101 exercises

2009-06-23T10:58:00.003+01:00

Photo credit: aussiegall
Hello Friends,

Just dropping in to let y'all know that I'm still around, contemplating what to do about this blog. It is likely that I may switch to a new domain in the next couple of weeks, but as for now, I will stay on the low for a while. Hope everyone is well!

~rupal

drumroll please...

2009-06-16T10:12:00.003+01:00

Photo by aussiegall

...and the winner of the book The End of Overeating by Dr. David Kessler is Geosomin!!

Please email me your addy at 101exercises at gmail dot com to receive your prize!

holidays!

2009-06-14T22:06:00.002+01:00

Photo by aussiegall

Dear Friends,

I am away on holiday in Barcelona and Madrid this week, please forgive the lack of posts!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway--winner to be announced on Tuesday!!

In more news, upon my return from Spain, I will be cutting down posting to three times a week. This is due to the fact that I have multiple projects in the works and as it turns out, I need to add a little time in my life to breathe....

Hope you all have a wonderful week! Meet you back here on Monday June 22!

Rupal

For the fun of it: fitness videos

2009-06-12T10:03:00.000+01:00

Sit on your butt and get an ab workout:

From the greats who started workout videos:

Have a great weekend friends!

Make a road map!

2009-06-11T10:21:00.002+01:00

It is so easy to create a goal in your head, then lose sight of it the second something goes awry. How do you stick to your goals and see yourself crossing the finish line?

Planning

It sounds so simple, but planning ahead can help you achieve the milestones which will lead you to the finish line!

This includes:

Writing your goal down: include a final date and write in pencil so things can be amended as needed.
Developing a road map: include rest days, holiday plans and mini-markers (ex. 5k on the way to a full marathon)
Visualize your success: Remember when mom used to put that 'A+' on the fridge? Do the same with your goal markers, show them with pride on the fridge, a success board or whatever helps keep you on track.

How do you showcase your successes? How are your goals shaping up these days? Do you have a buddy to keep you on track?

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!!

Book Review: The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by David A. Kessler, MD

2009-06-10T08:28:00.003+01:00

Eating has become well rehearsed in our lives. So well rehearsed in fact, that it has become a habit that is so powerful that it drives our behavior and compels us to overeat way beyond what our body perceives as being 'full'. This, coupled with the trickery of the food industry, Dr. Kessler explains is the fundamental reason for which Americans are currently facing an obesity epidemic.

Dr. Kessler begins his book with a thorough explanation of the underlying mechanisms which drive habits and how our brain perceives basic desires and rewards. Anecdotal stories from his own personal life are backed up by studies which he presents to the reader to help educate us on the basic mechanisms which drive us towards specific foods. These foods which are highly coveted by the general population are those that offer the greatest content of sugar, fat and salt in varied quantities. This category of food is known to be 'hyper-palatable', thus landing them high on our totem pole for desires.

The next part of the book uncovers the secrets of the food industry in which he describes how marketers and developers take advantage of this highly coveted trio to design foods that we want more of. His research revealed the processes by which the industry aims to create food which is not only desirable but also easy for the consumer to ingest. He goes on to explain why our body craves these foods and how this craving creates a cycle of desire and reward that we are compelled to respond to.

Having laid the foundation for over-eating to take place, the author continues the book with a full explanation of how food begins to take our mind and body over, and how we become burdened by the choice between eating something which we know will satisfy us in the short term versus listening to our rational side which whispers the healthy alternative. This is the struggle that we face day in and day out when it comes to foods that we view to be hyperpalatable whether this be chocolate cake or fried chicken.

He concludes the book with a chapter which is entitled 'food rehab' where he constructs a method for which to halt this cycle of binge eating and re-wire the brain in order to make the healthy alternative seem more appealing.

Overall Impression:

I think Dr. Kessler has done a phenomenal job in this book of helping someone understand the driving forces involved in our appetites and WHY we are compelled to overeat time and time again. He clearly lays out a rational reason for our brains drive us to act this way and offers a solution which is not only reasonable, but achievable.

