Snake (twisted plank to pike)

3-POINT SET-UP:

1. Hands on your (front platform / carriage)

2. Tippy-toes on your (carriage / platform) - cross your __ foot over your __.

3. Hips up in a twisted plank position and hold

OPTION: THIS EXERCISE CAN BE DONE ON YOUR ELBOWS FOR “FOREARM SNAKE”

Body Part • Direction • Action Verb:

• With a “flat” (neutral) back… PIKE your hips halfway to the ceiling

• RESIST back to your twisted plank

Range of Motion:

• Stop your hips halfway to the ceiling or before you start to round your spine

• At the bottom, stop with your hips in line with your shoulders in a strong plank position

 Kinetic Checkpoints:

HEAD:
❌ Keep your head or gaze in a fixed position
❌ Look all the way at your knees or toes

✅ Allow your head/neck to move along with your spine
✅ Your gaze goes from the center of the platform to the bottom edge of the platform (approximately)
✅ Keep your neck in line with your spine instead of looking at your knees

SHOULDERS:
❌ Sink into your shoulders (retraction/winging) or “rise out of your shoulders” too much (protraction)

✅ Keep your shoulders square to the platform with equal amounts of bodyweight in each arm
✅ Keep your shoulder blades neutral - as if there is a flat line from shoulder to shoulder

HIPS:
❌ Allow your lower back to arch or tuck under (especially as you begin to PIKE!)
❌ “CRUNCH” as you pike your hips up
❌ Over-rotate so that your hips are pointed directly to the side

✅ Keep your hips and spine NEUTRAL throughout the movement.
✅ Rotate your hips only about 45 degrees.

KNEES:
❌ Allow your knees to bend

✅ Keep straight legs throughout the movement
✅ Stay active in your inner-thighs (and therefore your pelvic floor and deep core stabilizers)

HANDS/FEET:
❌ Over-rotate or point your toes directly to the side
❌ Allow your heels to drop as you PIKE your hips up
❌ Transfer bodyweight to your legs or shoulders during the movement

✅ Point your toes “about 45 degrees” or 1/8th of a turn
✅ Keep your heels lifted throughout the entire movement so that your bodyweight stays evenly distributed

Talking Points:

• This exercise is about maintaining a NEUTRAL SPINE as you HINGE from your hips

• This exercise is about core stability and isometric rotation. Our obliques are working to hold the rotation in our spine and support our neutral spine throughout the movement

• Pay close attention to the amount of rotation - you only need the toes to point about 45 degrees to the side or “halfway between the mirror and the side of the room”

• If you have too much rotation you will notice that you struggle to keep your bodyweight even between both arms!

• This is exactly like teaser but with your HANDS on the platform/carriage and your HEELS UP