Nourish the physical
It's time to make sure the body doesn't stop moving over the southern hemisphere cold spell. We've pulled out some new moves. We've trialed them with living, breathing patients at the clinic and refined them with colleagues and been inspired by some unlikely sources.
All the movements are hopefully simple enough, novel enough and inventive enough to inspire you to move your body just a little bit more in the environment you move through every day. Keep your nerves flossed, your muscles pumped, your tendons lubricated, and every part of you sliding and gliding without mishap. Peel yourself out of that chair and wiggle and jiggle with us.
Look out for Catherine squashing ants. Vicki exuding calm and peace. Mark displaying movements for the less mobile gentleman. Angie embarrassing her children (and potentially herself) with her speedy flossing maneuvre.
REMEMBER THE RULES PEOPLE:
- easy and painless
- lots of repetitions (I can do it I can do it I can do a little bit more) 25-75 repetitions (1-3) sets/day
- joyful, fun, no protocol, no commitment beyond maybe a few days
- if you’ve tried to make it easier and it still feels bad (or pointless) then STOP
You might notice that many of us are wearing the same clothes as this time last year. Rest assured we are a year older, we just haven't been shopping. Mark might have got some new fancy socks. No fast fashion here!
INSTA VIDEO SERIES
We will try and post a video a day over the month of June. Fingers crossed!
Mobilisation Series 2018
No. 1. Prancing - variation on legs up the wall. Great for hips, knees and ankles. Also an excellent neural mobilisation for the legs as well as improving drainage from the lower limbs. If your legs start to get a bit tingly then have a break. Try again another time. That tingling feeling should improve over time.
No. 2. Seated rib twist - Great mobilisations for your upper back, ribs and posterior shoulders. While seated, keep a straight back with arms fully extended in front of you. Then twist left to right as far as you feel comfortable. See if you can increase your range as you go.
No.3 Catching Butterflies - Just imagine catching (and releasing) butterflies fluttering by. Excellent mobilisations for shoulders, upper back and lower back.
No.4. Prayer Pull - in all the good vibes around you into the prayer position. Great for shoulders and wrists. Get all your co workers around to do it too. That would be a sight!
No.5. Foot and ankle mobilisation - This one is better performed on soft floors. Just like Mark in this video you will probably feel pretty tense through the top of your foot and ankle. Take it slowly!
No.6. Seated Cat Camel mobilisation - Nice one for the desk worker to get the upper back and lower back moving. Probably more appropriate when at work than getting on the floor and doing it on all fours!
No.7. Semi squat - So this one is equal part strengthening and equal part mobilisation. Good for hips, knees and the low back. Start with a chair that is pretty tall or the edge of your bed. Imagine you are going to squash some ants with your bum. That’s about how much sitting pressure you will need. Repeat as many times as you feel comfortable. Catherine is quite good at squashing ants with her bum. That’s how she did it when she was a kid.
No. 8. Prancing feet - Nice little mobilisation for the feet and ankles. This has the added advantage of being great for mobilising nerves and pumping fluid from the lower legs. Mark’s hamstring flexibility needs a little work. You might be able to get your bottom closer to the wall. Mark likes looking at his socks. They have bananas on them.
No. 9. Picking Apples - No body really likes fruit picking for hours on end. It’s hard work! But imagining doing it for a few minutes is great for your shoulders, upper ribs and upper back. Petra likes picking apples in particular. She really likes Modi apples. She is smiling imagining herself picking Modi apples.
No. 10. Flossing - A playground and Youtube favourite. Little do people know this started as a hip, pelvis and low back mobilisation. Floss those hips! Angie can Floss. Mark cannot Floss. That is why Angie is demonstrating Flossing and not Mark. We can all thank Angie that she didn’t let Mark do the Flossing video.
No.11. Touching the back of the chair - Sitting at the desk all day does no one’s upper back, neck and shoulders any favours. This one is pretty easy and may even be incorporated into your office chair dance routine to show your work colleagues. You know you want to! Catherine can do the twist. Well, Shake it up Catty now Twist and Shout Cmon cmon cmon Catty now Cmon and work it all out
No.12. Seated hip twist - Keeping with our twist theme. This little mobilisation can help with your hips and low back. Probably go easy if you have some very stiff and sore hips. Start with a higher seat and do less of a pivot in the seat. Ease into it! Petra used to dance. Dancing is good for the soul as well as the hips. Petra does not dance on request. So don’t ask!
No. 13. Drive the bus - Pretty self explanatory this one. Just make out the bus doesn’t have very good power steering and you really have to put your back into it. Good for the upper back and lower back. If you steer a bit bigger you’ll get a bit more movement into the back of the shoulders. Angie drives the bus. You can tell by the grin she is in charge. Get on board the Mobi Bus!
No.14. Bow and Arrow - One of our personal favourites. Terrific for mobilising the upper back and shoulder blade area. Do it nice and slow with some deep breathing. Angie doesn’t own a bow and arrow. She does have nice red boots though.
No.15. Thread the needle (standing) - Excellent for the upper back and the back of the shoulders. Try to thread one arm under the other until you touch the tip of shoulder on the wall. Mark’s needle work is terrible. It is gender stereotypical to say it is a man thing. Try harder Mark!
No. 16. Walk the line - Walking the imaginary line makes you swing your hips (butt) from side to side. Really good mobilisation for the low back and hips. Catwalk Cat demonstrates walking the line. She exhibits a suitable amount of sass. Be sassy. Be like Cat.
No.17. Downhill Skiing - It’s winter and the slopes are calling. Practice some downhill technique which will help get your shoulders, hips, knees moving. Petra and Angie are having a downhill race. Neither of them have been skiing before. This should be fun!
No.18. Tip the waiter - Nice mobilisation to relieve tension from the forearms and elbows. Clearly Mark wasn’t impressed with his waiter service. His tip seems to come with some regret. Smile Mark! It can’t have been that bad?
No. 19. Ballerina - Pretending you are a ballet dancer comes with some cool benefits. This mobilisation helps your low back, side of your hip/thigh, upper back, arm and shoulder. That’s lots of birds with one stone! Angie doesn’t know her Arabesque from her Grand Jété. This does not stop Angie pretending she is a graceful Swan. She is a Southern Hemisphere Swan though - dressed in black.
No.20. Half-pike - Excellent mobilisation for the posterior chain of large muscles through the back, bum and legs. Mark’s half-pike does not resemble anything like you would see in gymnastics. He seems more like the Tin Man from Wizard of Oz. He is all heart though....no problems there!
No.21. Jack Rabbit Slims Twist Competition Inspired by the classic dance scene in Pulp Fiction with Uma Thurman and John Travolta. This little move is great for hips, knees, ankles and low back. Petra has da moves. She is winning that trophy if it’s the last thing she does! Ummmm....don’t’ tell her there isn’t a trophy.