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Driver Exercises: Best 3 Cardio Moves On the Go

As a yoga teacher of nearly 20 years, I understand the importance of balance, and the need for cardio is essential.

As a truck driver finding time to exercise can be challenging, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible. When it comes to trucking yoga stretching is essential, especially as we age, but we also need to find time to get our heart rate up. Cardio is a great way to take care of your heart health and get your driver fitness on. And with February being Heart Health Awareness Month it is a great time to tune up your driver fitness.

Cardio is a shortened word for cardiovascular (exercise), something most truck drivers don’t get enough of when it comes to truck driver health and driver fitness. There are many benefits to getting your heart rate up and a slight movement in. The below are certainly some of the concerns truck drivers have regarding truck driver health. AHA Journals shared…

Benefits of Regular Exercise on Cardiovascular Risk Factors

  • Increase in exercise tolerance.
  • Reduction in body weight.
  • Reduction in blood pressure.
  • Reduction in bad (LDL and total) cholesterol.
  • Increase in good (HDL) cholesterol.
  • Increase in insulin sensitivity.
I stress to drivers and my Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART Platform members to find pockets within their day to add fitness rather than continually separating it from your day.
Mother Trucker Yoga LIFESTYLE JUMPSTART App and platform image

Research is now showing that you don’t need 60 minutes of straight-up cardio exercise to benefit your heart. You may not even need 30 minutes at a time. But you do need something. Mother Trucker Yoga focuses on a variety of fitness and health areas: trucking yoga, driver fitness like resistance, strengthening, toning, core health, and cardio.

My three favorite cardio exercises to do at home and on the go are:

1. Chair Power Run

Place your hands on the mouth of a chair and step back into a plank. Keeping a brisk pace for one minute (or 50 strides) run in place. Work to bring your knees into your chest as best as possible for bonus core work.

Chair Running Hope Zvara Mother Trucker Yoga Easy Cardio Blog

2. Pretend Jump Rope

Stand upright and pretend to hold a jump rope. Begin to gently bounce in a place like you were briskly jumping rope at a level that works for you (your feet don’t even have to lift off the ground if you don’t want them to). Move the pretend rope as quickly as possible. Try to do this for one minute.

Driver Exercises: Best 3 Cardio Moves On the Go walking and jump rope mother trucker yoga blog image

3. A 5 Minute Walk and Talk

We all make and take phone calls, start walking every time you have a phone call.

Do stairs as quickly as you can, almost to the point of being out of breath. Walk outside, walk backward, lunge walk. Get creative. But get up and walk and talk.

 

Attention Truckers: Step It Up with Interval Walking

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Attention truckers let’s stet it up with interval walking.

This is a perfect way to increase your efforts to add more movement into your day?

Maybe you are getting the toning or even stretching you need, but the cardio just isn’t there.

And it can be challenging. As someone who travels on and off quite a bit. The neighborhood can look a bit sketchy when it comes to getting out for a walk.

I have no trouble hoofing it in the airport with a roller bag in tow. But I know what you are thinking. Hope I’m usually pulled over in a truck stop parking lot, where do I go now?

And that’s a great point. Good news! Truck stops like TA Petro have roughly had 211 truckstops and of them have 171 have walking trails!

So depending on where you are located and where you drive regularly. At least you know there are some options made available!

But no matter what:

  1. You’ve got feet.
  2. You’ve got asphalt/parking lot
  3. A few minutes to burn on a break or parked for the night.

On an average day, you want to walk close to 10,000 steps. However, the average American barely walks 3,000-4,000 steps per day. Which is roughly 1.5 to 2 miles. The Department of Health and Human Services recommends you walk an average of 150 minutes a week!

Let’s do the math. That’s roughly 21.7 minutes PER DAY! That’s it!

So between you and me. We got this! And let us turn up the heat a bit so you can get the most bang out of your stride every single time!

