Category: Exercise

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Exercise

A Half-Step Handstand

If you’ve always wanted to do a handstand but can’t get in the correct position and hold your balance, try practicing half a handstand at the wall. Over time, it will help you develop the necessary strength in your shoulders and core so you can do a full handstand.

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Lean forward and place your hands on the floor, shoulder-width apart, fingers facing forward.
Stand about 3 feet away from a flat wall, then turn to face away from the wall. Lean forward and place your hands on the floor, shoulder-width apart, fingers facing forward. Slowly shift your weight over your hands and walk your right leg up on the wall.

Next, raise your left foot and walk it up the wall until you have both feet flat on the wall at hip level. Adjust the height of your feet and the position of your arms so your body forms a 90-degree angle. (It may take a few tries to get this right.) Once you’re in the right angle, think of pushing the floor away with your hands. This keeps your shoulders moving away from your ears. Pull in and brace with your abdmonial muclses to avoid sagging into your lower back. Hold this position for up to one minute. To come out of the pose, walk your feet down the wall, bend your knees and stand up.


Source : The Losangles Times

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Block-Supported Yoga Pose

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Foam blocks are great tools for practicing yoga poses. Use them to develop more flexibility in your hamstrings while eliminating pressure on your lower back.

Foam blocks are great tools for practicing yoga poses. Use them to develop more flexibility in your hamstrings while eliminating pressure on your lower back. Include this stretch at the end of your workouts when your hamstrings are warmed up.

Place two yoga blocks in front of you and stand upright with your feet in a split stance. Position your right leg forward between the blocks and your left leg approximately 31/2 feet back. For added stability, turn your back foot out slightly. Inhale with your hands on your hips, lift your chest and relax your shoulders down away from your ears.

On an exhale, bend forward at the hips, maintaining a long spine. Rest your hands on top of the yoga blocks. Inhale, lengthen the crown of your head away from your hips. Pull your abdominals in to support your spine. Pause for 10 to 20 seconds, feeling the stretch in the backs of your legs. Return to your upright start position, switch legs and repeat with your left leg forward.

Source : The Losangles Times

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Exercise Healthy Tips

Stretch Away Stress at Your Desk

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Here’s a great way to reduce tension in the upper back, neck and shoulders. Practice this stretch at your desk after long hours of sitting in front of the computer or talking on the telephone.
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Sit upright toward the front edge of a sturdy chair. Place your feet below your knees, hip-width apart. Hook your left elbow over your right elbow and wrap your forearms, pressing the palms of your hands together as much as you can. Inhale and raise your arms as you arch your upper back. Pause for a few breaths.

On an exhale, bring your chin in toward your throat, press your navel to your spine and move your elbows down toward your waist. Pause with your back in this C-curve position. Feel a deep stretch in your entire back and across the back of your shoulders. Inhale, raise your arms to repeat the arch and exhale again to repeat the C-curve. Return to center, then switch your arms and repeat.


Source : The Losangles Times

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A Proper Downward-facing Dog

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STEP-1.

Push back on your feet and straighten your legs as you raise your hips.


STEP-2.

Focus on feeling an evenness over both hands. Then slowly shift your weight onto your left leg. Raise your right leg up as high as you can without twisting your shoulders and hips. Keep the front of your body facing the floor.

If you practice yoga, you’re familiar with downward-facing dog. It’s a traditional pose that requires strength and energy in your arms and shoulders, extension of the spine, and power and stamina in your legs.

From a kneeling position, sit back on your heels. Take your arms to the floor and walk your hands as far forward as possible, keeping them shoulder-width apart. Now come up to all fours, moving your feet hip-width apart. Push back on your feet and straighten your legs as you raise your hips. Lower your head between your upper arms and move your chest toward your thighs, maintaining a straight spine. Lower your heels to the floor as you lift your sitting bones toward the ceiling. Pause for 10 to 20 seconds. Release down to the start position or continue to the more advanced variation.

Focus on feeling an evenness over both hands. Then slowly shift your weight onto your left leg. Raise your right leg up as high as you can without twisting your shoulders and hips. Keep the front of your body facing the floor. Pause for two to three breaths, lower your right leg, shift your weight over it and raise your left leg. Pause for two to three breaths. Lower your leg, bend your knees to all fours and return to the start position.

Source: : Los Angeles Times

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Hip Exercises Reduces Knee Pain

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New research shows that a twice weekly hip strengthening regimen proved effective at reducing or eliminating the kind of knee pain referred to as patellofemoral pain (PFP) in female runners.  Stronger hips may correct running form errors that contribute to PFP.

Click to see video of heap exercises :

The study used a pain scale of 0 to 10, with 3 representing the onset of pain and 7 representing very strong pain. The injured runners began the six-week trial registering pain of 7 when they ran on a treadmill, and finished the study period registering pain levels of 2 or lower.

According to Science Daily:
“PFP, one of the most common running injuries, is caused when the thigh bone rubs against the back of the knee cap. Runners with PFP typically do not feel pain when they begin running, but once the pain begins, it gets increasingly worse … PFP essentially wears away cartilage and can have the same effect as osteoarthritis.”

Vigorous physical activity in young children results in stronger hip bones.

More than 200 six-year olds participated in a study. Researchers measured bone mass and analyzed the structure of the hip and thigh bone. Physical activity was assessed for seven days.

If you find the excerpt from the treatment video helpful you might want to consider the full DVD set that can be very beneficial for a large variety of injuries.

According to Science Daily:

“The results showed that there was a relationship between time spent in vigorous activity and strength of the femoral neck, both in terms of shape and volumetric mineral density. This was independent of other factors such as diet, lifestyle and physical size.”

Sources:
Science Daily June 7, 2010
Science Daily June 6, 2010

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