Bill DanielsOwner/trainer, Beyond Fitness online · Personal Trainer & Pain Science Expert Helping People Move Without Fear

To improve balance as well as extensor mobility and strength, try a horizontal VOR

16 Jun 2023 · 1 min

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In this short instructional video, Bill from Beyond Fitness Online demonstrates a pre‑exercise drill designed to enhance hip extension, posture, core stability, and pulling strength. He first advises viewers to assess their current lunge depth or a similar extension movement. Then he introduces the horizontal vestibulo‑ocular reflex (VOR) drill: stick the thumb out in front, slightly tuck the chin, and turn the head left and right while keeping eyes fixed on the thumb for about 30 seconds. After completing the drill, viewers retest the original movement to notice improvements. Bill explains that the head‑turning motion stimulates the horizontal canal of the vestibular system, which connects to brain regions that facilitate extension, thereby improving posture and strength. He ends by inviting viewers to comment on their results and follow for more tips.

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Hi, I'm Bill from Beyond Fitness Online. Today I want to show you a little drill you can do before your exercises that will help you get deeper into your lunges, improve your posture and your core stability, and even make you stronger when you do pulling exercises. So here's what you're going to do. First, take one of those things, like maybe a lunge, and just see how deep you can get and how that extension feels in the hip. Maybe you could try a weighted exercise. Do one of those things. Then what we're going to do is we're going to stick our thumb out in front. We're going to tuck the chin just a little bit. We're going to go left and right, keeping our eyes on the thumb the whole time. Do that for about 30 seconds, then retest yourself in the thing that you did first and see if it's improved. What you'll find is that extension strength and mobility gets better. Posture improves because we are stimulating the horizontal canal of the vestibular system, which also goes into a part of the brain that helps extension. So give that a try. Let me know how it works for you in the comments below and follow me for more tips and tricks just like these. Thanks, Bill.