Spidermans
Spidermans
Muscle Group Stretched: Adductors
Muscle Group Strengthened: Glutes
Type of Stretch: Active Dynamic
Difficulty: All Levels
Suggested Prerequisites: none
This drill is one of many I use for strengthening glutes in a flexed hip position, meaning a similar hip position to what we use in our straddles and middle splits. Hip abduction drills like these and fire hydrants are some of my go-to conditioning drills to make sure my glutes are firing before working on my straddles and middle splits.
How To
Step 1
Start kneeling in a tabletop position (on hands and knees).
Step 2
Shifting your weight to your left knee, keep your spine neutral as you extend your right leg behind you, straightening the leg and lifting to hip height (avoid lifting higher than hip height - that will cause you to arch your back, which we don’t want for this drill).
Step 3
Keeping both hip bones pointing towards the floor (don’t let the right hip start to lift!), bend the right knee as you bring the knee forwards toward the outside of your hip (your thigh should shift from facing the floor when your leg is straight, to facing forwards when you bring that knee forwards). Your challenge is keeping that leg as high in the air as you can without the hips tilting to the side. This should feel like a strong squeeze in the right glutes.
Step 4
Keeping the right leg high and keeping the hips stable and square, kick the right leg back behind your hip to the starting position (leg straight and lifted to hip height).
Repeat for 8-12 reps.
Modifications
Need to make it easier?
Let the working leg knee hover closer to the ground.
Want to make it harder?
Lower your hips. Instead of starting in a “tabletop” position with your hips stacked on top of your knees, start lying on the ground with your hips propped up on 1-2 yoga blocks.
Related Content
Flexopedia: Fire Hydrants
Blog Post: How to Flatten Your Middle Splits
Blog Post: 10-Minute Middle Split & Straddle Routine
