stretch every day

My local massage salon got this ‘migun’ massage bed, and let me tell you, it stretches me out! its a bit painful, but it actually targets the areas that my chiropractor said that I should work on.

I know it doesn’t replace me doing my own streches, but its a really great kick start back into it :)

Our sedentary lifestyles — slumped over computers all day — along with a lack of fitness are major factors. However, trainer Donna Aston says it doesn’t have to be that way.
“When it comes to bad backs, a few of the major issues are flexibility, or lack of flexibility, lack of strength, and also poor posture. So with those three things together, if we can work on those it really does help to create strength and prevent back injury.

Donna has devised a set of exercises to give us all super spines.
Exercise one: abdominal bridge
Draw the navel tightly in towards the spine like you’ve got somebody pulling a string up — make sure you keep your spine straight. An incorrect way of doing this would cause a sag in the back which is going to put a lot of unnecessary pressure on the back muscles.

Exercise two: squats
Bend from the knees and sit your bottom out, as if you’re sitting on a seat. Your back is very straight. An incorrect way of doing this would be the hips rolling forward and all the weight shifts into the knees which puts a lot of pressure on the knee joint as well as through the lower back.

Exercise three: back extension
Lift a little with your upper body, lifting your chest and your arms off the floor and feeling these muscles contract into your lower back, these are all the erector muscles that align your spine.

Like most things in life, when it comes to your back, the fitter you are, the better you’ll be. A bad back is no longer a sentence to bed rest — moderate exercise is the key to recovery, but remember, if you are feeling pain always see a medical professional before starting a fitness regime.

http://health.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=114743

not quite stretching, however i think these exercises are worth doing everyday. And some ab work too!

hmm, this hasnt been going very well. I sort of stopped for a few days, so I’m resetting the date of me starting the 3 weeks of stretching everyday. its now the 10th of Jan. I’ve missed one day already, but thats okay :) its only one day…

well, its been a little, but I really should have written down the day that I started. Must be something like 10 counting back from what I’ve written.

So far its okay, my posture has actually improved some, and thats part of the reason why Im doing this.

I read on someone else’s entry that you need to strengthen muscles in order to become more flexible, so I’m going to start working on that soon.

I’ve only missed 2 days so far, which is pretty good for me. now just to keep it up!

well, granted I’ve only been doing this for 4 days, but last night I could have sworn that I had already had a major improvement in my flexibility. And then when I did my strecthes this morning I was shocked that I was almost up to the same flexibility as when I started streching. And then I thought about it. I was all limber last night because I’d been walking around all day, etc. and therefore, stretched out. what a bummer.

I also include some ab work in my strecthes, and that is moving ahead very fast. But its also making me feel fat.

And at this point it isnt helping with my infernal tiredness in the mornings. :(

When i woke up this morning I found it soooooo very difficult to get out of bed. And then I realized – I’ve physically exhausted myself. Brain might be awake, but the body dosent want to play. :(

Going to the gym more regularly is one of my goals, but one that I need to put off for 2 weeks. Why, becuase I am going on a 10 day detox, and your not supposed to exercise too hard.

But I truly think that exercising again is the only way I’ll get my body out of this funk its in. So my solution is I’ll start stretching, toady!

I’m going to start on the stretches my chiro gave me while I was living in Japan, and then work on some stretches in “The Great Australian Diet” book (but those stretches you only have to do 3 times a week). So If I keep this up for 3 weeks every day (3 weeks makes it a habit) I’ll consider this goal achieved!

well, Im finding it hard to stretch everyday, but Im stretching every other day. My problem is I cant do it in the morning becuase of early work starts, but I kinda keep having difficulty making the time in the evenings to stretch, becuase I keep forgeting sometimes I need to get to bed early.

Hopefully when my new job settles down I can get into a better routine, hopefully!

and see practice yoga

sooooo many benifits in doing this. doesnt take all that much time…. so whats to lose?