Happy because they are fit? Or fit because they are happy?
June 30, 2017
Golden corn fritters
July 7, 2017
Sometimes you… Just. Can’t. Be. Bothered.
Every now and then along comes one of those days, where everything just feels hard, maybe you are a bit (or a lot) sore, tired, or just can’t dredge up enough motivation to feed your cat let alone go run 5 km’s.
When you feel like this, there are a few things you can do to help, that are simple, require little to no motivation, and some of which you can actually do right where you are. Your couch haven.
1: Ease the pain
Gentle stretching can help alleviate DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) from a past exercise session, as well as help with joint pain. If your hurting right now, one of the last things you are going to want to do is to move, however movement is exactly what you need to do.
Gentle stretching helps lengthen your muscles and can ease pain and tension, as well as improve your range of motion so that you aren’t feeling so stiff and can move around more easily.
2: Keep it gentle
The thought of getting up and going to some high energy pumped up group boot camp session might have you crawling into a ball in terror right now, but there are some much gentler forms of exercise that you could consider.
Nice calm movement that is as much about the mind as it is the body, is great for those days where you just couldn’t be bothered. Doing focused movement like tia chi, yoga, pilates, or even going for a walk can really help switch your mind back on without all the hard sweaty effort.
3: As promised, do these from the couch…
Sometimes just the act of getting up onto our feet can be enough to put us off. Instead why not work through 30 seconds of repetitions of gentle torso twists, straight leg raises, knee lifts, bicycle legs, crunches, slow low arm circles, biceps curls using a nearby drink bottle, and triceps dips.
4: Just add water
If you are concerned about pain when you are exercising, start thinking outside the box- and into the pool! Swimming laps of the pool is a great relaxing solo workout. Or you can even turn it into a social occasion and get your friends to join in with water aerobics or deep water running!
Not only does the water take the pressure off all your joints, battling gravity, but it allows for slow gentle movements that are actually surprisingly effective as you push against the resistance of the water.
