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For the
purpose of being more
comfortable during your flight, and to
possibly mitigate the dangerous
adverse effects of in-flight immobility, you
might consider doing some of the following exercises. As always,
before engaging in a series of exercises, be sure that the exercise
will be physically comfortable and medically safe for you. You can
do the following exercises while in your seat:
- Foot
Pumps
Foot motion is in
three stages:
- Start
with both heels on the floor and point your feet upward as
high as you can;
- Put
both your feet flat on the floor;
- Then,
lift your heels high, keeping balls of feet on the floor;
-
Repeat the 3 stages in a continuous motion and in 30-second
intervals.
- Knee
Lifts
Lift your leg, with
the knee bent, while contracting your thigh muscle. Alternate
legs. Repeat 20 to 30 times for each leg;
-
Abdominal Suctions
Before eating, begin by exhaling all of the air out of your
lungs. Then, pull your stomach as high into your rib case as
possible without inhaling. Hold briefly and relax. Repeat as
many times as possible without inhaling;
- Ankle
Circles
Lift your feet off
the floor. Draw a circle with the toes, simultaneously moving
one foot clockwise and the other foot counterclockwise. Reverse
circles. Rotate in each direction for 15 seconds. Repeat if
desired;
-
Forward Flexes
With both of your
feet on the floor, and stomach held in, slowly bend forward and
walk your hands down the front of your legs toward your ankles.
Hold this stretch for 15 seconds and then slowly sit back up;
- Neck
Rolls
With your shoulders
relaxed, drop one ear to your shoulder and gently roll your neck
forward and back, holding each position about five seconds.
Repeat five times;
- Neck
Bends
Bend your head as
far back as it will go and place your hands across your
forehead. Slowly bring you head forward while resisting the
movement with your hands. This can be varied by bending your
head to the right and then to the left, again resisting with
your hands. Repeat several times;
- Knee
to Chest Bends
Bend forward
slightly. Clasp your hands around your left knee and hug it to
your chest. Hold this stretch for 15 seconds. Keeping your
hands around the knee, slowly let it down. Alternate legs.
Repeat 10 times;
- Thigh
Flexes
Make a fist with both hands and place them between your knees.
Squeeze isometrically as hard as possible for 5 seconds, then
release. Repeat;
- Foot Flexes
Place your toes on the edge of your briefcase, bag or foot bar.
Thrust your heels upward, as high as possible, until you feel a
maximum contraction in the calf. Hold the contraction tightly
for 2 seconds and then lower your heels as far down as possible
below the edge of the bag or bar. Repeat;
- Foot Extensions
Place your heels on the edge of a briefcase, bag or foot bar.
Raise the forward part of your feet toward your shins. Repeat
in a rapid manner until the shin muscles ache;
-
Shoulder Rotations
Rotate your shoulders forward, then backward and finally, shrug
them upward toward your ears in an "I don't know" fashion.
Repeat several times;
-
Shoulder Rolls
Hunch your shoulders
forward, then upward, then backward, and downward, using a
gentle circular motion. Repeat numerous times.
[Note: You can view
a demonstration of some of the above exercises if you have
Windows Media Player or
QuickTime installed on your computer. The running time is
approximately 1 minute. The demonstration can be downloaded in
1 minute with Cable/ADSL and about 21 minutes with 56k dial up].
The above exercises should help you to be both
more
comfortable, during your flight, and to possibly avoid the rages
of deep vein thrombosis
[DVT]. |
