Exercise of the Week: Wingmaster Setting 2, Reverse Tai Chi Standing

I named this group of exercises "tai chi" because if you take the Wingmaster away and visualize the movement it kind of looks like a movement you'd see in actual tai chi. It's not an actual tai chi movement, but bicycles or dolphin from the Hamstring Series aren't actually how to ride a bicycle or how a dolphin moves either. It's metaphors, man.This version is "reverse tai chi" because you're spiraling away from your gaze. There is, obviously, a forward version as well.

I try to use at least one exercise with a client on their feet in every workout. That could be standing, stepping, squatting, lunging or balance. Of those, standing would always be the first used, as it is the least challenging or complex. It's important to get clients on their feet as the overwhelming majority of Activities of Daily Living (ADL) are done on your feet. So having client perform exercises off the bench helps them understand how to coordinate and balance complex movements where the resistance is changing relative to their center. When you're carrying groceries, those bags are affecting your balance unevenly with ever step. When you're carrying a load of laundry, you can't see your feet so it's important to truly know where they are under you as you move.

That total body connecting and understanding can only happen when you're doing exercises on your feet. They're vital.