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Forget the gym — this 10-minute mobility routine boosts your flexibility and improves your posture without equipment

Forget the gym — this 10-minute mobility routine boosts your flexibility and improves your posture without equipment

Yahoo2 days ago
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Everyone can benefit from doing more mobility work, and it doesn't have to take a lot of time to achieve the results you want.
This 10-minute mobility routine from fitness trainer Fraser Wilson doesn't require any equipment, so it's easy to fit into your routine, and if you do it two or three times a week, it will quickly help to improve your posture and flexibility.
If you want to roll out one of the best yoga mats to make floor exercises more comfortable, then go ahead, but otherwise, you don't need anything for this stretching session aside from a bit of space.
Watch Fraser Wilson's 10-minute mobility routine
There are 14 stretches in the routine and Wilson performs the whole thing in the video, so you can follow along to make sure you're getting into the right position and holding each pose for the correct length of time.
The routine stretches the whole body and while that makes it a very time-efficient session to add to your weekly schedule, if you do have areas of the body that need more attention, then it might be worth also doing some more specific stretches for them — if it's your hips in particular that are tight, try these five moves to help unlock them.
This mobility routine will benefit everyone, and is especially good for those doing regular workouts at the gym and taxing their muscles.
Doing it after a training session will speed up your recovery from the workout and hopefully reduce the risk of experiencing any delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS).
It's also a great way to relax the body after a tough workout, with the slow stretches helping to ease you off after your training, while also benefiting the muscles.
For improving your mobility, it'll take some time for that benefit to appear — years of tightness don't disappear overnight after just one session.
However, if you stick to doing this routine (or ones like it) several times a week, you will begin to notice improvements in your mobility. Consistency really is key.
Stay consistent, and the benefits will shine through during your training, where you'll have more range and flexibility during strength workouts, and in general life, where you'll have more functional fitness thanks to increased mobility.
If you're experienced with yoga, you'll be familiar with some of the moves in Wilson's video, and if you'd prefer to do a full yoga routine, try this 15-minute mobility session from a personal trainer to bulletproof your body.
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I did the 90/90 hip stretch for a week — and my mobility improved in a way I didn't expect
I did the 90/90 hip stretch for a week — and my mobility improved in a way I didn't expect

Yahoo

time3 hours ago

  • Yahoo

I did the 90/90 hip stretch for a week — and my mobility improved in a way I didn't expect

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. My challenges for Tom's Guide usually involve lifting weights, or using my body weight, to build strength and remind me I'm not in the enviable shape I think I am. The challenges are never less than interesting, they are often surprising, and some have impressed me to the point I have continued to use them in my exercise regime (you know when a move is right for you). So when my editor suggested the 90/90 stetch, I thought, 'This is different.' Then I thought, 'I wonder what it is.' This is not because I'm an ignoramus, but because, like most people, I don't stretch as much as I should. As someone interested in fitness and remaining physically strong, this is the strategy of, well, an ignoramus. So I was more than keen to give it a go. Was it a life-changing experience? I'm not a man given to hyperbole, so, no, of course not. Was it a revealing, fascinating, frustrating and, ultimately, greatly beneficial? It sure was. What is the 90/90 stretch? This is an immensely effective hip-mobility exercise. Most of us take our hips for granted, and it's only when we're dancing at a wedding that we realise they're not as loose as they once were, or ought to be. Hip mobility and flexibility are vital for general day-to-day activities, as well as for exercise and sports. However, because the muscles, tendons, and joints in the area simply do their job, we often assume they don't require attention. Out of sight, out of mind, until one day you drop your keys and are reduced to hoping someone short is nearby to pick them up for you. Good hip flexibility can also help relieve lower back pain, which, at any given time, afflicts about a quarter of US adults. The 90/90 works the hips internally and externally at the same time, which is rare for one move. It targets a variety of muscles, including the adductors, abductors, and glutes, as well as some of the hard-to-hit but important muscles such as the psoas and the piriformis. Crucially, it also works the hip capsule, specialised ligaments that stabilise the hip joint. This move asks a lot but boy, it delivers. How do I do the 90/90 stretch? Begin by sitting on the floor (I suggest you use a yoga mat for this move), with your right leg bent in front of you at a 90-degree angle, hip rotated out. This means the outside of your leg will be resting on the floor. Your foot should be in a neutral position, so don't point it. It, too, should form a 90-degree angle with your lower leg. Your thigh should be directly in front of your chest. If you feel you are leaning to the right, slide your leg slightly closer to your body, maintaining the angle as best you can. Position your left leg to your left side, again at a 90-degree angle, hip rotated internally. This means the inside of your leg will be resting on the floor. Make sure your back knee is in line with your hip. If you feel tightness in the hip, bring your leg forward a little, but again, maintain the angle. Keeping your legs in this position, and with your back straight, chest up, lean from the hips to feel a stretch through your right hip and glutes. Use your right arm to steady yourself as you increase the stretch. Breathe slowly and evenly, and hold the stretch for 60 seconds. Repeat on the other side and aim for two reps on each side. I did the 90/90 hip stretch every day for a week — here's what happened I admit I went into this challenge with the cockiness of the clueless. I figured that I'd have no trouble because I wasn't lifting, lowering, lunging, pushing, or otherwise using my muscles. And I already do some stretching. Not nearly enough, as it happens. Listen to your body On the first day, I got into position, though not as smoothly as I'd expected, as there is something counterintuitive about the shape the body makes with the two legs. It did not feel natural, and as I tried to relax and let my legs rest easily on the floor, I sensed a stretch not in my hips, but in my lower back and across my core. 'This can't be right,' I thought. It wasn't painful, but it was not the stretch I was expecting. I reset myself and tried again, but the result was the same. Afterwards, I decided my torso was twisting to maintain what I thought was the right position. Watch what you're doing On day two, I placed a two-foot mirror in front of me, and my indignity was complete. But I could immediately see that I was indeed leaning left or right, depending on which leg was in front. I corrected my position and held it for 40 seconds on each side, but while I felt a deep stretch, it was still not where it needed to be. And just like that… On day three, everything fell into place. I got into position, but shifted each leg slightly while holding the 90-degree angle, and I suddenly felt the stretch exactly where I was supposed to feel it, and not across the back or through the core. With this move, feel free to tweak things but maintain good form; you'll be amazed at the difference even a couple of inches makes. From the correct position, I was able to lean into the stretch and hold it for a minute on each side. I did this twice. Over the following few days, I increased the time to two minutes on each side, twice, paying attention to my breathing and always focusing on the location of the stretch. This move did not instantly improve hip mobility and flexibility, of course, but I did enjoy that deeply satisfying feeling of a stretch, and when I rose from my position, feeling fleetingly at one with my surroundings, I almost said 'Namaste.' Almost. Try this stretch I can't put it any plainer than that. I found it enormously beneficial for the entire hip area, but even getting into the correct position felt like a small triumph. I will continue to get myself into the right position, and even though I won't be able to see the benefits, I will know it's working. That said, I still refuse to dance. It's my gift to the world. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button. More from Tom's Guide Forget tight hips — try these 5 mobility moves to unlock stiff hips and build stronger glutes I'm a personal trainer — here's 3 hip-opening exercises to reduce stiffness and boost lower-body mobility This routine is designed to improve your lower body's range of motion, increase blood flow and enhance joint mobility

