Video:Tips for Exercising in the Morning

Transcript:Tips for Exercising in the Morning

Hi this is Keith. We're here at Nimble Fitness in New York City for About.com. Today we're going to demonstrate some exercises you can do in the morning.

Start With Opening Stretches When Exercising in the Morning

Antonio is going to demonstrate some gentle openers you can do in the morning when you wake up or really at any time of day. First we're going to start by moving into the hips, and stretching some of the muscles of the hips. You'll notice that he is keeping a neutral lower spine. He isn't letting that fold over. And we're stretching through the hips.

After that Antonio is going to move into something in yoga we call Cat and Cow, and now were really moving the muscles around the spine and allowing them to stretch. We've got a very safe place to start opening up the muscles.

And we're going to finish with a lateral stretch now. Antonio is going to push back into what we call a Child's Pose. And then we're going to roll that right hand over and get a nice lateral stretch, and then he's going to shift over to the left side.

Do Active Warm-Ups When Exercising in the Morning

So now Antonio is going to progress into some more active warm-ups. This we call the Bird-Dog, and Antonio is first going to hold these isometrically to allow those muscles to warm up and to feed them a little blood and oxygen. And he's going to switch to the other side. And now to pick it up a little bit, Antonio can increase his tempo and make this a little bit more active.

So now if we want to make this more active, Antonio is now in a Plank, and we're going to pick up one leg and make this a little bit more challenging. And now we're going to switch to the other side, and you'll notice that Antonio is working hard to keep that lower spine neutral, and keep a nice long line right from the heel all the way through the top of the head.

Then Move Into a Strength Workout When Exercising in the Morning

So now Antonio is going to demonstrate how to progress from a relatively easier exercise into something that is a little more challenging. So we're starting with a Bridge, and after a series of these we can progress into some single-leg work. And again it's important to keep a strong, neutral lower spine.

We're going to move into some strength exercises now. Antonio is going to demonstrate a Squat. Careful to slide the hips back, he's not letting his knees come in too far over his feet. As you get more comfortable with this exercise you can start to take it a little bit lower. Just making sure to keep that spine long.

Try a Postural Stability Pose When Exercising in the Morning

Now we're going to demonstrate a Postural Stability exercise. Antonio is doing the Plank, and what we're working on here is generating stability through the torso and also around the shoulders. So we've got a nice long back here, and he is holding it isometrically, which is a good way to charge up those muscles.

If you want to progress this exercise, you press up off the knees. And we're careful to keep a nice long spine. And finally we're going to come to everybody's favorite exercise, the Push-up. So those shoulders are keeping in line as he presses forward, and he's very careful to keep a nice long back as he's pressing through there. To progress this exercise, we simply get up off the knees. And one key here is making sure you are breathing with each repetition.

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