So much of the holiday season is spent in the car - traveling to visit family, waiting in drive-through lines for a quick meal, or driving around parking lots looking for a spot in order to finish your holiday shopping. Add to that the inevitable stress of the holiday season in general and your muscles are screaming for relief.
Americans sit an average of 10 hours a day, causing our hip flexor muscles to shorten and making our glutes weaker. In order to avoid muscle tightness and tension, strengthening our glutes and lengthening our hip flexors by stretching is important. It’s also really hard to maintain a healthy posture while driving - you might find your neck jutting forward, shoulders pulled up to your ears, and hands tightly gripping the wheel. To start relaxing your muscles while you are driving, make an effort to take a deep breath, sit up straighter, relax your shoulders, pull your head back, and loosen your grip on the wheel. Doing this simple relaxation at every red light is a quick way to start relaxing the tension in your muscles.
In addition to adjusting your alignment while you’re driving, it’s important to stretch out your muscles after you arrive at your destination. Here are 5 simple stretches to try out during the holiday season to ease muscle tension and soreness:
Chest opener. Make a goal post shape with your arms while standing next to a door frame or corner of a wall. Then place your palm on the door or wall, as though you are giving it a high five. Walk forward slightly until you feel your chest stretch. Repeat on the opposite side.
Runner’s lunge. Kneel on both knees and then step one foot forward, stacking your front knee over your ankle. Press your hips forward, feeling the stretch in your hip flexors. Repeat on the other side.
Write stretch. Make small circles with your wrists in each direction. Then, with your arms at should height and palms facing forward, gently pull fingers back towards your face, releasing tension in your forearms and wrist.
.Chest opener & Forward fold. With your knees slightly bent and feet hip-width apart, clasp your hands behind your back. Push your knuckles toward the ground and then fold forward at your waist, allowing hands to rise up off your back to open your chest while folding forward.
Spinal rotation. Start in a butterfly with feet together and knees open, sitting on the ground. Put your right hand at the base of your spine on the ground behind you. Take a deep breath in and rotate to the right. Hold for 2-3 breaths, and then repeat rotating to the left.
We hope these simple stretches will release your muscles and ease the tension that can creep up during the holiday season. We hope you have a happy holidays!