September 01, 2015 By Nick Folker

How to Do Monster Walks | BridgeAthletic

Day 2: Monster Walk Level 1

Welcome to day 2 of the Building Blocks progression powered by BridgeAthletic. Today we will be introducing Monster Walks-Level 1.

Monster_Walks_Ankle_Band.ai1

Now that you have worked on your flexibility and posture with the Frog Squat, we add external resistane with an ankle band or resistance band. There are a few different placements of the band, but we are going to use the ankle placement for this progression.

Exercise 2: Monster Walks

Tips:

Straight Line-

Place the band around your ankles. Start with feet shoulder-width apart. Squat down slightly. Work on keeping your hip height level throughout the walks. That is, not rocking up and down with each step.

Walk forward slowly for the prescribed reps on each leg, maintaing the original squat height throughout. Avoid 'standing up' as you get tired walking. Pause.

Keeping the starting hip height, walk back slowly for the prescribed reps on each leg. Pause.

Lateral-

Now, walk laterally keeping the squat height the same as when you started. If moving right, lead with your right leg, then left leg and pause. Repeat this sequence for the prescribed number of reps per leg, emphasizing the pause.

Walk slowly in the opposite direction to the start position.

As with the forward/reverse walks, as you walk laterally, avoid a see-saw movement from the hips with each step. Keep your hip-height the same throughout the lateral walk.

NOTE! If you are doing this correctly, taking your time, staying low and keeping your hips level in all 4 directions, you should feel a good muscle 'burn' in your glutes and quads.

More Building Blocks:

Miss any of the progression or want to review? Check out the other building blocks below.

Day 1: Frog Squat

Or download our e-book to receive an in-depth look at our full August Building Blocks!

Now it's your turn:

Thanks for joining us on the second stage of the pushup progression. Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BridgeAthletic, Twitter at https://twitter.com/BridgeAthletic or on Instagram using the handle BridgeAthletic in order to see the rest of the progression.

Want Feedback? We're here to help. We highly encourage you and your athletes to share videos and pictures performing the exercises. Use #BuildBetterAtheltes in order to receive feedback and guidance from one of our elite coaches on the BridgeAthletic Performance Team.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for more Building Blocks!

About the Author

Nick Folker

Nick Folker is the Co-Founder and Director of Elite Performance at BridgeAthletic. Nick’s roster of athletes includes 35 Olympians winning 22 Olympic Medals, 7 team NCAA Championships and over 170 individual and relay NCAA championships.