By Miguel J. Ortiz
Movement is essential in all of our lives, bringing us various levels of experiences and challenges along the way. It helps us become the person we truly want to be. However, as we age along with the various distractions, we have all around us, finding time to get in quality movement can be difficult. So, regardless of how difficult your goals may be, one thing that is vital to your success is your ability to at least be prepared to move.
Yes, the days get long, time gets away from us and the most random things can throw you off your game. We can’t let that get in the way of our movement. So, no matter where you are in your fitness journey – or even if you’re just getting started – these three daily moves will have you ready to take on the day or cold from a long one. Plus, your body will appreciate the consistency.
The first exercise is commonly seen in yoga practices. It’s called the pigeon pose. This movement is phenomenal for the hips, legs and core. It can help lessen any back pain. If needing assistance, it can also be performed on an elevated surface. The goal is to be able to do this well on the ground. The rotation and single leg focus really helps balance out the body especially considering that we do a lot of things with one side. Although the muscular structure is symmetrical, our bodies don’t always behave so evenly. It’s nice to be able to isolate one side more if it needs a little extra TLC.
The second movement is another great hip and back reliever, this exercise is a Half Kneeling assisted quad stretch. Because we sit so much throughout the day, our hip flexors tends to stay in a more shorted position causing them to get pretty tight. This can have a negative effect on your back and posture. Opening up your hips by doing this stretch will alleviate any tension you may have been carrying in the lower body. It can even help you sit more upright.
The last dynamic stretch is mainly for the upper body and shoulders. You’ll really feel this down your lats and possibly in your lower back depending on how tight you are. I give you the Quadruped Lat Shoulder stretch. Even though this exercise mainly targets the lats, you might also feel it in your chest because of the angle we are taking when performing this. Nonetheless, it’s a great exercise to loosen up tension in your shoulders, neck and lats. It will naturally help with bettering your posture.
All three of these dynamic movements indirectly help your core and posture in some fashion. They cover the largest muscle groups in the body and that is essential for quality of life. So, even if you can only do each movement for 1 minute or 3 minutes a day, still do it. Stay as consistently active as you can with just these three exercises and watch how your quality of life and movement changes for the better.
