Life Begins At.....
Issue link: http://ebook.aprs.com.au/i/25630
SENIORS FITNESS The Shower Squat Please note that the following exercises are shown in video form, on Kit Laughlin's YouTube Channel – www.KitLaughlin.com – there you will find clips of all the exercises he talks about, as well as a number of DVDs and CDs that you may find helpful in staying supple. Now, back to the bathroom, or wherever you will practise. All exercises, in the bathroom or otherwise, are to be done in bare feet, and the numbers and frequency will be discussed at the end of the article. Stand squarely to the support and hold with both hands, with your feet flat on the floor and about hip width or a bit wider – whatever feels strongest and most comfortable to you. Make sure you are holding on securely! inexpensive installations will allow simple and effective exercises to be done too, and this is where we will begin. Note that any stable support (the edge of a solid table, any rail that you can hang on to safely, or a column – even the edge of a door frame) will do for this purpose. It is conventional to begin any article on exercise with a caution like “check with your physician or health professional before beginning any exercise routine” – and you may care to do that, but if you have no obvious health problems, and you are presently walking around unaided, these simple exercises may be embarked upon immediately. They are not taxing aerobically, and affect coordination and neural patterning more than other aspects of the mind/ body complex. Take in a breath, lift the chest slightly (this straightens the upper back), and let the knees bend under control. Lower yourself until you feel the heels about to lift. Pause momentarily and stand up, breathing out. Do the standing up part as smoothly as you can and try to feel the muscles being used. If it’s only the front of the legs (quadriceps, or ‘quads’) you can emphasise the bottom muscles (gluteus maxims, or ‘glutes’) by thinking about pressing the floor away from you, using the heels. Try this now and see if you can feel the difference in which muscles are working the hardest. Repeat the sequence, this time trying to go deeper in the movement; in time, this will improve the flexibility of your ankles and you will be able to descend noticeably lower. And as you go lower, you will feel that it takes more effort to stand up – this is one of the reasons adults rarely squat – yet if you watch babies and young children, squatting deeply until the bottom is on the heels is their preferred way of bending down. Eventually, you will be able to squat all the way down, and when you can, pause in the position (holding the support all the while) and feel how this position stretches the lower back in a pleasing way. If you are practising in the bathroom, and your shower allows it, increase the heat in the water and let it play over the lower back while you stretch in the squat position; this feels marvellous to do first thing in the morning, I find. Once you are in the squat position, at a later session, you can try pulling your trunk gently forwards with respect to the feet: this will both increase the lower back stretch and also the stretch in one of the calf muscles (soleus); loosening these muscles (along with ligaments, tendons and fascia) will improve your ankle flexibility markedly, and moving around and walking generally will feel more fluid and relaxed. The purpose of this first exercise is to loosen the ankles and to gently stretch the lower back; as well, there is a gentle strengthening effect in the legs, too. These changes will assist progress in the next exercise, our first explicit balance work. shower squat THE RETIREE AUTUMN 63