Personally, I have walked away with a greater understanding and awareness of my own relationship to food. I am able to better attack 'thin mint invasions' since reading this book more constructively and with better overall control. I am more aware of what goes into my mouth and more importantly, how it helps me function through my day. I have learned to link what I am eating to how I feel (regarding energy, fatigue) with greater understanding of how it will affect me 3 hours down the line. I highly recommend reading this book to use as a tool to help anyone understand the fundamentals that go into the relationships that we have developed and to be better attuned to what needs to occur to changing them and forming new, healthier habits.

How in tune with your food intake are you? Do you associate what you eat with how it affects your levels of production? Please leave a comment to be entered into the giveaway!! It ends on Monday June 15 at Midnight and winner will be announced on Tuesday!

The foodstuffs: what is your relationship?

2009-06-09T10:05:00.002+01:00

Today is a prequel to tomorrows post review (& giveaway) of the book The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by David Kessler, MD. Stay tuned folks!

The blogging community has opened my eyes wide open to 'disordered eating'. Honestly, I didn't know that people had such strong relationships with food that they struggled to break free of until now.

My own idea of healthy for ME was exercising regularly, being spiritually connected to my body and feelings and being aware that what I was shoving into my pie hole wasn't total crap.

I begin to evaluate my own ties to food and how it affected my overall lifestyle. My relationship with food is simple: I eat to keep me filled and give me energy. I have little preference as to where we go out to eat because, well, as long as it's reasonable, I can find something suitable on most menus and I rarely crave specific foods. My husband says I 'have no tastebuds' and that food is to be enjoyed and "you just don't care as long as your full."

Yes, that about sums it up.

Then there is a flip side. There are days where healthy goes out the window and although my exercise routine exists, my awareness of food is gone wayside. It's a rare occurrence, but there are days that I just can't resist that Thin Mint and once I open the box, it's just inevitable that I finish half of it! It makes me feel awful (as does just writing this out!), but then once it has started, the day pretty much continues with me snacking on foods that I normally wouldn't think twice about. WHAT is that about!?

Have you guys discovered your own relationship with the foodstuffs? How do you react in a situation where temptation is knocking at your door?

Please join me tomorrow for the review and giveaway of Dr. Kessler's book: The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite!!

Q & A core series: Deep abs or not?

2009-06-07T22:37:00.002+01:00

I talk ad nauseam about how the key to core work is activating the deep abdominal muscles in order to achieve a stable base for limb movement to take place, but do you fully understand this concept and how to activate these muscles?

How do you know if you are accessing the deep abdominals when you are performing your core routine?

While performing core exercises, if you are accessing through the deep structures, then you will NOT see a 'pop' up of the six pack muscles through your skin. Ok, so I know that for most situations, this is not aesthetically ideal, but it is critical here in order to achieve true 'core stability'.

With constant pulling through the outer six pack muscles, it alters the activation patterns of your overall structure, leading to less overall strength and can lead to injury.

Let's take the 'Toe Taps' as an example, please see video for instruction:

For those not so video inclined:

Lay on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
Position your pelvis in neutral, so that there is a small curve in your low back and your hip bones sit parallel to the floor. (small grape size space between the floor and your low back)
Inhale to prepare. Exhale and lift your right leg so that it is 90 degrees at the hip and knee.
Inhale to prepare and exhale and lift your left leg to meet your right.
Inhale at the top, exhale and lower you right leg to tap the floor with your toes. Be mindful that your pelvis stays in the neutral position.
Alternate toe taps for 10-15 repetitions.

Tips to help you connect to your deep abdominals:

Place your fingers under your low back as you perform the above exercise with the goal to maintain the same amount of pressure on your fingers with your low back throughout the exercise.

USE the breath! Exhaling as your leg moves towards the floor can help you connect through the deep structures by activating the diaphragm muscle which in turn causes a sequential activation of the Transversus abdominus, pelvic floor and Multifidi muscles.

Engage your mind into the activity by allowing the rest of your body surrender to the floor. Allow the floor to carry your upper body and direct all your efforts at controlling your pelvis.

How are you guys doing with this? Have you been able to engage deep abs?

