It’s never been easier - this doctor recommends 3 exercises you can do lying down to improve core strength and ease stiffness
Dr Zoe Williams took This Morning hosts Cat and Ben through a range of lying down exercises designed to be as simple as possible
Lying down exercise might make you think of Pilates or yoga workouts, but you can also do some types of strength training from the comfort of your yoga mat or living room floor - believe it or not.
Dr Zoe Williams is an NHS GP and well aware of how time-strapped women are, which is why she is keen to highlight the importance of easy, approachable exercise. It doesn't beat a good gym session or a daily walking workout, but even a short set of core exercises on the ground is better than nothing.
The doctor appeared on ITV's This Morning with Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard. She says, these exercises "obviously aren’t going to give you the same benefits as high intensity exercise”, but you’ll still notice the difference if you do them regularly.
With two willing participants in Cat and Ben, Dr Zoe showed This Morning’s viewers her favourite lying down exercises.
1. Heel roll-outs
Dr Zoe says the key to heel roll-outs is keeping your lower back pressed into the ground, doing them very slowly, and keeping your core engaged.
“Lie on your back, relax your head down and you’re going to tense those core muscles deep inside," says the doctor. "Once you’ve got hold of them, don’t tense them hard, about 30%."
Here's how to do it:
- Lie on your yoga mat, back and hips pressed into the floor.
- Tense your core - as if you're trying to stop yourself from "doing a wee or a poo".
- Slowly, extend one leg out straight. Focus on the control, not the speed.
- Bring it back in and switch legs.
- Try it for 8 to 10 repetitions on each leg, for 3 sets.
2. Hip tilt
The hip tilt exercise is one you might be familiar with if you do Pilates workouts at home. You need to keep your core and pelvic floor muscles engaged before curling your lower back off the ground and raising your hips.
Here's how to do it:
- Lie flat on your back, bring your knees towards your chest, and put your feet flat on the floor.
- Hold the same core position, bringing your muscles into full control, as if to stop yourself from going to the bathroom.
- Curl your back slowly up and off the ground into a glute bridge.
- Hold the position for a few seconds before lowering back down slowly.
- Try doing 10 reps for 3 sets.
3. Rock, paper, scissors
This isn’t an exercise we’ve come across before but it’s one Dr Zoe describes as “playing rock, paper, scissors with your toes”. It’s used by physios with the aim to relieve stiff feet.
It’s easy to forget about this important part of the body when we’re exercising, but our foot health is just as important as anything else. If our feet are sore or limited in mobility, it’s going to impact us when we run, lift weights or just go about our daily lives.
Here's how to do it:
- Lying down on your back, clench your toes, bringing them down towards the underside of your foot as much as you can. This is the 'rock'.
- Straighten your toes, pushing them up to the original position and stretching them towards the ceiling as much as possible. This is the 'paper'.
- For the scissors, Dr Zoe says to move your big toe around as much as possible.
- Repeat the movements for a minute.
Other lying-down exercises you could try include straight-leg raises and hip and quadricep exercises.
Lying-down exercises are a great start, but you’ll also need to incorporate some moderate- to high-intensity exercise into your week. “If you go for a 10-minute brisk walk every day, that can reduce your risk of early death by 15%,” she says.
Cat adds: “And that’s nothing – 10 minutes, that’s easy.” And Dr Zoe explains: “If you do four minutes of high intensity interval training, that can reduce your risk of death from cancer, from heart disease and from all causes by 40%.” This could be running, jogging, dancing or fast cycling.
