Class Focus: WRIST, ELBOW & HAND

In this class we'll focus on Knee IR and Flexion. Along with Wrist Extension, and Elbow Flexion.

Equipment Needed: Yoga Blocks. Sticks or other props for balance if needed, but you could use the wall. Extra pad for your knee if you need it.

Time Markers:
0:40 CARs (warm up)
16:40 Wrist Extension PAILs/RAILs (Quadrupedal Base)
23:30 Wrist Extension Passive Range Lift Offs (Quadrupedal Base)
25:50 Elbow Flexion and Pronation PAILs/RAILs (Standing Base At Wall)
34:20 Knee Internal Rotation PAILs/RAILs (Seated Base)
51:30 Knee Flexion PAILs/RAILs + Passive Range Lift Offs (Half Kneeling Base)
1:12:55 Finishing CARs 

Addressing a common rotational deficit in knee IR will allow for greater global knee mobility. It's important to have good quality rotational movement at the knee, especially if you live a dynamic life (sports/running/hiking/dancing/etc). When we create a movement at the hip, and make contact with our feet on the ground, we want to give the knee freedom to move relative to those two joints. Rotation will be very important here. A stiff knee lacks variability, and lacking variability is never a good thing.

We will also address Knee Flexion. Knee flexion plays a big role for runners, cyclist, jumpers, squatters, etc. Very important for the Sissy Squat too. Also when we train the Regressive side of the Knee (RAILs), we also work our hamstrings. Knee problems seem very common in our society. We ask our knees to contribute to a lot of movements, though we don't train our knees exclusively all that much. Here we will. 

FYI
Cramping in your hamstring on your RAILs contraction is very common in the Knee Flexion base position. If you keep cramping, try to transition to RAILs slower and with less intensity. Over time you'll be able to produce more force without cramping. Cramping = neurological confusion. Essentially your body doesn't trust you to produce force in a certain range of motion (yet) and it freaks out and starts spasming to get you out of it.

We'll also be addressing wrist extension. Which is another important one. In conventional fitness we do a lot of movements on our wrist like pushups, handstands, straight arm planks, etc. If we don't have good quality wrist extension and we perform those type of movements - the wrist may become compromised, and joints like the elbow and shoulder will have to absorb more force to compensate. Here we train our wrists to be strong to be able to handle the demands of our life and training.

The elbow is a common area where we develop tendinitis. In traditional weight lifting we ask a lot from our elbows to flex and extend under heavy loads. Think pressing and pulling movements. Also very important for tennis players. Creating greater tissue resiliency specific to the elbow nets big gains when going into multi-joint upper body movements, or sports like tennis

Not exactly the "sexiest" joints, but very important nonetheless.

Class 8: Wrist Ext, Elbow Flexion, Knee IR & Flexion

This class is all about the Wrist. We'll target 3 joint positions for the wrist: flexion, extension, and ulnar deviation.

No equipment needed.

Time Markers: 
0:08 Wrist CARs
2:10 Wrist Extension PAILs/RAILs (Collapsed Quadrupedal Base)
10:45 Wrist Extension Lift Offs (Collapsed Quadrupedal Base)
12:50 Wrist Flexion PAILs/RAILs (Collapsed Quadrupedal Base)
20:50 Wrist Flexion Lift Offs (Collapsed Quadrupedal Base)
23:12 Ulnar Deviation (/Wrist Adduction) PAILs/RAILs (Collapsed Quadrupedal Base)
31:45 Finishing CARs

This class will be a great option for those who have struggled with wrist issues. If the wrist is a priority area for you, you'll want to program in this class at least 1x a week, and ideally work yourself up to 2x a week. For anyone with more serious past injuries to this area, it would be wise to listen to your body, and monitor intensities at first. Then you can slowly build up from there, increasing the intensity gradually with each class. You don't have to go full intensity right off the back, it's always best to go at your own pace and then build from there.

The wrist is commonly undertrained, and especially important in certain movements like handstands, pushups, muscle ups, and pushup planks.

Hope you enjoy the class!

Short Class 5: Wrist

This class is all about the Elbows. We'll target 3 joint positions for the elbows: pronation, supination, and flexion.

