Plank to downdog

Set up a strong plank position with your hands directly under your shoulders. Tuck your hips under slightly, engage your glutes and pull your belly button towards your spine. Push into the ground as you press your hips back, ending in a downdog position with your arms overhead. The aim is to get fully overhead in this stacked triangle position, but bend your knees if you need to – our focus in this exercise is on the core and upper body engagement rather than the hamstring stretch. Hold your down dog for a few seconds then reverse the movement back to your plank, maintaining engagement through your shoulders. In your downdog, don’t try to squeeze your shoulders down and back, instead, keep actively pushing into the floor, pushing FROM the shoulders so you are in more of a shrugged position and actively try to rotate your elbows towards your knees to create a little external rotation of the shoulders.