Hip Pops For The Posterior Chain

Ok, we all know that the posterior chain is our "gateway to athletic prowess", but often times it can be difficult or young or very weak athletes to do movements such as romanian deadlifts or goodmorning variations without building some type of base first. Not only that, but you don't need a glute ham bench, or a reverse hyper, or a super heavy pulldown machine for pull throughs - in fact, for these bad boys, all you need is a bench or box of some sort (your couch will work fine if you need to get in an extra workout @ home).

That all said, one of my favorite ways to crush the posterior chain of my clients (and myself - you're never too advanced for these!) is through hip pop variations and progressions. Using a bench or box to put your heels on, lay on your back and place your heels at the edge of the box/bench - with your legs bent at about 90 degrees. Push through your heels to "pop" your hips to the sky and lower under control. These can be done double leg or single leg, with several different progressions. Check out this vid from Martin Rooney showing a few...