Exercise description
Purpose: Symmetrical position, arm balances Performance instructions: Move into a plank from a supported kneeling position. Rest your hands on the mat under your shoulders. Ensure that the entire insides of your hands are glued tightly to the mat. Place your knees hip width apart, evenly under your hips. The toes are pointed and the foot is vertical, the heel is raised. While still in supported kneeling, straighten your spine, including - bring your chin close to your sternum so that your neck is an extension of the rest of your spine. Breathe deeply and feel your abdominal muscles tighten. Pull your navel up towards your spine, tuck your tailbone underneath you as if you were tucking your tailbone underneath you and then straighten your right leg by pressing the base of your toes against the mat. Feel that there is a connection from your right hand to your right foot, feeling the spread from the right side of your body. Straighten your left leg and feel the connection between your left foot and left hand. Tighten the fronts of your thighs, push your heels back, feel the stretch in your calves, tighten your glutes. All the while tuck your tailbone under and pull your navel up towards your spine. Move the sternum away from the navel, pull the shoulders back, extend the sternum forward. Imagine that there is a cord through the centre of the spine, which is supposed to be parallel to the ground. This cord starts at the tailbone and ends at the top of the head. Push yourself very actively with your hands off the mat so that you activate your shoulder rims and do not sink into your shoulders. Breathe deeply to feel the abdominal muscles.
