PFTL NEWS
Thank you to all our clients, trainers and others who have continued to come to our studio to train despite the mask mandate. Covid and its evolving variant strains are very much still present in this country, even in Wilmette. We are all getting weary of wearing masks, hearing about new infections, over-burdened hospitals, etc. It is an incontrovertible fact that mask wearing and vaccinations are the only way our country will recover from the Covid pandemic. We all hope this will be over by year-end. Bear with us…
STRETCHES TO DO AFTER SITTING TOO LONG (excerpted from IDEA Fit Tips September 2021)
We all do this… We find that sitting at a computer, watching TV, reading a book, texting, etc. all seem to make us spend more time sitting than we planned to do. Sometimes hours go by and we haven’t moved our butt off the chair since we first sat down!
Here are some stretches you can do when you realize you have been sitting for too long a time.
HIP HINGE – Sitting all day can cause “sleepy glutes” and lead to lower-back pain. When done correctly, hip hinges activate the glutes and stretch the posterior chain.
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent.
- Place hands behind head and lean forward, core engaged, bending at hips.
- Keeping back straight, bend forward until chest is parallel to floor; return to start.
CHEST OPENER – holding something in front of you (book, phone) or typing on a computer can cause the muscles in front of your shoulders to shorten which contributes to a rounded-shoulder posture.
- Bring hands up alongside ears, fingers lightly touching side of head.
- Inhale: Lift chest to prepare.
- Exhale: Engage core and move elbows back and away.
- Return to start and repeat
BACKWARD SHOULDER ROLL:
- Stand tall, gazing forward or down.
- Inhale: Squeeze shoulder blades together.
- Exhale: Roll shoulder blades back and down toward spine.
- Repeat, making sure shoulders go back and down, not up and forward.
FRONT DELTOID AND PEC STRETCH:
- Stand tall, in neutral alignment.
- Place hands on lower back, fingers down, as if sliding hands into back pockets.
- Inhale to prepare. Exhale: Gently squeeze elbows toward the spine.
- Release and repeat.
WANT A FUN NIGHT OUT?
The Rotary Clubs of Wilmette, Wilmette Harbor, and Winnetka/Northfield are hosting a fundraising event on September 22 from 5pm to 8pm at the outside Wallace Bowl in Gillson Park, Wilmette. You will hear musical performances by a jazz combo from Midwest Young Artists Conservatory, a New Trier High School jazz combo and the Suzanne Cross Combo All proceeds are going to Our Place, which is a center for developmentally and intellectually disabled teens and adults. Tickets are $25. There is also a raffle for travel packages to Scottsdale, AZ and San Francisco. Tickets can be purchased online at: