Daily Movement Prompts, Tuesday, June 6, 2017 edition: Creative Core
Are there activities or movements you ideally would *like* to be better at, but you just don’t necessarily like the “standard” movements associated with them? Take Sit Ups, for example. I’m not a fan of the old style from my youth: Wedge my feet under something stationary, lie back on the floor, hands on my neck and elbows out, repeatedly sit up and lie down while someone counts. *BLECH* I was never a fan.
But I *would* like strong core muscles. I would like to improve my strength and be able to reliably call on those abs for various activities. Time for me to get creative.
I have a very stable chair at my desk at work. I can easily lean back and do repetitions with my abs to bring myself back to a seated position—tip back, sit up, tip back, sit up. It’s also easy to do throughout the day when I’ve been working too long seated in one position.
I also have dance drills that can work my core. In ATS, we describe these as either the Body Wave or the Arabic in which I lift the ribcage then reset at our lifted-neutral posture, pull in the top abs, then pull in the bottom abs, repeat. The sequence runs an S shape from top to bottom, almost like if you pull your belly in to avoid being tickled. (You can also repeat the S shape in reverse, pulling in from bottom to top.) Even if you feel awkward with the S-shape of top abs and bottom abs, you can pull your abdominal muscles s in repeatedly while standing or sitting… I catch myself doing this while stuck in traffic.
And somedays I’ll collapse on my bed at home, legs hanging over the edge. Then I will do sit up repetitions from bed. I didn’t have to clean off the floor and I still got an ab workout.
How have you been creative about muscle workouts in your own activities? How will you move today?