I’m doing Jessica’s Calm and Strong rotation, almost finished with week one. I’m doing the you tube workouts for a change. I’m enjoying the variety, they are different from the DVD’s.

Vannie, I hope the month flows better for you and you are refreshed by your break.

Katie, brr on the 8 degrees. We are still having highs of 90, although it should cool down a bit next week. It is nice in the mornings though, in the 50’s.

Our lows have been in the 20s the last couple weeks and highs in the 50s. I did break down and turn on the heat Monday.

I haven't worked out since Wednesday. Taking down and putting away Halloween decorations is taking forever! The village pieces are very fragile so I have to be really careful and it takes some time for some of them to make sure they're back in the styrofoam correctly. I aim to be finished by bedtime tonight!

Redefining Strength posted the BEST clip on glutes today. It gave me a long sought for answer to my glute imbalances and how to get the right glute more turned on and the piriformis calming down and same for the left side getting the TFL to calm down. So many PT's have tried to get me to do the clam or a variation of the clam and they never work, if anything, they make things worse! She went into technique but I'd prefer to skip the clam at this point. BUT Second half of the video she showed a wall side lying lateral leg raise. Now I do side lying leg raises all the time but can't get my ride side to fire up. So after a few tweaks based on her info against the wall....I felt a good change! yay! I've been looking for this answer for a long time!! So here's the clip if anyone needs to work on glutes and technique. Cori at Redefining Strength has been one of my fav's for along time....more a rehab/exercise technique channel than a workout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xx-H057YY4

Katie, that's awesome! I hadn't watched it yet but sounds like I should. Thanks for reporting on that and Matt's hip stretches the other day!

Thanks, Katie! Everything she said makes sense.

Thanks Katie. I watched some of her other videos that were helpful too. I’ve never been able to do a crunch or leg lifts, but she recommends a pelvic tilt. I’m going to try it and see if I can avoid the lower back pain.

I did Matt's hip stretches this morning bc my left hip is getting bad again. It didn't really help but it does say for stiff hips, not painful ones, and mine woke up screaming at me. So I guess I am setting one goal for this month and that is PT 5 days a week. I watched Cori's video and agree it is really good. I find clams helpful but I'm sure her tips will improve them and I am definitely adding the wall side-lying lateral raise! Thanks, Katie!

So glad everyone found Cori to be helpful!! Vannie I didn't realize your hips could get screaming type painful. Did Matt's stretches help at all? I hope PT exercises will get it back under control again. Matt's video was a good reminder to do more standing side stretches which I'd gotten away from. I'm not sure how I feel about the standing psoas stretch. I think it's good but I seem to get better results from doing a kneeling version. I did Cori's wall side-lying lateral raise again this morning and good results! I think this one may become my morning go to.

Katie, I would say normally if my hip hurts it's more of an ache or a feeling of weakness, but I've been stupidly ignoring it for a few weeks, continuing to do things I know it doesn't like and not doing the work to fix it, so it is really hurting right now. It's the whole area: hip, QL, piriformis, glutes. When I did that hip flexor stretch on the left side my leg/glutes were just shaking. I have been bad about working out since Labor Day so I haven't been doing the Caroline Jordan videos I find so helpful either. My plan is to get back on track and maybe by year end the pain will be gone again. Could be sooner but I don't want to get my hopes up (oops, accidentally typed hips :D ). I like your idea of glute activation right away in the morning. I would love to get myself in the routine of getting up earlier and doing glute activation and short yoga before anything else.