Mobility is sooooo boring

If you only had 30 minutes today to do some type of physical activity, what would it be?

A quick workout with weights? Maybe focus on just one exercise or one body part. Or maybe do some circuits, followed by some high intensity intervals.

But I high doubt you would include mobility in your 30 minutes.

Had this talk today with a client of mine. We were talking about the benefits of yoga. He said he wished he had time for that. The classes at the studio where I train are 60 minutes.

I said you could pick a few yoga postures and do them for 10-15 minutes each day. Even right after your regular workouts.

But 15 minutes of mobility is just damn boring. I get it.

I have skipped it many times myself.

But lately I have been making an effort to do it daily.

Part of what inspired me was a post I saw from a coach named Max Shank- it was called '5 minute flow".  Look it up.

Basically, you start your day with 5 minutes of mobility work. He suggests to just do circles with all your joints, if you are lacking ideas. Then start to incorporate some other movements. Work on your tight areas. Usually the hips/shoulders/upper back are trouble spots.

So you set a timer for 5 minutes. Do the work.Then drink 2 glasses of water.

This is a great start to the day.

If you're like me, you may be thinking 'it's only 5 minutes, will that make any difference?'

But before you answer, just try it for a week. Every day.

It's a much better way to start the day than head down, scanning your smartphone before getting an overpriced sugar-filled drink from planet Starbucks...

5 minutes.

Try it.

I have been doing it for over a week and I've found myself doing some extra minutes here and there, in addition to this. (post workout is a good time)

Case of the Mondays or Holiday Hangover?

Today I woke up feeling rough.

Nose a bit runny. Sore in areas unexpected. Sleepy.

It's the Friday after thanksgiving, what do I expect right?

It made me think of the movie "Office Space".. and that famous line from the movie "somebody has a case of the Monday's"...

Do you ever feel that way on Monday morning? Or certain days like today, after a holiday or party,wedding..etc..?

You're human, it's bound to happen. But what do you do about it?

Just deal with it. Slog through the day. Just waiting for it to end.

Here's what I did today, and what I propose you do from now on when you get a "case of the Mondays".

Train. 30 minutes to 45 minutes of weights and bodyweight movements. Followed by 20-40 minutes of low-intensity cardio. (about 100-120 bpm heart rate)

The key is to just train. It doesn't need to be your best day. You aren't trying to undo all the damage of the booze and/or extra calories you consumed.

But you will feel much much better when you do this.

For the cardio I prefer the low-intensity work as I rather put more effort into the weight training and when you are feeling rough like this you don't need to do that high-intensity stuff. It won't make that much of a difference anyway. So why bother killing yourself with hardcore cardio (if there is such a thing)

After you do this workout of about an hour or so, you should do some stretching. You probably won't but if you do 10-15 minutes each day you will notice the difference.

When I don't do any stretching my body lets me know.

What stretches should you do?

There's all kinds, of course. And you can search some up on the internet.

My advice is to pick out some that you will do. They don't need to be complicated or fancy.

Just stretch out the hips, shoulders,calves,pecs, and wherever else you have tight spots.

Don't give up on it either. One day will not provide miracles. But consistent stretching over time will add up to make you feel much better long-term.