For the fun of it: bizarre links

2009-06-05T10:49:00.003+01:00

Beach season is upon us and you are seriously gearing up by cutting out all fried foods, processed foods and the starchy's. It's been about a week and no cravings, you feel as though you are sailing along just fine, until you pass by Denny's. Ahh, the sweet smell of bacon on a Sunday morning. But, no, you are staying on track, passing right by... No worries, my friends, there are always bacon flavored substitues for the real thing! Why not try some J & D's Bacon flavored Lip Balm or better yet, Archie McPhee's bacon gumballs? Who knew there was bacon-y goodness in all forms??

Women, finally the product we have all been waiting for. The one that will change your hiking and camping adventures forever and help you stay hydrated like never before. GoGirl is the revolutionary new tool for women who desire a hygienic and discreet method of urination in all settings. Whizzy may have begun the trend of Female Urination Devices (FUD) but GoGirl is here to end it!

Recently, you have been fed up with your gym...weights are so boring and the motivation just isn't there. No problem, try out Gymbox where the weights are humans. YES, HUMANS. Their purpose is trifold really: motivation, humor AND strength. What more could you ask for?

Sleep on your side? Like Sushi? Unsure how these could be related? Achieve sweet slumber with this edamame body pillow!

Any bizarre products you have found that you want to share?? How is your weekend shaping up folks?

HAVE A GOOD ONE!

Thursday tips: posture & stress

2009-06-04T09:12:00.001+01:00

POSTURE TIP

Our head and pelvis are the two attachment sites for your spine. Due to their importance in how the spine translates movement, they can be used as points of control to achieve upright posture.

Notice that leaning your pelvis backwards leads to your head coming forwards. This occurs automatically as a result of the change in mobility through the spine. This means that if one end of the spine is out of whack, it leads to all the curves of the spine being stressed in an unnatural manner (i.e. compression and pain!).

Sit sideways facing a mirror and position your pelvis so that it is upright and you are sitting tall on your sit bones. Notice where your head is in relation and the effort it took to achieve this stunning posture!

Now, form a new habit and you're on your way!

TENSION HEADACHES

Tension headaches gotcha down?

Where is it coming from?

temporal: the muscle on our foreheads tend to spasm up with tension headaches.

temporo-mandibular joint: maybe you hold your tension in your jaw...this is the junction where your chin bone meets the skull, right under the earlobe.

occipital: this is around the hairline at the base of the skull

All these muscular attachment sites can spasm and lead to terrible tension headaches which reduce our output and can further the stress cycle!

Next time you are suffering, pinpoint which of these areas are causing you the most grief and instead of digging your fingers in to alleviate the spasms, gently rub your knuckles in a circular motion over the area while taking 5-10 deep breaths and keeping your eyes closed. Gentle massage is sometimes more effective in alleviating muscle spasms than deep tissue work! What are you waiting for!? Give it a go!

Any tips you use on yourself you want to share with us today!?

See it through to the end!

2009-06-02T21:59:00.003+01:00

We have all set out to crush a goal only to be met by tall barriers which keep the white tape just out of reach. The pivotal point in this situation can be as little as a shove from a friend or a set back like getting ill. Next time you find yourself in a rut, try these techniques to help you push through to the other side:

Anticipate set backs

Recognize that there will be times that you will want to quit. Enlist a friend to keep you on track and motivated for these times. Have them remind you of what your goal means to you. Hearing it from an outside source is sometimes just what we need to overrule the 'just quit' thoughts that creep up on us from time to time.

Have control issues

Our internal dialogue turns negative when we feel as though we have lost control over the situation. For example, "I'm not flexible" leads us to believe that we will never be able to do anything which requires any amount of flexibility, no matter how much effort put forth. How can you count yourself out before you have even tried!?

Next time you are experiencing mid-goal butterflies, counter your negative thoughts with positive ones. Example: "I am so tired today, I am not sure if I can run." turns into "I need a healthy snack to re-energize for my evening run."

Reminisce

Why did you set off to conquer this ambition to begin with? Reminiscing about the underlying reason for why you set off on your journey can help to bring you back to why it is important for you to see it through to the end.

