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Go Deep Into Your Forward Bend

Jenny Sugar — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:10:41 PST

If you run, bike, ski, or sit at a desk all day, chances are your hamstrings are screaming for some attention. Get on the floor and give them what they crave - a seated forward bend. This pose looks simple enough, but here are some ways to increase that deep stretch in the backs of your legs.

Before folding forward, sit with your legs straight out in front of you. Take your right fingertips and pull the flesh of your glute up and away from the sit bone. Repeat on the: left hand moves left cheek. Moving the cushioning of your seat out of the way helps target your hamstrings more effectively in the stretch.
While still sitting upright, increase the stretch in the backs of your legs even further by gently pressing the backs of your knees into the floor. Flex your feet to also engage your calves and shins, but do keep your heels on the floor so you don't hyperextend your knees.
Actively roll both thighs inward, creating a more grounded base for your hips to hinge from. This action in the thighs also help keep the feet flat, as the pinky toe side of the foot has a tendency to curl away from you.

Continue reading to learn

Partner Yoga Pose: Double Sandwich

FitSugar — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 14:30:00 PDT

Seated forward bends feel amazing on your hamstrings and lower back. Doing this pose with a partner, called Double Sandwich, can add some some weight to your torso and help you elongate your spine even further. It also gives you an even deeper stretch than you could ever do on your own.

Continue reading to find out how to do this pose.

Stretch It: Hamstrings

FitSugar — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 16:45:00 PDT

If you have been doing a lot of walking, running, biking or hiking this summer, chances are your hamstrings could use a good stretch. Here's a sequence of stretches to loosen up your tight hamstrings.

Standing Forward Bend with Wrist Release - Place your hands on the mat, palms facing up with your fingertips facing you. Now step your feet onto your palms, pressing your toes into your wrist creases. If you can't reach your palms all the way down, just place your hands on your shins or feet.

Keep your legs straight and if it feels comfortable, you can bring your forehead toward your shins. Stay here for 5 deep breaths, or as long as you want. Then release your hands, press into your feet and return to standing.

Wide-Legged Forward Bend - Now take your legs about 3 ft wide. Keeping your back straight, fold forward at the hips and reach for your big toes. Relax your shoulders away from your ears and think about drawing the crown of your head towards the ground. Work on shifting weight forward into your toes. Stay here for 5 or more breaths.

Want to see the rest of the sequence? Then


Seated Straddle - Now drop your bum down and straighten out both legs in a straddle (or "V") position. Place your hands on the ground in front of you and start to walk them out away from your hips. Try doing this pose with different distances between your legs - it will change the position of where you feel the stretch. Stay in each for 5 or more breaths.
Seated Forward Bend - Next bring both your legs together so your knees and feet are touching. As you fold forward over your thighs, try to elongate your spine. Stay for at least 10 breaths (I like to hang out longer) so you can give your muscles enough time to loosen up.
Head to Knee pose - Now keep your left leg straight and bend your right knee. Press the sole of your right foot against your left inner thigh. Fold over your left leg, trying to keep both shoulders parallel with the ground. Stay for 5 or more deep breaths. Then lift your torso up, straighten out your right leg, bend your left knee, and do the other side.

Fit's Tips: Do these stretches slowly and in a warm room if possible. Since tight hamstrings are prone to injury, make sure to do these stretches before and after you use them. Remember, you want to warm up doing at least 5 minutes of cardio before doing deep or intense stretching.

Partner Yoga Pose: Double Sandwich

FitSugar — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 08:45:00 PDT

I just told you how to do Seated Forward Bend on your own, so now you can try it with a partner. It feels amazing since you can have your partner gently pull you into a deeper stretch for your hamstrings and lower back.

It's so important to communicate when doing Partner Yoga. Be sure to speak up and say "pull harder," or "that's too much," or "stay there," or "I've had enough."

This pose is called Double Sandwich, named by my girls, because when we do Kids Yoga, a Seated Forward Bend is called "Sandwich." Here's how to get into it:

Begin sitting on the ground with your legs straight out in front of you. Place the soles of your feet against your partner's feet.
Both partners bend forward at the hips, reaching for your partner's hands. If you can't reach, hold onto one end of a small towel or strap, and have your partner hold the other end.
Gently pull each other closer. As you get deeper into the stretch, you can move your hands closer to each other. Relax your shoulders away from your ears, and let your forehead release down to your legs.
Stay here for at least 5 deep breaths, or as long as you want.

Fit's Tips: Looking for more Partner Yoga poses to try? Double Tree and Standing Straddle are great poses to try.

Source

Strike a Yoga Pose: Seated Forward Bend

FitSugar — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 04:00:00 PDT

Ahh, the Seated Forward Bend. You either love it or you hate it, but we can all agree that it's great for stretching out our hamstrings and lower back like no other pose. It's great to do before and after a run or bike ride, or if you've been standing for a long time.

Sit on your mat with your legs extended straight in front of you.
Reach your hands underneath your tush and pull the fleshy part behind you so your pelvic bones are grounded. This will help to tilt your tail bone up, so you get a deeper stretch in your hamstrings.
Sit nice and tall, take a deep inhale and extend the crown of your head straight up away from your hips, elongating your spine as much as possible.
As you exhale, bend forward over your legs, leading with your chest, and continuing to keep your spine straight.
Place your hands on the ground next to your legs, on your legs, or grab onto your feet if you can reach.
Keep your head lifted, or you can relax your head down towards your legs.
Stay like this for at least 5 deep breaths. If you can stay longer, you'll begin to feel your lower back release and your hamstrings start to loosen and relax.

