With Coach Kennedy
It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been exercising, we all go through various phases of expanding our knowledge of the human body and movement. What sort of phases? For myself I’m always searching for new ways to integrate the human body. I love feeling powerful, strong, agile and endurant! So, I’ll go through phases where I won’t touch a weight for weeks on end, yet I feel stronger then ever. I’ll go through other phases where I’ll spend all my time moving on the ground like an animal (called Animal Flow). And yes, I’ll even go through short periods where I won’t attend the gym for weeks at a time as I find the need to just connect through daily movement at home, walks, hikes and bike rides.
This is one of the reasons I love using a tool called the ViPR (www.vipr.com).
Unlike any other tool (I may be biased here), it allows me to integrate all aspects of training for strength, power, agility, core, endurance, balance, proprioception, stability, mobility and mostly…just a load of fun! Yes, it can have real purpose and function, and be fun. Let’s also not forget the muscular coordination that has to take place, intra and inter, and the amount of caloric expenditure required.
Which brings me to the Movement of the Month: ViPR Lateral bound with Single Leg Landing.
Strength comes in all forms, in this case function, agility and endurance. There is movement in all planes of motion, that’s functional from a human movement perspective. Then the ability to load, explode and land during direction change is all about agility! And lastly, you have to have endurance.
Power is the ability to take strength and add speed. Power is a KEY component driven from a solid core, which you need plenty of in this exercise. And a stable core means the ability to drive more force.
We also have proprioception and mobility. Watch the ankle, the hips and thoracic spine, and it’s easy to see that mobility is a requirement in order to complete this lateral bound movement safely and efficiently. And, when we combine all of these benefits they contribute to our body awareness. I want you for a moment to imagine the landing: quick to balance while this weighted tool moves along carrying its own kinetic energy that has to be controlled and absorbed by you. If you’re not aware of where you body is in space, you can see how this would create an issue performing this exercise.
Lastly, it’s fun and totally different from what we generally see. Which means clients enjoy it, they think it’s cool and they come back for more!
Exercise Execution:
Begin in your athletic stance: feet hip width apart, soft knees, core braced, shoulders set (elevate, protract, depress) while holding the ViPR with both hands in a neutral grip directly in front of you. Drive your hips slightly to the right (this will create a preload effect) then safely, but quickly, drive the hips back towards the left and land on your left leg while letting the ViPR follow along as you imagine driving the ViPR into the ground with the right hand. The moment you land on your left leg, absorb the energy through the upper leg then explode quickly to the right side, repeat and continue for the allotted time.
Watch the video for an exercise demonstration.
Exercise Protocol:
Perform for 30 seconds per round. Apply exercises based on your client’s fitness level. In other words, regress and progress as required.
Not sure how? Contact kennedy@coachkennedyonline.ca.
Special thanks to Rich Wigmore and Taylor Rawson, cofounders of RT Health Company, for allowing me to use their space for all of my videos and mentorship. Visit their website www.thealthcompany.com
