15-Minute Road Trip Routine
AAA Travel forecasts 48.7 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more from home for the Thanksgiving holiday this week. I forecast that 90% of those people will arrive with some aches and pains from all that time in the car.
Don’t be one of the 90%! Get out of the car for a 15-minute Healthy Moving break once every two hours. The holidays are so much better when you feel good!
Begin by cycling through the following five exercises, hold each for one to two minutes:
1. Calf Stretch: Improve circulation and release tension in the lower body with this simple but powerful stretch.
Put the ball of one foot on an elevated surface, while the heel is on the ground. Make sure the foot is pointed straight ahead. Work to bring that leg vertical, with your weight in the heel. Slowly experiment with walking the opposite foot forward, while maintaining a neutral pelvis and ribs. And put a smile on your face – smiling is good for you, too!
2. Hamstring Stretch: Tension at the back of the legs can lead to foot, knee, hip and back pain. Ease that tension with a hamstring stretch.
Stand with your feet pointed straight ahead and pelvis-width apart. Bring the pelvis back over the heels, so the legs are vertical. Slowly tip the pelvis forward and allow it to move back behind the line of the ankles. Stop lowering the torso when your tailbone stops moving upward. Hands can rest on the thighs, a bench, a railing or a small child’s head (probably safest with one of your own children). Come up after a few breaths, without allowing the pelvis to come forward.
3. Quad Stretch: Sitting in the car (or in an airplane), keeps your hips in flexion. Release the tension that can build from that with some hip extension.
Hold on to a railing or the back of a bench. Grab the lower shin of the lifted leg, or use a belt or scarf to reach it. The standing leg should be vertical, and the pelvis and ribs in neutral. Keep the knees side by side. Eventually hinge at the hips to fold forward, but the thigh should match the pitch of the torso.
4. Psoas Lunge: Road trips tend to make the psoas grumpy (a.k.a., unyielding). A psoas that won’t release is bad news for your back. Give it some love with this lunge.
Step one foot forward and bend that knee, keeping the shin vertical. Maintain a neutral pelvis (ASIS and pubic bone in a vertical plane) as you lower. If you allow your pelvis to tip forward to sink deeper, you bypass that psoas tension. (That’s cheating. Don’t cheat.) Keep the ribs in neutral, and don’t arch the back.
5. Monster Walk: This one is great for building lateral hip strength, and it’s FUN!
With the feet pointed straight ahead, step one foot out to the side, then step the other foot in. Weight should be in the heels, with no knee bending during this motion. Keep the torso vertical, without leaning to the side. Take ten steps in one direction before switching to the other direction. (Optional: Make monster sounds as you go.)
After you’ve cycled through these exercises, use the rest of your 15 minutes to walk around in the grass. (But keep an eye out for presents left by sweet dogs with owners who don’t clean up after them.)
Bonus! I recently did a Periscope broadcast where I talked about Healthy Moving you can do IN the car. Here is the replay for your viewing and moving pleasure. 🙂
Wishing you safe travels and good health for Thanksgiving!
P. S. If your loved ones are headed to you this year, why not use the links below to share this with them!
