Exercises for People who Travel
Fitness for Travelers
Excited about going on vacation? While traveling is fun, simply getting to a vacation destination-whether by plane, train, bus or car-often involves extended periods of immobility. Hours of inactivity associated with air travel-first in the airport waiting lounge and then on the plane may leave you achy and sore before your vacation has even begun!
To help you prevent some of the problems associated with inactivity while traveling, L. Leiber, has been kind enough to offer some tips.
Seated Exercises
What can you do when you find yourself in the captivity of an airport lounge? Try some of these exercises for improved posture.
Put your feet on the floor, just a couple inches away from each other.
Sit up straight.
Tip your hips so that your pelvis is vertical.
Push your shoulders down, away from your ears.
Breathe in, exhale, and while exhaling pull your abs in. Return to this position after every move.
Figure four stretching. Do this by placing your ankle on your opposite knee. Lean forward until you feel a deep stretch on the outsie of the hips. Repeat on the other side.
Seated Twist (Not for People With Disk Problems). Keeping knees and hips facing front, reach around to one side with both hands and hold onto back of chair. Breathe in. On exhalation, rotate rib cage and look over back of chair while keeping as much length in spine as possible. Hold stretch for 10-15 seconds. Return to start position and repeat, twisting to other side.
Shoulder Shrugs & Rolls. Inhale and lift shoulders up to your ears. Exhale as you push your shoulders back and down, open your chest & let your shoulder blades move together. Continue to push your shoulders down and back. Repeat this exercise three to five times.
Neck stretch. Gently press your right ear toward your right shoulder while maintaining good posture. Keep your chin tucked in slightly while you perform this stretch. Feel the stretch on the left side of your neck. Release gently.
Rock the Baby. With right hand on left elbow and left hand on right elbow, hold folded arms out in front of chest. Draw right elbow as far as you can to the right to stretch outside of left shoulder. Draw left elbow as far as you can to the left to stretch outside of right shoulder. Repeat 2-3 times on each side.
While Standing: Waiting to clear airport security is just the first of many times travelers stand in line in the course of a trip. Make good use of any waiting time with these standing exercises.
Footwork. Stand with feet parallel, 2-3 inches apart, balancing weight equally on both feet. Come up onto balls of feet, and slowly lower heels to floor, keeping weight centered. Repeat 8-1 0 times.
Prancing. Use same position as described above. Come to balls of feet. Lower a single heel toward the ground and be sure to keep the other heel elevated. Repeat this exercise twelve to fifteen times.
Knee Raise. Keeping hips level, raise one knee until thigh is parallel to floor. Maintain neutral spine, and balance in this position 15-30 seconds. Place foot back on floor and repeat balance on other side. (You can also balance on standing leg, slowly raising and lowering knee, touching toe to floor.)
Spine-Roll. Bring your chin toward your chest and slowly roll come down one section of your back at a time until you’ve rolled forward, back arched. Keep your knees bent slightly throughout the movement and slowly come back to a full standing position. Repeat for 4-5 repetitions.
