Corkscrew

This exercise is the big sister of Leg Circles we did in April, where each leg is circled separately. Now the challenge is to circle both at the same time as if they were a single leg while maintaining stability and control!

Imagine you are grinding spices for a curry paste. Your legs are the pestle and your hip socket the mortar. Lets try it!

Corkscrew Preps

Corkscrew

Lie on your back, arms anchored on the floor in ‘T’ position. Inhale raise one leg high to the ceiling, exhale raise the other now squeezing legs together through the heels and inner thighs.

Inhale rotate pelvis and both legs across to one side, exhale circle down and around to return to centre. Reverse the circling.

Keep the hamstrings engaged to anchor the pelvis too. Squeezing the heels together helps with this.

Repeat this 3 times on each side, all the time deepening the abdominals and keeping your torso stable.

Things to watch out for when you are not doing this exercise under supervision:

• Keep the circle size to what you can control.
• This needs all the scooping of abdominals that you can muster. It’s a challenge!
• Your neck stays in a neutral position and doesn’t arch during the movement
• Use a theraband around your feet to assist in learning the movement if you find your pelvis can’t remain stable

What you will feel:

• Freedom in the hips as your legs gradually learn to move independently of your body
• Good ‘tension’ in your abdominals as they work extra hard to stabilise your torso
• A sense of childlike joy as you do an exercise that you possibly did without thinking as a child