The V is an essential exercise to build strength and stability throughout your core. The V has many variations, so this article will introduce the fundamentals of the V, so you can build the strength for those variations in the future. All you need for the V is the floor!
Step by Step:
1. Start in a seated position with your feet flat on the floor in front of you. Grab the backs of your knees and lean your torso back until your feet come up off the floor and you are balancing on your sitting bones and tailbone. Flatten out and squeeze your low abs to maintain your balance. Keep your low back flat, your chest lifted, and shin bones parallel to the floor. Hold this position to gain strength. (Image 1)
2. Once you're successful at holding #1 for 60 seconds with a flat low back and a lifted chest, you're ready to release your hands. While maintaining all the elements of #1, hold your arms straight out in front of you at shoulder height. Hold this position. If you start to lose your form, grab your knees again. (Image 2)
3. After achieving #2 for 60 to 90 seconds with proper form, straighten your legs and hold this position. If you start to lose your form, bend your knees so you are back at #2. (Image 3)
It takes a lot of strength to jump from #1 to #2 and especially from #2 to #3. Don't give up and keep working at it. Your core will thank you!
Katy Moeggenberg owns, manages, and instructs at both the Blue Ash Shaolin-Do and Anaya Belly Dance in Cincinnati, Ohio. She's a Kung Fu black belt (4th degree), professional dancer and choreographer, runner, and Yogi. She has enabled a variety of goals for her clients to come true-fine tuning professional dancers' routines, honing martial artists' skills for complex competitions, and empowering clients to lose as much as 100 pounds. She performs dance and Kung Fu over 50 times a year across national venues. In addition, her teaching has been featured and sought after at national dance conventions and NFL cheerleader training camps. Learn more about Katy at katym.me.
