Airplane balance
Category: Balance
Level: 1
3-6 reps/leg
Carla van den Berg
- Soft bend at hips and knees
- Flat back and neutral neck position throughout the movement
- Initiate movement by pushing hips backwards into the hinge position as torso slowly lowers towards the floor
- Knees bend slightly as torso lowers
- Hips remain square
- Back leg straight (if possible), heel pointing up towards ceiling
- Slow, controlled movement
- Round back
- Cue "Pinch shoulders back"
- Cue "Lower torso towards the floor by moving hips back"
- Hips externally rotating (turning outward)
- Cue "Point foot of free leg towards standing leg"
- Cue "Hips face the floor"
- Knee collapsing inward
- Cue "Drive knee out towards pinky toe"
- Neck extension (looking up)
- Cue "Look up through the eyebrows"
- Dynamic balance
- Ankle stability
- Knee control
- Hip-dominant movement targets posterior chain (back, glutes, hamstrings)
- Shoulder activation
- Reinforces safe, neutral spine position