Sitting all day (in waiting rooms), what is your best recovery strategy?

[BunnyHop]

I've been doing a lot of sitting and waiting lately, without the freedom to get up and move the way I'd prefer. (Dad has a load of appointments.)

At the end of the day, I'm tired, stiff and sore.

Sure, a workout in the AM is fine, but after a day of just sitting?
I need some advice on how to help myself recover.

(I'd have gone out for a walk, but there's a COLD winter rain pelting down.)

What are your best strategies for recovery when you're feeling tired, tight and kinda wired?

[Paula]

When I've had to wait around for long periods I try to get up and stretch in the rest room stall. Then at night I try to do some yoga or stretch before bed. I find my brain is numb after sitting around in waiting rooms and gentle stretch is all I can do.

[Jennifer R]

Yoga or stretching, especially front body (because of sitting so much) and low back (ditto).

[BunnyHop]

Brain numbness? That's it exactly.

Sometimes I think I know dad's medical history better than my own, LOL!


Tonight I'm going to do Lee Holden's 7 minutes of Magic PM, but maybe the longer version. That's a good one at night.

[yogapam]

(((Hugs))) to you and your dad.

I have a yoga mat, strap, block, bolster, blankets, pillows, etc in a bin by the tv and I spend up to an hour or more watching something on Netflix or something I have pvr'd, and doing reclined & seated stretches and some yin yoga poses. I stretch both the front and back body. I sleep better when I take the time to do it.

[BunnyHop]

Thanks for the advice and concern.

Dad's having cataract surgery to replace an old lens, so we've been seeing a specialist, and doing some pre-op stuff that involves quite a bit of paperwork and patience. (He fell and bopped his face last fall.)

He really is doing fine, all things considered, but wow, my body does not appreciate having to sit (and not move) for so many hours at a stretch.

I'm digging out my yoga/flexibility dvds to figure out which to add to my rotation.

(I seriously wish Rodney Yee would do a PM Yoga for your week that's just as fabulously well cued as the AM one. He misses a cue now and again, but not really often enough to bother me.)

[laurajhawk]

Evening yoga for sure, including the Forward Bends & Hips chapters from AM Yoga For Your Week. And yoga/stretch breaks during the day. And WALK. Laps around the waiting room, laps around the building (inside or outside) if you can leave for a few minutes, flights of stairs - in my experience, medical buildings have lots of stairs. :-)

[katmom]

Jill Miller's Yoga Tune Up Post Athletic Stretch might be too vigorous for just before bed, but I have found it to be helpful after a long day of sitting. I found the cycling or the golfing stretch routines come the closest to stretching the same muscle groups that feel cramped by long spells of sitting.

[marmact]

Can you opt to stand instead of sit sometimes? Sitting for hours is really hard on me (I have a very sedentary job) and I've been experimenting with a homemade standing desk--I have noticed I've felt a lot less drained in the evenings.

I know not all doctor's offices are conducive to standing, but some might be.

[NRGWoman]

I have been through the endless sitting and waiting for appointments. I finally became shameless about the whole thing and started standing and stretching in the waiting room. I've even been known to pull out a few yoga poses if necessary. And since I am a personal trainer and a yoga instructor I am used to being on the floor. In a fit of desperation I have been known to drop to the floor and do some poses like pigeon and camel. Anyone who knows me well knows that I not only march to my own drummer, I have my own percussion section, so it does not surprise them. But people I don't know tend to be taken aback by the sitting on the floor part. Every once in a while someone will comment because they are curious, and I have been known to conduct a mini yoga class right there in the waiting room. I figure it is win/win for everyone!