Most of us spend the majority of our daily life sitting at our desks in front of computers. Then we spend our evenings slouching looking at our phones. Then we wake up and get in the aero position for hours on our bikes. Sometimes I think I look like a T-Rex with arms in front and shoulders forward. Then we start complaining about having our backs and shoulders tight or even worse being in pain blaming long work and training hours for that.
But the answer a lot of times is not in long training hours but rather in our overall poor posture and trunk stability. Our essential back muscles that are supposed to hold our backs straight get stretched and the chest muscles get tight so it is harder and harder to reverse our daily life posture impact.
We can spend long hours training for an event but often we overlook simple 10-15 minute self-care routines that can really benefit our training and overall wellbeing. The taller we stand, the more open our chest is, the more oxygen we can take in and you know what that means for an endurance athlete – better carbohydrate and fat oxidation and energy production. Who does not want that?
Once you build your routine and start doing it consistently, it really does not take much time to start feeling better and be less achy after a long day at work or on those long bike rides.
Here are a few of my favorites that you can do at home, no equipment required. You don’t even have to do all of them pick 3-4 and rotate through them throughout the week. 5-10 minutes is all you need. Seriously.
1. Windmill
2. Floor Angels
3. Superman
4. Hip Lifts to Table Top
5. Swan
6. Mermaid
7. Saw
8. Cat and Cow
9. Lunge with Spinal Rotation
10. Child’s Pose
Below you will find YouTube videos playlist if you are not familiar with these exercises.
Give it a try and let me know what you think. Stick with it for at least 2-3 weeks to make it a habit. We are creatures of habits and if you make this one a habit and a part of your day, you will feel so much better and your back and shoulders will thank you.
As always, comments and feedback are welcome and if you would like an article on a specific topic, send me a message.