Equipment needed: A Stick

Time Markers: 
0:15 Pronation/Supination (Seated Base)
1:27 Elbow CARs (Seated Base)
2:32 Elbow Pronation PAILs/RAILs + Lift Offs (Seated Base)
20:28 Elbow Supination PAILs/RAILs (Seated Base)
28:10 Elbow Supination Passive Range Hold (Seated Base)
29:37 Elbow Flexion PAILs/RAILs (Standing Base At Wall)
36:00  Elbow Flexion Lift Offs
37:53 Finishing CARs

This class will be a great option for those who have struggled with elbow issues. Common ones are tendinitis - tennis/golfers elbow. If the elbow is a priority area for you, you'll want to program in this class at least 1x a week, and ideally work yourself up to 2x a week. For anyone with more serious past injuries to this area, it would be wise to listen to your body, and monitor intensities at first. Then you can slowly build up from there, increasing the intensity gradually with each class. You don't have to go full intensity right off the back, it's always best to go at your own pace and then build from there.

The elbow is very undertrained, and asked to absorb a lot of force in a lot of the movements and sports we do. So it will be important to improve tissue quality and strength in this area, especially if you’re dealing with any nagging elbow issues.

Hope you love the class!

Short Class 6: Elbows

This class is all about intrinsic hand muscles

Equipment Needed: A medium sized rubber band, and a hand sized squishy ball.

Time Markers: 
0:25 Finger Lifts
4:00 Finger Flexion Squeezes
7:37 Half Finger Flexion Squeezes
10:05 Straight Finger Wrist CARs
12:20 Fist Squeezes w/ Ball
14:45 Straight Finger Spreads w/ Rubber Band
17:20 “C Spreads” w/ Rubber Band
20:12 Finger Spread Isometrics

I’ve had a lot of students ask for this class. This is an area that’s very undertrained and can become problematic for people over time. Great for people who work on the computer a lot, play a musical instrument, or in a sport where you need to grip and use your hands a lot.

These areas of tissue don't get a lot of specific strength training inputs in regular training (leaving them weak), so if this is a problematic area for you this class will be great to incorporate. 

I hope you enjoy this class!

Short Class 29: Intrinsic Hand Strengthening

In this class we’ll target both Wrist Flexion and Extension

No equipment needed.

The wrist is commonly undertrained, and especially important in certain movements like handstands, pushups, front squats, muscle ups, straight arm planks, etc.

This class will be a great option for those who have struggled with wrist issues, or have certain movement goals that require much more range of motion and strength in their wrists.

If the wrist is a priority area for you, you'll want to program this class at least 1x a week, and you could work yourself up to 2x a week. For anyone with more serious past injuries to this area, it would be wise to listen to your body, and monitor intensities and range of motion at first. Then you can slowly build up from there.

Hope you enjoy the wrist gains!

Short Class 47: Wrist Flexion and Extension

This will be a single joint focus class for Elbow Pronation 

Equipment needed: A short stick.

Elbows are typically undertrained in most strength programs, and they’re often asked to absorb a lot of force in conventional movements. For those who have limitations in their pronation this can become problematic over time. When we look at certain movements like bench press, pull-ups, wide grip rows, tricep pushdowns, pushups, handstands, etc. - the elbow needs to have a sufficient amount of pronation. So if you’re limited here, this class will be great for you.

We’ll be working 3 rounds of PAILs/RAILs in our pronation base, but always listen to your body and go at your own pace. If 3 rounds feels like too much or if this is an area that's been problematic for you, maybe just stick to just 2 rounds and slowly build up - or do the 3rd round at much lower intensities. 

If this is an area of past injury or weakness - make sure to keep your intensity levels low, especially during PAILs/RAILs. It’s important to gradually build up the intensity and volume over time, as the tissue in this area could be weak and may not be able to withstand high levels of force quite yet. Start off slow, listen to your body, and gradually build up.

Hope you enjoy the elbow gains!

Short Class 56: Elbow Pronation

This is a single joint focus class for Wrist Extension

No equipment needed.

The wrist is commonly undertrained and extension is where most are limited in. This is a range of motion that’s especially important in certain movements like handstands, pushups, front squats, straight arm planks, and many other movements.

This class will be a great option for those who have certain movement goals that require much more range of motion and strength in wrist extension.

We’ll work 3 rounds of PAILs/RAILs in our extension base, but always listen to your body and go at your own pace. This is a pretty tough base to hangout in for 3 full rounds. If it feels like too much, just stick to just 2 rounds (or even 1) and slowly build up - or do the rounds at much lower intensities. 

