Exercise in the Sky
 

My wife is a Pilates instructor, and I've been bugging her for a while to put together a set of exercises for those of us who fly. Apparently Jet Blue is already doing this, according to this article she sent me (free registration required).

Qantas' in-flight system has a yoga video you can select, at least in the upgraded cabins, as I recall. I also just bought a book called "Airplane Yoga." I just got it, and they're pretty simple poses, but I've found on my own that I can do quite a few yoga asanas in an airplane seat. You'll often find me sitting in the shoelace pose.

I'm glad to hear of people who have actually done this (I've seen articles about it). It might be good for my upcoming long flight. I've exercised with the Winsor Pilates DVDs, but fear not... I won't try "rolling like a ball" down the aisle! :D

On the UA flight I was recently on, they would show basic exercises to do in your seat -- dont' know if this is what all airlines do but this was also on a trans-Pacific flight.

The United exercises are really sophisticated, too:

1) Move your foot up and down.

2) Stand up and stretch every couple hours.

I think that's it. If I'm forgetting something it's like rotate your wrist every 30 minutes or something.

At least in the past, these also included lifting your legs straight out while seated. It fails to notice that there is usually a seat in the way. :rolleyes:

No, that is a children's exercise, it is not for adults. It is otherwise known as kicking the crud out of the seat in front of you! :)

Lifting one leg up at a time, as far as I can and rotating my foot approx 20 times works wonders for me and removes any discomfort for a while. It's not a full substitute for getting up and having the occasional walk around the cabin though.