The look on my face after injuring my back!
Before I get into this post I wanted to say one thing: If you are reading this right blog post now or have read my blog posts in the past....THANK YOU. I appreciate it :)
Just the fact that you are reading this tells me that you are someone that looks to improve throughout life. I hope that I can keep benefiting your life with information that will help you move forward. Again, thank you so much for reading this!
If you are looking for a really effective fat loss program then you have to check out Andrea, Cyn and I on Rogers Daytime live Monday February 2nd at 11am, 5pm and 11pm. I'm going to intro a killer workout that can be done at home and doesn't require any equipment....other than your body :P
So the reason I'm doing this post is simple: I screwed up.
Sometimes it takes a moment of crisis to really let someone know that they have really effed up. I'll admit that I was so focused on finding the most effective fat loss programs, that I neglected to do the things that kept my body pain free in the first place.
Sometimes I can get so deeply obsessed about a subject that everything else goes out the window. Does that ever happen to you? I'm sure it does. Take this as a reminder to pull back. Do the maintenance before something bad happens.
Now I'm back to properly taking care of myself. I'm not only doing my rapid fat loss exercises such as supersets, trisets, tabatas, circuits etc...
But I'm doing the things that will keep my body and my joints healthy enough to stay active. You can say that I'm doing things that prevent injuries from even occurring in the first place.
So what should you do to keep a healthy body? If you are in pain, de-conditioned, feel tightness when waking up, getting up from your seat etc...START HERE.
Oh by the way if you sit at a desk from 9-5 all day long then this might be the most important blog post you may ever read. Don't worry I'll get back to that fat loss stuff next week I promise..Disclaimer
The techniques, ideas, and suggestions in this document
are not intended as a substitute for proper medical advice.
Always consult your physician or health care professional
before performing any new exercise, exercise technique or
beginning any new diet. Any use of the techniques, ideas,
and suggestions in this document is at the reader's sole
discretion and risk.Movement Prep
Movement prep prepares the body for movement. It boosts your heart rate, blood flow to muscles, and core temperature. It also improves the function of the nervous system. In laymen's terms: It helps you move better.
Think of movement prep as taking a few minutes to warm up your car. Especially in the cold winter months we are experiencing you can't just put the key in the ignition of your car and start driving.
I swear that immediately after I started doing this I started to move better and wake up in less pain.
Doing movement prep will warm up your body and stretch it at the same time, keeping it pliable to deal with life's surprises. It also beats going on the treadmill for 5 minutes watching CNN and getting depressed with all the bad news coming at you.
Here are the most important movement prep exercises for the 9-5'er:
Hip Crossover (A MUST DO) - 6 reps per side
- Builds mobility and strength in your torso by dissociating hips and shoulders
Hand Walk aka. "The Worlds Second Greatest Stretch" - 6 Reps
- Builds stability in your shoulders and core and to lengthen your hamstrings, calves and lower back muscles.
Forward Lunge/Forearm-to-instep aka. "The Worlds Greatest Stretch"
- Improve flexibility in your hips, hamstrings, lower back, torso, groin, hip flexors and quads.
Ideally I want you doing movement prep every day but for now I want you to do it 2 days a week (preferably before your workout). Do this for a couple of weeks and you will notice an immediate improvement in flexibility and overall movement.
This leads me to the second most important thing to wake up pain free....Prehab
I compare Prehab to getting an oil change for you car. If you neglect getting an oil change for your car you are going to run into some serious problems.
Same thing for your body.
This Prehab unit takes care of vulnerable areas that get stressed in every day movement: your hips, core, and shoulders.
Prehab is specifically geared towards to strengthen your body so it can move better and stronger as well as decrease your potential for injuries.
You probably spend long hours hunched over a computer screen - most of us do. In time your shoulders will hunch forward and tighten. Here are some other things you may notice if you sit at a desk all day:
- Shoulders round forward
- Lower back starts rounding
- Tightness in hips, less mobile in the pillar area (core)
Do Prehab to prevent and strengthen those troubled areas. You don't want to wait for something bad to happen (like me) to start realizing that this is needed in your life daily.
Do these exercises in the order laid out before you as a warmup.
Pillar (lower back, abs, obliques)
Planks - 30 Seconds
- Creates pillar (shoulder, core, hips) stability and strength
*Make sure to suck your stomach in*
Easier Variation - Keep your knees down
Side Planks - 20 Seconds per side
- - Creates pillar (shoulder, core, hips) stability and strength
Easier variation - Keep your bottom knee down and lift
Shoulders
Stability Ball Y's and T's - 1 set, 6 reps
- Improves shoulder stability, which strengthens your rotator cuffs.
*If you can't use a stability ball do the exercises on the floor or a bench*
Again preferably this would be done every day. But for now just do it 2 times a week with your movement prep as a warm up.
So There you go! Start doing these immediately, especially if you are waking up tight and in pain. In part 2 I will be going over the most neglected part of taking care of your body. Stay tuned because you probably won't believe it.
Much love and respect,
DG
http://Www.GoGirlBootcamps.com
http://Www.GoPersonalFitness.com
Ps. Don't forget to check out Andrea, Cyn and I on Rogers Daytime live Monday February 2nd at 11am, 5pm and 11pm!
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