If wrist extension is a priority area for you, you'll want to program this class at least 1x a week and ideally working you way up to 2x a week. 

Hope you enjoy the wrist gains!

Short Class 63: Wrist Extension

This will be a single joint focus class for Elbow Supination 

Equipment Needed: A chair is optional. You can also do the base  standing up.

Elbows are typically undertrained in most strength programs and they’re often asked to absorb a lot of force in conventional movements. For those who have limitations in their supination this can become problematic over time. When we look at certain movements like wide grip bicep curls, reverse grip rows, chin-ups, etc - the elbow needs to have a sufficient amount of supination. So if you’re limited here, this class will be great for you.

We’ll be working 3 rounds of PAILs/RAILs in our supination base, but always listen to your body and go at your own pace. If 3 rounds feels like too much or if this is an area that's been problematic for you, maybe just stick to just 2 rounds and slowly build up - or do the 3rd round at much lower intensities. 

If this is an area of past injury or weakness - make sure to keep your intensity levels low, especially during PAILs/RAILs. It’s important to gradually build up the intensity and volume over time, as the tissue in this area could be weak and may not be able to withstand high levels of force quite yet. Start off slow, listen to your body, and gradually build up.

Let’s butter up those bows!

Short Class 80: Elbow Supination

Finger CARs!

No equipment needed.

I’ve had a few students ask for a class for finger CARs, so here it is.

The fingers/hand can be an area where the tissue quality is weak since we don’t often train these areas specifically. If you need to, keep your intensity levels low and try not to push your outer ranges of motion too hard at first, especially if this is an area of past dysfunction or weakness. It’s totally okay to take it slow at first and gradually build up. 

If we have a certain rep scheme in the class and you fatigue much sooner than that, that’s okay - you don’t have to commit to that amount of reps, always listen to your body. It’s okay to start off with less reps.

In the class we work 3 different movements.

1. Finger CARs
2. Finger extension/flexion individually 
3. Finger extension/flexion collectively 

The fingers can be hard to control, especially when it comes to the less dominant hand and certain fingers - like the ring finger. Don’t be discouraged if your control isn’t great - over time, with practice, you will develop much better control. Just do your best when you’re starting out. You can use your other hand to help block the fingers that aren’t supposed to be moving.

This class can be fatiguing to your hands and fingers - it’s much harder than it looks.

Hope you enjoy the class!

Short Class 86: Finger CARs

Short Class 99: Wrist Flexion

A single joint focused class for Wrist Flexion.

No equipment needed.

This class will be a great option for those who have struggled with wrist issues or have certain movement goals that require more range of motion and strength in their wrists.

We’ll work 3 rounds of PAILs/RAILs in our Flexion base, but always listen to your body and go at your own pace. If 3 rounds feels like too much, stick to just 2 rounds and slowly build up - or do the 3rd round at much lower intensities. 

Hope you enjoy the class!

Short Class 99: Wrist Flexion

This is a single joint focus class for Elbow Flexion 

Equipment needed: Yoga block and we use a wall

Elbows are typically undertrained in most strength programs and they’re often asked to absorb a lot of force in conventional weight training/calisthenics movements. So many upper body movements require the elbow to flex with load/force, such as: Pushups, Bench Press, Pull-ups, Rows, Shoulder Presses, Bicep Curls, Tricep Extensions, etc. 

If the tissues of the elbow aren’t strong and are asked to absorb a lot of force in conventional exercises, this usually leads to wear and tear or injury. So we can utilize classes like this to train the elbow and surrounding tissues specifically and improve their capacity.

We’ll be working 3 rounds of PAILs/RAILs in our flexion base, but always listen to your body and go at your own pace. If 3 rounds feels like too much or if this is an area that's been problematic for you, maybe just stick to just 2 rounds and slowly build up - or do the 3rd round at much lower intensities. 

If this is an area of past injury or weakness - make sure to keep your intensity levels low, especially during PAILs/RAILs. It’s important to gradually build up the intensity and volume over time, as the tissue in this area could be weak and may not be able to withstand high levels of force quite yet. Start off slow, listen to your body, and gradually build up.

Hope you enjoy the class!

Short Class 101: Elbow Flexion

This is a warm up class specifically for the Wrist

Equipment needed: Tennis balls (optional)

In this class we will warm up your wrists through several different movements. This will be a circuit style class and we will be going at a slightly faster tempo. If you need to slow down, please feel free to pause the video and go at your own pace!

