Morning Strength and Flexibility rituals

[Too Tall]

This routine gets changed up every few months. Lately, I wake up and immediately hit the mat for:
Core
1. Teasers, Situps (split legs, Oblique and shallow rollups).
2. Pushups
3. Cobra
4. Swimming
Flexibility
1. Low back limber (bend over and relax into palms down than use core to go lower)
2. Leg on the sink basin and lay forward while brushing my toofs (both sides)
3. Warrior while shaving

That's my morning drill for the next few months. Evening is another ball of wax.

[Lionel]

Mine is more like:

- Wake up, where am I ?
- Locate the nespresso machine
- Press the button
- Drink
- locate the oat meal
- locate the orange juice
- eat and drink the above
- pop a second coffee in the nespresso machine

[Too Tall]

The routine gets done 3X per week.

[Lionel]

Mine is done every day. Real hard core.

[roseyscot]

Mine is
- wake up
- go to the fridge to get a bottle of milk
- bend over to retrieve the crying 1 year old from the crib
- walk around with him while he drinks the bottle
- think longingly back to the days when I had no dependents

pretty sure I'm ready for ski season with this intense morning routine

[DOOFUS]

I stretch in the evening before bed


I haven't done any core work for a year. YMMV, but I'm finding that getting in a 4.5-5.5 hour ride once a week helps my core stability on the bike more than doing things with a bouncy ball.

[quickag]

crossfit mobility/warmup stuff is great for a quick and dirty stretch.

[Vlad Luskin]

I heft my 3.5-month old. Good for biceps, though not as good as rosey's 1-year old.

[liv2bike]

At least 2x/week:

- Bird Dog
- Plank
- Side Plank
- Supine Bridge
- Cobra
- Woodchoppers
- Foam roller on tight areas (IT bands esp.) and lots of stretching

I will mix these up and do them on the stability ball as well. If the kids wake and catch me doing my routine...then I do them with little people crawling/jumping all over me. Makes for a more challenging plank.

[WadePatton]

I need some routines and rituals...pardon me while i cut/paste these into my madness. and thanks.

[Eric Estlund]

AM/ PM- 2 sets daily(ish)
-squats
-calf raises
-wall sits
-single arm rows
-shoulder press
-lateral raises
-curls

Anyone have a non-kneeling glute killer I can do waiting for my coffee to heat up? Preferably one that is hard to "cheat" with other muscles.

[Rayburn Shaun]

Stiff legged deadlift if you have dumbbells or some type of weight. Even bodyweight to start.

Or lunges of any type if it works for your body and doesn't cause pain.

If you have access to a hyperextension bench, those are good if you rest your thighs/hips on the pad and use hams/glutes to do the work instead of focusing on spinal erectors. Of course, YMMV though.

[Eric Estlund]

Thanks, will give it a go! Lunges and the knee don't seem to play well, and I fight other muscle recruitment pretty heavily.

[Rayburn Shaun]

Fair enough.

Maybe not what you're looking for, but straight up barbell squats or deadlifts really work the entire back/glute/hamstring/quad chain.

If those don't cause chronic pain in your body type, they are excellent for overall strength building. Throw in pullups and dips (or pushups) and you have a very quick full-body womp that does a lot of good.

[Too Tall]

If I could only do one thing it would be good old squats.

Fair enough.

Maybe not what you're looking for, but straight up barbell squats or deadlifts really work the entire back/glute/hamstring/quad chain.

If those don't cause chronic pain in your body type, they are excellent for overall strength building. Throw in pullups and dips (or pushups) and you have a very quick full-body womp that does a lot of good.

[Matthew Strongin]

If I could only do one thing it would be good old squats.

I would do deadlifts, but my long arms and short legs give me an advantage.

Great routines in this thread.

[jjmstang]

I would do deadlifts, but my long arms and short legs give me an advantage.

Great routines in this thread.

Stand on a platform with the bar on the floor and add squats.......the 2 best movements you can do

[rydesteel]

Been a long time, been a long 12 months of this and that, started back into kettle bells. Get ups and swings repeat often soon to be followed by presses and snatches. Might even get back on the bike come Spring been way to long since I turned a pedal.

[Jess Couch]

5 days a week

Foam Roller - entire legs
Various Stretches - from a book called Core Performance
Alternating core routines - from the same book

Developed this because of a back issue 8 years ago. It worked, and I never stopped.

[Matthew Strongin]

Stand on a platform with the bar on the floor and add squats.......the 2 best movements you can do

For sure. I was speaking of the hypothetical "if I could only do one." I don't have a platform at my gym, but I'll load the bar with smaller plates to get it lower than the big 45lb plates. My routine at the gym usually consists of deads, squats (front and back), push-ups, rows and pull-ups mixed up for variety. My monkey arms just make the deads more natural. For flexibility I do basic yoga moves every other day or so with long yoga routines on non-riding days.