Ankle Circles and Chicken Wings
Wake up with a smile and give yourself an excuse to savor your last cozy moments in bed. Ankle flexibility is crucial to staying upright since your feet need to adjust to variations in the walking surface. Starting your day under the covers by moving your ankles/feet in circles as well as up and down (pointing and flexing) makes sure your feet are ready to do their job the moment they hit the floor. And while you're at it, why not add some arms? Try lying on your back, tucking your arms by your sides with elbows at your waist and putting your hands palms-up beside your shoulders (like folded chicken wings). This posture opens the chest, stretches the back and gives your posture a boost. As a bonus, it feels good! Aaahh!
Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.
Climb Stairs for a Burst of Fitness
Going up the stairs is a golden opportunity to build strong legs, a major foundation for good balance. Take full advantage by keeping both toes straight ahead, giving your thighs the best workout. My sister learned in Pilates that placing your whole foot on the surface of the step is easiest on the knees. A wobbly foot means that your knees have to compensate, which adds unwanted work for that vulnerable joint. Firmly placing your whole foot gives your knees a welcome break. The bonus benefit of climbing up stairs is an aerobic boost. Very often, stairways are short flights with landings (resting places), making a versatile built-in gym!
Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.
Exercise in Disguise
If you don't know how to start exercising, I invite you to join me in thinking of ways to tuck various movements into the cracks of your days. Combining your creativity with a knowledge of what your body likes and wants most can lead to interesting experiences that build fitness on the sly. Pick times that seem like down time, and get creative. If you're waiting in line, stand on one foot for balance. If you're watching TV, try reaching for the ceiling. Stretching is always a good place to start--just move something and feel how it feels. Avoid too much multitasking (not so safe), let yourself be silly (if you dare) and have fun (to inspire yourself to keep it up). Please join me in this project: maybe we can start a secret, feel-good movement revolution!
Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.
Un-Dividing Attention to Reduce your Risk of Falling
My pilot friend studies reports of plane crashes. In almost every crash, he says, the accident included at least three things going wrong. That got me thinking that maybe this applies to falling "crashes" as well. For example, maybe you're a bit tired from not sleeping so well last night, so you're not picking up your feet as much as usual (#1). You're walking on a slightly irregular sidewalk and coming to the bump that shouldn't be there (#2). And maybe at that moment you hear a bird singing across the street, and turn to look (#3). You've now divided your attention and set yourself up for a fall. Un-divide your attention by pausing for a moment to reduce your risk of falling. I noticed that many of my falls happened when I was hurrying (not the same as walking fast), which was my habitual #1. When I considered the consequences, it was easy to change my habit. Now I have more attention for the birds!
Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.
Brr-rr-r-r! On Purpose
We have a big gangly nerve that runs to most of our major organs. It’s called the Vagus Nerve, and it’s a major player in our Rest & Digest (parasympathetic branch of the nervous system) behaviors. It has a weird bunch of likes, including gagging(!) and humming. One of its favorites is cold. You’ve probably heard of the practice of alternating sauna time with jumping into a snowbank–”Aaah” says the Vagus. We’re coming up to Polar Bear Plunge season, celebrated on New Years Day, where a bunch of scantily clad folks give their vagus nerve a feast by jumping into a cold body of water. The way to make a cold/cool shock into a Rest & Digest “Aaah” is to breathe deeply while shocking. You are cordially invited to find your local Plunge! Or, if you like the idea and prefer it gently, end your shower with 30 seconds (and building up to more) of cool or cold water. And remember to BREATHE!
Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.
Life @ 3MPH
I grew into my walking-based lifestyle step by natural step, and never particularly noticed how much I liked it until a book fell into my lap in time to be my December read. (A Walking LIfe: Reclaiming Our Health and Our Freedom – One Step at a TIme, by Antonia Malchik) Chapter by chapter, this book gave me more reasons to appreciate my walking and lifestyle pace of 3 miles per hour. My reading coincided with observing the frenetic seasonal hustle-bustle that’s currently in progress, the contrast adding more joy to my appreciation. Walking puts me in a place with time to smell the pine trees; walking moves me at a speed that lets me be more aware of the slow turning of the seasons; walking gives my feet the opportunity to feel the earth beneath them. On these busy days, I invite you to give a gift to yourself: to stop, plant both feet on the ground, and savor a deep breath.
Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.
Brrr-rr-r-r!
Cold day? What if, instead of turning up the heat for your whole home, you choose to warm up just your body? Play the Inside Out Game to fire up the tiny furnaces in each of your muscle cells (the mitochondria, if you want to be polysyllabic about it). Any movement will stoke the inner flame: calisthenics, jitterbugging to your favorite music, cleaning out the attic. Adding layers of clothing is another way to warm up, and another chance for playful movement. Dance and stretch as you pull the sweater over your head, or make a humorous fuss as the second layer of pants sticks to the first one. Then notice that having on more clothes makes moving a little more difficult, and behold! you’re doing even more exercise. Considering that you’re simultaneously lowering your heating bill, I’d call it a win-win version of multitasking!
Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.
The One For You
What’s the best exercise in the world? The one that you’ll do! And what if that exercise style is also one that suits you EXACTLY, so it gives joy and adds to your feelings of wellbeing over time? I wish there were a magic button to push for each of us to find our One. But no. Instead, we get to do it like a treasure hunt, looking for clues of joy, then clusters of benefits. It is a search that’s worth it. Parkour anyone? Or follow the woman whose eyes glowed when she talked about bench pressing. Two months ago I found kettlebells at an excellent gym close to home–a cluster of benefits that has captured my heart and commitment. Please let me know if/when you find yours!
Suggestion from Mariah Kaye, Senior Fitness Specialist, offering more fitness choices through MoveAnyWayFitness.com.