We’ve all had those times when “life happens”, and all of our well-intended plans just go to the wind.
It can be particularly disconcerting when you’re trying to stay consistent with your T-Tapp routine, going well for a little while, and then BAM! Something comes up that really throws you for a loop, and maybe it’s major enough you don’t know when you’ll be able to “get back to consistency”.
Are you doomed to just put on what you’ve lost? To have to start all over again in a few weeks….or months?
No!
There are threads on the forums for ways to “sneak T-Tapp in” throughout the day.
If you can do at least the “Terrific Three”, you will have warmed up your spine, improved spinal flexibility and joint mobility as well as pumped lymph and worked some muscles! What are the “Terrific Three”?
Primary Back Stretch (PBS)
T-Tapp Twist (TTT)–at least the stretch, and can be the MORE version
Hoedown (HD)–just 1 set (2 is great, but do at least one!)
Just doing shoulder rolls–the T-Tapp way–can go a long way toward keeping muscles from getting sore, but also to help relieve tension (women tend to hold tension in the traps–shoulder rolls with the thumb twisted to the back wall really help!). You can do them seated or standing.
Maybe you’re in a hospital emergency room, waiting with someone for a test (and waiting, and waiting, and….) On a quick trip to the restroom, you can “bend it, tuck it, lift it”, clap for 4 counts, pulling thumbs to the back wall, elbows close to body and keeping ribs up. Then kick out purposefully for 4 repetitions (like you’re kicking a ball–not a field goal, though! 
) and then lift touch for 4 repetitions, keeping knee and ankle in alignment. That will help banish fatigue and soreness from sitting around!
If someone else is in the restroom and you’re a little too shy to do all that 
then you can really be sneaky! Do Butterflies! I have been able to turn diagonally in a regular stall and still be able to do them. Now if you are taller with longer arms, you might opt for the handicap stall! Bend it, tuck it, lift it and really curl that core, pulling belly button to your spine. Do a set of Butterflies, slow and controlled, no momentum. Really work those lats! Keep those arms stretched out like someone is pulling them out of your body, and behind those ears. Set of 8 little bounces, then do 8 halfway down. On the way back up the hands are pushing up the h-e-a-v-y air!
You’ll be surprised how that will help clear your mind and make you feel better!
Of course, Hoedowns are THE classic move, but sometimes there just isn’t a good place or enough time. But you can do sitdown Hoedowns without too much trouble!
Sit up tall and at the edge of your chair. Knees straight out from the hips, ankles under knees, feet toes forward–no ducks! Press in lightly with your feet to stabilize your knees from flopping out and to get some lower body activaton in there. Elbows bent, palms up just like standing Hoedowns. Open arms out to the sides, tighten tummy (curl that core!) and lift touch one leg 4 times. Pretend your foot is h-e-a-v-y, and keep the foot flexed. Then do 4 on the other side. Repeat, then do 2 sets of 2 and 1 set of singles–4 each leg going back and forth.
Alternately you could just do 8 each side.
Don’t think that does much good?
There is a testimony of trainer Jennifer Haber who worked with her mom when she was ill in the hospital. Even though she did the Hoedowns and Butterflies very weakly–her blood sugar came down by 50 points! You can read her whole story here!
What else?
Just like Teresa shows in the Yes You Can seminar, you can hang onto strollers, shopping carts, and yes, to some extent wheelchairs (I did with my dad!) with the palms up. Even the lawn mower! That gets those shoulders rolled back.
A set of Tricep Curls or Hitchhikers are easy to fit in for the arms.
And when you’re driving, you can tuck/curl the core, press that lower back against the seat, lift ribs and keep tummy tight. And while you’re at it–hang onto the steering wheel palms up! Tighten those lats and inhale big, stretching the ribs; exhale bigger, pulling the ribs in.
To release trap/shoulder tension, do a big inhale while you hunch shoulders up, then as you exhale, bring the shoulders down but keep ribs up (this in T-Tapp stance if possible). Exhale all the way, pulling in those ribs. Doing that few times really helps get oxygen in and release that trap/shoulder tension!
And just walking, sitting, standing with your belly button pulled to the spine and ribs up, getting your shoulders back in alignment over your hips will do wonders for you! Keep the chin from jutting forward, and this will help distribute the weight of your head over your spine.
There’s also the Mitten Chop Box, which you can fit in in a trip to the restroom fairly easily!
I’ve often bent my knees just a little and tuck/curled my core, ribs up, knees out for standing for a period of time–you’d be surprised how much “heat” that will generate all by itself! LOL!
Finally, don’t forget to skin brush. It’s easy to let something like that go when life goes crazy, but it is good for detoxing as well as just pampering yourself. 5 minutes is all it takes.
Especially if your crisis is a health crisis of a family member, you need to take care of yourself, too!
Stay hydrated, keep moving, and try to make the best choices you can with food, and you may find you can make it through a tough time without being more sore or out of shape than when you started! In fact, you may be pleasantly surprised to find out you maintained or even lost through sneaking in moves, with full fiber muscle activation and leverage isometrics! Or maybe even look and feel better!
Until next week–Happy Tappin’!
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Here is Michelle’s thread on the forums if you want to read all her tips.
And here is Debbie Davdison’s testimony how just doing Hoedowns several times a day during her mom’s hospitalization helped her lose inches from her hips!