If you're using your Apple Watch to track sleep, here's 3 features you should be using
If you're using your Apple Watch to track sleep, here's 3 features you should be using

Tom's Guide

time16 hours ago

  • Tom's Guide

If you're using your Apple Watch to track sleep, here's 3 features you should be using

As a health and fitness editor, I'm constantly telling readers how important sleep is when it comes to our overall well-being. As a new mom, I'll tell anyone who'll listen about how little sleep I'm getting. But despite the constant sleep disturbances a toddler brings, I still track my sleep religiously. It fascinates me, and to me, it's as important as tracking my calorie burn or movement each day. However, it's only recently that I realized that through the fog of maternity leave, I'd missed some key updates to the sleep features on my Apple Watch 10, and that I wasn't quite using my watch to its full potential. If you're using one of the best Apple Watches to track your shut-eye each night, make sure you're using these three features before letting your head hit the pillow: Whether you're someone who reads before bed, listens to podcast or a music, or just sits doom-scrolling till it's time to brush your teeth, setting up a sleep schedule in the Health app can make a difference. Think of it as the adult equivalent of being tucked into your little sleep sack and read a bedtime story. While your Apple Watch can't read you the Gruffalo (yet), it can give you wind down reminders as your bedtime approaches. Plus, you can set a different bedtime schedule for the weekend if, unlike me, you have a life. The Apple Watch will also switch automatically into Sleep mode when your bedtime approaches, turning off any notifications across all your Apple devices. It's also great if you're someone who forgets to turn on this mode before bed, as your Apple Watch needs to be in Sleep focus to track your sleep. If you've set a sleep schedule, you'll also get a little morning report from Apple, which is one of my favorite features on the best Garmin watches. Your watch will say Good Morning as you wake up, turn off any alarms you've set if you've woken (or been woken) before it went off, and show you the weather forecast for the day. The Vitals app allows you to spot changes in your health before they occur. The Vitals app knew I was coming down with a nasty bout of mastitis before I felt any different physically — it spotted my heart rate and temperature were raised, and it alerted me that I had two health outliers. Of course, it didn't stop me getting sick, but it encouraged me to take it easy, and not head out for a morning run thinking I'd just not slept well. When using the Vitals app, you'll immediately see a breakdown of your health metrics in your Apple Watch stack each morning, including a summary of your sleep stages from the previous night. As well as your sleep duration, you can see your nightly heart rate, respiratory rate and wrist temperature, and get notified if these metrics are outside your typical range. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. When you've worn your Apple Watch to sleep, you'll see a graph of your sleep, showing how much time you've spent in REM, Core, and Deep sleep stages, as well as how much time you've spent awake overnight. Each sleep stage is important — REM is where you experience dreaming, during the Core phase, muscle activity decreases and your body temperature drops, and Deep sleep has a restorative effect on the body. How long you spend in each stage will be personal to you, but learning more about your sleep patterns can help you make small tweaks to ensure you're getting the best sleep possible. Deep sleep, for example, can be affected by screen time, stress, caffeine and alcohol. Ok, so this isn't really on the Apple Watch, but it's an update I'd missed but have since become hooked on. If, like me, you need some sort of white noise to drift off, you can now add Ambient Music to the Control Center of your iPhone. To do this, open Control Center, and tap the add button in the top left corner. Click Add a Control at the bottom of the screen and scroll down to the Ambient Music section. From here, you can choose four different categories of music — Sleep, Chill, Productivity, and Wellbeing. There are different playlists to choose from, but it's a nice way to unwind as you get into bed. I'd also be remiss to not mention Apple Fitness Plus here, and the Sleep Meditations on the platform. Similar to that bedtime story I mentioned earlier, if I have been working late into the evening, these inject 10 minutes of deep breathing and calm into my bedtime routine. I'm not one for meditation, but I'm really working on it, and this helps. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.

