Do you have a morning stretching routine? You should.
Most folks in this day and age wake up just in time to rush off to work, normally grabbing some type of incredibly unhealthy “food” to start their day off. This is not the way to begin a productive day.
Not only is it physically beneficial to stretch the body out (especially if you sit at a desk all day), the peace and calmness it brings to the mind will last throughout the day making you more productive, friendly, and relaxed. All it takes is about 15 minutes a day to clear your mind and prepare your body for the day ahead.
The program below will get you started but feel free to add or subtract movements as needed for your own personal needs. This program should be performed every morning upon waking preferably before the first meal of the day. Each stretch/movement should be performed at least once and can be repeated as needed depending on your flexibility.
Morning Stretching Medley
- Hamstring Stretch – Put your foot on something about waist level or a little higher depending on flexibility. Reach out and try to touch your toe with the opposite hand. Hold for 15-30 seconds on both legs.
- Quad Stretch – Stand on one foot and bend the other like you are trying to touch your heel to your butt. Grab the foot and pull towards your butt until you feel a stretch through the quad. Begin to activate the glutes by contracting the glute on the side of the leg being stretched putting the hips into extension. This should cause a further stretch in the quad to be felt if done correctly.
- Spine Mobility
- Cat Pose-Cow Pose – Begin on hands and knees with a neutral spine. Inhale and move into cow pose by pushing the hips upward, the chest forward and up, the stomach down, and contracting the lower back muscles to cause an arch. Lift your head, relax your shoulders and pull them away from your ears, and look straight ahead. As you exhale, begin coming into cat pose by rounding the spine upwards, pushing the hips forward, and drawing hips in and down. Repeat this as needed, I usually do ~10.
- Reach Through – Stay in the same position and lift one hand off the ground. Reach “through” to the side opposite the working arm twisting at the hips. Rotate the torso around the opposite way and reach your hand towards the ceiling. That is one rep; perform ~10 per side.
- Bird Dogs – Stay on all fours and, at the same time, reach forward with the left arm and backwards with the right leg. When doing this, focus on extending the spine, activating the glute on the elevated leg, and engage the entire posterior chain. Perform ~10 on each side.
- Squats/Ape Walk – Stand up and get into a squat stance. With soft knees hips pushed back (how a squat should be started) go all the way down to a few inches below parallel. It is best to do this parallel to a mirror so you can check your depth and insure there is no rounding of the back or “butt-wink”. In the bottom position, push out on the insides of the knees with your elbows, stretching the adductors. Hold this for about 10 seconds. Reach your hands above your head and perform the concentric portion of the squat (stand up). Ensure you push up with your hips first and your knees stay in place until the final ~1/3 – ¼ of the movement just as in a squat with a barbell. These body weight squats will do wonders for your form when resistance is applied. Repeat this ~5 times with some ape walks thrown in. To perform an ape walk, simply put some of your weight on your hands at the bottom of the movement and walk around like an ape. This has performed miracles on my hip mobility over the years; I still do them every morning.
- Upward Facing Dog into Child Pose – Lay down on your stomach with the legs outstretched and palms on the floor. While activating the glutes and pushing the hips into the floor, pushup with your hands pointing your chest toward the ceiling and creating an arch in the back. Ensure you are pushing through your glutes in this position and hold for 30 seconds. From here, go into child pose by getting into a kneeling position with the glutes touching the heels while bending at the waist to let the abdomen and chest rest on the quads. Rest your head on the ground in front of you and stretch the arms out overhead to relieve tension in the lats and hold for 30 seconds. Repeat this superset as needed.
When performing these stretches, focus on breathing calmy and steadily through the nose. Try not to think about what you have to do that day, the upcoming commute to work, or any other stressful scenario your mind can concoct; this is your time to calm the mind and relieve stress.
If you breathe calmly and focus your mind on the breath flowing in through the nose, down through the diaphragm, and into the abdomen, you will be amazed at how many “end-of-world” problems seem to not matter as much by the time you finish.
If you have trouble focusing on the breath, focus on feeling each muscle group stretch. Imagine the individual fibers being stretched and loosened as you go slowly through the movements.
Give this a try for a few days and you’ll wonder how you ever lived any other way.