The Actions for Extended Side Plank, Variation with a Strap

This one might actually be a bit more challenging, as the actions for entry are slightly different. You’ll see how Matt turns his body open before actually going into the backbend.

Step 1 – Strap goes around your foot. 

Step 2 – Come into Side Plank with kickstand.

Step 3 – Lift your hips up and pull your knee into your chest as you turn 

*Here he highlights the difference between the experience of this variation and of choosing to kick your leg out first and then kicking it upwards, which may make the hips feel too heavy.

Step 4 – Once you have completed Step 3, the turn is done with a bent knee, with an option to now extend your leg fully.

This order of entry may be far more accessible.

Matt describes Extended Side Plank as the “full spectrum of body awareness.” This is evident from the actions that are taken in these variations.  

Anatomy and actions involved:

• strengthening of the wrists
• rotator cuff muscles engaged due to the external rotation of the upper arm bone
• depression and retraction of the scapula to mobilize the spine (bowing of the spine)
• eversion of the ankle 
• gluteus muscles engaged to press the feet down and get the hips lifted
• extension of the knee joint to activate quadriceps

There is the evidence of just how much focus, attention, and awareness is involved.

Learn how to MASTER actions and awareness like this, not to mention the sharpening of your knowledge with anatomy, in Matt’s current immersion:

Anatomy In Motion

See you on the mat!

5 KEY ACTIONS FOR KING COBRA POSE

You might think that it’s all about your spine and how flexible and/or mobile it is. How we involve our entire body is key, and Matt provides the roadmap with the following 5 key actions to set up King Cobra.

1. Bring the chest forward. In the first few attempts, it may feel as though not much is happening, but this is where the mind-body connection is developed.
2. The second action, which may be overlooked, is pressing back through your heels while the feet are in dorsiflexion (this is also important later). Press your heels away from the direction of the chest. What does this do, and why is it important? This is the first step in both the awareness and the action of decompressing the spine. Creating this length is crucial as Matt guides us through the next steps:
   *But let’s pause for a moment and check in with your abdominals–if you are engaging too much here, then this will reduce the amount of expansion in your extension for your backbend, so leaning into a stretch sensation in your front body is helpful.
3. Next on board are your hamstrings–once you bend your knees, you’ll be firing up and activating your hamstrings. This is how the dorsiflexion of your feet can be a great action to take as you build a relationship with how much and/or how little your hamstrings do activate. In the video, Matt explains that pointing the feet (plantar flexion) may cramp your hamstrings because you are shortening the posterior chain too much. He also notes that once your body has enough mobility to point your feet, there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing it.
4. In this step, we understand why the layering is important. As the knees are bent and you’re potentially trying to get your feet closer to your head, Matt again emphasizes pulling your spine forward. Your body may feel the need to compress here and shorten. You might feel the desire to actually send your chest and head back to “achieve the desired result.” It’s most important here to come back to the development and preparation for the spine.
5. This step really goes hand in hand with #4, but pulling your belly up not only makes a significant impact on the experience within you body but also actually brings your head back slightly. (You can see the visual change when Matt layers on this action in the video.) This action is initiated by engaging the deep core muscle called transverse abdominis.