ARE THERE SOME exercises that you know you should do but you just hate doing them? Did you ask yourself why you hate them?

When I was teaching exercise at the Bonnie Prudden School I required my students to set up an exercise program for themselves based on their strengths and weaknesses. After a couple of weeks I asked them to check off which ones they liked doing and which ones they hated doing.

Bonnie Prudden doing sit up exerciseSurprise, surprise. The ones they liked doing felt good. The ones they hated were uncomfortable, or hurt when performing them. Next question: why did those exercises hurt? Answer: the muscles were tight and needed to be loosened up. Solution: take out the trigger points causing the tightness and THEN perform the exercises. Smile.

Are there some exercises that you know you should do but you are just too weak to do them? How about bent knee sit-ups, chin-ups, push-ups, and squats?

Keep in mind that a muscle that is tight or in spasm is shortened, therefore weakened as it doesn’t have full range of motion. It is kind of like the difference between a short and a long swing in tennis. The long swing has more power.

Once you have treated the muscle group using Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy and it is no longer in spasm but nice and relaxed, you can start building strength. If you can’t do the sit-up, chin-up, push-up or squat, start in reverse. Building muscle strength in reverse, means you are strengthening while lengthening the muscle group and the results are four times as fast.

SIT-UP
Start in a sitting position, knees bent, feet held down, and arms out in front. Roll slowly down. Get up any way you can. Do 4 several times a day. When that gets easy then swing your arms forward coming to a sitting position. Gradually move to arms crossed and then hands in back of your head until you can do a proper sit-up with bent knees, feet held down and hands behind you head.

Chin up exercisePractice a little every day. Your abdominal muscles support your back so being able to do a sit-up guards against back pain.

CHIN-UP
If you can’t do a chin-up start at the top of the bar and let yourself down as slowly as you can. As with the sit-up practice daily and soon you will be able to do one chin-up. Remember you are strengthening while lengthening. You are working against the resistance of gravity.

This way develops long, strong muscles.

PUSH-UP
A real push-up should begin flat on the floor. If you can’t do a push-up then start at the top, hands under your shoulders and let down very slowly. At the end of each push-up or let down lie flat and put your hands behind your back before starting your next let-down or eventual push-up. Get up any way you can and as with the sit-ups and chin-ups you are using gravity to provide resistance against muscles as they lengthen.

Always do slow let-downs and roll-downs. That’s where the best and most productive work is done.

Bonnie Prudden squat exerciseSQUAT
The best way to begin squats is to open a door halfway and hold on to the handles. Start with half knee bends. Practice daily and drop down a bit further each week until you are able to go all the way down into a deep knee bend.

ONWARD TO FEELING BETTER:
1 SIT-UP, CHIN-UP, PUSH-UP, and SQUAT at a time.

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If you have questions or need help, email me at enid@bonnieprudden.com.

For more information about Bonnie Prudden®, Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy®, workshops, books, self-help tools, DVDs, educational videos, and blogs, visit www.bonnieprudden.com. Or call 520-299-8064 if you have questions or need help. Enid Whittaker, Managing Director, Bonnie Prudden Myotherapy®

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