Did you ever have a work project fall apart in the end because your team missed some crucial activities at the beginning?
Let’s make sure the same does not happen to your body once you turn older.
Here are three activities that will improve your quality of life immediately, but will change your life in 30 years.
Neck training
Having a screen job, the forward neck posture is almost guaranteed, especially if the screen is a laptop in a cafe instead of an eye-level monitor.
A well-trained and strong neck is not only important to prevent postural issues but also protects you during accidents, bumpy rides, and while sleeping on a rock.
Just simply using your hands as resistance and pushing against your head in different directions, resisting with your neck muscles and holding the position for 45 seconds, is a good start.
Sprinting
I often talk about the importance of maintaining the ability to stay explosive.
It’s the first ability that gets lost once we get older and the one that’s most important for preventing accidents and injuries.
Sprinting, running at close to top speed, is the most intense, full-body activity you can do.
That makes it a great tool but also requires good technique and some muscular stability to not injure yourself while running.
Running uphill is a great way to reduce intensity and impact on the joints.
Stair sprints can also work but they require you to slow down more and stay focused on catching all the steps.
Sprinting once a week is plenty, make sure to warm up well, keep your sprints short and crisp, and stop when you are tired. Also, the rest periods of your sprint intervals are the best time to practice my favorite breathing exercise.
Breathing practices
Our breath can manipulate our body.
Knowing how to breathe with your diaphragm, and having a good conscious connection to your breathing muscles allows you to calm or energize yourself when you need it.
You know that there are plenty of breathing exercises, the ones I often use are cyclic hyperventilation, breath holds, and box breaths. They are all good and you should look into which ones you might like.
The most important breathing habit I recommend though is learning to control and calm your breathing during rest periods while working out.
Between sets I work on getting my breath back under control, ideally inhaling through the nose for 2-3 seconds and exhaling slowly through pursed lips for up to 10 seconds.
Imagine yourself after an intense sprint and you should see why this might be challenging in the first few moments.
Do it now, enjoy it later.
