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!