This is a great way to warm up your wrist before other strenuous activities like weight lifting or calisthenics.

You can also treat this class as a standalone option for those days you're limited on time and want to get a quick butter sesh on the wrists.

Hope you enjoy the class!

Short Class 107: Wrist Warm Up

This class is for the Thumb 👍

Equipment Needed: We’ll be using a plyo-box to place our hand on, but you can use any table, bench, or any type of surface.

For those who have issues with their hands and thumbs, especially for those who spend a lot of time on the computer and on their phones - this class is for you!

In our Thumb Extension base we will work 3 rounds of PAILs/RAILs, but always listen to your body. If 3 rounds feels like too much, stick to just 2 rounds and slowly build up - or do the 3rd round at much lower intensities. 

Please remember - this is an area that doesn’t get trained specifically in other forms of training, so the quality of tissue here might not be very strong quite yet. Keep your overall intensity a little bit lower when do your PAILs/RAILs in this area, especially if this is a problem area for you, and then you can gradually build up the intensity over time - adhering to progressive overload.

Also just FYI - this class is much harder than it looks, those little joints are challenging and tricky to train! Christa had many different faces during the class and it was amazing haha.

I hope you enjoy the class!

Short Class 116: Thumb

This is a warm up class specifically for the Elbows

Equipment Needed: A wall. Tennis ball and a light dumbbell are optional but not mandatory.

In this class we will warm up your elbows through several different movements. This will be a circuit style class and we will be going at a slightly faster tempo. If you need to slow down, please feel free to pause the video and go at your own pace!

This is a great way to warm up your elbows before other forms of activities like weight lifting/calisthenics

You can also treat this class as a standalone option for those days you're limited on time and want to get a 'snack' sized mobility session for the elbows.

Enjoy!

Short Class 122: Elbow Warm Up

This is a single joint focus class for Elbow Extension 

Equipment needed: We just use a wall for our extension PAILs/RAILs base

Elbows are typically undertrained in most strength programs and they’re often asked to absorb a lot of force in conventional weight training/calisthenics movements, and different sports like golf and tennis.

If the tissues of the elbow aren’t strong and are asked to absorb a lot of force, this can lead to certain injuries, a common one being tendinitis. injuries. So we can utilize classes like this to train the elbow and surrounding tissues specifically and improve their capacity.

We’ll be working 3 rounds of PAILs/RAILs in our extension base, but always listen to your body and go at your own pace. If 3 rounds feels like too much or if this is an area that's been problematic for you, just stick to just 2 rounds at first and slowly up to the third round over time - or do the 3rd round at much lower intensities. 

If this is an area of past injury or weakness - make sure to keep your intensity levels low, especially during PAILs/RAILs. It’s important to gradually build up the intensity and volume over time, as the tissue in this area could be weak and may not be able to withstand high levels of force quite yet. Start off light, listen to your body, and gradually build up over time.

Hope you enjoy the class!

Short Class 129: Elbow Extension

Alternative bases for Wrist Extension PAILs/RAILs!

This is an educational class that will breakdown some different Wrist Extension PAILs/RAILs bases. The most common wrist extension base is in the quadrupled position, but for some people that amount of load on top of their wrist might not feel comfortable, or they have a history of pain/weakness in this area and need a less challenging base.

In the video I offer a modification we can make to quadruped and then I show you a couple completely different bases which should prove to be really helpful for those with wrist issues!

I hope this was helpful!

Short Class 134: Wrist Extension Variations (educational)

This class will feature Advanced Elbow CAR variations

Equipment Needed: Dumbbell and/or Mace/Indian Club

Here’s a link some light Mace/Indian Clubs on amazon:
https://tinyurl.com/logestmace 

For a class like this, I recommend doing at least 3 months of Kinstretch beforehand. 

This is essentially a circuit class where we’ll be going through several advanced Elbow movements one by one. If you need to, feel free to pause the video at times and go at your own pace. This can be a very challenging class so it’s totally okay to take some more time in-between movements if needed. 

In Kinstretch we can advance certain movements through different variables:

1. Internal Tension. Increasing your internal tension will help you create a deeper force of contraction on the working areas to provide a greater training stimulus.

2. Tempo. By working even more slow and controlled we can accumulate more time under tension.

3. Adding weight. Now when we add weight with mobility movements, we always want to start off light and then slowly build up over time.

I hope you enjoy the class!