Hey guys,
We’re all pretty busy these days, so any time spent on fitness has to cover several bases. Otherwise, if we did everything as discreet aspects of training it would take forever and a day. Plus, with most of us running on empty and/or stressed, adding one more thing absolutely must put back in more than it costs.
This warm up falls into that category of a great, multitasking series of movements. Not only does it get you ready to move, it reverses the effects of the sitting position, and the emphasis on opening the front of the body and the hips is a great confidence booster that improves your mood, decreases stress, and gives you more mojo.
For more on the effects of good, open posture, click here.
I’ve been doing this series as our primary warm up for class, as well as a couple of times a day on my own and it’s been time well spent.
Feel free to add reps or to hold the stretches longer if it feels good to do so. Just be careful to ease into extension work and not overdo it. If you’re doing this before bed then you might want to take the jumps out so that you’re not too geared up before trying to go to sleep.
If you need a substitute for the Scorpion Stretch:
Here’s the series:
Long Back Stretch x 3 – 5 reps
Inverted Hamstring x 5 – 10 per leg
Shake It Out – loosen up for a minute or so, mix it up
Sumo Squat to Stand x 5 – 10
Rollover to V-Sit x 5 – 10
Scorpion x 5 – 10 per side – avoid twisting the lower back
Hops – mix up the patterns, thirty seconds to a minute
And you should be ready to go!
Keep pursuing strength and keep moving forward,
Charlie
