What I Do In My Personal 15 Minute Daily Workout
Every time my back hurts, my first thought is “I should do more exercise”. I think this is where the world is slowly moving as we are letting go of the idea of rest being beneficial. It doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for rest, but there is also a place for tissue loading and exercise to increase blood flow, mobility, and everything else that comes with a bit of movement therapy.
The government recommends 150 minutes of cardiovascular exercise every week just to maintain a healthy body. This is not enough to be an athlete or to run a marathon or compete in Hyrox, but it is what is required to have a healthy heart. Think of movement for your body like brushing your teeth. If you never brushed your teeth would you expect them to be healthy, strong, and functional? Probably not.
Other than cardiovascular activity to maintain a healthy heart, I do wish everyone was doing strength training. Strength training comes with a lot of preconceived notions, and intimidation. Where do you start? How much? How often? Do you buy a bunch of weights or try entering the weight room at your local gym? For me, I have gone through phases where I love going to the gym and some phases where I would rather workout in any other way than a traditional gym. For today’s blog, I thought I would give you my favourite exercises I do when I need a quick 15 minute workout to get my body moving and feeling great.
First thing on my list is core exercises. Of course core, because it helps you function, keeps low back pain at bay, and helps you do all the fun things in life that require movement! When you are doing core, make sure you are hitting the back side of your core more than the front (back more than abs), and don’t forget the sides! I like planks, crunches, and exercise like supermans on my stomach.
Second on my list is upper back. Because of desk work, scrolling, and just in general the fact that we live in a forward rolled, anterior head carriage world, I always give a little TLC to my upper back. I like doing Is, Ys, Ts, and Ws to target my upper back. I also like doing these inbetween sets for my lower back because a lot of my lower back work includes my upper back adding a bit of a challenge for my upper back muscles.
Next, I always include glutes, with a lot of work on my lateral hip stabilizers. Because I like running and my lower back can feel aggravated sometimes after working on a lot of patients over the week, I always do a series of side lying hip abduction exercises. I personally like creating my own series based on the Princeton Athletic Medicine Department study where they showed progressions. I like doing no weight but high repetition as I use these muscles all day long and I need them to have more endurance capacity than power or sheer strength.
One area that I feel like a lot of people neglect is their feet. I have had Plantar Fasciosis in the past, and I love walking and running a lot throughout the week. I also stand quite a bit for work so I like to keep my feet strong so that I can do what I want to do without feeling pain with every step. For me, I do a lot, and when I say a lot I mean 500 to 800 reps of intrinsic exercises otherwise known as toe yoga. I always include short foot, and then I do some extra work moving my toes around and isolate different muscles using my toes. Keeping my feet strong just makes me feel better, stronger, and more sturdy when upright.
The last area that I like to hit is a bit of arms. I love doing some push ups and then following up immediately with some tricep dips. I like this balance because it hits chest, bicep and tricep and continues my core work (because I’m in a plank the entire time essentially). I just like to round out my workout with a bit of arms so I sort of hit my entire body. I also like the idea of improving my muscle mass slightly in my arms.
This entire list takes about 15 minutes. I always feel better after, as I have increased blood flow, increased mobility, and just done something good for myself. Taking the time to serve myself every day makes me feel better about serving others all day at work. I want to be strong as I age, and feel good more than feel bad. I don’t mind feeling sore from exercise, but sore from everyday life is not okay with me and my goals. Life has movement and physical demand in it. If you never train then you are risking having a lot of days that push you to your edge. By training above and beyond, I feel that my capacity is increased and my energy is lifted. I find I don’t put off physical chores at home and I find I am more social because I have more energy. Exercise like this is efficient and I feel the benefits across multiple areas of my life. It doesn’t take much but once I’m in the habit I know it will go by quickly and be more than worth it.
Take the time to develop a small, daily routine that serves your needs, goals, and body. Make it fun with music, a podcast, or watching TV. It doesn’t have to be overly complicated to be overly helpful. If you don’t know where to start, reach out to your local chiropractor who offers rehab based services, or even better, one that will create a personalized rehab plan just for you based on your intake, history, and physical examination. Don’t be afraid to start small. If you’re low back hurts, start with something for your low back and grow from there. Once you start a habit, adding on one more exercise will feel like nothing. You can do it, and I can help!
