Dean Pohlman's Blog, page 48

Proper Deadlifting Technique for Beginners

This video is a great introduction to proper deadlifting technique. It teaches you what you should be avoiding & what to focus on.

Figure out how to breathe and the bar placement over your feet. Learn why deadlifting is good for you and how it makes you stronger. Personally, I’ll also talk about how yoga has helped improve my deadlifting technique, why that’s made me stronger, and why I think you should be doing yoga to complement your weight training. If you’re an expert lifter, you probably won’t get much out of this video, but if you’re new to weight training, haven’t done deadlifting below, or are just looking for some general tips, it will help!

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Deadlifting & Yoga

This video teaches you how you can use yoga before a deadlift to improve your technique and muscle activation, as well as gives you a beginner’s tutorial to improving your technique and overall power in a deadlift. The yoga warm-up helps you with more power in your hips and core, less strain on your lower-back, and the necessary mobility to keep your spine neutral and avoid rounding. This yoga routine focuses on improving muscle activation in your glutes, core, hips, inner thighs, and erector spinae; lengthening your hamstrings to help flatten your back; and warming up your body to make sure all the right muscles are firing and you have the proper form before starting

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Yoga for the SI Joint

Use this workout to address the root causes of SI joint and solve that issue for good! This focuses on strengthening your abs, core, hips, and stretching the muscles surrounding your SI joint / lower spine.

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Post-Shoulder Workout Flow

Here’s a flow focused on recovery for your shoulders, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to avoid the rest of your body. Work into your hips, get your core and spine moving, and get some endurance work with a Warrior 2 sequence near the end of this workout. Great for the day after a shoulder -focused workout (swimming, arm balances, pull-ups, resistance training, etc) when you want some relief for your shoulders but want to move the rest of your body, too. You’ll need 2 blocks and a strap for this one. Enjoy!

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Hips & Twists

This workout focuses on hip mobility and spine mobility. This is fantastic for athletes who use twisting motions such as swings, change of direction or turning, as well as people who spend too much time sitting or being inactive. This workout improves mobility in the spine, hips, and shoulders, and also improves core strength, hip strength, and lower-body endurance. You’ll need a block for this one.

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My Personal 4 Strategies for Practicing Gratitude – Off The Mat

Everyone from Oprah to Ben Greenfield talks about the importance of gratitude, so with so many successful people talking about its importance to their own success it must be pretty important, right? But… if you’re anything like me, being open about gratitude and saying, “You know what? I’m really grateful for ____ and ____,” might just feel downright uncomfortable. Let’s be honest – it’s tough to be emotionally open as a guy in our society. Well screw it – if people think that’s weird, that’s just too bad. Practicing gratitude works, in the sense that it helps you be happier, more fulfilled, and succeed in your goals.

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Yoga Flow for Flexion Level 1

Learn the basic exercises for strengthening your spine if you have flexion-based Back Pain or stiffness. Flexion-based means that rounding (forward folds) your back feels fine, but arching (back bending) your back feels uncomfortable or painful.

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Yoga Warm-Up for Squats

The goal of a proper warm-up for squats (in particular weighted back squats) is to make sure your body is completely prepared for the extra weight you’re about to put on your back. We do this by (1) opening the hips, (2) activating the muscles of the hips, legs, and core, (3) working into your ankles, and lastly (4) opening your chest and prepping your body with proper posture. This is a quick routine, and even though it might be longer than what you’re used to for a squat routine, you’re going to get so much more out of your squats as a result! Try it out, and see the difference.

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The Scorpion Workout (Crash‑course tutorial)

This workout focuses on the Scorpion Pose. This challenging but rewarding arm balance is a combination of shoulder mobility, core strength, spine strength, and hip stability. This workout guides you through drills and postures to help you develop the strength and the mobility for scorpion pose. At the end of the workout, you’ll have the chance to try scorpion for yourself. Be warned - you may fall over! You’ll need a strap and maybe a block for this workout (optional).

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Six Signs You need Yoga At 45+

I confess. I’m not always as proactive and purposeful as OlderBeast articles make me sound. When it comes to fitness, I’ve often just learned from injury-driven needs that motivated experimentation, or by simply lucking into things. When I started yoga at age 46, it wasn’t because I’d thoughtfully concluded “hey, I have some ‘need yoga’ signs.” I started just because yoga’s a weekly part of the P90X home fitness program. Luck.

This article was originally published at OlderBeast, whose mission is to help 45+ guys “double down” on body-and-soul health for the 2nd half of their life.

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