Here is a guest post that comes at the perfect time as I get ready to fly a few times over the next month. We’ll see if I am brave enough to try any of these airplane exercises.
Please help me welcome Mike to the blog. I reviewed his Extreme Burn workout (linked below) and it was awesome. Happy to have him contribute some easy steps to help us stay active.
Airplane Workout
by Mike Donavanik, CSCS, CPT, Creator of Extreme Burn: Total Body Interval Training
These 4 moves will help minimize discomfort and keep you loose, limber and healthy for the flight ahead.
Neck Stretch
- Stand up and bring your right hand to your left ear. As you exhale, slowly pull your head to your right shoulder while reaching your left arm to the floor.
- Hold for 30-60 seconds, then switch sides; repeat 2-3 times each side.
Abdominal Breathing
- Sitting down comfortably with a straight spine, slowly take a deep inhale through your nose; as you in inhale have your stomach expand. Slowly exhale through your mouth and have your stomach collapse while tightening your tummy to push out the air.
- Consciously breathe this way for 5-10 minutes; repeat as necessary.
- This type of breathing will allow you to breathe deeper, allowing you to get more oxygen in with each breath. This type of breathing will also produce a calming effect and help reduce anxiety.
Squat to Reach
- Head to the back of the plane where you have more space. Stand with feet shoulder width apart, hands at chest level, and descend into a deep squat. As you ascend from the squat, stand all the way up onto your toes and reach your hands up towards the sky. Slowly lower your heels to the ground, bring your hands back down to chest level, and repeat.
- Perform 15-20 reps; repeat 2-3 sets.
- This will allow you to get blood moving throughout your entire body.
Standing Glute Kicks
- Stand in the aisle or head to the back of the plane where you will have more space. Hold onto a wall or seat and lift your right leg off the ground, keeping both knees soft. Hold your abs in tight and kick your right leg back a few inches; leading with your heel. Hold and contract your right glute for a second or two, return to the starting position, and repeat.
- Perform 20-25 reps on each side; repeat 2-3 times each side.
- After sitting down, especially for an extended period of time, your glutes become weak from being in a stretched position – this can cause lower back and ‘butt pain’. Glute contracting exercises such as this one will help prevent ‘butt pain’ and lower back pain.
Thanks Mike for your guest post. I look forward to sharing the other fun article and video that you sent to share on the blog. These airplane exercises sound easy enough although some of them might be a little awkward to do in front of other passengers.
So the question to you all is would you do this airplane workout?
The first two seem to be a good way to loosen your body and relax, yet the Kicks exercise might make you look stupid on a plane, lol :))
I so get this, have done some of these on planes before as I do a lot of transatlantic flights and that can be a killer on the butt. I usually try to do a few exercises while waiting for the “loo” (toilet). There’s a bit more space back there. Trust me, the flight attendants get what you’re doing and really they don’t care as long as you’re not disrupting other passengers. The butt kicks are “small” movements just a few inches is enough, so it’s not as weird looking as you might think . And hey, it’s not like you’re ever going to see those passengers again, so if it helps you feel more comfortable and keeps your blood pumping, who cares if they think you’re a little weird. Besides they may also leave you alone to read that book instead of telling you every last detail about their recent divorce or knitting group 🙂