Monday, January 19, 2009

Sneaking in My Stretching

I have identified that I don't work stretching into my daily activities enough and need to find creative ways of doing this without adding lots of time. What I have decided to do this the following:
  1. Add stretching to my resistance program by incorporating it as "passive recovery" time. I usually do supersets or modified circuits to save time but they also require more recovery time (up to 75 seconds). This would allow me to do one set of stretches in-between. I do enough cycles that I can do all major muscle groups.
  2. While I do my stretches I can focus on my breathing, by inhaling (through my nose) for 5 seconds, hold breath for 5 seconds, and then exhale (through my mouth) for 10 seconds while releasing tension in the area I am stretching. If I take 5-6 breaths this way it will use up about 1 minute, a good time for a full stretch.
  3. On my non-weight training days (I typically do core or ab work on those days), I can keep my stretching to a minimum by focusing on my "trouble" while doing my ab/core work.
  4. After my afternoon walks, do so easy stretching and relaxing breathing; again, probably taking about 20 minutes.
  5. Since I do computer work, I will stop every hour to do a 5 minute stretch.
This strategy will allow me to fit in the stretching I need without too much thought. The biggest challenge is stopping use of the computer to stretch. I decided the easiest thing for me was to set a timer, otherwise I won't remember to check the time. When you actually look at your day with a more discerning eye, you can find time to fit in your new healthy habits.

No comments: