Love the Shoulders

Wow!  The month of February came quick and moved along even faster.  For a short month, it was filled with emotions, memories and activities.  I was supposed to get this blog out in the middle of the month but the middle of the month came with a big snow storm and took some of my friends away from their families.  A heavy heart makes it really difficult to focus on anything.

When I cannot focus, I close my eyes and try to listen to my own breath.  As I do that, I can think about the parts of my body that will help me focus better.  The one part of my body that helps me move forward is my shoulders.  Whenever we are stressed, anxious or heartbroken, we carry that load on our shoulders.  We tense up our shoulders and pull them up close to our ears.  And because we are tensed up, the shoulders stay put in that position preventing us from having a full range of motion.

Shoulders hold a critical junction point between arms and the core.  They help the arms with any weight that it is lifted - like groceries.  They also help open up the chest so that the lungs and the heart can work more efficiently.  Therefore in the times of stress, it is important to pay attention to where the shoulders are.  Relaxing them by pushing them away from the ears, helps reducing the stress load on the shoulders and creates a larger mobility for arms and the chest.

I have a quick go-to routine to keep my shoulders strong.  For this routine, either a kettlebell or a dumbbell can be used.  Since I am a big fan of using things in our household, I use a gallon of water, which is part of my emergency kit. :)

The critical part on any shoulder workout is recognizing the time when you stress your shoulder as opposed to letting the muscles do the work.  Please try to be in front of a mirror and watch yourself.  The moment you pull your shoulder up towards your ears, either stop the workout or drop your weight.  Also, make sure that you are not leaning side to side or back and forth to lift the weight.

This quick routine can be paired with the legs routine from last month to give a solid 15 minutes strength workout.

High five to all of us for recognizing when we are stressed and trying to relax!

Can you spot our Truck?