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Tall Kneeling Turns Posterior Load

This exercise helps you turn your head and shoulders while kneeling tall and holding a weight behind you, using your breath to find your true range.

Start: Kneel on both knees, just wider than your hips, lower legs parallel and the tops of your feet on the floor. Stack your hips under your shoulders, spine tall, shoulders and hips square. Hold a kettlebell or sandbag in both hands behind you.

Action:

  1. Head turns: keeping your posture perfect, turn only your head to the right, then the left. Start small and add range slowly. Never push into discomfort or twist your body to cheat more range.

  2. At the end of each turn, check your breath: if you can't take a full breath there, back out until you can, take a few breaths, then ease back to that spot and see if a full breath is now possible. If it is, stay and breathe a few more.

  3. Head and shoulder turns: now turn your head and shoulders together, right and left, while the weight stays put in front of your body. Same rules — small to big, pause at the end of each turn to take a full breath, back out if the breath disappears.

  4. Head and shoulder turns with the weight moving: turn head and shoulders together and let the weight travel with you — if you can turn far enough, it may end up outside the hip you're turning over. Pause at the end to breathe fully.

Feel: The breath is your guide — wherever it disappears is where your body is bracing instead of moving. Stay tall throughout; if your posture bends, the turn was too far.

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