A new series with Rouleau
Nine things to do with a resistance band
Most resistance bands get used for two exercises, then live in a drawer. Denise Rouleau teaches the parts most people skip. Feet. Shoulders. Knees. Hips.
9 videos · 2 to 6 minutes each
Before we get to the exercises
Does any of this sound familiar?
Your shoulders creep up towards your ears when you're driving.
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You hold your breath when you're concentrating.
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You feel a bit unsteady going up the stairs.
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You stretch the same spot between your shoulder blades, and the tension comes back.
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Rouleau calls this body fog. It isn't damage and it isn't age. It's a body that has stopped being asked to do very much, and the way out of it isn't more effort. It's better information.
Start here: How to use a resistance band
Every exercise in this series assumes two things. That your shoulders are set, and that there is never any slack in the band. Denise explains both, and it changes how all of it feels.
With the long band
Shoulders, and how you hold yourself
Three exercises for shoulders that ache and posture that gives up by mid afternoon. All of them are holds rather than repetitions. Denise explains why: repetitions train muscles, holding trains tendons, and tendons are where shoulder injuries actually happen.
Shoulder pain: the isometric fix
Shoulder pain: the isometric fix
Elbows tucked, thumbs out, pulling hard against the band with no movement at all. Start here if your shoulders are sore.
Free up your shoulders
Free up your shoulders
Four positions, thirty seconds each, working up through your range. Test how your shoulders feel first, then test again at the end.
The desk posture reset
The desk posture reset
A shoulder exercise that trains the muscles holding you upright. Good as a movement break when you have been hunched over since nine.
With the loop band
Feet, knees, hips
The part most people skip. Your feet are the foundation for everything above them, so Denise starts there and works up.
The big toe drill nobody teaches you
The big toe drill nobody teaches you
If your big toe drifts in towards the middle of your foot, this pulls it back. There is a direct line from that toe to the pelvic floor.
Sore knees, one exercise, done properly
Sore knees, one exercise, done properly
Denise works with a lot of people who have knee issues and this is her favourite. Safe for most, as long as the standing leg does its job.
Your band is too high for kickbacks
Your band is too high for kickbacks
Most people put the band above the knees, where there is barely any resistance. Move it down to your feet and the whole exercise changes.
The balance drill for when you trip
The balance drill for when you trip
One leg, a light band, and a rotation your hip rarely gets asked for. Built for stepping over things and for the days you have to react.
Tight hips? Five minutes.
The one to save. Four hip exercises in sequence, ten reps each, with a hold at the end of every set. Your hips will feel loose afterwards and you will not have stretched a single thing.
"A body that is easier to feel is a body that is easier to improve."
About Rouleau
Your body doesn't live on a mat
That is Rouleau's starting point, and it is why this series is built the way it is. Your body lives in the rest of your day. Getting up from chairs, carrying bags, lifting children, walking upstairs, loading the car.
Rouleau is a movement method built on re-education rather than repetition. The question is not only whether you moved today, but whether you learned something your body can use tomorrow. Denise teaches it, and we sent her our bands and asked her to build something for you.
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