HEALTHY FEET AND HEALING PF

YOGA CLASS for STRONG FEET

YOGA SNACK for STRONG FEET

RUN ANALYSIS

When we think of Warrior, we think of those really tough people. Dude from Gladiator. Man oh man was he a looker in that movie! Sometimes we … think they are so hard, hard to get to know, maybe too abrasive, to the point … etc. That warrior tho … they aren’t afraid to do the hardest stuff. And personally I think they love and feel the most as well.

I am a Warrior. I always have been. For animals. For those suffering. For … the underdog. For myself. And I’ve had to be.

For the Warrior … It’s just our make up. Who we were made to be to gift the earth. Lightening it up a bit … this make up … the ability to hold the line, do the super tough stuff … leads us to do things that most don’t. Won’t. Like train for an Ironman. We just know … we can feel … that there is so much more … We drive and strive for it. (And when we experience that … we might become junkies!).

Warriors don’t strive for perfection …. but for the personal satisfaction that we did INDEED DO SOMETHING THAT WE THOUGHT WE COULDN’T. OR … something that we knew we ACTUALLY COULD NOT do at the start, a fact, but we were brave and changed into the person that COULD DO IT. We didn’t let a little thing call fear stop us.

WE HELD THE LINE.

Some of us have these very soft spots. Be it just how we are made. Like … if we feel the green on the leaves, really enjoy the bird chirping, want to sing with the wolves and feel the wind, the breathe of the earth, caress our skin. For very sensitive people it’s hard to deal with all the energy we feel from others. I’m beginning to really learn that for the … big awesome parts of being a GOAL DREAM CHASER (and achiever) come the equal side of … the most sensitive and soft element of ur souls. Those Warriors … their hearts are MASSIVE. That’s what gives them the juice needed to GET AT IT until it’s done. Regardless of what we are talking about. Fighting for our kids health, for our marriages, for our personal ….ethics and happiness/contentment. For Ironman. For being the best parent or human being possible.

So … for the Warrior Heart, dealing with all that we feel around us is hard. Especially the negatively, hate and other terrible things that hurt our souls.

I think that most warriors have this more than some. This is what makes us the warriors. Those that stand up for folks. Stand up for what we believe in. Don’t play small. Are super driven. We know that we have a purpose. We strive for that. It’s our deep connection with that that makes us all ultimately strong, that births the warrior. The catch 22. The yin and yang of it all.

Or maybe other things … create these soft spots. Or make them even softer. The world can be a cruel place. Maybe your parents didn’t say “I love you enough”. Maybe there was so much negativity that it felt as if you were drowning. Maybe things happened that really hurt your soul. Those deepest parts of you.

The Warrior will find a way. The soft spots will be protected, as thats what we do. We fight for those that can’t. We protect. (For ourselves as well). We stand up regardless of the cost. We are so driven that we instinctively don’t want the softness to … impede or drive forward.

A lot can be said about how our society deals with these soft spots. Look at rape for instance. It’s just completely terrible that the “victim” role is so solidified by our justice system (or lack of it), how our society portrays … female sexual rights, how we deal with the issue in generally and the “therapies” that result. Do we really help the soft spot to heal or just put a shit ton of bandages on it? So much to say about how our society completely fails in the emotional/spiritual healing arts. It’s no surprise really that children are killing other children in school. (Don’t shoot me … but seriously … we are not addressing personal space violations, bullying, etc well. Look at facebook fav memes and twitter. 😉 )

Back to the point. The Warrior’s Soft Spots

This might be why you see these people that are so hard … angry … shut down. They have found a space where they can breathe and hold the soft spots together. They have not only glued themselves together, but have fortified that soft and quiet place with concrete. And armed with with anger or … or … or …

It’s really hard to … take the bandages off the soft spots and allow more air to them. There is pain involved. It can be breathe taking … to walk forward and have the wounds out in the open.

Our society generally doesn’t deal well with the soft spots. So … it makes it hard to learn the lesson and let go of what we don’t need anymore. Maybe a bit of a scar but you know … if you manage wounds and soft spots well … they can heal well. Be as strong as if not hurt. It just takes … bravery to do the work and support in what ever color that comes to you. I really don’t think we can do that work ourself. However we ADD HEALING / POSITIVE / whatever to the mix to help the soft spot become more cohesive with our whole being. (not something that we continue to always have to protect. something that we can live with like our fav pair of jeans).

Getting to that place can be tough. And it’s a truth that … the soft spots, the healing … some times the ebb and flow of life changes our “status” with things. For those that have lost babies … it can be 20 years down the road and you’ve done the hard work to get to the place where the pain isn’t a roar. It’s a place that you cherish in your soul. But add … one smell, one sight of something that …. adds just a bit of energy to that spot. Brushes it just the right way to trigger …. pain, confusion, unease, fear …. and … we get surprised by that. It’s the advanced lesson to know this and to see it for what it is. Maybe no more work needs to be done. Just let that feeling pass like a cloud in the sky, being directed by the breathe of the earth.

Maybe there is work to be done. Maybe you need to listen and decide … what am I going to do this softness. So maybe things to do. Not all of them really mean anything is wrong. It really is all in how you want to roll the next moment. The next day. The next time that earth breathes on you.

