Repeat steps 1, 2, and 3 two to four times.
Step 4: Keep your arms extended sideways and pretend you are throwing a ball toward the front. Throw a ball at least 32 times.
CHAIR WORK FOR HIPS
Place one foot on the seat of the chair while keeping both knees bent. Alternate between arching the back and rounding the back. This sequence of arching and tucking under is a hip and lower spine stretch that will relieve pressure and increase the mobility of your spine and improve your posture. Slowly repeat the spinal motion 3 or 4 times.
CHAIR STRETCH FOR THE PSOAS
Step 1: Place the foot flat on the chair. Bend the back knee while raising the back heel and shifting the full weight of the body forward. Tuck your tailbone under until you cannot tuck under any more. Hold it there as you do step 2.
Step 2: Keeping the tailbone tucked under, slowly try to drive the standing heel into the ground. This will stretch the psoas, an important antiaging muscle. (A tight psoas is a major cause of back pain.)
Step 3: Keeping the tailbone tucked under, carefully lower the standing leg’s knee toward the floor. Keep the weight of the body on the seat of the chair. Keep moving, and the moment you go as deep as you can, immediately return to the starting position. This will stretch the quadriceps. Never hold these quadriceps stretches, as that would put unnecessary strain on the knee as well as overworking the quad.
Repeat steps 1, 2, and 3 three times with each leg before alternating legs.
HAMSTRING, SPINE, AND IT BAND STRETCH
Step 1: Place the leg on the chair, trying to keep the knee straight. Bend the standing leg instead of the leg that is on the chair. Bend forward, keeping the spine straight, extending both arms over the leg, and reach one arm at a time over the leg. Keep the leg on the chair as you are reaching forward, alternating arms for 30 seconds, 5 seconds per arm.
Modification: If you cannot keep the knee straight, feel free to bend it.
Step 2: Hold the chair with the back hand and twist the spine in opposition to the chair, using the outside arm to assist in the spine rotation. Deep-breathe in this position and twist a little farther in the exhale portion of the breath. Hold the rotation for 5 seconds, relax, and repeat 3 times.
Step 3: Keeping the leg on the chair as straight as possible, drop the hip toward the chair as you flex your foot. You will feel an uncomfortable pull on the outside of your knee, which is the IT band being pulled. Move gently into and out of this stretch for about 30 seconds.
Repeat steps 1, 2, and 3 on the other leg.
LONG ADDUCTOR STRETCH
Put your leg on the chair, bend the supporting leg, and bend slightly forward. Slowly rotate the raised leg internally until you feel a stretch in your inner leg. Each person feels this stretch at a different place, so keep moving around until you feel your inner leg muscles being pulled. Once you find the stretch, move into and out of it. Do this for a maximum time of 20 seconds per leg. This exercise helps relieve hip pain.
CALF AND SOLEUS
Step 1: Place one leg behind, keeping its knee straight and the heel pressing into the ground. This will stretch the long muscle of the calf. Hold this stretch for about 6 seconds, then shift into step 2.
Step 2: Bend the back knee and tuck the bum under, still keeping the heel flat on the ground. This will stretch the short muscle of the calf. Hold this stretch for about 6 seconds, and then repeat step 1. Alternate 3 times between steps 1 and 2.
PSOAS, QUADRICEPS, AND HAMSTRING STRETCH
Step 1: Bend knee and lift the heel, tucking the tailbone under. This will stretch the psoas. Hold the stretch for 6 to 8 seconds, then immediately do step 2.
Step 2: Lower the bent knee toward the ground to stretch the quadriceps. Hold the stretch for 6 to 8 seconds. Repeat steps 1 and 2 before doing step 3.
Step 3: Extend the back leg in front, keeping the foot flexed. Bend forward, keeping your spine completely straight as you gently sway your hips side to side. This will give a full stretch to the hamstring muscle. Take 5 seconds for each hip sway and repeat 4 to 6 slow side-to-side sways.
STRETCH FOR TIGHT SHOULDERS
Step 1: Do a diagonal bend in a side lunge. Be sure not to raise the hip. Stretch for 6 seconds.
Step 2: Grab your wrist and pull your arm as much as possible, feeling the stretch into your ribs and down your side. Stretch for 6 seconds.
Tip: This stretch provides great upper body and shoulder pain relief.
Step 3: With the lower arm, carefully press your extended arm very gently backward. This will slightly stretch the chest and shoulder muscles. Stretch for 6 seconds.
Step 4: Hold your hands above your head, making a sort of hat shape as you bend farther sideways. Stretch for 6 seconds.
Step 5: Release the hands and straighten the arms. This will stretch spine and shoulder joints. Stretch for 6 seconds.
Repeat steps 1 to 5 on the other side, then alternate sides several times.
PLIÉS FOR KNEE PAIN RELIEF
To prepare for a plié, place the legs in a wide stance with feet slightly turned out. Bend the knees into a plié, keeping them in line with the ankles. Imagine you are against a wall so that you keep your back straight.
