4 key moves for every woman
Are you fed up with boring gym workouts?
Has the gym equipment you bought off the telly never been pulled out of the box?
You walk everyday but you know it isn’t quite enough and in fact, your knees are now starting to play up.
I get it – that was me.
In fact, way back in the 80s I was an Aerobics Queen but all I managed to get out of that was knee and back problems. I’ve learned, since I hit my 50s that we women facing midlife need something a little more catered to what our bodies are going through.
There are a few moves I’ve soon discovered that, after working with women’s bodies for a number of years now, I truly believe we all need to master.
No matter your age, we need to incorporate moves that allow our posture to be upright, movement to be easy and fluid and our internal strength and balance to be optimal. Our posture, which incorporates upper as well as lower body strength and flexibility is vitally important as we age. Without these key yoga based stretches, that literally only take a few minutes a day, we’d find our everyday ability to walk, run up or down stairs and simply stand upright to be compromised – severely.
So what are these moves and why do I love them so much?
Child’s Pose
Relaxing but still a decent stretch. Childs pose allows you to stretch thighs, hips, lower back. While calming, it reduces fatigue and stress but it can also be very strong and active. It depends on how much ‘push’ you want to create with the arms forward on the mat. Come down to childs pose after a huge day at the office and see how it relieves pain in back and neck. It incorporates a stretch for the knees as well as that Psoas muscle that we sit on all day.
Child’s Pose
Downward Dog
One of my absolute favourites. There’s strength required as you hold your body up, but still just as relaxing when you’re comfortable with it. I look at it as the harmoniser, recharger, realignment type pose. You’ll certainly feel the strength building in arms, shoulders and wrists, so be careful if there’s any wrist pain because they take pretty much the whole body’s weight. Try downward dog for a short time daily until you feel your wrists and arms coping with holding the weight. Downward dog helps to stretch the belly and builds lung capacity and not to mention balance. It’s another great stress reliever as you hold your head below your shoulders. Great with mild depression. Key to a successful downward dog is to spread your hands and use your fingers as ‘struts’. Keep hands soft, and you run the risk of wrist fractures, so keep those hands and fingers spread.
Downward Dog
Hip Flexor and Hamstring Stretches (these are 2 separate moves but work the same core area)
The purpose of stretching your hip flexors and hamstrings is to help the hip joint move properly in their full range. These moves help you to draw your leg up and down therefore making walking up and down stairs fluid. We need to move from side to side, frontwards and backwards without pain or worry of not feeling we can do these everyday moves with ease. These big central muscles are our stabilisers. When they’re tight, or short, we suffer from poor posture and back problems. So stretching them and strengthening them is crucial to every day movement.
How many of us at some stage of our life have experienced pulled hamstrings? And how many of us have tight hamstrings? Find out just how tight. Have a go right now at sitting on the floor with your legs straight. How far can your arms reach? Hamstring flexibility and strength are important for everyday walking, running, taking that flight of stairs and bending down to pick up something.
Hip Flexor
Plank
Can’t tell you how much your body will change if you learn to enjoy a plank. And plank every day. I love how my body feels now that I’ve mastered the plank and feel I can hold it for at least a minute. It works shoulders, back, core, abs, glutes and ankles. It’s an all over strengthener and shaper. I think to plank is far more effective even than doing crunches. Crunches seem to concentrate only on the abs while a plank works front, back and everywhere else. High plank, knee assisted or even elbow plank is great. No matter your age and right up to your later years, you need to be planking.
Plank
Twists
Twists are amazing for waist definition, elimination, digestion. Imagine wringing out a sponge. As you twist, old blood and fluid are encouraged out of the organs, then as you return to neutral position, new fluid is brought in. Twists work like an internal massage and stretch out the lower back and shoulders. It’s a major stretch for glutes and hips as well.
Twists
All of these moves work toward having a great posture. For women as we age we need to know we have that internal strength. So how do you create this strength at home? Is there an online class you can do? There certainly is now. Simply check out my Yoga Page and you’ll have the opportunity to join me online and follow along with me personally through my specifically designed classes for the 50+. Whether you’ve done yoga before or not, simply start wherever you are.