We all know that the best way to enhance movement is with exercises in a standing position for these exercises relate more specifically to how we function in daily life. From improving stability, strength, and even sporting skills of speed and power the best exercises are all performed standing up. But what if you are unable to complete these exercises due to an injury or weakness? What do you do now? Sure, you could do exercises lying and sitting but these exercises do not require much stability as this is taken out of the equation by the floor or a chair which also means they do not address the lack of stability causing pain or dysfunction. This is where kneeling exercises can provide amazing benefits for they can simplify a movement enough to remove the need for strength and coordination, but not so much that the need for stability is lost. In some cases, the stability demand is even greater with kneeling positions which can provide significant benefits to the core taking pressure off the hips and the spine. There is no doubt that kneeling exercises are very under-rated and more useful than many people realize.
The current thinking with most trainers is to add strength to everything because when muscles are strong, they should work well. However, this is a dangerous assumption to make for when it comes to core stability and fluid movement, strength is not of great importance to the body.
Being strong doesn’t guarantee good stability or movement.
Many people think if we have a strong core using exercises like planks and crunches everything will be fine. We have been taught to treat the core stabilizer muscles in the same we would use a bicep curl to make our arm stronger.
Unfortunately, the stabilizer muscles do not respond to this type of training and are not programmed to functions in this manner. You can watch the video below to see examples of this or check out the detailed article where I compare isolated exercises to functional movements to see exactly how the core functions.
Instead, the stabilizers rely more on TIMING and SEQUENCING and are highly dependent on the MOTOR PROGRAM used by the brain for each movement we make.
“Core control is reflex driven, not conscious driven”
Input from the mechanoreceptors supports reflexes, controlled by a central nervous system (CNS) that tracks up and down your spinal cord. You need a very healthy input from the periphery into the central nervous system so the CNS can detect it and then process the movement.
We store these motor programs in our spinal cord which is why someone who injures their spinal cord has to learn how to move again, even though their brain and muscles are fine.
The thing to understand is the CNS has to detect movement extremely quickly and needs to stabilise against that or allow it to occur in a controlled fashion.This happens so quickly that you can’t generate a thought in response.
That reflex is not trained by doing conscious exercise; it’s trained by being exposed to the stimulus that affects movement and developing strategies to become more efficient and stable.
To become more efficient at correcting joints for movement you need to use exercises that demand this skill. And this is where kneeling exercises can be of tremendous benefit.
The incidence of hip injuries and back problems resulting from poor hip and pelvic stability is increased rapidly in recent years. Having a greater understanding of how the hip joint works and what exercises to use to maintain the stability and produce efficient movement is vital.
The hip joint is very similar to the shoulder in that it is responsible for providing multi-directional movements used in many everyday tasks. The hip needs a great degree of mobility, but also be able to absorb our body weight and maintain stability of the spine.
The simple movement of standing on one leg, for example, increases the weight on the hip by two and a half times the body weight and the action of walking upstairs increases by three times! Any compensation produced as a result of poor stability will lead to a multitude of problems at other joints in the body.
Okay so now that you understand the importance of reflex stability let’s take a close look at some of my “go-to” kneeling exercises.
Inline Stability Lunge
This is an amazing exercise for providing reflex stability and is surprisingly very difficult. It is impossible to initiate a reflex with conscious thought. For example, if you have to think about contracting your core before you pick up an object off the ground, it is already too late. Even if it was perfect the instant you get distracted, you will mess it up for your brain will lose its focus.
Training conscious core control is not the best solution and a poor strategy over the long term. It serves a great purpose in the early days of corrective training, but to truly grasp the concept of stability you need to be exposed to more random and unconscious control.
This is the beauty of the stability lunge drill shown above that features 3 levels of difficulty all requiring this reflex stability skill. The three levels are as follows.
- Hands by your side
- Hands behind your head
- Hands behind your head and eyes closed
Each level forces greater reflex responses and for you to find a way to maintain optimal alignment and stability in order to move. Anyone with hip stiffness created by using their hips as the main driver of their core stability will find this almost impossible.
Why?
The hips can’t remain still and simultaneously move. Something must be sacrificed and it will be your stability so that you can move your leg in front of you. This is such an amazing drill to use with any person who is a risk of falling, as it simulates the falling response but without the risk of serious injury.
