Happy New Year! On this holiday, I am grateful for my family, health and daily blessings. I brought in the New Year with an early morning workout. We were the first ones to arrive at the track. This workout included a full body warmup, mile long run, 40 push ups and 12 sets of stadium stairs.
Watch the video below to see my movement practice routine.
1. Full Body Warm Up
For my warm up, I focused on stretching and mobility. This approach brought feeling into my legs, feet, spine, shoulders and legs. I recommend practicing this routine upon waking up, after sitting for long periods of time or prior to a workout. I chose a playful warm up to help prepare for the intensity of the session.
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I centered my warm up around these basic principles:
- a.) Mobility for my neck, spine, hips, and shoulders.
- b.) Dynamic stretching for my pectorals, quads, hamstrings and hip flexors.
- c.) Stability Drills for hip core and shoulders.
crawl, lateral crawl, bear crawl, skipping jumping jacks, Carioca and cartwheels. - d.) Strength exercises for my legs and feet.
hopping on my toes, walking on my heels and squat hops. - a.) Keep elbow pits facing forward.
- b.) Gaze through my eyebrows.
- c.) Feel (protraction and retraction) movement of the scapula blades.
- d.) Don’t hold your breath.
2. Run a Mile
After my warm up, I ran 4 laps around the track (one mile). The purpose of this run was to bring oxygen to my lungs and circulation into my body.
I told myself I wouldn’t stop at any point. I kept a comfortable pace with occasional short bursts of speed.
3. Do 40 Push Ups
The run motivated me to challenge with myself with 40 push ups. After about 25, I was struggling. I completed my challenge in about 4-5 sets. While doing these push ups, I was mindful of keeping my back line muscles involved.
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A few cues I give myself during push ups are:
4. Climb 12 Sets of Stairs
Toward the end of the workout, the sun had appeared from behind the clouds, it was getting hot. The last part of the workout was to climb 12 sets of stairs. This activity targets the glutes, hamstrings, quads and calves.
Climbing stairs is a fun challenging way for me to build strength, power and muscle endurance.
Give this workout a try and share your experience in the comment section below.
