For your Weekly Wisdom, I wanted to give a Technique Tip on Plie Squats.  I’ve attached a video to give you a helpful visual along with this email. We have also created an Instagram account @true40instructors where you can also view videos on technique, weekly wisdom, new postures, etc. so look it up! 

WHY WE TEACH PLIE SQUATS

• Plie Squats add the benefit of opening up your hips, increasing your range of motion, and greatly improving your flexibility. 
• Turnouts create an imbalance that forces you to adapt your position in order to not fall over. This helps support better stability
• While regular squats tone up the quads, hamstrings, and glutes, a plié squat exercise will also target your adductors and inner thighs.
• Squats are compound exercises that engage several muscles at the same time. Therefore, they are an effective cardio workout, awesome to burn calories faster.

COMMON MISTAKES

• Clients often miss out on the hip opening benefit of this posture through several set up mistakes:
  • Clients will turn their feet out too wide, causing their knees to cave in. We are not all ballerinas! It’s better to cue a “natural turnout” from the start 
  • Clients will set up with their feet too far apart. This also prevents an effective hip opening and can bring their knees out of alignment. We want their feet planted right under their knees – if their knees pass their ankles slightly, it’s not a bad thing! This can actually improve their ankle mobility too.
  • Make sure they are actively pressing all “four corners” of their feet into the ground! This will help align the knees properly and allow for greater glute engagement and hip rotation.
• Other common mistakes involve their pelvis being over-tucked in, or sticking out (posterior/anterior tilt.) Plie squats should be performed with an upright torso – it’s good to repeatedly cue to “engage their core” or “weave the rib cage inward” for this posture, which will also properly align the pelvis.

MODIFICATIONS

• For plie squats, the best modification is to work in a higher stance (less knee flexion) so the clients can work on opening their hips.
  • They can also work on improving their upright posture when working up higher!

USEFUL TALKING POINTS ONCE YOU GET MOVING

• “align your knees with your second toe as you lower down”
• “work on opening those hips by pressing your knees back”
• “better posture = better health! Work on keeping your back flat against a wall as you work, your shoulders melted down and stacked on top of your hips”
• “If there’s pressure in your low back, make sure you are engaging your core!”