Staying
Active at 30,000 feet
Tips
for staying healthy in the air
Drink
Water!
As
blood is 96 percent water, it doesn't take much
to dehydrate, especially at altitude. Try to drink
two glasses of water an hour. Juice, tea and coffe
don't count. H20 is nature's cheapest medicine!
Move
your body!
For
the following streches, hold for two seconds and
repeat 10 times. Do on both sides.
Neck:
- Touch
your chin to your chest. Pull the head with
both hands to strech the back of the neck.
- Tuck
in chin and rotate your head to the left.
- Tuck
in chin and lean your head to the left to maximum
range. Lightly pull your head to strech the
side of the neck.
- Lift
chin up towards the ceiling, pushing lightly
on the lower jaw bone to stretch all the tissues
at the front or your neck.
Shoulders:
- Place
your hands on either shoulder, with the elbows
at their widest point and rotate the whole shoulder
backwards 10 times to warm-up and lubricate
the joints.
- With
your right elbow pointing forward, contract
your bicep and lift your elbow as high as you
can. Pull elbow up and back with your left hand.
- Bring
the right arm over the left hand push on the
right elbow to stretch the back of your shoulder
joint.
Spine:
All
these can be done sitting forwards in your seat
or standing up.
- Place
both hands behind your head, contract the abdominal
muscle so you don't arch your back and lean
the upper backwards looking up towards the ceiling
to strecth the upper abdominals, chest and spine.
- Flex
your left elbow and place your left arm and
shoulder behind your head. Use your right hand
to hold onto the left elbow. Keeping your back
straight, gently lean your body to the right
side pulling ligthy with the right hand to strecth
all the muscles along the left side of your
upper body.
Hips:
-
Draw
your right knee to your chest. Place you hands
behind the knee and gently pull your knee up
towards your chest.
-
Sit
or stand and lift your right leg up to a 90
degree to the floor, also keeping the knee flexed
at 90 degrees. Move your leg across to the left
hip using your left hand to assist pulling the
leg across.
-
Keep
the right leg straight and move the right hip
backwards by five to 10 degree. Bend the knee
and draw the right hip backwards by five to
10 degrees. Bend the knee and draw the right
heel into your buttocks.
Calves:
- Lock
out your right knee, place a rope or dressing
gown cord around the ball of the foot, draw the
toes towards the knees and then gently pull on
the rope to stretch both calf muscle.