Step 1: Shift your hips from one side to the next for a minimum of 8 times. Move slowly in order to feel the maximum stretching in your hips.
Tip: If you have tight hips, lean slightly forward to maintain balance. Many people are afraid to open their legs as Sahra is doing here. Try to get the same width as hers, as long as you have zero pain. Bend your knees until you actually sense pain, and then stop. Doing pliés this way should rapidly relieve you of chronic knee pain.
Tips: To protect the knees, keep them in line with the ankles. If you want to increase difficulty, bend into a deeper plié. Never hold a plié move even very slightly. The constant movement will increase blood flow and lubrication of the joints.
Step 2: Lift one heel off the ground to stretch the shin muscles. This will help relieve ankle, foot, and knee pain. Repeat 3 times before changing to the other foot.
Step 3: Remain in the plié and do the following arm sequence, which will work your torso in addition to your legs. Lift one arm to the ceiling, reaching up as high as possible. This will stretch your ribs and strengthen your abs while decompressing the knees.
Imagine that you are pulling your arm downward, putting your elbow on your knee. This will stretch the opposite side of your body.
Finish this sequence with a deep side stretch. Repeat step 3 four times on each side before moving to step 4.
Step 4: Remain in the plié position; bend forward, keeping the spine straight; and press the knees open one at a time, to stretch the groin. Alternate knees at least 4 times.
SHOULDER BLAST SEQUENCE
Step 1: Start with spine rounded, tail tucked under, and hands clasped in front of your body. Try to pull the hands apart, feeling a very pleasant stretching sensation in the shoulders and upper back. Technical note: Make sure you lift the shoulders during this stretch. Stretch for 6 seconds.
Tip: This is everyone’s favorite feel-good exercise to relieve shoulder pain.
Step 2: With hands still clasped, gently press them toward the front. You should feel an additional stretch in upper back and shoulders. Stretch for 6 to 10 seconds.
Step 3: Lift one arm as high as possible toward the ceiling; this will stretch the muscles on one side of the spine. Make sure you lower the opposite shoulder in order to be able to release the muscles along the spine. Stretch for 6 seconds.
Step 4: Once you’ve extended your arm as high as you can, press it backward in order to stretch the pectoral muscles. This will improve your posture and relieve shoulder pain. Stretch for 3 seconds.
Repeat steps 3 and 4 with the other arm.
Step 5: Raise both arms above your head. Stretch for 3 seconds.
Step 6: With lots of resistance, slowly stretch the arms behind you for 6 seconds.
Repeat steps 1 to 6 at least 4 times
to relieve back and shoulder pain.
CHAPTER 15
ENHANCE YOUR BALANCE
Don’t forget that if we do nothing, every decade we can potentially lose between 7 and 8 percent of our cells, including nerve cells! This fact has tremendous consequences for our ability to maintain strong balance reflexes.
As we get older, it seems perfectly natural and instinctive to reach for a wall or banister, or the arm of a friend, to keep ourselves upright. Like every other aspect of aging, our loss of balance slowly creeps up on us. But like every other capability, balance is something we can maintain and improve, and we don’t have to accept its loss as an inevitable part of aging.
Infants teach themselves to walk by testing the limits of their balance reflexes and pushing themselves outside their comfort zone. This forces the nerves to shoot messages into the muscles, directing them to hold the infant upright. After a few falls, the muscles get the hang of things and do hold the child upright!
To maintain our balance, we have to replicate this self-education process, forcing our nerve cells to wake up and stabilize our muscles. Nerve cells, like muscle cells, atrophy through disuse. They need to be regularly used to be maintained. We need to challenge our balance reflexes by means of an exercise that is difficult to do without losing our balance. Don’t think of this as a strengthening exercise; think of it as a “deliberately falling off balance” exercise!
The exercise is aimed at stimulating your balance reflexes. It is vitally important that you do not hold on to any support while doing the movements. Like an infant, you have to make your balance reflexes shoot the message to wake up into your muscles. If you are nervous about falling over, stand near a wall so that at any time you will be able to immediately reach for it. (But try to reach for the wall as seldom as possible.) Though at first you may find the exercise difficult and taxing, your balance should improve quickly. It definitely won’t get worse!
DRAWING THE ALPHABET
The best balance exercise I know is to stand on one leg while drawing the alphabet with the other one. Start slowly and go as far up the alphabet as you can before changing legs.
The objective is to eventually be able to stand on one leg and write the whole alphabet from A to Z before changing legs. Then do it again so that you draw the alphabet twice with both legs. It might take a few weeks before you are able to draw it twice through at one session. It’s fun!
Tip: This exercise stimulates your balance reflexes.
CHAPTER 16
IMPROVE YOUR MOBILITY
Sometimes, after a particularly long movie-watching binge, even young adults can feel stiff when they stand up from the sofa. Or athletes who’ve overtrained cannot comfortably bend down to sit on the floor—let alone get up again. And it’s very common for people who lead a sedentary life to have trouble getting into and out of a car. To make matters worse, the degree of difficulty getting into and out of a car tends to increase with every additional pound of body weight. The reason it is difficult getting into and out of a car, or sitting on and standing up from a sofa, or getting onto or off the floor is that the muscles have become weak from lack of use and are already in various stages of atrophy.