The seated forward bend is the pose I love to hate. It can feel extremely intense if your hamstrings are really tight (especially if you run or bike), so just be patient with your body. Continue to practice this pose as often as you can and you'll soon notice that it gets easier and you begin to love and need it more. If you are super tight you can try sitting on a yoga block with your legs out in front of you.

Strength Training No-Nos: What Not to Do When in Squats

Susi May — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:02:53 PST

No matter your fitness passion, from snowboarding to CrossFit, you likely do squats in your sweat sessions - they're a fitness staple. Sometimes, the more simple the move, the more careless we become when doing it, and before you know it you have sloppy squats. Here are four common mistakes that plague the standard squat. Next time you head to the gym, take a little time to get back to basics and run through this list. Not only will these corrections make the exercise more effective, but they prevent injuries too.

Mistake: Weight Too Far Forward
To take care of your knees and really engage your glutes, keep your weight in your heels. You should be able to freely wiggle your toes as you sit back into your squat. Weighting your heels also keeps the knees from moving beyond your toes, which can seriously strain that joint.
The Fix:
Practice squatting with a stable chair or weight bench behind you, and aim to lower your booty onto the front third of the seat - quietly and with control, no plopping down. This will help you shift your weight far enough back to truly challenge your glutes.

Mistake: Leaning Forward
When squatting, you want to keep your torso fairly upright, but tight hips can pull the upper body forward, straining the knees and the low back. Leaning forward also interferes with your ability to go deep in the squat, decreasing the amount of work for your backside.
The Fix:
Before a strength training session, do a dynamic warmup to open the front of the hips. Walking lunges work well as an active stretch for the tight hip flexors. To keep your torso upright, use an exercise ball at the wall for your squats and single leg squats too. Here are details on how to set yourself up for ball squats at the wall - just make sure you're going deep enough into the squat so your thighs are parallel to the ground.

Keep on reading for more about squats after the break.

What Not to Do in Chair Pose

Jenny Sugar — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:55:28 PST

Whether you have five or 50 yoga classes under your capris, Chair pose (aka Fierce) is one of the many basic postures you'll strike just about as often as Down Dog since it's the first pose in Sun Salutation B. As a yoga instructor, I've noticed some major no-nos that you'll want to avoid to prevent discomfort and to make sure you're getting the most out of the pose.

Weight too far forward: When you bend your knees and lower your hips into the pose, pretend you're about to sit down in an imaginary chair. This will remind you to keep your body weight back into your heels. Give your toes a little wiggle to make sure you're shifting toward the back of your feet and to release tension in your forefoot. Shifting back into your heels works your glutes and thighs more and will also prevent strain on the knees.

Keep reading to find out other mistakes you're making doing Chair pose.

4 Desk Stretches to Relieve Neck and Shoulder Tension

Jenny Sugar — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 01:25:41 PST

Sitting at a desk for hours on end, staring at your computer screen, and scrunching your shoulders as you type can create a stiff neck and tense shoulders, or even a headache. Take a break and do these four stretches at your desk to offer some stress relief.

Behind the Back Neck Stretch: offers a deep stretch in the sides of your neck

Sitting on the edge of a sturdy chair, reach both hands behind your pelvis, and hold onto your left wrist with your right hand. Use your right hand to gently straighten your left arm and pull it away from you slightly. To increase the stretch in your neck, slowly lower your right ear toward your shoulder.
Stay here for 30 seconds and then switch sides.

Keep reading to learn how to do three more tension-relieving stretches at your desk.

Sneezy, Stuffy, Runny: Natural Cold Remedies to Do Before Bed

Jenny Sugar — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:27:03 PDT

If if you eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly, get enough sleep, and wash your hands a bazillion times a day, you can still find yourself reaching for the tissues and cough drops. Luckily cold symptoms don't last too long, but here are some ways to get relief from your ails without popping pills or swallowing gross liquid.

Heat and Water
Before slipping into bed, take a hot shower. Make sure the bathroom door is closed and the fan switched off so you can breathe in as much steam as possible. Take a washcloth, run it under the hot water, place it on your face and gently massage your sinuses to loosen up mucus. If you have a neti pot, use that in the shower to drain your nasal passages. If you're weirded out by flushing warm salt water through your nose, use an over-the-counter saline spray.

Keep reading to learn three other natural ways to get cold relief before hitting the hay.

10 Sneaky Toning Moves You Can Do at Work

Self — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 04:30:38 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Self here on FitSugar!

Your office nemesis isn't that know-it-all in the cubicle over, it's lurking right beneath you: your chair!

The more you're sitting, the less calories you're burning... not the ideal bikini body plan.

Picture this: when sitting, your activity in your muscles drops and the calorie-burning rate decreases to just about one per minute. And, women who spent more than six hours per day of sitting (less than a full day of work!) had a 37 percent higher death rate, according to a study from the American Cancer Society. It's scary stuff.

Since I haven't quite mastered the art of jogging while responding to emails, I asked creator of the MELT Method Sue Hitzmann and creator of FitKit Office Amie Hoff to share tips for combating the effects of being chair-bound. And since turning your office into a pseudo-gym can garner a few strange looks, they've kept their exercises as sneaky as possible. Just tell your bosses what's good for your health is good for their bottom line, and try to convince them to bring these healthy vending machines to the break room!

Check out these easy moves after the break!