4 Motions You Should Do Every Day For the Rest of Your Life

As we get busier, older, tighter, weaker… our bodies start to show it. The classic posture: shoulders rounded forward, tight lower back, head forward.

Yikes!

So maybe you’re not participating actively in a fitness routine. Maybe you have a gym membership and you never go. Maybe you are super active but only train the muscles that you think will make you look good. Wherever you are at in your fitness journey, here are 4 movements you should do every day so that you don’t end up looking like Larry up there.

1. Thoracic Extension

This is a fancy name for exercising your upper back muscles. The muscles that have gotten longer and weaker as we’ve abused them, ever so passively, by driving, typing, and slouching on the couch for 12 hours a day, ever day, for the last who knows how many years.

Begin face down (prone, as we call it fitness land). Legs comfortably apart behind you, hands under your forehead. Without pushing your belly into the ground, and without tilting your head back, lift your head, chest and palms 2 inches off the floor. Hold it for 5 seconds, return to the ground. Repeat about 5 times.

2. Lumbar Flexion

Another fancy pants word. Lumbar (lower back) flexion releases pressure on the spine, stretches the tight muscles, and strengthens the lower abdominal muscles.

Sit up with feet in front, knees, bent, hands across your shoulders. Sit tall. Really tall. Sit so tall you feel your back muscles working. Making your lower back as round as you can, start to roll yourself backwards, maybe only about 1/3 of the way down. Sit back up tall, and repeat about 5 times.

3. Rotation

Sitting cross-legged, as tall as you can. Hands behind head, elbows wide. Keep both cheeks on the ground, exhale as you rotate from the waist up to one side, and then to the other, not allowing the hips or legs to move. Try 5 in each direction.

                     

4. Side Bending

Still sitting cross-legged, as tall as you can, with hands behind head. Keep both cheeks on the ground and exhale as you side bend in one direction. Don’t lean forward or back, just bend (like a little tea pot). Try 5 to each side.

That’s all folks! If nothing else, keep your body moving in a variety of directions EVERY DAY, whether you’re 25, 45, 65 or 85 years old. Use it or lose it.

p.s. You can do the first two motions in bed before you get up, and the last two motions sitting in your office chair. No excuses!

Pilates for Men

 

"Often men who have been accustomed to work hard on a farm or play hard in school athletics or labor hard in a factory, continue eating hearty meals they then ate even though now they are engaged only in sedentary indoor occupation where moderate meals are indicated." 

- Joseph Pilates

Amazing, even 66 years ago, Joe hit the nail right on the head.

According to a story published by CNBC in March of 2010, the annual Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association’s Sports Fitness and Recreation Participation Overview listed Pilates as the fastest growing activity in the country. "With 8.6 million Americans participating in ’09, it’s up 456 percent since 2000."

The rise of Pilates popularity in the last 20 years has made the method appear decidedly "feminine". Most studios gear their marketing toward women, and men sometimes assume that it's just not for them, because there are no free weights involved. The truth is, Pilates was developed by a man - Joseph Pilates early in the 20th Century. Joseph originally called his method of movement Contrology, and published his book Return to Life Through Contrology in 1945.

While a typical mat class would not use free weights, the method is designed to build both strength and flexibility together - stability and mobility. You've seen that guy in the gym with the jug of water and the TAPOUT sweatshirt on - he can't lift his arms over his head, can he? I'm not knocking it, but at some point, traditional weight training can be wonderfully supplemented by Pilates (and Yoga for that matter). 

If you think MMA fighters aren't incorporating exercises like Pilates core moves into their workouts, you're in denial. Fighters Diego Sanchez, as well as both Nogueira brothers have been rumored to incorporate both Pilates and Yoga into their routines. There is no doubt others do as well, though it's likely just called a "core routine" in the gym to save face. 

Don't follow MMA? A few names like Curt Schilling, Jason Kidd, Tiger Woods, and Ruben Brown might ring a bell. Yup, they have all cited Pilates as an integral part of their training routines.

Grab your gym shorts and tube socks and get your ass down here. 

www.OxygenMindandBody.com

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