This is one of my favorite free Foundation Training videos in Youtube. In this video, Dr. Eric Goodman and Chad show you how to perform Foundation Training’s most important exercise, The Founder.
In fact, they teach three different ways to do this exercise, so you can choose the best one for you and get the most out of your training.
The Founder is the basis of everything you learn with Foundation Training. It forces the body into basic posterior chain recruitment and is the fastest way to understand proper posture.
I strongly encourage you to watch this video and give it a try. Even better, practice it daily to benefit from lower back pain relief, improved performance and a healthier life. If you have trouble hearing the audio you are welcome to read into the transcription bellow.
The Founder
To start, take a shoulder width stance with your feet facing forward. Stand as tall as you can, pressing your heels into the ground. As you stand, lift your chest high up.
From that position unlock your hips, hinging your hips back behind your heels. Make sure your abdomen stays long. As soon as you feel that little bit of lower back tension, right at the base of the spine, start to slowly open up the chest, unscrewing your shoulders, while turning the thumbs out away from your body. If you open your hand really big, it’s going to help the process a bit more.
From here you’re going to counterbalance your hands forward, lifting them to hip level. As you do that, pull your hips back two more inches. Hold this position for one big breath, elevating the torso as you breathe in.
Your weight is driven through your heels, your chest is high, and your lower back should feel fatigued. From this position, nothing else changes, except the arms. Lift them straight up, increasing tension at the base of the spine.
Make sure that you are avoiding hyperextension in this position. Hyperextension happens when you lift your chest back and collapse onto your lower back.
Keep lifting up, away from your hips. Constantly reaching your hands away from your hips as far as you can.
Hold this for 10 to 15 seconds in a very strong isometric pose. Then, press your weight into your heels, bring your arms down and stand up.
Wide Leg Founder
The next exercise is on a wider stance then the regular Founder. The Wide Leg Founder gives you a sturdier base to work from, everything else is the same. Your feet are facing forward and your weight is driven back on the heels. The first aspect of the exercise is elevation.
Decompress your spine by lifting your torso away from your hips. As soon as you feel properly decompressed you’re going to hinge your hips back just a little bit, taking your hips straight back behind the heels, keeping the knees slightly unlocked.
One of the very important aspects of this exercise is that your knees do not come forward. Your knees must be either over the heels, or behind the heels to load the posterior chain properly.
From this position, open up the chest and turn your thumbs away from your hips to further elongate the pec and shoulder muscles. Hold this pose for 5 to 10 seconds.
Try to feel very tall and strong in this position. Let your lower back burn just a little bit, and then begin the counterbalance process by bringing your arms first to about hip level, then to chest level.
As you bring your arms forward, pull your hips back just a little bit more, loading the posterior chain and making sure that all those muscles are absorbing the weight and tension.
From here, your hips, heels and shoulders will remain strong. Lift your arms straight up. Make sure that your head does not move forward. Keep actively pulling your head back, tucking the chin back as the arms lift forward and up. Hold this for 5 more seconds, letting the lower back burn.
Then, slowly bring your arms back behind you, press through your heels and stand up.
Internally Rotated Founder
The last exercise is called an internally rotated founder. It’s very good for opening up the I.T. bands and bringing sciatic pain relief.
The starting position is narrow, about hip width stance. The most important aspect of this exercise is to turn the feet inward towards each other and press the heels and outer foot into the ground very firmly.
From this position everything else is the same. Big decompression breathe up so the rib cage lifts away from the hips.
As soon as you feel properly decompressed, pull the hips back. You should almost immediately get a little bit of tension on the outside of the legs. From this position, as soon as you feel that lower back engaged, bring the arms back up behind you.
Open up the chest through the shoulders. Begin that counterbalancing process and really pay attention that, as the arms come forward, the hips have the ability to pull back, you’re not bending the knees further, you’re pulling the hips behind you.
From this position the body stays firm. You should be shaking in this position, lifting the arms as high as they can go.
You may notice your feet trying to roll out to the sides. Try to press the inside of your feet into the ground.
Spend five more seconds in this position, take a very big deep breath and as you exhale try to pull your stomach off of your waistband. Then press through your heels and stand up.
Conclusions about The Founder and Foundation Training
You can’t do too much Foundation Training. These exercises are going to help you reverse poor posture and movement patterns and teach you have to find pain relief and a better way to move.
If you want to learn more Foundation Training I encorage you take a look at the Foundation Trainig Book and the Foundation Training DVD Set.
Another excellent option for you is to contact me for Private Foundation Training Classes in Boulder Colorado and Online.
If you want to learn more Dr. Eric Goodman, The Founder and The Foundation Training execises you can also visit www.foundationtraining.com
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