Movements to build a sustainable body for a lifetime of walking, hiking, running, climbing and virtually all other needs your body will require, from simple daily routines including bending over, picking up, turning, lifting, as a workout supplement, and so much more.
Volume III: The Chair Edition
Why I developed a Chair Edition
Exercise should involve all the planes of movement and all the functions of your joints wherever possible. It means using the large and showier muscles like your biceps and pecs as well as the deep, small muscles such as your hip and shoulder rotators. It means using all the space around the body (the kinesphere). Conventional exercise does not offer these factors but you can get them in a chair. For this I have developed 3-D Workout™, Vol. III, The Chair Edition. It’s a whole-body workout including body Integration, resistance work and stretching.
Why the chair?
There are lots of reasons for starting your exercise program in a chair:
- getting to floor and up again is risky, scary or just not appealing
- lack of space to use the floor in an office, apartment or hotel
- you have hip/knee replacement issues, before or after, surgery
- you’re feeling fearful or unsteady on your feet for any reason, e.g., had a fall on ice
- you use a cane, walker or wheelchair to help you get around
- you have chronic pain or chronic joint dysfunction that saps your energy
- your breathing is compromised
- your obesity limits mobility
Where can you practice The Chair Edition?
- in your home (use a sturdy chair without arms)
- in your office (move to a hard chair and feel the wake-up call you get from just a few minutes of practice)
- on your patio or balcony in the fresh air
- traveling by car (use a picnic table)
- in a hotel (the desk chair may work)
- in a departure lounge (a chance to use your whole body after being cramped in a plane; I have laid on the floor in many departure lounges and no one seems to mind)
- at the gym (use the end of a bench)
- resting at an art gallery (seated thigh lifts relieve SI and LBP from standing)
- any time you are waiting and have a chair handy
What else do you need?
All my programs are portable and done without machines of any type. The resistance sequences use only a 1- or 2-lb. dumbbell or other such device. Wear your runners or trainers on your feet.
What can you expect from this practice?
The bottom line: whole body strength plus better walking, standing and sitting. What could be better? The movement warms you up and prepares you for any activity. You can recover the good patterns of mobility you once had. Moving in all the space around the body eases joint stiffness, improves circulation and hydration, mobilizes your joints, helps you recover from the stasis of inactivity. The feeling of using your whole body in space is like no other. It’s a wake-up call for your whole body unlike other exercise practice. Such aliveness improves the quality of your life in every way. It’s about moving well and feeling better for it.