Interval Walking Check List:

Protocol: Start small and simple. Try 5 minutes of easy walking. Next, you want to increase intensity only about 15% for 4 minutes. And continue to do so every 4 minutes. Keep going until you reach your maximum amount of available walk time. And don’t forget to include a 2-5 minute cool down walk as well.

Example: 5 minutes of easy walking -> 15% increase for 4 minutes (total time 9 minutes) -> 15% increase for 4 minutes (total time 13 minutes) -> 15% increase for 4 minutes (total time 17 minutes) -> 15% increase for 2 minutes -> decrease to original pace for 2-5 minutes (total time 21-24 minutes)

Walking is a simple yet often overlooked form of exercise. If you don’t want to end up in a wheelchair when you are older. Then get out of the chair now! This doesn’t mean you have to go out and get a gym membership, become a yogi, or join Cross Fit.

NBC News.com posted an article discussing how walking is the MOST underrated form of exercise. And I couldn’t agree more. “Walking can be as good as a workout, if not better than running,” says Dr. Matt Tanneberg, CSCS, a sports Chiropractor and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist in Phoenix, Arizona who works with elite athletes. “You hear of people ‘plateauing’ when they continue to do the same workout routine and stop seeing results. I see patients all the time that plateau from running, they will run the same distance, speed and time, day in and day out. You need to constantly be switching up your exercise routine in order to get the maximum benefit for your health.”

What should the level of intensity be?

1 being no exertion at all

15 being maximal exertion

Start at about a 5 – “Light”. Much like a warm-up in an exercise class.

And each increase, bump yourself up one exertion level.

Think of the goal to get to 10- “Hard”. Where the workout feels difficult, but you can keep going.

Every little bit counts.

Can’t do 20 minutes straight? Consider five minutes and increase rate each minute after minute for 3 minutes, with a cool down minute at minute five.

Interval walking is great for weight-loss. And if increasing your interval like above seems a bit much. Reduce the time and consider adding in 30 second rest periods.

In that same article NBC News posted John Ford, certified exercise physiologist, who runs JKF Fitness & Health in New York City. commented that: “In fact, walking is the suggested workout over running for many people. For example, those with knee, ankle and back problems and also for people who are overweight to obese. Walking is a lower impact exercise and can be done for longer periods of time.”

The only excuses are the ones you make up in your head. It doesn’t matter if all you can do is one minute of walking and then you have to take a break. Because it all adds up. And the biggest critic is the one inside that head. And I want to tell you it’s all lies. You can do this! Walking can be fun. And it’s free!

When we tell ourselves we need to exercise or workout, what we are doing is putting that into a box. And in that box are stipulations around how that box should or should not be used. I want to encourage you to take exercise out of that box and see it has movement. Challenge yourself every day to move more. And do not mistake walking as just something you do. Because without walking the world is no longer accessible to you in the way you want. Walking is your independence, your freedom, your gateway into the world on many levels. So get out and walk today. The more you do it, the more you will want to do it!

References:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/10000-steps/art-20317391

https://www.verywellfit.com/how-to-use-interval-walking-to-lose-weight-3495456

https://www.nbcnews.com/better/health/why-walking-most-underrated-form-exercise-ncna797271

10 Quick Tips to Improve Your Walk

Do you need to improve your walk?

You can tell a lot about a person by the way they walk. If you ask anyone that knows me the will tell you I love to watch how people move.

Not to poke fun of them. But it’s like a puzzle to me. Why does this not move?

Or why does that go that way when this goes this way?

See how they swing their leg when they walk, but only on the left side?

All these little things started from something.

An injury. A pattern. A pair of shoes. A particular lifestyle choice that has now rearranged muscles and tissues all around their bodies and as a result. Things just don’t move quite right when they walk.

Most people are unconscious of these issues when they first start. And many go unnoticed until an injury or pain occurs. And when this then happens, the moment it occurred is usually blamed for the reason of the issue or injury. When more than likely what caused it has been an accumulation over time, you adapting to your environment.

