The Art of Gentle Exercise
Fitness ABC – Letter D is actually for “Der Dampfer” or “Steam-ship”. For our purposes I think we can refer to it as: Drop your feet down! Leg Raise Exercise This is simply a leg raise (and a leg drop!) exercise – one of the BEST abdominal exercises there is! Lie flat on the floor with arms stretched overhead and toes stretched forward. In this position you should be as LONG as you can possibly be! Image you are a Read More
Arm Circle Exercise Which exercise links Billy Blanks, Tony Horton, Shaun T, Debbie Siebers and (practically) EVERY OTHER fitness professional over the last 100 years? It’s the arm circle exercise for the shoulders (there are other exercises too – but I will get to those in due course). The image below is nearly 100 YEARS OLD! Concerns then were the same as now – the advent of the “modern office” was leading to poor posture, slumped shoulders, a general “hunched Read More
Fitness ABC – Letter C stands for Celsius. We’re using the thermometer as a mental image here, and the notion that temperature CLIMBS HIGH and DROPS LOW. Burpee Exercise I consider this exercise to be a bit of a simplified burpee. A burpee (named incidentally after person!), is a full body exercise used in strength training and as an aerobic exercise. This popular (not!) exercise is beloved of gym instructors and trainers because it is a pretty good measure of agility, Read More
Fitness ABC – Letter A is brought to you by the wonderful Edi Polz. Polz published many books on gymnastics for the masses in the 1930’s /40’s, and what marked them out was the sense of FUN he included, utilizing cartoons such as the ones in the series I’m going to begin today. It’s the same sense of fun I try to bring to Internal Force Fitness, because fitness should be fun. I will go through the entire alphabet eventually, Read More
Japanese Ikigai Exercises Ikigai is a Japanese word which basically means ‘reason for being’ in the sense of answering “what should I do with my life??”. One of the ways to ‘unlock’ your ikigai is with Japanese Ikigai Exercises. It has been suggested that since the concept has its origins in the Japanese island of Okinawa – home to an unusually large population of people over 100 years old – that ikigai may hold the key to both happiness AND Read More