Find three reasons for accomplishing your goal and turn them into affirmative statements that you can revert to whenever these situations come up again. Example: "The training required to run a marathon helps me to lay the foundation for lifelong fitness."

What do you struggle with when trying to accomplish a goal? How are your current goals going??

Taping & Braces

2009-06-02T09:41:00.000+01:00

photo credit: euthman

What is your go-to solution when you hurt yourself?

Do you pop the IB and sit the next session out? Seek medical attention ASAP? OR, are you one of those that straps on a brace, determined not to skip a workout session and hobbles through the next sweat fest (denying the pain :)?

If you are a brace-donner, have you ever wondered what that brace was doing for you?

First, the research:

Studies testing the efficacy of functional bracing on the stress and strain of our joints have shown that even small magnitude forces placed on the bone surface cause excessive displacement of the joint surfaces despite the brace. Furthermore, a study conducted on college American football athletes showed that the rate of occurrence of injury was unaffected by the athletes wearing the protective braces.

Second, my spiel:

Braces are designed to act as a 'crutch' to help you achieve the things that you may feel less inclined to accomplish without the added support. This is an okay mechanism for reinforcement in the short term because it acts to give individuals a small sense of security and protection.

Braces, much like athletic taping serve as a reminder for us to prevent our joints from moving in orientations that can be hurtful or to continue to activate muscles which we need to function efficiently. However, this too, has it's limitations. The more we use these things, the less effective they are for us, because the level of stimulation it provides to the brain is dampened over time, therefore the protective mechanism they once provided is lost as we fall back into habitual behaviors.

Third, the bottom line:

My personal practice with clients is to advise against the use of braces altogether. Taping is another story. With the correct method of application and reinforcing exercise, taping can provide the needed temporary support and/or stimulation to help someone re=learn movement patterns which are mechanically effective. This ensures the proper protection of the joint by the surround muscles and allows the joint to re-integrate with movement occurring throughout the body.

What about you guys? DO you use a brace? How is it helping you?

Core Series: Flexion vs. Extension exercises

2009-05-31T21:05:00.004+01:00

Movement therapists have different, often times opposing, theories on whether flexion exercises or extension exercises are more therapeutic for those suffering from chronic back pain.

Those who believe that flexion exercises (bending forward) are more therapeutic base their thoughts on the fact that excess pressure on the posterior portion of the disc is the source of the pain. To reduce this pressure, the exercises presented through this theory balance the surrounding muscles so that the low back is stabilized and returns to its physiological curve, thus reducing the overall pressure at those particular segments.

Extension exercises are based on the idea that extension relieves back pain.

For a normal population, my personal belief is that we need both! and I'll tell you why...

We are constantly working in the front of our bodies (i.e. in flexion) and over time, these muscles (pectorals, abs, quads, hip flexors) begin to dominate our movement patterns. When this happens, the muscles pull on our skeletal system and distort the way our bones move, leading to pain.

This being said, we also need extension to allow us to utilize the back side of our body to help balance out our muscles to help us attain a more upright posture and help the mechanics of our spine run smoothly.

Tips for extension exercises:

Lead the movement from the top of your head and not the back of your head.

Grow long through your spine before moving into extension to prevent compression.

Try these beginner exercises and remember to go slow: swimming, swan and goalpost.

Do you incorporate extension into your workouts? What does your own core series look? What other things have I missed out on this core series that you would like to see here?

Glut camp!

2009-05-29T12:02:00.003+01:00

Busy worried about how your glut-eals are going to look in that teeny bikini this summer?

C'mon dudes, I know you worry about that kind of thing too :)

There is more to the posterior than just good looking buns folks. The tush you can bounce a quarter off of is just an added perk, a buy-one-get-one-free, if you will, of waking up the back side of your body.

On the back of our bodies, we have diagonal muscular 'slings' which activate in a sequential manner depending on the task. Too often, we fall into patterns where we neglect to use these muscles at all or we begin to fall into habits in which muscles are activated at erroneous times. This can lead to over-reliance on anterior muscles such as the pectorals, quads and hip flexors.

When these front muscles are dominating the back side, it alters the mechanics of our skeletal structure, thus leading to injury.

