Sittin F.I.T.ly

July 22, 2012

Since I made you read such a long report last week I thought I would keep it short and to the point this week. If you still have not gotten up from your chair … shame on you! Here are a few suggestions from F.I.T. for those times you are stuck at work, mindlessly eating, and mistakenly think you have a valid excuse (you don’t) not to exercise.  Get moving and get FIT!

CHAIR F.I.T. 

Feet, Leg and Back Extension

Work the feet, legs and do a forward bend to keep the blood circulating through these areas to prevent feet from falling asleep and reducing neck and low back stiffness. Sitting in your chair so your back is fully contacting the chair back, lift your right foot, point and flex it and rotate it in each direction several times. Repeat with the left foot.
Move on to do leg extensions to bring blood to the large muscles of the thighs, quads in the front and hamstrings at the back. Grasp the sides of your chair as you extend the right leg to almost straight, keeping the knee slightly bent, pausing as you contract the quad and hamstring before bending the knee. Perform this exercise five to seven times and repeat to the left.
Last, lift the right foot and bend the knee and lower your head so your nose is close to the knee. Repeat to the left. This is a forward bend for spinal traction at the neck and low back.

Simple Seated Twist

Keeping the upper back mobile can be done with a simple seated twist. Sit in your chair so that both legs are draped over the right side of the chair seat and your hands are resting on top of the chair. Elongate through the head and turn your head to the left for several breaths. Move your legs to drape over the left side and turn to the right. This helps to keep the upper mid-thoracic mobile. 

Chair Push-up

Starting with posture; shoulders down and shoulder blades pulled together, place hands on arm rests of chair, tighten tummy (suck it in) and push your hands into the armrests to slightly lift your torso.  Not your entire body, just your upper body.  Your feet can help as much or little as possible.  Repeat until tired.

Oh and one final  idea, push yourself away from the snack bar!

In good health,

Bob

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.

– Albert Einstein