Side Hip Bridge

September 6, 2016 By Underground Gym

Benefits of Side Hip Bridge.

Side Hip Bridge with bend knees is an excellent lift to develop the Gluteus Medius muscle, which is one of the many key muscles in abducting the leg, as well as stabilizing hips in particular and lower extremities in general. From my experience, after testing and training many people on regular basis, many are surprised how weak initially that exercise feels, even if you seem to be relatively strong with basic movements such as squats.

That is not a surprise if you know that Gluteus Medius often experiences atrophy due to excessive sitting. Another factor is that many people are rarely taught how to do things correctly with their bodies and just kind of make due anyhow, compensating along the way and never learning to use this muscle as a part of overall body’s orchestra network of muscles, tendons, fascia and other structures that participate in the symphony of movement creation. [Read more…]

Systema Ground Roll Tutorial, part 3

September 22, 2015 By Underground Gym

This is a Part 3 of the video series on how to correctly learn and perform Systema Ground Rolls, how to build a correct foundation and master it’s most basic variations. You can check out Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

In this installment I will go over the following topics:

Correct way to articulate your shoulder during forward rolls
Common mistake when rotating the shoulder
How to build core strength and control when performing Systema Ground Shoulder Rolls
Correct use of momentum
How to work up to performing legitimate Forward Ground Rolls, if the core strength is yet inadequate
Review of the safety guidelines
Benefits summary of performing Systema Ground Rolls and general guidelines and standards on how to train them and what you should expect to work up to

Enjoy your practice and let me know how it goes, LIVE STRONG!

Systema Ground Roll Tutorial, part 2

September 18, 2015 By Underground Gym

As I said in the prior Underground Gym’s Blog post, I consider Systema Ground Rolls an absolute vital piece in the core mastery puzzle. It is not only a highly functional core move, but it also works the entire midsection very hard, combines Flexion, Rotation and Extension into one smooth move, integrates proper breathing and even works your inner organs via constant compression and extension cycle.

The bottom line is that if you cannot do those, even in their most basic variation outlined in the video series above, you have very poor core control. On the other hand, if you work up to 2, 5, 10 or even 15-20 minutes of continuous technical rolling, it will transform the way you feel, perform and look.

The part 2 of the Systema Ground Roll video series above take a look at the following:

How to perform Full Back Systema Ground Rolls properly
More details on proper breathing during the execution
How to gain true strength and get away from relying on momentum
What part of your feet and legs to use to enter the ground, depending on the surface and footwear type that you are working with

Enjoy Systema Ground Roll progression and let me know if you have any questions.

LIVE STRONG!

Systema Ground Roll Tutorial, Part 1

September 16, 2015 By Underground Gym

I consider Systema Ground Roll to be one of the most important and foundational core training exercises. The video tutorial above will set you up with a basic Systema Ground Roll progression and set you up for performing more advanced variations in the future.

In the video we will take a look at the following topics:

How to perform Ground Shoulder Rolls safely and effectively
How to avoid harsh ground contact with the spine
How to breathe correctly during Ground Shoulder Rolls
Basic Half Back Roll Progression
How to stabilize yourself during the roll at the beginning stages of skill development

Enjoy!

Find more tutorial at our channel!

Joint Mobility Routine and Standing Warm Up

June 18, 2015 By Underground Gym

Are you skipping your Warm Up and Joint Mobility Routine?

Joint Mobility Routine was part of John F Kennedy Physical Fitness For Schools program in beginning of sixties of last century.

In good and bad Soviet Union it was a MUST in educational institutions and government organizations.

Elite athletes and fitness enthusiasts swear on the benefits and enhanced performance after integrating this into their activity.

It is go to tool for people who experiencing any joint or/and soft tissue pain.

We use it as one of our tools to get our students ready for activity and work on joint mobilization as well as their ROM restoration.

Now it’s available to you!

For more follow along videos visit our YouTube Channel

One Kettlebell Workout Routine

June 16, 2015 By Underground Gym

Kettlebell Workout Routine for Fitness & Weight Loss (Beginner Level)-
another variation of riding your Kettlebell.

This Workout Routine might take you anywhere from 15-50 min, depending on level of your strength and conditioning. We tested this Routine throughout the time – and it works like MAGIC!- Now its yours!

We using the ladder programming for that workout routine- originally vastly used in post Soviet Union countries. Pavel Tsatsouline got some light for that type of training back in 2001(Russian Kettlebell Challenge) – great resourse to study!

Ok…… so the whole workout routine is pretty simple, but not easy:)

Train it for 2-3/week

Start your journey with selecting the proper weight for this workout- Use 5-6RM of Kettlebell Press for your Clean and Press and 13-15RM for your swings, that will create proper intensity for the workout routine.

Your first session start with 3 ladders of 1-2-3 and do swings in between. For Example on the video Sergei did one full ladder – you will need to accomplish 3 of those; next session add 1 more and then another one the session after. Keep adding ladders until you have 10 of them- it should take you 8 training sessions to accomplish. If you feel its to easy – swing the bell for 12-14 reps ea time.

When you got 10 ladders of 1-2-3 ( 5X(1-2-3)) – you will feel much stronger and fitter, plus several pounds will be shed off your body and those jeans in the closet that you didn’t wear for several years will fit again!

Kettlebell Core Finisher

June 8, 2015 By Underground Gym

Coach Sergei Karaliou demonstrates how to implement Kettlebell Core Finisher into your workout routine to smoke your core!

This video contains Kettlebell Core Finisher exercises that you can implement into your training practice. Start with the Kettlebell that you can swing 10 repetitions for One Arm Swing.

Perform Hand-2-Hand Swings and Slingshot back to back with no rest. Start with 10 reps of each for 3 sets and build up to 20 reps and 5 sets.

It’s a great way to finish your workout routine burn extra calories and bring functional strength to your core!

Stay well!

For more videos get to our YouTube channel!

Swing and Squat Variations with Kettlebells

April 7, 2015 By Underground Gym

Coach Sergei Karaliou demonstrates the following kettlebell squat and swing variations:

Two Handed Swing
Goblet Squat
Single Arm Swing
Single Rack Front Squat
Double Swing
Double Front Squat

All great exercises to get your strength, power and stamina to improve if you perform them correctly. These kettlebell exercise variations work the lower body and the posterior chain hard, along with your core and grip. Lungs and heart get a nice workout as well.

Core Training Series, Basic Kettlebell Workout

October 6, 2014 By Underground Gym

With this kettlebell workout, Coach Sergei Karaliou is at it again, delivering a straight forward core workout with one kettlebell, utilizing basic core training principals from Compound Conditioning Training Philosophy.

Workout structure:

1) Flexion — Kettlebell Overhead Sit Up

2) Extension / Hinging / Central Body Pulling — Kettlebell Swing

3) Rotation / Counter-rotation — Kettlebell Around The World Pass

Try this workout and let us know how it goes. Contact us to train with us in person or via online training.

LIVE STRONG!

Sample Kettlebell Workout with one bell

July 9, 2014 By Underground Gym

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDttcl5BBQc

You can get a tremendous training session with just one kettlebell and a few basic exercises. With this kettlebell workout, many training objectives could be accomplished, including muscle building, fat loss and conditioning. The video above breaks down and demonstrates a sample of such a training session.

One Bell Practice Session Outline:

Halo 5 ES
Two Handed Swing 10
Rear Goblet Lunge 5 ES
Two Handed Swing 10
Kettlebell Bent Over Row 5 ES