Flutter Kicks are an oldie and a goodie. We usually did them by the hundreds in Dive School and I've always loved them. I'm not sure why they are so easy for me, but they are, and that means when we do them in class..we do a lot of them!

However, there are a few things you need to know so you can do them correctly without injuring yourself or aggravating your back. Read on and enjoy!

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We'll start with the placement of the hands before anything else. Take a look at pic 1 and you'll see that I have a fist, with thumbs facing up, under my butt. For some reason, when I say "under your butt" people put their arms under their lower backs (WHY?) and create a huge arch that can get very sore with just a few reps.

Look at the rest of the pictures and you'll see that I have my arms extended straight down the length of my body and my hands tucked in at the last moment. Having my hands in this position allows me to tilt my pelvis up a bit and press the small of my back into the ground.

This can take quite a bit of strain OFF the lower back and put it in the abdominals and hip flexors SO DO WHAT I'M TELLING YOU!

Keep your legs slightly bent and bring your left leg up so that your left heel is directly over your left hip.(pic 2)

See how my head is off the ground? Yours should be too. If you let it drop, chances are that your lower back will start to come up off the ground and that's not good. You need to build that pencil neck anyway, so keep your head up!

If you're counting Flutter Kicks in 4 count fashion, this will be the 1 and 3 position. If you're just starting out and lack the strength to keep up with the written workouts in 4 count, this is one rep.

Picture 3 isn't really a stopping point, it just shows that the legs will transition next to each other right around here.

Remember, don't stop at this position! Just let the legs flow past each other while you're keeping a steady count.

If you're counting Flutter Kicks in 4 count fashion, this will be the 2 and then 1 complete rep; 1, 2, 3, 1... 1, 2, 3, 2...etc

If you're just starting out and lack the strength do keep up with the written workouts in 4 count, this is one rep.