The next series of poses will work into
the deltoid muscle.
With the inhale you can let the arms lift up and over the head.
And on the exhale you can hinge at the hips and fold forward, reaching down towards the
ground.
Inhale lift up halfway hands on the knees, shoulder pulling back.
And on the exhale plant the hands on the mat
and step your way to a high plank.
Go ahead and drop your elbows down onto the earth finding your way into a forearm plank
taking care to align to make sure that the wrists and elbows are in the same line and
that the hands are pressing flat into the earth.
Pushing down deep into the fingertips.
To make your way into dolphin pose on the next exhale, tip toe your feet forward so
the hips start to pike up towards the sky much like a downward facing dog.
This is Dolphin pose.
You'll notice that the arms are flexed here and they are isometrically medially rotating
as the deltoid muscle engages in order to maintain the pose.
You can hold here through the inhale and notice
the work being done by the anterior fibers of the deltoid muscle with the next exhale
let the knees drop down towards the ground and come to a seated position letting the
hips sink back onto the heels and then letting the feet extend out in front of you.
Go ahead and put a bend in the knees, planting
the soles of the feet on the earth and then planting the hands about 6 inches behind you.
On the next inhale let the hips lift up toward the sky, finding your way into an inverse
table pose spreading the feet apart about a hip width distance, trying to bring the
hips so they're in line with the ground.
Taking care to roll the shoulders back.
Noticing that in this pose you have extension and lateral rotation at the shoulders.
Which are both actions that the posterior fibers of the deltoid muscle are responsible
for.
On the exhale you can lower your hips down halfway towards the earth, gently releasing
from the pose and then inhale them back up noticing the engagement along the posterior
aspect of the deltoid.
Exhale lower down.
Inhale lift back up.
One last time exhale lower the hips down and inhale lift them back up.
With the next exhale you can lower them down all the way to the ground, releasing the pose,
walking the hands back closer to the hips and letting the feet extend back out in front
of you.
Our next few poses will engage the biceps,
brachiallis and triceps muscles.
With the next inhale, let the arms lift up and over the body, and on the exhale hinge
from the hips reaching towards the toes, the feet or the ankles.
If your reaching for the toes you can use the index and middle finger to bind the big
toes, if your reaching for the ankles try to have a really firm grip around the ankles.
With the inhale, lengthen through the spine,
letting the gaze pull forward and with the exhale flex the forearms as you pull the upper
body down closer to the legs.
With each inhale find length creating more space in the spine and with each exhale flex
deeper to help you pull the upper body closer to the legs.
Holding once you find a place that feels comfortable
for you, maybe noticing even- how the supination that you have at the forearms, noticing that
the inner aspects of the forearms turn upwards slightly helps deepen the engagement that
you have of the biceps muscle.
With the next breath in you can lengthen.
And on the exhale you can walk the hands back
along the legs.
Coming back to your neutral seated position.
Next placing the hands about 6 inches behind the hips, using the next inhale to roll the
shoulders back and with the exhale letting the hips lift up the sky, letting the toes
point down towards the ground, pointing up or facing plank.
Use the inhale to roll the shoulders back
and each exhale to lift the hips just a little bit higher noticing the engagement you have
in your triceps muscles here.
You have the forearms extended and extension at the shoulder as well.
These are both actions that are generated by the triceps muscle and you can feel it
working hard to hold you steady in this pose here.
Continue to breathe through the pose.
With the next inhale lifting, lengthening a little bit higher.
And exhale setting the hips back down onto the ground.
Walking the hands back to their neutral position.