Several women have emailed to ask for some more upper body exercises because they feel so weak in that area. We don’t seem to do all the physical work of lifting children and carrying stuff around that we do when we have young families and it’s amazing how fast your body lets go of muscle when it’s not being used. So I made a video of some hanging exercises that I learned from Katy Bowman at AlignedandWell.com.
If you have shoulder injuries you can try just the first position and see how you do. Katy is like a Paleo movement person. I’m just starting a version of the Paleo diet so it is interesting how that ties in. My Feldenkrais training taught me that our modern ways of moving are not natural for our bodies. We constantly overuse certain movements and don’t use the full range of motion that our bodies have. Moving in spirals and circles is the natural way to move not in angles like soldiers.
Another exercise that I do every day for upper body strength is a handstand against the wall held for one minute. I do that while I’m waiting for my bathtub to fill so I rarely forget it and I’ve got some nice upper back muscle from that.
So, once again, if you have restrictions in your shoulders don’t go beyond the first exercise. You can just do the pushup against the wall that is on the exercise dvd until you gain some strength.
The version of the Paleo diet I will be starting soon is the Auto-Immune Paleo. It is extremely restrictive because it cuts out all the foods that are common sensitivities but it helps people with auto-immune diseases heal their gut and their immune systems so I am going to give it my best shot. I’ll tell you how it’s working in the next newsletter.
Meantime, enjoy your moving,
Pam