Full Body 5 Skills Sample Workout

The 5 Skills Framework

The 5 Skills Framework in Action

Equipment Needed

• Wedges (optional)
• Foam Roller
• Small step or thick book
• Band anchored low to the ground
• Band anchored at chest height

Movement Prep

1 set, 8-10 reps (or breaths)

All 4s Pelvic Tilts

Set up in the All 4s position with the balls of your feet on the wall. Stack your shoulders over your hands and ground into your hands without locking out your elbows. Begin moving through an anterior pelvic tilt (drop your belly and tilt the pelvic forward creating an arch in your low back) and a posterior pelvic tilt (pull up on the wall with your feet to engage your hamstrings and use the hamstrings not squeezing the glutes to tuck your pelvis back under). You can play with a few different breathing strategies here (see the video for the full breakdown) – inhale with the tuck to release the low back/sacrum (if you tend to live in more of a pelvic tilt), inhale with the arch to release the back of the pelvic floor and find length in your glutes (if you tend to clench your glutes and shove your hips forward), exhale in the opposite position OR exhale as you transitions and inhale in both positions for a little of both.

Bear to Downward Dog

Start in an all 4s position with the balls of your feet on the wall. Exhale up into a bear position, knees hovering. Get a full exhale here without crunching down from the top (be a unicorn). On an inhale shift back into a bent knee down dog, letting your spine round a bit. Breathe into your backside. Exhale back into the bear and repeat, moving with your breath.

2 sets as a super set (one exercise immediately followed by the other)

Slow Mo Co-contraction the Wall – 6-8 reps

Set yourself about arms length from the wall with your hands on the wall. Bend your knee over the mid foot, where your laces would be on your shoes. The key to this exercise is keeping that same bend throughout the movement. Lift the heel about and inch off the floor. Push into your hands to shift back in your hips and find length in that back pocket. Press through the ball of the foot and extend through the hip to stand back up to face the wall.

Pogos with Wall Reference - 15 - 20 reps

Stand a few feet from the wall. Press your hands into the wall above you. Pogo from there. Keep it springy through the feet. The bend in your knees should not change much.

Main Lifts

3 sets, 6-8 reps as a superset. Choose a weight that feels safe but challenging.

Respiratory Squat

Optional: elevate your heels using slant board/wedges as shown (you can also use a rolled up yoga mat to create the same effect). This is often helpful to maintain your stack. Place a yoga block or ball between your knees and a band around your knees. You can hold a dumbbell or kettlebell goblet style or just reach your arms out forward. Set yourself up with a long full exhale to find your stack. Then inhale as you squat down. Try to keep your chest up and stacked over your pelvis, without thrusting out your ribs. Let your knees go over your toes as your butt goes straight down. Exhale, press into the block or ball as you come up halfway. Inhale back down to the deep squat. Then exhale, press into the block or ball as you come all the way up.

Foam Roller Pushup

Set yourself up in a kneeling plank position with the balls of your feet on the wall and hands on a foam roller. You’ll probably want something to cushion your knees. Pull up on the wall with your feet to engage your hamstrings. Using the hamstrings (not squeezing your glutes) tuck your pelvis slightly to help maintain a nice flat back. Lower your chest down to the foam roller and press back up breathing in whatever way works best for you. Inhaling at the top will help you make more space in your back ribs, while inhaling at the bottom will help more space in the front ribs.

Accessory

3 sets, 10 reps (or breaths) of each as a circuit

Step to Lateral Hip Shift Isometric

Elevate your foot on a step or thick book. Place your hands on your hips to start. Step down and out with the other leg keeping your hip level, not hiking up. You’ll have to shift back into the hip of the leg up on the step, hinge forward slightly and bend the knee a bit. Reach back and feel yourself making space in your back pocket. Start with a very low step or book to get the feel. Take your time to get the feel of it, it may help to do it in front of a mirror.

Staggered Stance Hinge with Lateral Band Pull

Set up in a staggered stance with a band anchor low to the floor outside the standing leg. Hold the band in the opposite hand. Bend the knee forward over your mid foot. Shift back into that hip into a hinge allowing the band to turn your over that stance leg a bit so that you have knee over toes and sternum/nose over knee. Press through that foot to stand back up tall without locking out that knee.

Half Kneeling Row with Rotation

Set yourself up in a half kneeling position. Propping that one knee up will help you keep your hips level and really shift into that other hip. Hold the band in the opposite arm from the front foot. Set yourself up with a good inhale and exhale the ribs in. Let the band pull you to rotate towards that front leg. Pull back on the band, reach the opposite arm forward and rotate away from that front leg.