Corkscrew 2
Equipment:
Mat
Prop:
None
Difficulty (1-5):
4
Repetitions:
3-5 (sets)
Main Body Position:
Inverted
Spine Position:
Flexion, Twisting
Part of Series?
No
Start Position 🏁
- Lie on back
- Legs straight, perpendicular to floor
- Point feet
- Lightly press legs and feet into one another
- Arms beside torso, palms down
Cues 💡
- Firmly press hands and arms into mat
- Lift hips off mat and come into an inversion, legs over face
- The higher the feet are, the more difficult the exercise
- Twist spine in one direction
- Lower spine and hips back down to mat, in a controlled fashion
- Once leading hip touches mat, lower legs as far as possible without arching lower back
- Draw a forward semicircle with toes, over to the other side
- Lift that side’s hip off mat and come into an inversion, legs over face
- Go back and forth between the two sides
- Reach toes as far away as possible from opposite shoulder while keeping opposite shoulder blade firmly on mat
- Spine untwisting from top to bottom is what brings the legs back to starting position
- Don’t use momentum when coming into inversion. To do this, stop movement for one second when legs are perpendicular to torso and then recommence.
- Keep legs perpendicular to torso whenever hips are off mat
- Flex spine as much as possible whenever hips are off mat
- Each vertebra touches mat while lifting hips off mat and while lowering them back down. Aim to not skip sections of spine.
- Constantly reach crown of head away from body, keeping back of neck lengthened
- At peak of inversion, balance point is on thoracic spine rather than cervical spine. Neck should not be in any discomfort.
- Keep weight balanced evenly between shoulder blades
- Watch tendency for shoulders to lift up. Keep them very heavy on the mat.
- Watch tendency for legs and feet to slide back and forth on one another. Imagine they are crazy glued together for duration of exercise.
- Watch tendency for wrists to lift up (aka “tent”). Push wrists down into mat while keeping shoulders very heavy. Try not going as far into the inversion.
Breathing 🫁
- Inhale (nose) for first half of semicircle, as hips are lowering down onto mat
- Exhale (mouth) for second half of semicircle, as hips are lift up off of mat
Modifications 🔧
- Corkscrew 1
- Tick Tock
- Bend knees
- Put something under hips (yoga bolster, yoga block, firm pillow, etc)
- Only lift hips a few inches off mat
- Make twisting and semicircle smaller