An adult body is heavy. Try lifting a full-grown adult or even a child and you will find that it is a heavy load. You need strength to lift the weight of your body and if your muscles are weak, it is exhausting and very difficult to get out of or into a car.
Muscles are designed to atrophy when you don’t use them and when you are sedentary—your muscles literally shrink. But don’t panic! You can do a lot to change that, as long as you are prepared to do 30 minutes of exercise every day. The best way to get into the habit is to do your exercises when you wake up, before eating or washing. They’ll be done before you know it!
If you’ve never made exercise a priority, there comes a time when your personal quality of life and the effect your health issues have on the people closest to you begin to dictate every other decision you make. Having weak muscles is bad for your health and a huge stress on the people around you. If you have trouble getting into and out of a car, eventually you will require assistance; and heave-hoing a heavy person often injures the person who is assisting. I have seen an astonishing number of unnecessary injuries suffered by family members, nurses, and other caregivers in helping weak patients to turn over in bed or get off a chair.
Gaining strength by exercising on a regular basis is an act of love toward those people who care about you. Maybe you’re not there yet; maybe you’re a young mom who has all she can do just chasing her kids around and you don’t exercise for yourself. Maybe you get worn out when you take your kids to the roller rink. Take a good look at the older woman struggling to get out of her car—she is you in 20 (or 10!) years, unless you act now!
We all need full-body strength and flexibility, particularly in the legs, hips, and lower back, to be able to be independent and move around easily.
So let’s start solving the problem with a few exercises. The best way to begin strengthening all the muscles involved in getting into and out of a car or standing up on roller skates is to stand up and sit down as rapidly as possible. Repeat that 10 times in a row and then do it again a few hours later. Do this sitting-standing sequence several times a day; it is an easy way to quickly strengthen the muscles and joints in your hips, back, and knees. If you are sedentary, it will most likely be totally exhausting to do for the first day or so—and you might be able to do only two or three repetitions of getting up and down in a row. But trust me—your body is craving strengthening movements and will respond really rapidly. Before a week is over you will be moving much faster, much more easily, and with much less effort.
Once you have made some progress, add some of the exercises listed here. The pliés will strengthen your quad and hip muscles, and the seated groin stretch will add flexibility to your hips. When exiting a car or pulling ourselves up from the floor on roller skates, we need to rotate the spine; the windmill stretch will increase both flexibility and strength along the spine, making the turning movement easier and more efficient. The side-to-side lunges will strengthen the legs and hips, and feet, as well as the spine. They will also add flexibility to the inner leg and the groin—which will really help your skating as well as help you as you step out of the car. And the arm figure 8 exercises will add flexibility to the upper body, so that the twisting movement the body automatically makes will be more fluid when we are entering and exiting a car.
Do these exercises at least once a day; I suggest you do them every morning and several times a day. If you feel a little nauseated the first few times you do these exercises, or even a little dizzy, don’t worry. This dizziness is often caused by the toxins being flushed out, as your blood circulates more efficiently and oxygen is delivered to your cells. Be as lazy as you want at first, as long as you move a bit to stimulate blood flow. Every time you do the exercises you can work a little bit harder. The best way to build up your muscles and strength is slowly and progressively. Pretty soon you will feel like a new person!
CLOCK
Step 1: Stand upright with arms extended straight above head, reaching up as high as possible. Notice in the side view how straight the spine is.
Tip: This exercise helps develop spine and core strength and mobility.
Step 2: Bend sideways, pulling up and away from the body with as much strength as possible, keeping the arms close together.
Step 3: Slowly bend deeper. Take 6 seconds to bend sideways and 6 seconds to straighten to starting position. This exercise will strengthen the spine and increase mobility of the torso. Repeat steps 2 and 3 four times, alternating sides each time.
PLIÉS FOR HIP, KNEE, AND TORSO MOBILITY
Step 1: Raise and lower the heel 3 times, squeezing an imaginary orange until the foot is flat on the ground. These heel raisers strengthen ankles, quads, and knees.
Step 2: From a basic plié position, twist on the spine, rotating toward the back of the room.
This will strengthen and stretch the back and hip muscles. Remain in the plié position as you alternate sides 8 times.
Step 3: Remaining in the basic plié position, bend side to side. This will strengthen the core muscles.
SEATED GROIN STRETCH
Sit with legs bent and feet touching, keeping the back straight. Notice that James is sitting on two raisers. Many people need to sit on a raiser when doing groin stretches; it helps to straighten the spine and target the correct groin muscles.
Step 1: Bending forward, gently push the knees downward, using the elbows to press down on the knees. Press downward for roughly 6 seconds.
Aging Backwards_10 Years Lighter and 10 Years Younger in 30 Minutes a Day Page 17