The thought of indulging in a few hard core exercises upon awaking is enough to discourage me. But to try a simple stretch a few times and perhaps see a difference might be enough to motivate me to continue.
Why stretching in the morning?
With three to four minutes of easy stretching in the morning my energy will come surging in and I will feel as alert and as full of energy as I might normally feel at mid-morning.
How to stretch in the morning
1. Stretch hard 5 times, maintaining “stretch” for 3 seconds and relaxing for 2 seconds
2. With elbows tucked in beside body and legs together, arch back 3 times
3. Tense all leg muscles hard and relax. Do this 12 times
4. Do 2 sit-ups reaching as far as I can to my toes.
5. Raise bent legs over my head and reach as close to my ears with my knees as I can 3 times.
6. With palms pressing each other, hands close to front of chest, push hard to one side and then the other, resisting with the other arm. Do this 10 times.
7. With fingers flexed, grasp hands and pull apart, first to one side and then the other. Do 10 times.
8. Place hands on abdomen and push vigorously while resisting by tensing abdominal muscles. Do this for 3 seconds and then relax for 2 seconds. Repeat 10 times.
The time required for these stretching in the morning exercises, once I get the hang of them, should only be two to three minutes. When I really get the hang of them and can breeze through this series in less time, then I will do it twice.
I believe that, at most, five minutes is sufficient to get me started in the morning.
Still thinking on this one... I'd love to do it but it will definitely take some rearranging of the brain!
ReplyDeleteHow are you doing with it?
Fine! Really! I did a lot of it anyway before I even made it a lifestyle change. It's more a default, I guess. SOme mornings I don't because I have to hit the floor running, but mostly I do. It's just that now I am being more concious of it and putting forth more effort to really do it and do it well.
ReplyDelete