…While Getting Rid Of Daily Aches And Pains
Do you think you’re doomed to a life of aches and pains that make you walk weird and look older than you are?
Fear not.
The good news is it’s never too late to improve your flexibility and strength to look younger while getting fit and flexible.
Scientists have discovered the way and I’ll tell you in a minute, but first a test to see where you are at.
The 9 most essential movements you must be able to do or you will experience pain like I did for years.
And at the end of the list I will give you one simple method you can use to improve on them all.
1. Full Squat: Can you squat with flat feet? How about on your toes and go all the way down until your hamstrings rest on your calves? Ankle and knee mobility is key for getting down stairs and getting under things. And if your hips and back are sore, then you’ll know how hard that makes squatting down.
2. Trunk Lift: Can you lift your upper body off the ground while lying face down, using only your back muscles? Most people in North America can’t and will get a sharp pain. That or they are too weak from sitting hunched all day.
3. Side Bend: Can you comfortably bend to the side and touch your knee? Even people that workout in the gym seldom do side to side movements. It’s mostly up and down, front and back. But in real life, we need to be able to reach out to the sides without blowing our backs out.
4. Back Bend or Bridge: The is the king of movements to ensure almost everything in the body is working right. But you can’t just start with it because there are so many joints involved that if one of them is messed up, you won’t be able to do the move.
And this is why as you get closer and closer to the bridge, you’ll find your aches and pains getting further and further away.
5. Standing Quadriceps Stretch: Can you pull your foot to your butt while balancing on one leg?
When I first started I had low back pain AND knee pain so even getting into a lunge was brutal. I remember being on the job site and being one of the only guys that couldn’t grab his foot.
When those hip flexors get tight they pull on your lower back. You start leaning forward and this loads your hamstrings up so your calves and hamstrings start to lock up.
Getting good at this stretch alone makes your body look and feel so much younger. And the quad test is a big indicator if you’ll be able to bridge or not.
See how this is all tied together?
6. Cross-Legged Sit: Can you sit cross-legged without discomfort? Hip and lower back flexibility are key. And if you can’t do it, guess what’s going to cause you pain?
Hips and lower back pain to start.
Do you remember sitting on the gym floor in elementary school? Yes it’s been a while. But this is something you should be able to do until the day you cross the rainbow bridge.
You don’t use it and you lose it… but not for good. We can get it back.
7. Seated Toe Touch: Can you touch your toes while seated with straight legs? Same for the forward bend when standing? Can you bend forward and place your hands flat on the ground?
This should be pretty easy stuff for a healthy person. But most people in the West can’t pull on their own socks and shoes without sitting down.
8. Overhead Arm Reach With Back Against Wall: Can you reach both arms straight up without arching your back?
Shoulder and upper back flexibility are key to pain free posture or you hunch all the time. You can also check if your shoulders are fully functional by seeing if you can clasp your hands behind your back, one from above and one from below.
This one is a killer for weight lifters. I know. I’ve been deadlifting, squatting, benching and military pressing for over 25 years.
There’s good news and bad news if you have a history of lifting like me.
The bad news: You’re wondering why you have so much pain even though you’re strong and in shape.
The good news: We are the group that responds the quickest to dedicated stretching. And we get even stronger, minus the pain because of it.
9. Kneeling: Can you comfortably sit back on your heels with your hands resting on your thighs like a Samurai warrior?
It’s a measure of knee, ankle and hip flexibility. This is an everyday resting position for elderly people in countries all over the world. Except North America.
Now here is the not-so-secret method that can help you improve your flexibility, mobility and strength.
Ready?
Here it is: Strength training alone, without any stretching, using resistance permitting 6–10 repetitions without straining, at a full range of motion, can increase flexibility of the elderly (Barbosa et al. 2002).
And…
To develop passive mobility up to 90% of what’s possible for ankle and knee joints it usually takes up to 30 days. For joints of the spine, up to 60 days; and for hip joints, from 60 to 120 days (Starzynski and Sozanski 1999 in the book Stretching Scientifically.)
And it only takes two 30-second stretches a day, five days a week to gain passive flexibility in a movement. That’s 10 total minutes per week.
Now you and I may not be elderly but if this stuff works on people 65 years old and older, then it sure as hell works for anyone under 65.
What to do with this information? It means that if you are not working out on a basic program involving your full body then you should start. You’ll see big returns from that one habit.
Additionally, start doing those mini 30 second stretches.
So Move Your Body Through Full Ranges Of Motion
Bodyweight training is enough for most people to get out of pain and build more than adequate strength. Things like bodyweight squats, pushups, good mornings, pushups and chin ups.
But Hold On…
Hardly anyone that’s injured or inactive for a number of years can do those movements right away right? I mean that’s why you’re here in the first place.
But the good news is there are easier and easier versions of every one of those moves. I know because I had to research them when I tore my bicep off at the elbow and blew my back out doing construction work.
I could barely move, let alone do a chin up or one leg squat pistol squat. (I show you all these easier versions for free in the fitness newsletter with video examples just below.)
Now if you’ve had an injury or a muscle group that feels locked up and tight, then higher rep blood flow on specific exercises is probably more what you need.
So if you’re feeling stiff and sore then here is your wake-up call. Every healthy person should meet the flexibility standards above or you’re guaranteed aches and pains if not now, then eventually.
Every little bit better you get at doing those movements I listed above will translate into a stronger, easier more pain-free day.
Less Pain = More Energy, Strength, Flexibility and Happiness.
And that’s worth more gold than you’ll find in Fort Knox.
Flexibility declines with age only if you don’t use it. But the good news is that if you’ve lost your flexibility and are in pain, it’s never too late to start to turn back the clock. You can get rid of those aches and pains.
Flexibility is about more than just feeling limber. It’s about functional, strong, pain-free movement that lets you get the most out of life.
Again, the good news is that every one of those 9 movements above can be restored with less than a 40 minute workout, done only 3 times a week using only your bodyweight at home.
Or if you prefer…8 minute workouts every day.
If you do it correctly.
Enough talk…
Click here for the stretching program that fixed my aches and pains.