While extension exercises are great, it is important to be cautious that you are not training your body in a manner which is reinforcing your learned movement patterns. Meaning, your body can and will find ways to cheat by using anterior elements to accomplish extension moments!

Start slow so you can begin to understand the movement in the spine and how it interacts with more global movements occurring through the arms and legs.

Swimming:

Begin laying flat on your belly with your feet about hip width apart, arms stretched above your head. Towel roll under forehead.
Be mindful of the curve in your low back. Position your pelvis so that it is upright to your head, (hip bones are parallel to the floor). If you are having a hard time with this, position a cushion under your belly to give your low back some extra support.
Inhale to prepare. Begin the movement from the center of your back and Exhale as you reach your Right arm and Left Leg away from you until they feel like they want to float up off the floor.
Allow them to lift off the floor, about 6 inches. Inhale and return to the start position.
Repeat with Left arm and Right leg.
Following 5 repetitions of the steps above, enlist your head into the action by reaching your head out long in front of you with your arm, growing through the spine. Continue looking at the floor as you would in swimming. Repeat for 10 repetitions on each side.

How about you guys? Have you started to prepare for beach season or are you unconcerned? How about extension exercises, do you incorporate them into your routine?

New habits are born easily!

2009-05-28T09:44:00.005+01:00

You may recall many a post where I ramble on about functional movement, postural adaptations, sequence activation of muscles and the real meaning of core stability.

Haven't been here that long?? Go on, take a lookie, I'll wait..*taps foot to the tune of jeopardy*

Ready to move on? Great!

My main focus for these posts, and well, in a broader sense, this blog, is movement training. How to teach folks like you healthy movement patterns which can be integrated into day to day activity :: Achievement of successful motion which translates to a reduction of risk of injury and improved overall efficiency throughout our body system.

But, how can we get so this is automatic?

Think back to the days when you spent an hour of your day accompanied by the sweetness of the sun's rays and your biggest concern was how fast you could run to beat the line to the four-square court. Play days, days where exercise was natural and FUN! Most all of us look back and reminisce on fond memories of these days where we weren't restricted by 'poor posture', a 'bad back' and 'dodgy knees'.

So why and how did our bodies evolve so quickly to our current stage?! And will it ever get better!?

SURE!

Habits become integrated into our system when our brain dampens the excitement of nerves and the activity becomes automatic. This means that we can coast through something without giving it deliberate conscious thought (think walking and talking).

Think back to when you were stepping onto a broken escalator. Your brain sees escalator and anticipates the motion to take place under your feet, however there is no motion, and your brain has to register a new sensation. The feeling you get when you step onto it and begin to climb the stairs is a miscommunication between what your brain expects and what your body realizes. This excites the nerves in your brain in order to allow your body to adjust to a situation which would otherwise have been habitual.

If in your future, every escalator you ascended were broken, your brain would register them as stairs and the nerves would process the climb as a habit.

This is the same idea which occurs when we alter our posture and assume poor patterns. Our brain has learned that slouched is a preferred position for your body so when you are in that position, your brain turns off and goes into cruise control. The minute you sit upright, your brain is sending you signals that something is different!

So why not use exercise as your daily practice to alter your movement patterns with a final goal of achieving balance and integration of body motion.

Practice is the key to creating habits. Old habits can be replaced easily with new, fabulously functional ones which can help you age gracefully and move with ease!

TAKE AWAY MESSAGE: Our body and brain responds to the stimuli we present it with. If we present it with a continual stimulus, this stimulus eventually becomes natural and is integrated as a habit. This means we can reverse this process to create new, healthier habits at any time.

Using exercise as practice to help you achieve functional movement patterns (ex: upright posturing) can help you to re-wire your brain so that these motions become natural and less cognitively demanding.

Does this make you want to learn how your body functions and how it reacts to altered movement sensations? Do you get this message from the exercises you currently do and those you learn? Does this change the way you think of exercise!?

Shoo Stress!

2009-05-26T22:19:00.004+01:00

Managing stress in your life can help you to take hold of your long term health. The unfortunate truth is that in this day and age, it is almost impossible to eliminate stress from our lives completely. Instead, try these strategies to curb it starting with a 5 minute fix to changing your mind-set to achieve mental bliss.

