Kick Sits: An Underrated Functional Exercise
Increased shoulder strength, core stability and hip mobility... like the sound of these benefits?
Then it's time to start adding kick sits into your workout regime.
The kick sit is a primal/functional exercise which many elite trainers prescribe to their athletes, and perhaps you'll see it being performed in a number of CrossFit gyms as part of a warm-up routine... but the kick sit still hasn't received the attention and recognition it deserves.
This is a particularly great exercise to implement into your regime right now as you don't need a great deal of room to perform it and you don't require any equipment!
Whether you're a newbie to working out or you're an elite athlete the kick sit can be scaled to ensure you get a solid workout.
How To Perform Kick Sits Correctly
Begin on your hands and knees with hands located underneath your shoulders.
Push through your palms to lift yourself up off the ground, almost as if you were about to perform a push-up.
Begin turning one foot outward (toes face outward) while you foot remains parallel to the floor, while doiung this bring your opposite leg under and through your body while your hip slightly brushes the ground as the other leg extends.
Maintain position with your palms flat on the ground, return your extended leg to the starting (almost push-up) position and repeat steps for the opposite side.
Repeat for prescribed number of repetitions.
Scaling The Kick Sit Exercise
Scaling the kick sit is simple, the form remains the exact same for the novice and the advanced athlete, the speed at which repetitions are performed and the sheer number of repetitions per set are all we're going to be altering.
A newcomer will perform 3 or 4 sets of 10 - 15 repetitions per set of slow and controlled kick sits.
An advanced athlete will opt to perform 5 - 10 sets of 20 - 50 reps per set at an increase speed.
Incorporating Kick Sits Into Your Regime
There is not right or wrong way per se to incorporate kick sits into your workout regime, you can opt to add them at the beginning of your workout as a warm up to get your shoulders, hips and core firing before performing exercises such as the deadlift, bench or squat or you can opt to throw them in as an exercise in a functional circuit along with other functional exercises such as the Turkish Get Up, kettlebell swing, Farmers walks etc.
