Thor Strength

Scapula push ups!

Another great one for shoulder health and mobility! I prefer doing this in quadruped position (hands and knees down), but you can also do this in a push up position too.

The 🔑 here is to keep a neutral spine. All the movement comes from the shoulder blades moving together and apart.

Prone Y Raise

Adding a foam pad under your chest can provide more comfort and a little more range of motion. Make sure to keep your hips tucked under you. We’re not trying to stick our butt up. Pull the shoulder blades down into our back pockets and raise those arms. Nice and controlled!

If you can get this right consistently, you’re shoulders will be unstoppable!

Don’t sleep on the banded external rotation. This is maybe the simplest rotator cuff movement to set up and perform correctly.

➡️ Set elbow height
➡️ Keep elbow at 90 degrees
➡️ Keep upper arm tucked to your side
➡️ Rotation forearm from belloy button out

This is great to open up the shoulders. Aim for 10-15 reps. Keep intensity low.

Front Foot Elevated Split Squat

Looking to step up your split squat game. Here’s a great variation that hits the hips a little different. If your having trouble getting lower on squats, this could be a great assistance movement.

Your just looking to elevate that front foot 2-4 inches. I prefer to commit to slow movements to really focus on my quads.

Is your schedule changing?
Do you need to modify your sessions?

I’m going from 4 to 3 sessions a week. The goal is to make the most of those 3 sessions but not be at the gym for too long.

Here’s a great format to make the most of your Lowe body day. My goal is to squat and deadlift each week. But I won’t be going heavy on both in the same week. Instead, I pick one to push and the other to improve my speed and technique; and I alternate each week.

Then I throw in an assistance movement to compliment the main lift and 1-2 other lifts to improve my hip strength. This is a total 4-5 exercises, and I can get through it in 45-60 minutes if I’m keeping an eye on my rest times.

Looking for more guidance to your training? I can help!

Here are two great breath-work drills to throw into your warm up to improve your bracing.

☝️ 90/90 breathing

✌️ crocodile breathing

✅ the goal is to remove the chest breathing. We want the belly to expand, NOT the ribs & NOT the shoulders.

➡️ 2 sets of 5-8 slow breathes

Don’t forget the specificity of using a weightlifting belt.

For example…
Powerlifters solely focus on SQUAT, BENCH & DEADLIFT. And often use a bent for all three. These are all technical movements. Lifters spend their time perfecting their technique and removing unknowns. This is the type of function of a belt.

You don’t see people throwing in a belt to play pickleball. The movements and duration of effort are far different.

Let’s get you stronger! Join the Thor Strength family!

Ever see someone wear two belts? A softer looking one and a leather one? Here’s why….

For an overhead event that requires a clean up the body, the hard belt provides a shelf to help move the weight. The soft belt (underneath) generally provides the support that we rely on to brace better.

As mentioned in a previous post, cleaning a log or axle is a skill that should be worked on without a belt. The skill needs to be developed first, and then the belt is what we add when we are ready.

If you’re ready to start pushing bigger weights, DM “WEEK1” for that 3 day program to get started!

Don’t fall into the trap of throwing on all your supportive gear immediately.

If your knee hurts, we don’t just throw a knee sleeve on and the problem is fixed. Make sure to do enough warm up sets to get the muscles around the knee firing first!

The supportive gear is to support with what we’ve already built. A weight belt supports an already strong core and ability to brace properly.