Hey everybody, it's Doctor Jo, and today I'm going to show you some morning
stretches in real time to get you going
even before you get out of bed. Let's get started.
So these stretches are designed just to kind of get you going in the morning.
We're not going to do the traditional 30 seconds, three times, we're just going to
do the 30 seconds two times because this is more just getting everything moving.
Getting all those creeks and aches out before you get up and get moving in the
morning.
So I've got my timer. So imagine that you're still laying down contemplating
if you really want to get up this early in the morning.
So, what you do, go ahead and just throw your sheets off so you can move your
legs around a little bit. Prop both of them up and you're going to start off
with just a simple knee a chest to kind of loosen up the lower back area. So i'm
going to start my timer and then just pull up this way.
Now what you want to do, is make sure if you have any knee issues, some people hold it
up here so they can pull a bit more, which is fine. I always go underneath
just because my joints aren't always so great, and I don't want to put any extra
pressure on that. So just pulling as far as you comfortably can
you should be a little stretch in that lower back area starting to get
everything moving and loosened up a little bit and just hold it and get that
nice stretch. And come back down,
and again remember you just want to kind of set it down for about 5 to 10 seconds
nothing too long because most likely you are going to have to get up and get
going and doing something. So just stretching that pulling again. You can
think about all the stuff that you're getting ready to do for the day.
If you want to just take some nice deep breaths to get that blood flowing before
you get up you can and just stretch everything out nice and relaxed. And if
you've got puppies like me, who are bouncing around and giving you kisses
and hoping that you hurry up because they are hungry, then hopefully you can
keep them occupied with something else maybe a bone or something while you're
doing that. So now we're going to go ahead and switch sides.
That's how I am awakened in the morning with a tail going
"thump, thump, thump. And that would be Bear.
Kali is at the point where she doesn't really want to get up early, but Bear is
excited and ready to go and play with his tennis balls outside and get lots of
breakfast because he enjoys his breakfast.
Now if you feel any pinching in here, make sure you take it off just a little
bit because again this is just to get you moving get you going,
nothing too crazy yet. Just get that, you know, about five seconds relax. You can
shake the legs a little bit and then go for your second stretch here.
And again remember if you want a little more pulll up here you can, just make sure
you don't have any knee issues or pain their because you put some extra
pressure on that joint.
Ok.
So the next one is going to be to stretch the hamstrings out a little bit
so you can stay in this position, still kind of grabbing underneath your leg, but
this time what you're going to do is you're going to start straightening the
leg up.
Now some people will be able to get all the way straight if you're pretty
flexible that's not really a problem, but some people are maybe only going to be
able to get to right here.
That's okay. That's not a problem, just go to you feel the stretch. But keep your
leg fairly up and down, you can bring it almost that perpendicular to the floor.
You don't want to bring it all the way here and trying to stretch cause that's going
to be probably too much of a stretch. especially in the morning.
So just kind of stretching, there. You can pull your toes up towards you if you
want to to kind of engage those calf muscles just a little bit as well. But
again in the in the morning, especially since you probably haven't done a
warm-up, you're doing a cold stretch,
don't push so hard you're just kind of getting everything going a little bit in
the morning. And holding it there.
You can't see my toes but that's okay. You don't really need to see them.
Again if you want to pull them up a little bit you can. I'm gonna bring it down
little bit so you can see, and then pulling it toward you that way to get
that little bit of extra stretch up top if you need to. But again don't feel like
you have to force it just kind of getting that little bit of a stretch in
there. And then switching over to the other side. Again just kind of holding up
there nice and relaxed with your arms. Don't feel like you have to stress out
those shoulders.Your hands are kind of there so you leg
doesn't fall back down, but you don't have to really pull it up towards you.
I kind of clasp my fingers, you don't have to clasp your fingers you can just
kind of hold it right there or one on top of the other whichever one is more
comfortable for you.
You can see this one's a little bit tighter than the other side, but again that
nice stretch in there. And hold it and coming back down.
We've got one more of those. I'm starting to get nice and warmed up, loosened up. I feel a
little warm like when I get up I'm just gonna jump up and start dancing around.
And that's not usually what I do in the morning,
I'm not, I'm not a super morning person until I have my cup of coffee. And you can
check me out with "Morning Cup of Jo" if you want to. Get that stretch
straightened out as much as you can. Probably by the second one you'll be
able to stretch it out just a little bit more. And sometimes you'll see it shaking
a little bit you might see mine shake a little bit, and if it is, you might want
to relax just a little bit.
So then the next one is just going to be a little rotation of your legs. So this
is kind of get the rotation in the back using your legs.
So putting them together still having them propped up next to each other.
Don't have your pants rolled up so much, and just rotate a little bit to one side.
Not coming all the way over this is just kind of getting it loosened up,
hold it for about three to five seconds. So just like me a little pause, and then
come back over. And we're just going to you five on each side so just give it a
little roll.
Try and keep the upper part of your back up here down for the most part.
So you're just rotating and stretching that mid to low back. And again you
don't have to push very hard,
you're just trying to get it stretched a little bit going back and forth, side to
side. So this is 4 on this side, a little pause. If you want to hold it a
little bit longer you can, but I like just kind of going, like I said, in the
morning you just want to get going and get up and get moving.
And then you can do a little bit more later in the morning once you get up and
get your cup coffee and your breakfast.
So now the last one is just going to be a bridge.
So that's gonna do some exercise of the hamstring and the glutes muscles a
little bit. And so what you're going to do is just lift your bottom up off the
ground. So coming up here, try can get yourself in a straight line. A little
pause, again you about three seconds and slowly come
that down. So this one isn't fast when you come down, you can even go like one
segment at a time of your back. So just nice little stretch, and we're just going
to do five of these. This is really just to get you going, and get again that
movement, and slowly come back down, and then the last one. So that should be good,
I'm feeling nice and warm. I'm ready to go. Then when you're ready to get up,
roll on your side, use that log roll technique, drop your feet off and push
yourself up. There you have it.
If you have any questions. leave in the comments section. If you'd like check out
some other videos, go to AskDoctorJo.com And remember, be safe, have fun (I'm gonna have to
get my beauty rest), and I hope you feel better soon.