news

I'm a physical therapist and coach: Here are 4 simple exercises I do every day for long-term health and to feel good in my body

4 stretches and exercises this physical therapist does every single day to feel their best
Oleg Breslavtsev | Moment | Getty Images

To feel good in your body, it's important to engage in regular physical activity and to stretch often.

Darcie Pervier, a physical therapist and women's health coach, stretches and exercises every day, and CNBC Make It asked her to share the movements that she does to feel her best.

WATCH ANYTIME FOR FREE

icon

Stream NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are.

"My end goal for all stretches is to take an assessment of where there might be some imbalances in my body and where movement might be missing," Pervier says. "For me, given my line of work, bending over people all day, sitting at a desk, documenting, it's really important to keep an eye on my spinal mobility."

For women specifically, maintaining mobility in the spine and lower back "is really important, because one in two of us will break a hip at some point in our lives, and we really need to keep our balance, so the more we are able to keep rotation, the better off we will be."

Here are four movements that Pervier makes sure to keep in her daily fitness routine.

4 stretches and exercises this physical therapist does every day

1. Cat-cow stretches

"I do cat-cows daily," Pervier says. The stretch involves placing your hands and knees on the ground, and curving your spine inward, then rounding your spine upward.

"The reason that I do those are because it allows me to feel each segment of my spine, so I can really work on keeping mobility."

You can do this stretch variation at your own pace and for as long as you'd like, but Pervier finds that moving slowly allows you to get a full range of motion.

"I love spinal flexibility because we need it for so many things. We need it to maintain balance. We need it to maintain core strength and to have great breath [control]," she says.

2. Child's pose

Pervier's daily routine also includes child's pose with side reaches to get "deep hip flexion." To do child's pose, you start by kneeling then reaching forward as you bring your head to the ground.

Luis Alvarez | Digitalvision | Getty Images

"It allows [you], when you reach to the side, to really focus your breath into the rib cage to get full rib expansion, which is really important for organ motility, getting things moving inside your body, which is important for long-term health," she says.

3. Lower trunk rotations

Doing lower trunk rotations each day allows Pervier to "get that side body stretch in, [and] to feel if there are any differences in my mobility."

Lower trunk rotations involve laying on the ground with your knees bent and rotating your lower body from side to side.

"Everybody can probably use a little bit of back extension in their life, unless they have a back condition," Pervier says.

"But we are all bent over, whether it's over a computer or over patients or construction workers being bent over all day, so we're in a flex position, and we could all use a little bit of experience in the opposite direction."

4. Squats

When it comes to Pervier's workout routine, she switches up the exercises that she does depending on the day. Yet, one movement finds its way into all of her workouts.

"The thing that I don't ever omit are squats," she says. "I think the one exercise everybody should be including is squats."

When squatting, it's important to have your feet shoulder-width apart and lower your body as if you're sitting in a seat. Make sure you're engaging your core, keeping your feet planted and your chest up.

"A lot of times people think they're doing their squat most effectively, but they're using just their quads, and maybe that's their intention," Pervier says. "But we also want to make sure we're getting the back muscles, the glutes and the hamstrings."

Want to earn more money at work? Take CNBC's new online course How to Negotiate a Higher Salary. Expert instructors will teach you the skills you need to get a bigger paycheck, including how to prepare and build your confidence, what to do and say, and how to craft a counteroffer. Start today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 50% off through November 26, 2024.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It's newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

Copyright CNBC
Contact Us