7 Exercises to do daily (Part 4)
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7 Exercises we should be doing every day.
There are no excuses when it comes to exercise. As human beings you were created with the physical capacity to move and develop. You were born flexible and naturally able to do primal movements. Unfortunately due to lifestyle and the ‘New World’, you were then taught how to lose that.
Now you feel pain in those movements and we pull muscles. Do you ever see a baby pull a muscle or feel stiff? Do they ever complain about a bad knee when squatting?
Over the years you will have developed differently to others and from what you could do you may now not be able to. This is the ‘Use it or lose it’ principle. So very simply, if you no longer squat like a baby you will no longer be able to. If you stop doing the splits from age 15, your body will revert back to an untrained state. The challenge then comes from continuing to using your body correctly. We have not evolved to sit down all day long like most of us do.
This is week 4 of 7. I am introducing you to 7 exercises that will improve your mobility and body function. I am doing this weekly as I understand 7 exercises in one go may take a lot of time however over the week you can practice one, make it into a routine habit and then the following week apply a second exercise with ease. No excuses.
These movements are what we should and can all do daily AM, PM, at work during lunch, at home, in the gym. Apply them to your morning, evening, daily routines or in your warm ups, cool downs, workouts, rest periods. Any excuse is void, there is always a way!
There are no excuses not to get these movements into your daily life.
Take ownership of your body.
Why do the exercises? For most of us the modern world has decided we must be sat down most of the day in a computer compact position, in a car (same position) in the chair watching T.V.….. Same position.
So this means the structure our body has been developing over millions of years. Has rapidly been forced into new positions that do no work.
So you have two choices.. Or the secret third.
1- Stop being modern and go back to primal
2- Apply these daily movements
3- 1 + 2 = 3 :)
Enough of the technical stuff. Here is your fourth of seven movements to do daily.
Oh and before I let you crack on. Remember you will have a different level to your friends, family, peers etc. So take your time. This will become more natural over time and if you experience any form of pain see a Chiropractor, physiotherapist, personal trainer or other health professional.
Plank lunges
Start: In a press up position. Both hands in line with you shoulders and body completely stretched out. Make sure you are on the balls of your feet (hip width apart) and hips are inline with your heels and shoulders. Keep your head inline with the rest of your body by looking in between your hands.
Movement: Lean your body weight forwards whilst pushing your left leg of the ground and lifting it towards the outside of the same side hand (left foot to left hand). Keep your left knee close to your left arm/ribs and back leg as straight as possible. Hold for up to 5 seconds and then return the left leg back to its start position. Repeat on the right leg.
How many:
Do this exercise ten times each side gently and slowly increasing the range each time. Remember to keep this exercies fluid, left, right, left, right and as you increase your reps you can being to increase the speed and reduce the hold time.
Common mistakes:
1- Arms too far forward - Placing your arms out in front of your shoulders will certainly cause fatigue to happen sooner and in some cases pain in your shoulder and back areas . Remember to place your hands palms down and fingers forwards with your shoulders directly above your hands.
2- Hips too low or too high - When your hips are too low you can get lower back pain. To fix this try using a mirror or a friend/trainer to help guide you into the right position if you are unsure of it yourself. Often we find it hard to feel what our body is doing and therefore seeing the issue, correcting it and then feeling the new position is all we need to get the exercises right. When your hips are too high, this is not as big an issues however it will make the exercises feel easier whilst still putting more pressure into your upper body causing fatigue. Try to build your trunk (core) strength by completing Common challenges 2- a. bellow.
Common challenges
1- Lacking Range of Motion (ROM): You may find your foot lands no where near your hand. This is caused by a lack of range of motion and can easily be increased by completing the previous exercises in this series and by using self massage equipment found in MY STORE HERE.
2- Upper body strength - If you find that in this position your shoulders/arms/back are getting tired, sore or losing position, you can build up the strength by the following.
a. Hold the start position for up to 10 seconds with a 10 second rest and repeat it 3-5 times. Increase the hold every couple of days to 15/20/30/45/60 seconds. When you can hold this position for at least 30 seconds over three rounds you will find the exercises to become much easier.
b. Another option in the meantime is to do one rep of Plank lunges and rest before the second repetition. Slowly building up to completing 10 reps per side or more.
3- Wrist pain - The position of the wrists on the floor can occasionally cause pain for some people. You can battle this by using something to alter the grip position. I personally recommend using press up grips for beginners. These can also be used for a variety of exercises in this position. GET YOUR PRESS UP GRIPS HERE!
Any issues questions you may have please comment below.
Have an awesome week and exercise five will be out for you next Sunday!
