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COVID-19 Wellness with Alicia Archer of Kinky Sweat FITNESS TIPS BY ALICIA ARCHER. PHOTOS BY TOM LEW
I don’t know about you, but I never imagined myself living through a pandemic. Sure, flu season was always concerning when it rolled around every year, and you perhaps wondered if this time it would grab you by the throat? But, you always knew that it would just be a bad couple of days, and you would be up and running again. This time, however, was different. The seasonal flu did not have the same impact on our lives as COVID-19. This new virus cancelled concerts, festivals, events, and weddings. Having to postpone or cancel weddings has been incredibly disheartening for couples who have been planning their special day for months. While many couples are grateful and understand that there are other important issues to tackle, having to postpone your wedding can be devastating. It’s personal, and it is okay to take the time to be upset. The next question is, how does one cope? How can we move forward in a way that’s not set to cruise control, but to “thrive control”. When we embark on what that means to us, we perhaps look to the wellness space. Some have taken quarantine as an opportunity to improve their nutrition, maybe read more, even devote time to ACTUALLY meditate. What I found is that when people turn to fitness, it’s usually for weight loss reasons. And it’s really a shame, as the benefits of exercise can offer such a vibrant spectrum of positive changes to the brain and body. While I understand it’s difficult to pull away from the weight loss goal, if we can see exercise as another means of improving our wellness, I think we’ll be more inclined to have a better relationship with it I truly believe that these highly stressful circumstances brought people to the realization that they need exercise for their MIND. Exercise can be a stress reliever and a pain reliever, especially if you have been sitting all day. When we exercise, we are not only training our brains, and relieving stress, but are giving our body some much needed physical therapy. What is the program? What do you need to do in order to feel all these benefits? The good news is that you don’t need much. It could be a simple bodyweight routine that encompasses a push and a pull movement. You can also approach it with alternating exercises between the upper and lower body. Moving in a manner that you can align your breath accordingly, will also give your lungs a much needed training session. If you feel particularly stressed, brain is scattered, breath is short, sleep doesn’t come easy, and your low back is starting to hurt? Let’s start movin’ and groovin’!
GRANDE PLIE (SUMO SQUAT)
1
Legs start wider than your hip width apart, turned out from the hips. Breathe in, bend the knees to lower hips straight down. Press down through your feet and squeeze legs as your rise on the exhale. Take 3 counts on the way down, and 3 counts on the way up. 8-10x reps!
PUSH-UP
2
Place hands right under your shoulders. Spread the fingers wide, and start to bend elbows. Lower chest half way down to start on the inhale (If you’ve been training pushups before, you can lower all the way onto the floor), and on the exhale push back up. If you haven’t performed pushup before, you can start them on your knees. If you want to progress to straight legs, lower with straight legs, and bend knees at the bottom of the pushup to press back up
KNEE TO ELBOW
5
ABDOMINAL WRAP
STATIONARY LUNGE
3
Start with one foot forward and the other behind you. Keep the weight of your back foot on the ball, with heel off the floor. Hands can start on the hips to start. Bend both knees, lowering your pelvis straight down, keeping the front knee from spilling over the toes, and drop your back knee right under the back hip. Drive down through our front foot, and squeeze the legs up back to stand. Exhale as you rise, inhale on the descent. Alternate arm pattern: Sweep arms overhead while descending into the lunge, sweep them back down to shoulder height when rising. Aim for 8-10 each sid
WRIST STRETCH **This could be particularly helpful if you work a lot on a keyboard, paint, draw, and engage in wrist heavy work**
4
Coming down to all fours, place hands with fingers spread wide under your shoulders. While keeping elbows straight, shift your shoulders forward past the wrist line. You’ll feel a stretch where your palm meets the wrist in this extended position. Inhale on the shift forward, exhale on the short back. Gently move back and forth, in and out of this stretch 5x.
Coming to all fours, placing hands right under the shoulders. Start by pulling one knee to the opposite elbow, working to keep the shoulders forward the entire time. A more traditional breath pattern will be inhaling on the prep, and exhaling when your knee pulls to the opposite elbow. Switch sides, and alternate for 8-10x each.
6
Laying down on your back, bring both hands behind your head. Lift both shoulder blades off the floor, keeping your gaze consistent with the neckline. Take a breath in to fill the belly, and while keeping the shoulder blades off the floor, pull all walls of your abdomen in on the exhale. The feet can stay on the floor, or you can lift the knees over your hipline. If you want to advance this further, straighten both legs out in a 45 degree angle while keeping the shoulder blades off the floor. Hold this isometrically for 5 breaths.