Forget six-pack abs — I'm a personal trainer, and here are 4 reasons they're hard to build (and don't matter)
Forget six-pack abs — I'm a personal trainer, and here are 4 reasons they're hard to build (and don't matter)

Yahoo

time20 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Forget six-pack abs — I'm a personal trainer, and here are 4 reasons they're hard to build (and don't matter)

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. No, you're not lazy because you don't have a six-pack; there are multiple reasons you might not see yours, and it shouldn't (and doesn't) matter. I'm a personal trainer, and even at my leanest, I have never been the proud owner of a six-pack, but that doesn't mean I'm not fit and healthy, or that I don't have a strong core. I eat well most of the time, prioritize protein and rest days and train roughly four times a week, including running, yoga, Pilates and weightlifting. Six-packs are, unless you are genetically wired for them, pretty hard work to build and maintain, and are the painstaking result of low body fat percentage and lots and lots of ab workouts. For many people (me included), they might not always be attainable — unless you really, really want them. Am I lazy? No. Could I be leaner? Yes. But I will still never own a six-pack, and trust me, it really doesn't matter or reflect how fit and healthy you are. Here are four reasons they're tough to build, and how to get past the barriers if you want to. Abs vs core muscles: What's the difference? First, building a strong core is the most important goal when thinking about your core muscles in general, as this can help you move better, protect your pelvis and spine and help you avoid injury, lift heavier and withstand impact better — all of these benefits are functional rather than aesthetic. But let's talk abs versus core muscles for a moment. Your core refers to an entire network of muscles, not just one group, known as the rectus abdominis, or the abs, which exist amongst many core muscles. The abs muscles help flex your trunk and keep your pelvis stable; they run down the front of your stomach and are better known as the six-pack. 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Daily movement Sometimes it's easy to get fixated on diet and exercise and forget that it's your overall energy expenditure throughout the day that will prime you toward fat loss, which occurs when the body is in a calorie deficit. If your diet and exercise routine are on point, are you active enough? That means moving more often and finding more ways to move, like playing with the kids, carrying groceries home from the store, or working while standing, for example. This relates to Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, or NEAT, and can help you burn more calories without overdoing it in the gym or eating less. While prioritizing NEAT can help you expend more energy, movement should feel good and not forced. A daily walk can be mindful, and moving more often can improve mental strength and help you unwind. It shouldn't feel like a punishment, though, and factoring in rest is just as important for wellbeing and recovery. 3. Stress A recent study suggests that stress can be a leading contributor to workout plateaus. Sustained raised levels of cortisol (the 'stress hormone') can also lead to an increase in fat storage, particularly around the midsection, known as 'cortisol belly," and this is more prevalent in women than men. Finding ways to manage stress through mindful practices like movement, exercise, or breathwork can be useful, and many of the best smart rings and fitness trackers can help monitor your cortisol levels, heart rate and blood pressure for signs that your body may not be coping. Reducing stress rather than focusing on eliminating it entirely could help you feel better within yourself, improve sleep hygiene and cope better with daily life, but you might find a secondary impact could be that you find it easier to lose weight. 4. Genetics Has someone ever said to you that they don't work out, and yet they have a sculpted body seemingly without a shred of fat on them? There's something in that, other than young age. Genetics plays a role in how easy or difficult you find it to lose weight. Some people may be gifted with a faster resting metabolism, which means they might have a little more freedom in how they eat or move. For others, health conditions, including metabolic disorders, could make it harder to lose weight and keep it off. Your genetics might also play a role in how or where you store fat. If this all sounds familiar, it's worth learning the difference between body fat percentage and body fat mass to help you decide which matters more to you (if either), but if you don't need to lose fat for medical reasons, then body fat mass will matter far less. That doesn't mean you're stuck with your lot; it just means it might take a bit more of a focused effort to reach your goals. In which case, checking out my handy guide on body recomposition (losing fat and building muscle) can help you decide if the journey is for you. 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