When the world shut down last year we were left with limited access to our favorite indoor activities. The great outdoors and fresh air became the new escape and many of us took advantage of it.
We saw a significant rise in hiking, running, and cycling activities. As a cyclist, many people reached out to me asking if I knew of anyone selling a bike, or any bike shops that had any in stock. Reports state that the cycling industry boom will not stabilize until 2023 due to the high demand. The boom in outdoor recreation is good for everyone and I look forward to seeing many more people outside, especially the youth.
Outside is Good for Everyone
People getting outdoors is good for everyone involved. From the businesses helping people get outside, to the participants receiving mental and physical benefits. As a gym owner and outdoor adventurist, I want to help as many people “Live Life Beyond the Gym Walls.” The more we can educate people on the benefits and simplicity of movement, the more people will move.
I want people to know how to fend off those nagging aches and pains that are holding them back. With some daily consistency of movement and recovery techniques, you can be on your feet venturing outdoors in no time. But it starts with a simple warm-up for the upcoming task. We need to target our joints that provide us with mobility and our joints that help stabilize us.
Start Your Day Right
Warming up properly can help you prevent injuries, as well as increase your performance. The laundry list of benefits far outweighs any negative ideas on warming up. Your body responds with increased tissue temperature so it can move a little easier. You will also feel your joints move easier with the increased synovial fluid release. Also, our muscles become more pliable as we take our bodies through different ranges of motion.
As humans, our connection the outside world is through our hands and feet. We have more nerve endings in both of these extremities than we have in our arms and legs. Your daily warmup should begin in the morning when we have our shoes off our feet. First, you can stand up tall and create an arch under our feet to warm up the small intrinsic muscles. If you don’t have an arch and are flat footed, work on keeping pressure under your big toe, base of the big toe and pinkie toe, as well as the heel. Then drive your knees our with your hips and keep pressure in your feet. You should feel your foot arch start to rise.
Once you can master creating an arch in your for, you can move onto some short foot drills. This simple movement of our toes helps blood flow get down into the feet. A couple of minutes a day is all you need. I do this during the 2 minutes of brushing my teeth in the mornings and evenings.
Total Body Mobility
After you get your feet moving you can continue up the chain and get your entire body to feel good. Or you may just pick out your trouble areas and start working on it. 5-10 minutes in the morning will help you get your day started right. You could also do this after a long stressful day. Again, just pick what feels tight and start moving. Done frequently you will start to feel noticeable changes in your mobility and how your body feels. Just, keep tabs on what is working and stay consistent.
At the trailhead you can do a few different warm ups. We have created a specific mountain biking warm up that should only take 5 minutes. We also have a running warm up, that has some instruction included .
Take time to work on yourself, the immediate benefits should feel that you felt better during your activity. The longterm benefits should be that you have less pain throughout the day and feel better overall. After consistent effort you will make some noticeable changes. We will be continuing to add to our YouTube channel, so feel free to subscribe and comment on our videos. Feel free to send us an email and suggest any videos you want to see.
