Hi, I'm David Weck and today I'm going to be teaching you a variation of an exercise we call The Searchlight using the RMT Club, applying the Head Over Foot Technique. Here's what the exercise looks like, and then we'll break it down.

Standing with a wide base, center in the center, side bending so head is directly over foot, same hand on top as the forward leg, and I simply go back and forth, keeping that alignment right there. And then we change the plane. Down to high forty-five degree angle. And then we'll break that down.

The reason why we're applying this Head Over Foot Technique is we want to harness the power of what we call the "spinal engine". The spinal engine is basically the combination of side bending and what we call the frontal plane with rotation. Side bending is the key that unlocks the power of the spinal engine. Rotation is enhanced and more powerful when we incorporate the side bending. It's because the spine is curved and that's the simple anatomy, that a side bend creates the axial rotation of down and back, up and forward, that we can now harness for better balance and better transmission of force to and from the ground.

So here's how it works in application. Head is over foot in neutral, this is balanced, fundamentally balanced. Now, to get to the other side, I side bend and rotate, that brings this down and back, this up and forward, and now I land the next step, head over foot, and as I extend and flex, I rotate back to neutral and then I get it on the other side. how much rotation, or how much side to side movement with my head is governed by the width of my stride. Narrow stride, not a lot of side to side here, but we still get that side bending to really power the rotation.

This RMT Club is the perfect tool for the job because the shifting weight inside gives me these pulses of power and I can train speed, and speed is the key [Functional Strength Training]. Power is divided by time, the less time, the more power we have. so, let's really break this down so you get it perfectly. Wide base, staggered, about forty-five degrees, center stays in the center. Side bend, so really feel, this is a low side or short side, this is the long side. I want to really engrain that. Hip, coming up and forward is the intention, shoulder coming back and down. We're going to put the same side hand on top, using a split grip, as the forward leg. You're simply going to extend it out, maintain that alignment, and come side to side, maintaining that alignment. And you want to really pattern, especially when you come to the outside, you want to really pattern down and back, up and forward. So you really power that rotation with a pulse of power.

We have two, four, six, and eight pound clubs. The lighter the club, the faster you can go. An eight pound club will develop a tremendous amount of strength through the movement. The four pound club is really the sweet spot, where we combine the strength and the power because we get more speed. You can vary the weight of the club to create different effects, and feel and move faster with the lighter club. And then of course, we want to set it up exactly the same on the other side, it will feel different. So, there's that side bend. We got the short side, the long side, coming and powering that across. It's a very intense exercise. And then we can change the plane and you want that fast transition from moving it concentrically to stopping it on a dime, eccentrically and powering it back. It's that transition time where the faster we can do it, the more powerful we're going to be. And then, when you're done with the exercise, you can pattern head over foot and feel the balance and transmission of that strategy for locomotion. Watch my video about the Head Over Foot Technique to really learn it and engrain it, train it, until it becomes yours.

So, how I would do this is, I would go after power with this, you can do twelve to twenty reps, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, etc. Rest enough that you still have enough power for the next movement. You're going to find that it's very metabolic and after the movement, I recommend performing that head over foot drill where every single step you take is perfectly balanced, nothing is lost, there is no compensation through the body, and you've developed that incredibly coordinated and powerful rotation. Side bending being the key to unlocking maximum rotational power which aids in the extension, deflection, and you move faster with less wear and tear on the body. So that's our Variation of the Searchlight exercise using that Head Over Foot Technique. Try it and master it.