IMMEDIATELY: tickle your fingers with a hand massage

Rub some light moisturizer on your hands.
Begin at the base of your right thumb using your left thumb to produce circular motions along the muscles.
Stroke each finger down to the tip.
Next draw your attention to the palms, stroking along the length of each bone to the point where the fingers join.
Repeat with opposite hand.

FOR THE REST OF THE DAY: put yourself in a time-out

Commit to AT LEAST 10 minutes of solitude (More if you need it, depending on the specific situation).
Try square breathing to help you center yourself.
Focus your attention on clearing your mind of everything.
If you have a difficult time doing this, focus on a positive thought such as, "I have the power to achieve anything I wish."

LONG TERM: empower yourself

Write down your thoughts about what stresses you out.
In it, include your solutions for how to handle these things most effectively.
Next, write down 5 positive statements about how you handled it.
Practice this exercise every time a stressful situation pops up and re-visit these positive statements if similar situations crop up!

Treat Yourself: alleviate back stress

2009-05-26T09:58:00.005+01:00

Back Pain. We all know what it is like to have a twinge of muscle aches in our back, or suffer from neck pain secondary to poor posture, or even the occasional bout of persistent pain stemming from the low back!

But what do you do to alleviate it?

Basically, our spine moves in three ways: bends forward, bends backward, and rotates. Bending over sideways is a result of a combination of the three movements.

Movement in the spinal bones occurs as a result of the push and pull of the tiny muscles surrounding these bones. The larger muscles which wrap around the spine (i.e. lattissimus dorsi, trapezius erector spinae etc.) are there to aid in more grand movements such as jumping or dancing. Therefore, engaging these large muscles in response to simple bending forward can hinder the small spine muscles from activating (and thus stabilizing the spine).

Altered muscle firing patterns in the spine can occur from poor posturing, high stress and as a result of injury in another area of our body!

Over time, the larger muscles will be forced to compensate for the loss of stabilizing forces and they consequently become hyperactive. This can lead to muscle spasms and back pain!

Quick Solution:

Grab four tennis balls. Place two on the floor about 6 inches apart from one another and lay on them so your shoulder blades rest on top (on either side of your spine). Then lift your bottom and place the other two on either side of your spine at your low back. From here, roll gently back and forth on the balls to relieve tension and calm down your back muscles.

Relieving the spasms in your back muscles can ease the pain stemming from the altered mechanical relationships caused by the push and pull of these larger muscles.

Do you receive 'maintenance massages'? Have you ever considered why a massage is therapeutic for your body?

Bags: can we do without?

2009-05-20T22:48:00.003+01:00

Are you at the mercy of all your STUFF?

You know, the computer you carry to work, the toothbrush/toothpaste you carry in your purse, the just-in-case trousers you throw in your suitcase at the last minute.

Material items, valuables or crap (as I like to call it) tend to take us over! We have learned that it is almost impossible to be without the materials that we use to accomplish tasks like, say, write this post for example :) So, we inevitably lug it around with us everywhere we go.

Home to office, office to bar, bar to dinner then back home again, that's a lot of travel, a lot of head ache and a lot of pressure on your back!

What is your mode of junk transport? And have you considered what it is doing to your body!?

Backpack

Ahh, the greatest invention since the wheel. The bookbag has come a long way from its origins as a method of transfer for books of school aged children. They now have those that house laptops, cameras and even beverages!

Even though they tick the functionality box, backpacks can be extremely compressive on the spine. Furthermore, they can alter the mechanics of the shoulders by forcing the wearer to round them forward in order to bear the weight.

Quick fix: Next time you're shopping for a backpack, make sure to get the ones that have the dorky chest and hip straps. Now for the kicker: USE THEM! They will help you to distribute the weight through your back so your shoulders aren't so sore at the end of your journey!

Messenger Bags

I remember when these things were all the rage. With these, the weight is distributed diagonally across your body, and if you're holding something heavy, this lends to extremely distorted postures!

Quick Fix: It may seem obvious, but just be diligent about switching the sides the bag hangs on frequently and it can save you a lot of headache!