Trust me when I say the fear of falling is very much the same. This is a key exercise we use with beginners and older adults they begin training and is part of our assessment process.
Horsestance (Bird-dog)
Another highly under-rated exercise. This is one of our key exercises for most serious cases of back pain like bulging discs and is also one of leading back pain researcher Dr Stuart McGill’s big 3 exercises he prescribes for his patients. In more recent times I have found this to be even more beneficial to people with hip instability.
The interesting thing about this exercise is it really is an exercise invented by toddlers! Yes, you did read that correctly, this is a movement we all learned when we were not stable or strong enough to stand up and move, and is more commonly known as CRAWLING.
Lack of strength is not the main reason a toddler cannot stand up and walk. Before they can develop the strength they require coordination, timing, and stability across the entire body. The child will make many mistakes when attempting to stand and it must go through this struggle to find the optimal movement strategy.
The mistakes the child makes in this development process are great lessons for what the body needs to provide reflex stability. This is how stabiliser muscles truly function for their role is to fire first to align the body perfectly for movement.
Toddlers do not develop core stability by using planks and abdominal crunches. They develop this from crawling and attempting to stand from kneeling positions.
We also know that it is not wise to assist them in this stage, or you risk disrupting the stability process of the body. They need to learn this by making mistakes and adapting with a new and improved strategy.
The beauty of the horsestance is that we can use it with adults to simulate this exact reflex mechanism they once had as a toddler.
I did a video about this a while ago you can watch below.
The two methods I like to use in addition to the simple floor movement are;
- Using unstable equipment like a BOSU
- Adding resistance to the leg with a band
In both cases the demand on the core to stabilize the spine and the pelvis is immense. The first version with the BOSU has more to do with reflex stability, and the second version with the cable or band resistance has a bigger focus on strength.
In both instances, a predetermined or conscious action will not make the exercise easier and efficient. You have to work it out during the movement, accepting many mistakes will be made until you finally find the best position to generate stability and strength.
Kneeling Hip Mobility Hurdle Drill
While this exercise is mostly known as a mobilizing drill for the moving hip I would argue it is more of a stabilizing exercise for the stance leg. This begins to test the capability of the glutes and the pelvic stabilizers to maintain the stance leg in a kneeling position while simultaneously testing the mobility of the leg in the air.
The beauty of exercises like this is that they relate very closely to the action of lifting your leg high over an object and as a result will have a greater chance of improving the stability in these patterns of movement.
This would be a good choice for the person who demonstrates great flexibility with the stretches but struggles to maintain good form when they stand up. The kneeling exercise is unique in that it is the “in-between” movement that can help bridge the gap.
You can see several other examples like this in the article – 10 ways to improve hip mobility
Kneeling Forward Ball Roll
This is quite a simple exercise but it is very powerful if correctly used. Very much like the previous exercise I think its true value is often overlooked as it is seen mainly as a way to strengthen the core. I see it as a way to execute good timing and control of the pelvis from a neutral position, into a posterior pelvic tilt and back to a neutral position.
This is something that is usually very choppy and mechanical with people who have poor pelvic stability and a history of back or hip pain. This exercise helps them to smooth this movement out and make it easier to control spinal extension.
The kneeling forward ball roll is an excellent low intensity choice for a beginner or a person with back pain to learn better ways of sequencing legs and arms together in perfect timing. This is important for improving the ability to squat or lift objects overhead.
In the video at the end we demonstrate how close the timing of the squat press exercise is to the segmental timing of the forward ball roll.
Kneeling Side Plank
Most people underestimate how valuable this exercise can be for they think it is does not too much for the muscle tension is nowhere near the level of the harder versions.
What they fail to understand is that this version has a close relationship with how the muscles work in combination with the glutes and other hip muscles during movements of squats and bending as it uses the hip-hinge movement.
The glutes in particular can be activated quite strongly during this movement which is difficult to do in the static versions. If is usually during the movements of squat and bending that injuries to the lower back and hip occur so developing your skill and strength with this is vital.
This can be a great exercise for those with lateral pelvic tilt where the weakness in the glutes is significant and very difficult to work with.