Walking Blog Post Mother Trucker Yoga

What is the environment your feet are kept in on a daily basis? How long do you keep those casts on your feet also known as shoes? Have you ever flipped over those casts of yours and looked at the worn down tread underneath? Check out VeryWellFit.com  article on reading the tread on the bottom of your shoe.

A fair amount of people unfortunately wear ill fitting shoes and shoes that do not communicate well with the rest of the body. And it is only a matter of time before your body tells you it does not like it’s current situation.

Wondering how you can improve your walk today?

Here are 10 quick ways to improve your walk today!

1. Check the current state of your shoes. Flip those babies over and check the tread. And take note. Is the tread worn off on the edges? Heel? Only one side? Do your feet spill out the sides of your shoes? This will give you insight as to how your foot strikes the ground. But more importantly how your hip and foot communicate.

 

2. While walking feel and tune into how and when your foot actually meets the ground. Do you feel a slight skid or drag on one or both feet? Do you constantly stub your toe on only one side? Do one or both of your feet point any other direction than forward? The moment you become more conscious of something is the moment you can begin to create a pathway to change.

 

3. Try to walk with your feet forward. I know it may sound basic. But it can often be easier said than done. Focus on rolling through the middle of your foot for a complete take off. Not only will this improve the function of your feet, but it can ease pain on your knees and hips brought on by how you walk. As I tell all my students: “If you are going forward, your feet should be pointing forward”.

 

4. Have someone watch you walk. Sounds silly I know, but they can offer you feedback in real time as to what you are doing and you may not even know it. And have them assess your entire body. Do you swing only one arm? Lean forward. Limp? Swing your left leg? Drag your right foot? Are you a speedy walker? Do your feet cross the mid-line? Feedback is key to assessing for a change.

 

5. Can you extend your hip? What is your hip range of motion? Do you only walk with your legs in front of you? Do you walk from your knees down? Practice hip extension by practicing lunging, or practice walking and make sure your leg actually extends behind you when you walk. This doubles as a stretch after all that sitting. (Those that sit often struggle with this) Check out this video to find out more about how to improve your walk.

 

6. Take your shoes off. Yes. your shoes, your casts need to be removed! And even if that just means relaxing or hanging out in your rig barefoot. Do it! Or better yet, log into Mother Trucker Yoga’s online studio and do some yoga!

 

7. Roll out your feet. Your body is held together by a sea of tone. Also known as fascia! And that fascia is either like a piece of plastic or elastic. Wearing shoes all day do not help turn that plastic back into elastic. Try a acuBall to help break all that plastic up. Have plantar fasciitis (check out this article I wrote on MindBodyGreen on the subject)? Then you don’t want to skip this step. Check out this video for how to roll out your feet. And grab your acuBall in our MTY store.

acuBall mini for foot pain

8. Stretch your hip. A pain in your hip can mess with your gait (fancy word for walk/stride). Every morning when you wake up take 30 seconds on each side and stretch your hip out. Be ready to feel some tightness, but what you will feel afterward is relief! Mother Trucker Yoga suggests trying the seated Figure 4 stretch!

Trucker Walk hip stretch Mother Trucker Yoga

9. Stretch your calves. Your calf is not only the hydraulic pump to pump blood flow back up to your heart. But they also serve as a springboard in your walk and and releasing them will give your knees, arches and ankles relief. Try hanging your heels of the step of your rig for a quick once over!

 

10. Challenge yourself and walk on different surfaces. We live in a concrete jungle so whenever you get the opportunity, change it up. Grass, gravel, dirt, rocks. And ask you walk tune into how your body responds to the ground beneath you. Not only will your feet enjoy the change of pace. But so will the rest of the muscles in your body.

Improve Your Walk Surface Blog Post Mother Trucker Yoga

It is vital to not over-complicate the changes you want to make in your life. But also don’t just think about the changes you hope to make. Don’t say you are going to make the tomorrow. Start today! Start today, it doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t have to take up all your free time. It just needs to happen. Let your allies at Mother Trucker Yoga support and help you along the way.