….is Tall Kneeling!  It makes me so sad that this exercise set up is lost in the shuffle so often because it’s incredibly effective.  But in the quest to make exercises more complicated and crazy, simplicity has disappeared.  And that’s exactly what Tall Kneeling is, a primary set up that helps force glute engagement, core stability, better posture and body control at the simplest level.

Today I’m showing you a few of my favorite exercises that are focused on anti-rotation that you would typically see being done standing, instead from the Tall Kneeling position.

Tall Kneeling Pallof Press:  Yes, to rotate you must also resist rotation.  Sounds backwards, but in so many cases you must have stability in order to produce movement. You also have to possess the ability to decelerate in order to transfer power in an athletic motion (ie. the golf swing).  The Pallof Press is phenomenal for accomplishing these goals and by moving this exercise to the knees, you will notice an increase in hip activation, especially in the hip closer to the resistance.

Tall Kneeling Hip Hinge with Anti-Rotation:  Just like above, we are working on resisting rotation, but this time we are adding the challenge of hinging from the hips.  Before I ever start loading hip hinge patterns from a standing position, I always attack it from kneeling.  It is so much easier to get the glutes engaged and teach this pattern with the added stability of the ground.  Once the body begins to understand the motion and the muscles needed, it makes the transition into standing variations much easier.  By adding in the anti-rotation factor here, it kicks the exercise up a notch and challenges the core and shoulder stability.  As you hinge, you will feel a tug on the shoulders and your job is to pull those shoulder blades down and back.

Where do you place these exercises in a workout?  Anywhere!  As a warm up they will prep your body for excellence, as part of a circuit they add a multi directional supplement, and as a cool down it brings focus back to the core which is always a great idea before someone walks out the door to the golf course.

No matter how you use them, embrace Tall Kneeling and all it’s greatness.  Your body will thank you later!

-S