Namaste

1. V-Lift

Lie facedown on an exercise ball. Position your pelvis in the middle of the ball, hands resting lightly on the floor, legs straight, feet shoulder-width apartment legs in a “V” position. Keeping your back flat, squeeze your glutes to lift legs as high as you can. Lower and repeat. 10-15 reps.

2. Single-Leg Hip Abduction

Place the resistance band around your things, a few inches above your knees. Lower into a squat. Keeping the torso still, step on foot back at a 45-degree angle. Return to start; quickly switch to the other foot. That’s one rep. Repeat, alternating legs. (Additionally, you can do all reps on one side). 10-15 reps

3. Monster Walk

Place a resistance band just above your ankles. With your legs far enough apart to keep tension in the band, walk 20 steps to the right (make sure to pick up your back foot, and don’t allow the knees to collapse inward). Reverse to the left to return to start. 1 set is 20 steps to the left and right.

4. Single-Leg Deadlift

Stand on right foot, knee slight bent, left foot hovering nexts to the right. With back flat (or as much as the hamstring(s) allow), hinge forward reaching arms straight toward floor and raise left legs straight behind you. Return to start, remaining on one foot. Do 10-15 reps. You can add weight if you master the weightless version. Switch legs. 10-15 on each leg.

5. Hamstring Press

Lie facedown, arms bent so hard are folded in front of you, elbows out. Hold an exercise ball between your shins and ankles, legs bent 90 degrees. Squeeze glutes and lift the ball straight up and a few inches off the floor. Lower and repeat. Set is 10 – 15 reps.

6. Bulgarian Split Squat

Stand with feet hi-width apart, a few feet in front of a stability ball, hands clasped at chests. Place right foot (shoelaces down) on top of ball. With weight in your left floor, lower into a deep lunge. Push into left heel to stand. Do 10-15 reps each side.

Equipment Need: resistant band (circle), exercise ball

As a triathlon coach, yoga teacher, strength and condition coach and recovered severe-injury hip athlete, I highly recommend, push, almost-force my athletes into the idea of strength work for the hip girdle. Here is a great article bringing endurance, strength, stability and body health into one thought process.

What the glutes do:

How they get out of balance:

1. Athletes, for once reason or another, have over developed quads and hamstrings.

2. Sitting at an 8-5 causing deconditioning to these vital rotators/stabilizers as the activity of sitting does not activate the glutes. (unless you happen to work while sitting on a stability ball). ‘

3. Additionally, sitting for long periods of time causes decreased blood flow to the hip area which also deconditions muscles.

4. Our daily habits have a large contribution to what happens when we are running or doing other awesome activities. For instance, the mom that holds the baby on one hip habitually, the way we drive, the way we sleep, etc. This leads to number #5. But I did want to say #4 out loud and strongly. You can work to correct your glute strength all day long. The real life changing habits come when you address your day to day habits as well. You sit for WAY longer than you run. It’s just the running is the extra stimulus to cause pain, decreased performance and possible injury.

5. Another cause that they don’t think about much is our tendency to be stronger on one side. We have strong kinetic habits that usually result in one hip (or glute specifically) to be less functional. This means that the kinetic firing ability as well as the strength of the glute is less than compared to the other side. Which results in hip girdle imbalance. Which causes a ton of other issues.

Que the singers: “the hip bone is connected to the leg bone…”

For endurance athletes, strength training is very beneficial. You just need to do it in a strategic way, as you will have to juggle quick and strong stimulus/change to the body in addition to the adaptations that come from endurance training. Completely do-able once the principles are understood. Additionally, being very strategic on what strength training is preformed is key, as the endurance athlete, especially the triathlete doesn’t have a lot of extra time. The benefits certainty do make it worth the effort. But again. It has to come from solid education. Most gym trainers don’t quite understand the endurance training body relationship. For instance, bicep work should only be done once the back side of the shoulder cuff is rock solid AND the swim form is good in specific aspects.

Here are some benefits to strength training:

• Stronger bones: they are stimulated to grow stronger (thus one reason why we need to eat well)
• Injury prevention: centered joints are less likely to experience wear and tear. Just like your tired. Keep the alignment spot on and the tires last longer. So smart lifting means you bring balance to the limited dimensional running and biking.
• Improvement performance: for the SAME above reason. BOOM!
• Strength training brings changes to the body faster if done well
• Stronger is better for the spirit
• Stronger is healthier
• Stronger is sexier

Utilizing a coach that understands both endurance training and strength training is really important. It can mean a huge PR or a big fat injury. Learning and understanding the principles is key.

PRINCIPLES

Fact: It takes one to two days to recover from a harder resistance training session. (This is assuming your nutrition status is on par and you are eating well before and after.)

Fact: Your body is pretty efficient at moving it’s own weight. When you ask it to move something heavy, your brain alters its neural recruitment pattern, calling up the most fatigue-resistant muscle fibers so you exert less energy. Kanji Doma, Ph.D. At James Cook University in Queensland.

Fact: Due to delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) that results after resistance-training, runners that run and push themselves to achieve a certain level of performance after strength training risk injury due to muscle fatigue that causes poor running form. Research shows that performance can be decreased by 10% due to DOMS.

Fact: There is functional/activation type of strength training that can be done prior to running that benefits running form and performance.

Fact: It is acceptable to run on tired and/or sore legs. Dr. Doma suggests keeping your exertion at 70% (or a zone 2 effort). This type of training actually benefits the endurance athlete by stimulating other …. adaptations.