54 MIN
PROPS NEEDED: 1 Blanket + 1 Block
This deliberate practice begins with mindful, joint-by-joint conditioning in preparation for more complex movement patterns explored towards the end.
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20 MIN
PROPS NEEDED: None
Stiff shoulders? Warm it all up, from the tips of your fingers through to the shoulder joints closest to the trunk. We start with a mobilization routine that feels like detangling the knots, before putting our arms to good use. This class works up to a free-feeling downward dog, plank and cobra flow.
Cautions: Knee, wrist, shoulder, ankle loading
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55 MIN
PROPS NEEDED: Wall corner, Wall Space
Start with the peripheral joints and work your way in. We use a wall corner to keep compensation tendencies at a minimum and to ensure that we are in fact targeting the intended areas.
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1 HR 1 MIN
PROPS NEEDED: A Clear Wall Space + 1 Block
Resistance training anyone? Closed chain movements are movements where the extremity, in this case, the hand or the forearm, is fixed in space and/or in contact with something that cannot move.
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1 HR 1 MIN
PROPS NEEDED: 1 Block + Clear Wall Space + YTU Massage Balls (or a cylindrically shaped item)
MMM...massage. Need an upper-body soother? This class offers many self-massage techniques to apply pressure into tissues, helping to relieve tension. We combine active inputs with the passive inputs from the massage tool to engage our upper body tissues in a variety of ways. After untangling gnarly knots, we enjoy the additional space and freedom in a wide range of healthy movement patterns.
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22 MIN
PROPS NEEDED: 1 full sized foam roller
Free your scapula! Training the shoulder blades is underrated. We begin this class with scapular mobility before moving into classic upper body drills -all using the foam roller. Expect to feel really strong and free when you get to the tricep dips and push ups near the end.
Cautions: knee, ankle, shoulder loading
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1 HR 5 MIN
PROPS NEEDED: 1 Block
Train for more overall strength and control over your upper body. We use the block in creative ways to close the chain, to engage in task-based movements, and to add load and obstacles to overcome.
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56 MIN
PROPS NEEDED: 1 Chair (without armrests)
Don’t let the chair fool you. We use the chair to dissociate certain areas of the upper limbs to gather insight into how the targeted joints are moving without compensating. We also use it to mark passive end ranges and then we strengthen those ranges, building up our overall capacity and tolerance.
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57 MIN
PROPS NEEDED: None Optional pillow or blanket
Shoulder Therapy! This class begins with focussed mobility training for some more challenging load-bearing moves to follow. We take the time to assess our capacity for wrist extension and shoulder rotation (internal and external) and then learn how to use isometric loading principles to build tolerance in those ranges.
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1 HR 1 MIN
PROPS NEEDED: 1 Blanket (or Towel)
Not as simple as it looks. Give your upper body the attention it deserves. We get into positional isometrics, one of the most effective training methods, to train the deepest tissue of the shoulder joint.
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58 MIN
PROPS NEEDED - Light weights (cans or toning balls) + Door frame + Towel
Add load. We load our tissues with light weights to increase capacity and control. After a thorough wrist and finger prep sequence, we use our grip strength to hold onto our weights while moving through familiar upper body drills using the full potential of our elbows, shoulders, and shoulder blades.
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59 MIN
PROPS: 1 Block
Block Party! Work on some mad skills and party tricks for your fingers. Get your wrist drills in before working to gain more range in wrist extension. Use the block as an external load to challenge elbow strength and control. Explore a new way to access shoulder mobility with more tension using elbow flexion.
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59 MIN
PROPS NEEDED: 2 Large Cans of Preserved Food, a Wall Space, Door Frame
Geesh! Adding an external load makes it all so hard. Get your upper body tissues worked-in and out with the creative use of a pantry item to challenge your grip strength, control, and overall tolerance to stress. We begin with Level 2, loaded CARs (Controlled Articular Rotations) for every joint in the upper limbs and use obstacles to ensure that we aren’t compensating for where there are limitations
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59 MIN
PROPS NEEDED: 1 Block or Book + 1 Chair, Cushion, or Block (optional)
Start from the top! This practice begins with thorough training of the shoulder blades before making our way down the arms all the way through the fingers.
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21 MIN
PROPS NEEDED: 2 Blocks
Are you ready to experience a challenge in upper body moves brought to you by your lower body position. We use a supported squat as the base position to add internal tension that your upper body has to work against. This seriously levels up your regular upper body warm up drills. From there expect to work up to loading the upper body working up to push ups and knee hovers.
Cautions: Ankle + Knee + Wrist + Shoulder loading
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58 MIN
PROPS NEEDED: Chair (without armrests)
Grab a chair and get ready to get into the nooks and crannies of your upper limbs. Expect to encounter challenges in isolating wrist movements from elbow movements, elbow movements from shoulder movements, and shoulder movements from shoulder blade movements. We explore our active ranges in shoulder rotation, both external and internal, and move the shoulder joint through its fullest expression without borrowing from other parts of the body. We use kinetic stretching and isometrics to grow our capacity in a variety of ranges at the shoulder joint. We end by loading the upper body with our own body weight and gravity in creative versions of exercises like push-ups, tricep dips, and side planks. Ends with a nice moment resting your legs up on the chair.
Cautions: Wrist loading, shoulder loading, knee loading.
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62 MIN
PROPS NEEDED: 2 YTU Massage Balls + 1 Block + Wall
Description: Carrying a lot of tension in the upper trapezius and neck tissues? Set your upper traps free! This session focusses on deemphasizing the use of your upper trap muscles to target surrounding muscles of the upper body and shoulders when and where intended to. This is a wake up call for undertrained and underused muscles in and around the shoulder joint for sustainable strength and overall balance.
Cautions: Wrist, Shoulder, Ankle, Knee Loading
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55 MIN
PROPS NEEDED: 1 Chair (without armrests)
This class opens with a thorough warm-up of the wrists before training active wrist extension to safely prepare for some weight-bearing exercises toward the end of class. We continue up the arms, working through the elbows before actively training the shoulder joint in flexion and extension. The class culminates with variations of push-ups, tricep dips, and other weight-bearing variations as we transition through different degrees of shoulder extension. A seated meditation guides you to close your practice through connection with the breath.
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59 MIN
PROPS NEEDED: 2 Toning Balls (or Hand Weights) + Blanket
Use your shoulder stuff for what it's worth. We start at the wall corner to keep our warm-up honest. We move all the parts that make up our shoulders while keeping our spines out of it. We move on using the wall space to train our wrists to tolerate load harmoniously and to maximize our capacity for movements at the elbow joint using an external load. The second half of the class feels more like a typical strength-training session as we play with reps and sets to build up our tolerance to stressors. We make good use of our often ignored pulling muscles in the posterior chain using the weight, use kinetic stretches for the lats and lateral shoulder stuff, and play with a progression for pushing and pulling with the cylindrical weight. Get some full-body moves in with this class like a downward dog to plank patterns, push-ups, flipping patterns that challenge single-arm loading in different positions,, and frog hops in different directions. We end with a delicious, dynamic cooldown that feels like the perfect finale to this challenging class.
Cautions: Knee loading, ankle loading, wrist loading
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