This is even more important for someone suffering with back or hip pain where we know this is an obvious weakness surrounding the core. The best part about this is it also avoids excessive flexion or extension of the spine as the side on position limits any movement. This is helpful in the beginning when trying to find exercises that provide strength with the least amount of risk so you do not aggravate anything.
For this reason I regularly use this exercise in the early stages with people with back pain and ongoing during their program when trying to teach deadlift and squat patterns that require the hip-hinge movement.
You can read more about the side plank in this article – How good is the side plank for improving core stability?
Half Kneeling Wood-chop
The wood-chop is a fantastic core strengthening movement and is one of the most important fundamental patterns of movement. However, it is also one of the most complex and highly coordinated movements to master so it can be difficult if you are a beginner or have an injury. The kneeling position simplifies the movement to allow greater control and removes the complexity associated with the standing movement.
This does not mean it is easier, as it provides several other challenges!
This is quite an interesting exercise for while it looks like it is all about strength and there is no reflex stability requirement, it is much more difficult than it appears. This is often referred to as “anti-rotational” movement with more of a torsional approach to the movement of twisting that is very similar to the Pallof press shown in the video below.
The purpose of this exercise is to control rotation, not find more, and this is of great benefit to many with hip or back pain for it is a loss of rotary control that often causes problems.
The compensatory mistake we usually see made with this movement is where the hip of the kneeling leg is often pushed out to the side to find extra strength. This compromises the stability of the lumbar spine and also places the hip in an overstretched position. You may appear to feel stronger in this position, but the problem is that if you do this when standing you will feel the exact opposite. You will become extremely weak as your whole body falls out to one side and loses balance.
This is what is seen in many situations of single-leg stance and is known in sports conditioning circles as “shoulder sway”. This is a disaster to the single-leg stance needed with walking and running and is a big contributing factor to many ACL tears in sports during a cutting move.
As this exercise teaches you how to control shoulder sway it is a great exercise to use for improving walking and removing any excessive hip movement during the gait cycle as seen with the Trendelenburg position. Anyone who has experienced trouble with single leg stance will find this a useful addition to their training.
Kneeling Single Arm Barbell Shoulder Press
This exercise is one I successfully used myself years ago to rehabilitate my shoulder after suffering from a rotator cuff injury. Anyone with a shoulder injury will tell that the most difficult movements to get back are always overhead pressing. In many cases, the overhead stuff may have exacerbated the injury in the first place and really created a lot of serious damage to the muscles like the supraspinatus.
When the arm moves overhead pain and discomfort has a lot to do with how the scapula moves when you lift your arm. Often, the scapula has lost the ability to move with correct timing and positioning especially with what is known as upward rotation and this exercise is one of the best ways to get it back.
When the arm moves we must see the mobility of the scapula as it wraps around the rib cage. This is where serratus anterior plays a big role and many of the corrective exercises will have a strong focus on this. Before using this exercise it is wise to start with much less intense exercises geared towards mobility first.
Make sure you read our article about the Serratus Anterior Wall Slides drill which precedes this exercise.
Once you have the technique of moving the arm in correct alignment it is time to strengthen the shoulder. This is where the best parts of this exercise are revealed. In the video above I show you how you can easily progress from simple half-kneeling stability, to much more challenging stability in a standing position. And lastly to the more integrated movement utilising legs and arms in perfect synchronisation.
Gradual progression is the key to all successful rehabilitation programs and the shoulder is no exception. Far too often people isolate the area in pain and ignore the role that the hips, pelvis, and feet play in creating optimal stability for the shoulder to function. This is a great exercise for learning how to do this.
Kneeling Deadlift
Without a doubt, the Romanian Deadlift is one of the best exercises you can ever use in the gym. Whether you are a keen sporting athlete, someone recovering from injury, or even an 80-year old looking to maintain quality of life, this exercise provides amazing benefits. It is also something we use every day in life when we bend over to pick an object off the floor.
Once again it can be very difficult to learn and understand how to coordinate the movement of the hips correctly. Especially for people suffering from hip or back pain. Ironically this can be a great exercise to relieve the person of pain when completed correctly. People with severe sciatic pain love being able to bend over without the sciatic nerve going into spasm!
