Autofitness: Maximum Fitness with Minimum Effort Part 4
Filed under: Diet, Muscle, Nutrition, Physical, Trainer — arlene @ 7:13 am
The stairway to health
We are now ready to go to breakfast.
It is possible, at this time that we have to go downstairs.
Here we come to one of the most important parts of our daily exercise plan.
We must now begin to put into practice the things which I have mentioned earlier, the things Prof. Fellinger had told me.
We are probably going down now. Here we can use our balance and breathing techniques as well as exercising our legs.
Stand erect, put one foot out with the toe pointing downward and place the toes on the next step, now lower the heel. Do not touch any banister but feel the upper leg muscle working. The slower you go from step to step the more the muscles work.
Now let us imagine that you forgot something! You have to go back up!
This is not only very good training for your legs and back muscles but of great value to your cardiovascular system.
Again, do not touch the banisters and put each advancing foot consciously down with the toe first.
As time goes on you can vary your way of going up stairs. You can go very slowly moving your weight slowly up with each under leg.
You can go quite quickly and keep on your toes the whole time. You can also make a point of going up two at a time.
The whole business of climbing stairs, which we must do anyway, is very rewarding for our overall fitness.
It’s not just what you eat, but also how!
When we eat our breakfast we must sit down without putting our hands on the table but just use our legs to lower ourselves onto the dining chair. We must sit upright at the table, not lounging, which is good for our muscles and our digestion.
I do not want to discuss diet here but it is important that whatever you eat, you eat slowly. The old fashioned way of putting your knife and fork down between each bite is very healthy. I had a grandmother who lived to be a fit ninety-one and she boasted that her back had never touched a chair. In many ways the Victorians had the right ideas of posture!
Having eaten, we get up again without any help from our hands. Let the legs do the work!
Autofitness in auto
Now we get into our car either to go to the office or to take the children to school.
Climbing into the car is another form of exercise. Don’t lower yourself by putting your hands on the door frame. Put one foot into the car and lower yourself without using your hands. This can be a difficult twisting motion and can become a very good flexibility exercise. Be sure that the seat back supports you well and lets you drive in a relaxed position.
When you look behind, for example when reversing, you can twist the body at the hips and make a swivelling exercise.
While you are driving you can squeeze your buttocks together and hold them like that for several seconds, this you can repeat as often as you like.
Deep, slow breathing is important.
A good hand and forearm exercise is to clench the steering wheel tightly for a few seconds and release it. This can also be repeated as often as you like.
When we arrive at our destination, we get out of the car without the help of our hands and stand up using only the legs.
Again, if you have back problems you need to take special care when driving. Four points should be considered.
1) Getting into the car is easier and gentler to your back if you stand outside with your back to the driving seat. Sit down and slowly turn around, lifting your feet one at a time into the driving position.
2) Be sure that the driving seat is not too far back as this can give you a one-sided back position as you press the pedals.
3) Be sure the driving seat supports your back. If the seat does not have adequate provision, take a small towel and place in the small of your back when driving.
4) The traffic authorities recommend that we make short pauses when we drive a long distance – this increases our concentration and helps to avoid accidents. These pauses are doubly important for your back: stop, stand straight and walk around for a few minutes, breathing slowly and deeply.