Purses

Ladies, I like bags with the rest of ya, but there is really no need for it to be the size of my closet. I mean seriously, what the heck do you put in those things!? I'm really curious. Seriously.

Quick Fix: Simple. Get a smaller bag,

Dear friends--quick note to let you know that we are off to Beirut today for the long weekend, unsure I will be able to hit the internet tomorrow for a post, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed! If not, I hope everyone has a fun and safe Memorial Day!!

What bags give you grief and what do you do about it!? Do you notice your postural changes due to your bags?

For da feets

2009-05-19T21:53:00.003+01:00

Why is our female culture so obsessed with their accessories, namely footwear?
Especially when this footwear is known to cause physical grief including calluses, hammertoes, shortened Achilles tendons, shin splints, knee problems, hip problems and back problems, to name a few.

I don't get it!

One of my professional philosophies is that each person's feet tell a story. Not in a window-into-your-soul type of story, rather they can tell me how you treat your body.
How? Well, thanks for asking. Your feet are dead last in the chain of command, the lost link which ends up taking up the brunt of the abuse that you dish out on the rest of your body.

Your feets are required to have adequate mobility and stability in order to protect the integrity of all the joints above them. Without this flexibility in the feet, the rest of your body is forced to compensate leading to irregular stress on the connective tissues, ligaments and surrounding musculature.

The dynamics of our feet are constantly changing depending on our chosen footwear, sporting activities and normal wear and tear. So, how are they supposed to move!?

You should be able to lift each toe off the floor one by one, starting from the big toe and moving to the little toe. The reverse order should be performed with equal ease.

Experiment with your hands. Place your hands on the table. Lift one finger at a time. The toes are wired in the same way and should therefore have the same fine tuned mobility and strength.

As you walk, you should roll over the ankle joint without the foot falling inwards or arching outwards. WIth too much mobility (fallen arches) your ankle will tend to roll inwards and with too much stability you will walk on the edges of the feet.

Exercises where you practice lifting and fanning out the toes, along with marbles and towel exercises can help you achieve balanced feet.

Ever find yourself doing something (maybe exercise related) and look down to see your toes curled over, tensing to help you accomplish the task at hand? Have you found that after a night of wearing uncomfortable shoes, it affects the rest of your body? Have you considered or used apres sport sandals to treat your dogs?

Warding off negative energy

2009-05-19T10:33:00.003+01:00

Stress is a natural part of life. Whether the source is your job, family or your internal dialogue, it can be a drain on your physical and mental resources.

Alternative therapies and complementary medicines have emerged more in Westernized societies with an aim to ease people into bridging a gap between their mental associations and their physical being. Although many of these therapies are glorified with commercialism and portrayed as the fab-new-flavor of the month, distracting the underlying message that they represent can make a positive impact on anyone's life.

Negative energy is simply the increase in vibration of molecules in our body caused by an external stressor. This can be from mental strain or physical stress.

This means that stress in the form of financial trouble, health of a loved one, strained relationships and work problems can lead to our bodies--on the molecular level-- to alter their function in an attempt to create higher levels of energy to help solve the issue (scientifically: increase in the production of the stress hormone cortisol). If this negative energy is not alleviated, the pent up stress patterns in our body can lead to physical ailments!

Drawing attention to these areas of stress can help you to achieve control over them and ultimately overcome and prevent their re-occurance!

Recognition

Take yourself out of the situation which is harming your system. Understand the source of your stressor.

Acceptance

You have pinpointed what it is, now understand that it has a negative affect on you. Making this association can help you prevent physical manifestation of negative energy in the future.

Letting Go

Take a couple minutes out of your day to scan your body. Lay down in a position of comfort and have someone read this to you in a soothing voice!
1. Close your eyes and begin by inhaling and exhaling, allowing your rib cage to raise and fall naturally as you breath.
2. Start at the top of your head and contract each muscle on your face and let it go into a position of ultimate comfort, parting your lips and allowing your tongue to float to the top of your mouth.
3. Shrug your shoulders to your ears. Now allow your shoulder blades to melt down your back, arms fall out, hands turn up towards the sky.
4. Draw your attention to your breastbone and allow it to melt down into the floor.
5. Are you in tune with your internal organs? Thinking about your stomach, heart and lungs, allow them to sink deep into your thorax.
6. Send your legs out and away from you. Now allow them to sink into the floor, feet falling outwards.
7. Curl your toes, allow them to rest.
8. Spend 5 minutes in this position of comfort and allow all tension to release from your body.

