A Summer Body is a Mobile Body
by Sahra Esmonde-White
In summer, most of us become more active than usual – we all want to maximize this magical time of the year that blesses us with long, sunny days. Personally, I triple the amount of time I spend walking my dogs, and our walks become more challenging. I also garden, landscape, and spend time sitting in cafes, watching the world go by – all activities that engage my muscles in new and unfamiliar ways.
We have never loved the idea that a specific aesthetic is necessary for taking care of ourselves in different seasons. We understand that what we ask of our body changes with the seasons. At Essentrics, seasonal themed workouts are designed to support the health of our muscles, joints and connective tissue, as we are more likely to undertake repetitive movements during different times of the year. Summer is one of those key periods when we ask more of our bodies.
Our Conditioning Programs are tailored to support your favorite summer activities: hiking, biking, gardening, golf, racket sports, cycling and swimming. These activities are all wonderful forms of exercise and combining them with a full-body mobility workout will have you feeling empowered, strong and limitless.
A healthy body is one that is given the tools it needs to remain balanced from season to season. Prioritizing longevity, quality of life, and the all-important healthspan is essential. Rebalance your body daily with our themed workouts, and you’ll never miss a moment of summer fun!
Here are three of our favorite Essentrics exercises to improve your mobility:
Washes
Essentrics Washes are designed to improve your mobility by stretching and strengthening the sides of your torso while releasing tight, painful back muscles. Inspired by tai chi, this easy-to-do exercise is found in many of our workouts. Standing with legs wide, imagine washing a window at shoulder height, using both arms. Gently shift your weight side to side as you clean the window.
A small tuck of the hips lengthens the spine and decompresses the lower back. Keeping a neutral spine boosts the strength and flexibility of your obliques and rib muscles to support your spine. To make the exercise more strengthening, imagine you are washing a sticky substance off a window. This will make your muscles contract as you move. To relieve tension, imagine you are wiping the window with a silk cloth.
Releasing tight connective tissue is crucial to help reverse chronic pain. Essentrics Washes do just that. As we gently work through the body’s kinetic chains, we improve the flexibility and health of the muscles and connective tissue all over our body.
Windmills
Essentrics Windmills are one of the best exercises to strengthen your core and heal from shoulder problems, including Frozen Shoulder. By stretching and strengthening both the larger and smaller muscles of the torso and spine, we decompress and mobilize the upper body with this powerful posture exercise.
By pulling up as you rotate, you build strength into the smaller stabilizing muscles, relieving compression on the intervertebral discs and regaining lost height. The windmill action of the arms helps to elongate one side of the torso at a time, gently stretching and strengthening the surrounding muscles and connective tissue, while working the full body and opening your posture.
Changing the resistance of your arms can change the goal of the exercise:
To release tension and improve mobility: visualize moving through a soft breeze to help relax the muscles and boost blood flow.
To build strength and boost toning: imagine pushing through heavy wind to challenge the muscles.
Whichever resistance you choose, be sure to relax your shoulders as you lift your arms to properly target the underused muscles in your back.
Quad & Hip Flexor Stretch
One of our go‑to stretches to target tight hip flexors and release the lower back – this stretch will bring a greater ease of movement into your daily life!
Sitting is a common cause of knee and back pain. It shortens the hip flexor muscles, an important muscle group that attaches the hip and the thighbone to the spine. This leads to tugging on the knee and hip joints. A few gentle, rebalancing dynamic stretches will bring relief to your back, knees and hips, while improving your posture and building core strength.
Focus on tucking the tailbone under as you bend your back knee just a bit. Lift your back heel higher as you lower down. Extend the back leg to stretch the hips flexors. Don’t hang out in this position! Slowly come back up to complete the movement.
Discover Our Summer Conditioning Collections!
