Let’s Get Moving!
Guest post from Lara our kick ass office manager and fitness coach on 1% Fitness by Mike Sheridan.
In keeping with great KDR tradition, we are constantly educating ourselves so we can offer our members Knowledge Driven Results. In October, I read 1% Fitness by Mike Sheridan and loved it! I loved it so much I wanted to share some take home points that YOU should absolutely put into your life.
What really interested me as I was reading this book, was not necessarily the workouts, but the daily actions, which all of us could incorporate into our existing daily routines without rearranging our entire lives.
Most of our members, spend much of their daily lives in a seated position. From car to desk to car to chair/couch to car to bleachers to car to chair. They come into the gym tight, achy, creaky & cracking, and often giggle it off as “one of those things” or “getting older.” But by adding in the following movements you will help to work on those foundations to be less creaky, less achy, more aware of your own body and how it moves.
Get Up & Get Moving (Walk More)
According to 1% Fitness, walking has been shown to “reduce inflammation, support brain health/ memory, mood & cognitive function, as well as lower the risk of dementia and depression; support heart health, glucose management and immunity.” It has been proven that it is not the duration, but the frequency which provide added benefit. In the book he even gives a number of studies to support this.
What is your ACTION?
Take breaks from the desk & walk to the bathroom, walk up the stairs, walk around the building (inside or out), park farther away, take longer to walk while shopping, take the dog for a quick 10 minute walk… it doesn’t have to be a hike up a mountain for movement to add up and make a significant difference on your mood and to your life. Just get moving!
Hold the Deep Squat Daily
In 1% fitness, Mike Sheridan poses this question: “why does a baby sit comfortably in this (deep squat position) for hours, while the majority of adults fall on their backs, get stuck in the bottom position or cannot get into it to begin with” ? The answer- because although we may do it a few times per week in the RAMP at KDR Fitness, we do not practice it often enough, so we are losing our ability. Baies squat multiple times a day and so should you!
Why should you care? Because the deep squat is one of the best ways to maintain knee & hip mobility as well as help to improve everyday movements.
What is your ACTION?
Practice the Deep Squat every day. If you are in your office/house, start by lowering your butt all the way to the floor. If you need assistance to hold that position at depth, then use the leg of your desk, the door frame of your office door or coffee table/kitchen table leg at your house.
If you cannot bring your butt below your hips, then elevate your heels, by standing with your heels on a ream of paper or a 2 x 4. Attempt to hold that position once per day, for 30 seconds and build onto your time every single day. Try holding this position while you are watching TV, reading, or even eating, no matter when, just make time once, every day and do it! Mike Sheridan suggests “after you get to a solid 2-3 minute hold without support (no table leg) then you can start with multiple sets or more than one session per day.”
Build a Solid Foundation—Focus on Your Feet!!!
Mike Sheridan points out that “Shoes are coffins for our feet,” they change the form & function of our feet over time by providing too much support &/or permitting unnatural movement—shoes can create weak arches as well as prevent the foot from (natural movement patterns) “flexing and flattening that maintains muscle and mobility.” I have heard Ben say this a number of times, but after sitting down and reading this book the point really hit home.
Why does this matter? Just like the foundation of your home, your feet support the weight of your body and all your movements… so embrace your feet 🙂
What are your ACTIONS?
Embrace being barefoot—when you are walking … kick off those shoes, feel the grass on your feet, spread your toes on the ground—wiggle your toes. Don’t immediately try to go hiking for 30 minutes barefoot in the woods and then give up on being barefoot. Start slow and build up, get use to the feeling & paying attention to each step. Or, join a gym like OURS that encourages you to work out barefoot.
Improve your foot mobility by pointing & flexing your feet by spreading your toes & flexing your ankles with ankle mobility movements.
Increase your Foot Strength by trying these three exercises (find more in 1% Fitness):
- Invisible high-heels—start in barefeet, raise up on to your tippy toes and walk
- Bounce Walks… bounce walk with your heel elevated slightly as you bounce on the balls of your feet
- Side Rolls- rolls from the outside edge of your foot to the ball of foot with full toe point
These exercises will help strengthen your feet each day you do them, which will improve your overall foundation and may even improve your other ailments. So… let’s get Moving!
Are you ready to get moving? Let’s move into the New Year with no holiday weight gain and an extra $300 in your pocket. Click on the link for more information.
