Many scooterists will be heading off into the cold for a long winter’s ride to Scooterist Meltdown in Germany this weekend. If you’re feeling the strain, this well-timed SIP scooter workout might help…
That’s right, scooter gymnastics to ease those aches and pains, free up the old joints and provide some garage entertainment for your friends.
SIP enlisted the help of sports and movement therapist, Jan to come up with a few exercises to free up those muscles and warm you up as well.
Here are Jan’s five exercises, you can of course watch the video above to see how they should be done…
1. From skier to winner
This extended squat activates the extensor chain that has atrophied from sitting for long periods of time, pumps a lot of blood through the body and stimulates the circulation. The largest muscle groups in the body are activated and burn a lot of energy while generating heat. Tip for cold two-wheeled days.
2. The hip pendulum
Stand on one leg and swing vigorously with the other. Important: If the left foot is in front, the right arm must also be forward. And if you can hardly keep your balance, you should support yourself on the scooter.
3. The St. Andrew’s cross
An exercise that loosens the entire shoulder girdle. One arm swings up, the other down, the thumb belongs “nicely behind” and you can help out as a traffic sign at every level crossing. Sporty and practical.
4. The floating motion
One foot forward, the other back and then boldly spring through. Used to be called simply lunging, but well, such are modern times. In case of balance problems, the Vespa again serves as a support and we recommend sturdy handles and levers. It’s allowed to be a bit strenuous and the thighs need to warm up. “Get out of your comfort zone!” demands Jan. This exercise is also great for frosty two-wheeled rides to get comfortably warm again.
5. the pothole
And last but not least, an exercise that can even be done on a scooter. Once again, the stretch chain should be activated. Both hands firmly on the handlebars, back straight and straighten up again and again with weight on the feet. Probably not recommended at 100 km/h to avoid distracting other road users. Stable leg shields, kick plates and stands (for dry practice) are prerequisites for the successful execution of this stunt.
Show us your garage workouts
If you’re out and about and feel like practising your moves, be sure to get a friend to video it for you. Send them to us and we may even award a prize if we think it’s funny enough!
Unfortunately for Meltdown the target group for this video is less than 20 scooterists, cos the others prefer to travel a bit more comfy in vans and cars. Also the roadgoing Scooterists wear a bit more gear these days, which makes moving a bit complicated. Anyway, nice idea to combine a scooter topic with some physiotherapy exercises.