Before teaching standing up deadlifts we will prefer to teach people how to execute a good hip hinge in a kneeling position first. We like to use a rubber band to give them the feeling of using their hips and not their spine. Most people will get this straight away and understand how to apply this to the standing movement that follows.
If a person fails the standing exercises we will revert back to this exercise for a bit longer and continue working on mobility until they can eventually master the position.
This exercise is amazing for the person coming back from back pain as it reduces the risk of further injury and pain while simultaneously teaching them the necessary basics they are missing in the bending movement.
A great article to read with more information about this is – Why Romanian Deadlifts Are The Key For Treating Hip & Back Injury
Turkish Get-up (Without standing)
Lastly, for all the exercises that people come up with for core stability or functional movement, it is hard to beat the Turkish Get Up for overall toughness and the benefits it can provide to your body in so many ways.
The greatest benefits of this exercise are all in the first half of the movement prior to standing up. The standing up stage requires significant leg strength in a lunge position and a fair amount of stability in the thoracic and shoulder to stop the dumbbell falling forwards. If it is possible to stand that is great, but if not this can still be an extremely useful exercise in providing incredible mobility and stability to the body.
There are so many moving pieces to this movement it can be very hard to learn so you need to be patient and put in the time to practice it.
Trust me when I say the effort is well worth it, and here is a list of the benefits to your body from using this movement.
1.Greatly improves shoulder stability and thoracic mobility at the same time!
2.Improves overall body stability and integration between upper and lower body
3.Promotes reflexive stability of the torso
4.Encourages great mobility of the hips and thoracic spine, the two areas most people are lacking
5.Improves the body’s ability to coordinate and enhance balance from lying to standing
6.Develops upper body strength, trunks strength, and glute strength
As you can see this is so much more than just a simple strength exercise and a great example of a kneeling exercise that is derived really from infant development again.
Make sure you read the full article that explains the benefit of this in more detail and breaks down the various stages of the exercise so you can master it. – Why the Turkish Get Up is the king of core strength
Make Sure You Eventually Progress To Standing Exercises
Now while these kneeling exercises are great to use and we could continue to show you more you must remember that they are just a stepping stone to the better exercises which are all standing up.
Sometimes people get lost in looking for variety with exercises and trying to target every single muscle with its own exercise they forget what their objective or goal is and forget to progress to the big movements that they really need.
If you have no injury and move well you should be spending your time doing exercises standing up with lunges, squats, deadlifts, cable push and pulls. For when you are great at these exercises there is no need to isolate or regress to the exercises shown in this article.
If you challenge your body with functional movement, you will maximize the time you spend exercising and achieve great results.
Summary
I hope this article gives you a better understanding of how valuable kneeling exercises can be very useful in establishing better hip and core control. By removing the complexity and compensation you may find with standing movements it gives your body a better chance at succeeding.
Kneeling beats lying and seated positions for it places the hip into a better position needed to create stability for movement. It is easier than standing for the kneeling positions reduces the need for strength and also the reduced lever of the legs increases your chance of finding stability.
With enough time and practice and you can master these movements and begin to stand up and integrate again. And once you have mastered these exercises you will be able to move with significant core control and stability.
About The Author
Nick Jack is owner of No Regrets Personal Training and has over 20 years’ experience as a qualified Personal Trainer, Level 2 Rehabilitation trainer, CHEK practitioner, and Level 2 Sports conditioning Coach. Based in Melbourne Australia he specializes in providing solutions to injury and health problems for people of all ages using the latest methods of assessing movement and corrective exercise.
References
•Movement – By Gray Cook
•Corrective Exercise Solutions – by Evan Osar
•Diagnosis & Treatment Of Movement Impairment Syndromes – By Shirley Sahrman
•Low Back Disorders – by Stuart McGill
•Back Pain Mechanic – by Stuart McGill
•Anatomy Trains – by Thomas Meyers
•Motor Learning and Performance – By Richard A Schmidt and Timothy D Lee
•Assessment & Treatment Of Muscle Imbalance – By Vladimir Janda
•Scientific Core Conditioning Correspondence Course – By Paul Chek
•Scientific Back Training – By Paul Chek