muscles Archives - Loreeebee

Have you heard of face yoga? It has become increasingly popular in the past few years. I was introduced to it at the beginning of the pandemic, so early 2020.

What is Face Yoga?

Touted as a non-surgical method for a facelift, the age-defying series of exercises is aimed at sculpting facial muscles and eliminating sagging skin, double chins and jowls.

If you have to ask what double chins or jowls are, you probably don’t need face yoga. However, if your face and neck are beginning to show your age, read on.

The best part is that you can do these exercises anywhere, any time. Watching TV, lying in bed, wherever you like. Of course, if you try them while driving you may get some strange looks, but I do them when sitting at a red light. When no one else is around.

My Video Instructions

This video demonstrates some of the exercises of face yoga. By yours truly. It was hard to talk and manipulate the muscles in my face and neck at the same time, so there is no sound here…

You can see my facial and neck muscles moving with the exercises, so I assume these muscles are being worked.

Watching this video brings back memories of the beginning of the pandemic, when I was transitioning from reddish brown (dyed) hair to my natural gray colour. Currently my hair is very, very gray, with no brown in sight, but I digress.

Other Face Yoga Options

If you prefer to purchase books with instructions, try this one or this one, both available on Amazon. The following video is from YouTube:

Conclusions

Whichever option you choose to shape up your face and neck, give them a try. An inexpensive, non-surgical method to turn back the clock, what could go wrong?

Planks are the best form of exercise because they are easy to do, can be done anywhere, and work many muscles at the same time, especially the all important core muscles. You do not need fancy equipment or clothes or an expensive gym membership to perform planks. All you need is your body and floor space.

There are a few guidelines to follow to maintain the proper plank position:

The elbows are directly under the shoulders
The legs are stretched out like when doing pushups.
The buttocks (gluteus maximus) are tensed

As a beginner, start with the simplest variation (level 1) where your knees and forearms rest on the floor. As your core and other muscles get used to the planks, you can progress to the next level. These variations with the forearms on the floor are great for those who suffer from arthritis whose wrists or hands cannot support their weight. If your arthritis prevents you from trying the other variations, simply do the level one variation more often and for longer periods of time.

Stay in this position for as long as possible, but do not forget to breathe. Keep your back straight (like a plank) from your knees to your head in this pose, or from your heels to your head in the more advanced pose shown below. Do not let your stomach and hips sag as indicated in the bottom picture, and keep your head in line with the rest of your body, like the top picture…

Other, more complicated and strenuous variations of the plank are also available: