Brian Schiff’s Blog

Improving rotational strength and stability in the torso, shoulders and hips is important for injury prevention and performance. The ability to resist and control rotational loads can reduce stress on the body during transverse plane activities and deceleration during sport. This exercise will demonstrate how to train rotational stability in an unstable manner using water with the Aktiv AQUA Bag. The video below is my latest online column for PFP Magazine.

The water provides an unstable training environment that is effective for beginners and advanced users. You can read the entire online column by clicking here.

I have had the pleasure of authoring a bi-weekly column for PFP’s online magazine entitled “Functionally Fit” for over three years now.  This column gives me a creative avenue to display my specific training techniques and teach others how to build a better functional body in the process.

One of the greatest things about exercise is all the different options, variations and tweaks available to bring about a desired physical change in the human body.  As Alwyn Cosgrove once said, “Exercise is like medicine.”  By this, he means the right dosage and application is critical.  I could not agree more.

As training and rehab continue to evolve and become even more intertwined, we as practitioners need to continue seeking ways to get more from our exercises.  I personally use lots of different training tools in my trade, but I am always seeking to get the biggest return on my exercise investments.  Today, I am sharing one such exercise with you, the 3D Mountain Climber with Hip Extension.  Check out the video below:

In this video, I am working to improve shoulder, hip and core stability as well as strongly encourage hip disassociation. Many clients I train and rehab simply are asymmetrical or cannot disassociate their hips which leads to flawed movement patterns and leaks int he kinetic chain.

I used this exercise in our core training series we were doing with the Carolina Hurricanes in their pre-season conditioning sessions that we just recently completed. It is not easy, but delivers so much benefit for just one movement. In the video I display a BOSU balance trainer, but in my online column for PFP, I include a full buildup progression as well. Click here to read the column.