Benefits:

• Physical: Proper alignment, better breathing
• Emotional: Strength
• Rx for: Confidence

Like the top of a push-up, you want to start on all fours, aligning your wrists with your shoulders. Spread the fingers wide and press the entire palm into the floor. Avoid collapsing in the chest by lifting under the armpits. Hollow out the belly and step the feet way back, curling the toes under so that your thighs lift as you straighten your legs. Check in a mirror that your heels, ankles, butt, spine, shoulders, neck, and head are in one long line.

Hint: Make sure the inner elbows look toward one another. Avoid hyperextension. If you are very flexible, microbend the elbows to ensure the muscles are doing the work and you aren�t hanging out in the joints.