Fitness for People who Travel
Workouts for Travelers
Excited about your vacation? Even though traveling is fun, getting to your vacation destination-whether by plane, train, automobile-often involves lengthy periods of sitting. Hours of sitting associated with air travel-first in the airport lounge & then on the plane can leave you tight before your vacation has even started!
To help combat potential problems associated with traveling, try these suggestions below from L. Leiber, who earned her master's degree in public health from Berkeley, and teaches Pilates in Oakland, CA.
Exercising while Seated
How can you combat the negative effects of waiting at the airport for your flight? Try some of these seated exercises. They'll improve your posture and help prevent fatigue.
Put your feet on the floor, just a couple inches away from each other.
Sit tall.
Tip pelvis to bring it vertical (neutral spine position).
Drop shoulders away from ears and lengthen back of neck.
Breathe in, then exhale. When you exhale, be sure to pull your abs in. Do this after every seated exercise.
Figure-Four Stretch. Place one ankle on top of opposite knee. Hinge forward at hips, keeping spine neutral. Hold for 15-30 seconds, feeling a deep stretch on outside of hip. Repeat on other side.
Seated twists. While keeping a tall posture reach to the back of your chair and hold without letting your knees or hips rotate. When you exhale, allow your body to go farther into the stretch. Do not perform this move if you have disk issues.
Shoulder Shrug and Roll. Inhale as you lift shoulders up toward ears. Exhale as you roll shoulders back and down, opening chest and letting shoulder blades come together. Continue sliding shoulders down the back, away from ears. Repeat 3-5 times.
Neck Stretch. While your chin tucked in slightly, let your right ear push down to your right shoulder. Hold this for three to four breaths, then let the weight of head stretch other side of neck. Release slowly and repeat on the other side.
Rock the Baby. With right hand on left elbow and left hand on right elbow, hold folded arms out in front of chest. Draw right elbow as far as you can to the right to stretch outside of left shoulder. Draw left elbow as far as you can to the left to stretch outside of right shoulder. Repeat 2-3 times on each side.
When You Are Standing: Waiting to get passed security at the airport is the first of many times your will stand in line on your trip. Make the best use of your time with some of these exercises.
Footwork. Stand, feet side-by-side, two or three inches away from each other and balance your weight evenly. Raise your heels off the ground slowly and evenly. Repeat eight to ten repetitions.
Prancing. Use same position as described above. Come to balls of feet. Lower a single heel toward the ground and be sure to keep the other heel elevated. Repeat this exercise twelve to fifteen times.
Knee Raise. Keeping hips level, raise one knee until thigh is parallel to floor. Maintain neutral spine, and balance in this position 15-30 seconds. Place foot back on floor and repeat balance on other side. (You can also balance on standing leg, slowly raising and lowering knee, touching toe to floor.)
Back-Curl. While standing upright begin curling forward one section of your spine at a time until you are bent over at the waist, arms hanging forward. Be sure to keep your knees slightly bent during this exercise. Come back up to a full standing position one vertebrae at a time. Repeat 3-5X. - 17274
Excited about your vacation? Even though traveling is fun, getting to your vacation destination-whether by plane, train, automobile-often involves lengthy periods of sitting. Hours of sitting associated with air travel-first in the airport lounge & then on the plane can leave you tight before your vacation has even started!
To help combat potential problems associated with traveling, try these suggestions below from L. Leiber, who earned her master's degree in public health from Berkeley, and teaches Pilates in Oakland, CA.
Exercising while Seated
How can you combat the negative effects of waiting at the airport for your flight? Try some of these seated exercises. They'll improve your posture and help prevent fatigue.
Put your feet on the floor, just a couple inches away from each other.
Sit tall.
Tip pelvis to bring it vertical (neutral spine position).
Drop shoulders away from ears and lengthen back of neck.
Breathe in, then exhale. When you exhale, be sure to pull your abs in. Do this after every seated exercise.
Figure-Four Stretch. Place one ankle on top of opposite knee. Hinge forward at hips, keeping spine neutral. Hold for 15-30 seconds, feeling a deep stretch on outside of hip. Repeat on other side.
Seated twists. While keeping a tall posture reach to the back of your chair and hold without letting your knees or hips rotate. When you exhale, allow your body to go farther into the stretch. Do not perform this move if you have disk issues.
Shoulder Shrug and Roll. Inhale as you lift shoulders up toward ears. Exhale as you roll shoulders back and down, opening chest and letting shoulder blades come together. Continue sliding shoulders down the back, away from ears. Repeat 3-5 times.
Neck Stretch. While your chin tucked in slightly, let your right ear push down to your right shoulder. Hold this for three to four breaths, then let the weight of head stretch other side of neck. Release slowly and repeat on the other side.
Rock the Baby. With right hand on left elbow and left hand on right elbow, hold folded arms out in front of chest. Draw right elbow as far as you can to the right to stretch outside of left shoulder. Draw left elbow as far as you can to the left to stretch outside of right shoulder. Repeat 2-3 times on each side.
When You Are Standing: Waiting to get passed security at the airport is the first of many times your will stand in line on your trip. Make the best use of your time with some of these exercises.
Footwork. Stand, feet side-by-side, two or three inches away from each other and balance your weight evenly. Raise your heels off the ground slowly and evenly. Repeat eight to ten repetitions.
Prancing. Use same position as described above. Come to balls of feet. Lower a single heel toward the ground and be sure to keep the other heel elevated. Repeat this exercise twelve to fifteen times.
Knee Raise. Keeping hips level, raise one knee until thigh is parallel to floor. Maintain neutral spine, and balance in this position 15-30 seconds. Place foot back on floor and repeat balance on other side. (You can also balance on standing leg, slowly raising and lowering knee, touching toe to floor.)
Back-Curl. While standing upright begin curling forward one section of your spine at a time until you are bent over at the waist, arms hanging forward. Be sure to keep your knees slightly bent during this exercise. Come back up to a full standing position one vertebrae at a time. Repeat 3-5X. - 17274
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