Wellness & Beyond Health and Fitness Site
The article at Medium Feb. 6, 2019, Why You Should ‘Exercise Snack’ Throughout the Day, Adriana Velez writes that “short practices of physical movement — like briskly climbing stairs a few times a day — can effectively improve a person’s fitness level.” She points out that “in other recent studies, exercise snacking has shown to be effective in reducing blood sugar and in lowering blood pressure — more effective, even, than one bout of 30-minute, daily exercise.”
For personal trainer and certified CrossFit coach Tiana Gonzalez, another value to exercise snacking is its power to change your mindset. Taking on a fitness challenge in small bites rather than an overwhelming feast helps you reframe the task of practicing.
“Feeling a sense of accomplishment will encourage a shift in a client’s mindset from ‘This is really hard,’ or ‘I hate exercise,’ or even ‘I am never going to reach my goal,’ to ‘Wow, look what I did,” she says. From there, you can level up.
Currently, body awareness is addressed by focusing on isolated body parts and it is not sufficient to produce proper functional movement. The development of functional body awareness based on integrated movement of muscles and joints is time-consuming and challenging process. Wellness and Beyond incorporated the concept of functional movements “snacks” by practicing in 5-minute intervals on the hour.
Functional Movement Practice Snacks– Basic Level, Standing Position
8:55 Integrated Leg Complex Movement
Elevate hip joint, pelvis, femur bone, knee joint, tibia bone and ankle joint simultaneously
Alignment
Hip joint, pelvis, femur bone, knee joint, tibia bone and ankle joint are interconnected as one unit
Focus Points
Hip joint, knee joint and ankle joint are flexed
10:55 Rotation in Mini-Squat Position
Movement
Pelvis/hip joints move down and back and return to neutral position
Femur bone inward and outward to neutral position with ball of foot on floor and heel off floor
Both ends of femur bone and iliac crest (top pelvic bone) rotate simultaneously.
Prevent hyperextension (locking) pelvis/hip joints when moving up
Avoid upper body leaning forward
12:55 Plie the Second Position
Movement
Pelvic tilt to the back
Alignment
Lower leg vertical no angle relative to floor, position iliac crest, hip joints posterior (back) and anterior (front) on the heels.
Focus Points
Hip joints flex first and knee joints to follow
Avoid knee joints flexing before hip joints
2:55 Integrated Arm Complex Movement
Movement
Move shoulder blade, shoulder joint, elbow joint and wrist joint
Alignment
Shoulder blade, shoulder joint, elbow joint and wrist joint are interconnected as one unit
Focus Points
Minimal shoulder movement
Avoid moving shoulders before moving shoulder blades
4:55 Pelvis and hip joints lateral tilt (side to side).
Movement
Hip joints and pelvis shoulder width apart, moving laterally from left to right and right to left simultaneously
Alignment
Hip joint, pelvis, femur bone, knee joint, tibia bone and ankle joint are interconnected as one unit
Focus Points
Left pelvis and hip joint move anteriorly (front) and right pelvis move posteriorly (back) simultaneously.
Engage pelvis and hip joint simultaneously
Simultaneous mini-rotation of left and right pelvis/hip joints