As much as one wants to be cozy and snuggled up for a long plane ride, the secret to surviving so many hours of flight is to do the opposite. Move and exercise in your seat is the key.
“Is about do things that can keep your body and circulation moving to avoid getting super stiff,” clarifies personal trainer Ashley Borden.
I never realized that working out on a plane was a common thing until I took a China Eastern flight a few years ago. During the journey a video appeared on our entertainment screens encouraged to stretch and move. It was good and also relieved the monotony of so many hours in the air.
To combat the physical discomfort that may appear during and after the flight, particularly a long-distance flight, Experts agree that being physically active can help reduce tension, swelling, and body pain.
The objective is be as active as possible maintain blood flow and support your alignment so you can get through the flight with less fatigue and more energy.
1. Use the hallway
It’s tempting to rest during a flight, but “getting up and taking a few steps can be very helpful”, clarifies Harley Pasternak, celebrity trainer.
“It makes the blood move, helps reduce anxiety and reduces the probability of suffering a deep vein thrombosis”, Explain. If you can choose your seat, choose the one next to the aisle to make it easier to get up and leave.
Track coach Melissa Kendter walks down the hall and takes time to stretch near the bathroom, if commuters aren’t crowding the area.
“Often I stretch with my body weight. I put my hands above my head and stretch. I squat down and open my hips or do some rotational movements,” Kendter says. “Stretches are also beneficial for lengthening the quads and hips,” he added.
Airplane seats are getting smaller and more uncomfortable, but the way we sit on them does not improve the situation.
“People don’t realize that poor posture can affect people during the first days of their trip”, explains trainer Chris Perrin, co-owner of the Cut Seven gym in Washington DC. “Even if you don’t have frequent back pain, you can feel them in the lower part as a result of having been sitting with a bad posture”, Perrin said.
To keep from slouching, Perrin recommends stretch chest pulling the shoulders down and back. “Think about putting your shoulder blades in your back pockets.” Then lift the chest up, making sure the trunk is fixed to prevent the ribs from moving.
“Align the column spine forming a straight line from the back of the head to the coccyx,” adds Perrin.
Pasternak suggests doing shoulder circles for posture rehabilitation. The idea is to start by lifting them as high as possible. Bring them back and drop them to complete the move. Next, bend your elbows to 90 degrees with your palms facing up and rotate your upper arm.
A byproduct of being sedentary during long flights is that “hip flexors are tight all the time, what makes the buttocks fall asleep”, Perrin says. That tightness in the hip flexors ends up causing lower back pain, which can be avoided by keeping the moving buttocks
For Perrin, the way to do that is to have a leg bent at a 90-degree angle and the other slightly bent with the heel flexed. Driving the weight into the slightly bent leg will squeeze the glute and release the hip. Hold for 30 seconds and then switch sides. “This exercise wakes up the glute and decreases the tension that people feel through the hip flexor,” he says. For long flights, do a round of these exercises chest every two or three hours.
Borden keeps her glutes active with a BackJoy Posture Plus Blue seat, which creates an active sitting position and corrects pelvic position. He hooks it to his seat during the flight and when he gets up he has no back pain.
Kelly DiNardo, owner of the yoga studio Past Tense in DC, encourage travelers to stretch in their seats to combat the pain.
For stretched necks and hunched backs, try a seated spinal twist. Start with both feet flat on the floor and place your left hand on the outside of your right thigh. Rest your right hand on the right armrest or the back of the seat (while remaining aware of your neighbors) and turn it to the right. Hold for five to ten breaths. Switch sides.
To open up your hips, try sitting pigeon pose.: Cross the right ankle over the left thigh just above the knee. Actively press your right knee toward the ground. Hold for five to ten breaths. Switch sides.
Other hip flexion movement: lean back in the seat and hug one knee to your chest. Hold that position for five to ten breaths, then switch. “You can point and flex your foot or rotate your ankle while holding this for additional joint mobility work,” says DiNardo.
enjoy a Neck massage is another option. Begin Dropping the ear over the right shoulder, bring two fingers to the top of the neck behind the left ear.
“Find the little valley that runs down your neck, technically the sternocleidomastoid muscle,” DiNardo clarifies. Gently apply pressure, pausing to massage any areas that feel tight, and repeat on the other side.
Both travel and fitness specialists trust the power of hydration to take care of everything from skin to sleep during the flight. A good idea is to bring your own bottle so you don’t have to rely on the small cups of water from the beverage cart.
Borden also travels with an eight-piece kit that he designed, and so it doesn’t take up too much space in the carry-on, he recommends traveling with some of the smaller accessories. For example, a lacrosse ball, ideal for massaging the soles of the feet and the neck.
A foot massage has more impact than it seems. “We have a fascial membrane, or fascia, that wraps around our entire body, and it loosens when we rub our feet together,” says Borden. As a result, you will feel less tension in your calves, hamstrings, and back,” he concludes.