Working Out and Moving Around

How to stay in shape - exercises

What's it good for?

How to pick a sport? Pick the one that you enjoy and that isn't dangerous for you!

Sport improves physical strength and coordination

Exercising helps with your psychological well being

Exercising improves immune function

Working out improves quality of sleep

Exercise burns calories and helps us to maintain our optimal weight

Working out really enhances our physique

Proper Exercise

Before exercising, you need to warm up! Try jogging up and down your driveway, jumping rope for a bit and hydrating. Just as water is important, you also need to eat regularly to get a good workout

When working out, don't overestimate your abilities/strength. Start slow and build up over time!

first day

second day

third day

After exercising remember to stretch. CAREFUL! If stretching hurts, don't stretch so far.

Core

Your core is a group of muscles important for proper posture and holding of the body. The following exercises (using an exercise ball) can help to strengthen your core.

Core

Muscles along your spine

Diaphragm

Pelvic floor muscles

Abdominal muscles

Your core is made up of muscles deep inside the tissue that line your spine, the abdominal muscles, pelvic floor muscles, and diaphragm. Using proper technique, we can begin to strengthen these muscles. First, supporting yourself on your arms, we can do exercises that will strengthen the muscles between your shoulder blades. Furthermore, other exercises will help to stabilize your hips. While sitting on an exercise ball, you can also strengthen the muscles on the bottom of your foot. These exercises will stretch the sides of your body, hamstrings, and muscles around your spine. The superficial muscles of the spine and the ones that are often times overloaded due to a weak core. For this reason, it's important to strengthen our core to alleviate stress on these muscles.

Exercise ball

Correct sitting position on the ball

your back is straight

your chin is slightly tucked in

your hips are higher than your knees

your shoulders are freely hanging to the sides

your feet are parallel to each other

the weight is distributed into 3 points - under the big toe, pinkie and heel

wrong position

wrong pose of the spine & head

wrong position of the extremities

wrong use of a small ball, where hips are lower than the knees

Stretching legs while sitting
(starting position: correct sitting position)

lift your leg and stretch it, so that it's parallel with the floor

toes pointing upwards

Stretching the torso
(starting position: correct sitting position)

throw one of your arms up and lean to the opposite side

Stretching the spinal erectors
(starting position: correct sitting position, hands behind head)

inhale, then exhale & lean forward

bring your forehead to your left (right) knee

Rolling onto the shoulder bones
(starting position: correct sitting position, hands crossed on the chest)

move forwards in small steps, lay down on the ball

Wait for a while, breathe freely, then return back to the correct sitting position

your torso is parallel to the floor

your legs should be in a 90 degree angle

toes are pointing forward

Laying on your back

Breathe freely

tuck your chin

90 degree angle between your thighs and torso

knees slightly apart

keep your feet apart, toes pointing upwards

shlouders spread to the sides, on the floor

loins are touching the ground

arms next to your torso, palms facing the ceiling

legs on the ball

Bridge Strengthens the abdominal, gluteal muscles & the legs

(starting position: laying on your back)

stay balanced

slowly lift your buttocks from the floor

Exercising the abdominals
(starting position: laying on your back, holding a ball in between the legs)

lift the ball by straightening your legs

Exercising muscles on the back

starting position: laying on the ball, facing the floor

shoulders spread out, straight neck

fingers pointing forwards

palms are under your shoulders

your arms are supported by your palms

straight legs, leaning on the toes

straighten your arm, so that it's next to your ear, try to stay stable

return to the starting position, switch hands

lift one leg

make sure your lifting your legs using your gluteal muscles

Stretching the legs

starting positon: sitting on the floor

straight back

knees and toes pointing upwards

straight legs, kept apart

roll the ball away and return

roll the ball from one leg to the other

Don't forget to exercise safely; exercise in a well-lit room with fresh air and enough space.
You should not exercise with a full or empty stomach.
Repeat the exercises 3-5 times, depending on your condition, and add more repeats as you go.
Stay in the ending position for about 2-4 seconds, then return to the starting position. If you are feeling you're losing control over your body, return to the starting position and try again.
Quality over quantity - exercise properly. Physiotherapists exercise with children in front of a mirror, so the child knows whether they're doing things right. It is recommended to exercise in front of the mirror.
Ideally, try to exercise every day. 10 minutes is long enough.
If in doubt, ask your parents or a proffesional. You can try out some exercises with a physician.
All properly performed exercises on a labile spot, which an exercise ball is, exercise your core. From the exercises here, all exercise the core, except for the stretching of the legs while sitting.

Proper standing, sitting and standing up

Proper standing

incorrect

slouching back

correct

straight back

pelvis in a neutral position, you shouldn't “spill” anything from it

feet shoulders width apart

Proper sitting on a chair

incorrect sitting position

chin is pointed out

slouched, shoulders coming forward

bent over and rounded back

feet aren't supporting the body

stress on the lumbar spine

correct sitting position

shoulders down and back

straight back

feet are pointed in front of you, they are placed on the ground in three point contact, toe, pinky toe, heel

we are sitting with our hips and seat bones aligned, and on our seat bones

Proper standing up (from the bed)

Getting up and out of bed with a rapid swinging motion can overload the abdominal muscles and superficial muscles of the spine. In extreme cases it can lead to a dislocated disc!

incorrect “swinging”

support using our palm and elbow

correct way to get up out of bed