your feet against a wall. Cross one foot over the opposite knee to get into the “figure 4 position”. The foot that is against the wall can push out to increase the stretch. You can also push your hand against the crossed knee in order to increase the stretch.

Groin stretch 60 seconds- lay with your butt against the wall and your feel vertical. Now just let your feet fall to the sides into a V and let gravity stretch you. You’ll be amazed at how well this works…and how long 60 seconds feels here.

Pancake stretch 60 seconds- Sit on the ground with your feet spread.  Lean forward and try to get your forehead as close to the ground as possible.

Band pull apart 50 reps- hold a band straight out from your shoulders. Pull back until your body forms a “T”