How did you feel following this exercise? Do you think all this mind-body stuff is a bunch of mumb-jumbo or are you able to achieve harmony from it? What do you do for stress relief?

Q & A: core series: fundamentals

2009-05-18T07:53:00.002+01:00

Pelvic Clock

What it is for: This is a fundamental exercise for understanding how the pelvis interacts with the spine to allow for transfer of forces from the extremities to the spine and vice versa.

Performance of this exercise is about finesse. The idea is to allow movement to occur in the pelvis with the lease amount of effort and whilst keeping the rest of the body quiet.

Once you get the gist of this one on your back, challenge yourself:

Maintain constant motion in the pelvis by rolling it clockwise for 5 repetitions followed by 5 repetitions counter-clockwise.

Perform the pelvic clock while in a hands and knees position

Progress to sitting up and finally pelvic clock-ing in a standing position.

Bridge

I love this exercise for spinal articulation. It helps your body understand what movement is available in the spine and how you can control it with local muscles (i.e. the muscles which act to stabilize and produce pure spinal movement). Meaning that if this one is done correctly, then the spinal bones are moving via the tiny muscles that span from one spine bone to the next and not as a result of the larger muscles pulling in incongruent patterns.

Start off with your feet flat on the ground.

When you do this one properly, you will feel as though your legs are barely doing any work, rather they are just holding your body up. The spine is where the work should be taking place, so concentrate on allowing each vertebrae slide on one another to lift your body up. Allow your breastbone to melt into the floor to ensure that you are getting optimal motion in the upper back and neck.

Partial Curl Up

After learning how our spine moves from bottom upwards, it is important to allow it to grasp the idea of moving from top downwards.

Tuck your chin slightly prior to lifting your head and really concentrate on pulling up through your breastbone and allowing your spine to open up in the back, and your ribs roll around to allow your chest and head to come up in a "C-like" motion.

More tips on the curl up here.

Swan

The swan is an extension exercise which helps us to waken up the back side of our body (the muscles which to act to hold us upright). Extension is necessary to pull us out of flexed postures and to improve mechanics through the shoulders.

Begin this exercise by keeping contact with the floor/mat with your lower ribs and just bringing up your head, shoulders and chest. Make sure to initiate the movement by lengthening out and away through the head before coming upwards.

How is your core shaping up?? Are you able to feel the spine moving?

Learn from links

2009-05-15T09:32:00.002+01:00

Oi Friends! It's Friday and I am feeling especially British this morning! I have compiled a list of English words with links that I have found myself incorporating into my own vernacular! Enjoy!

Knackered

Brilliant

Lovely

Dongle

Dodgy

Mate

Daft

Holiday

Rubbish

Anti-clockwise

Any favorites of your own? Do you find that you pick up slang from your friends who are from other parts of the world? What you guys have going on this weekend!?

Sleep Better!

2009-05-14T09:07:00.003+01:00

May is Better Sleep Month. What genius came up with that!? It should be celebrated worldwide with a week off of work to help us to return to more functional sleeping patterns, don't you agree!?

Sleeping is so fundamentally important to our health and well-being, yet, it is the first (well, second to exercise) thing to go when our lives get busy!

Allowing your body to rest helps to rejuvenate your body's nutrients, stimulates healing and growth and, most importantly, it helps us maintain normal levels of cognitive thinking!

This month, aim to improve your quality of sleep!

Eliminate stimulants

Powerbars, Redbull, coffee and even good ole' coca-cola may be to blame for you tossin' and turnin'! When we ingest artificial stimulants, it sends signals to our brain to be energized, when what we really need is some rest.

Give yourself a week without ingesting these things and let your brain quiet down long enough to listen to what your body wants. If you feel tired during the day, it's likely that you need more sleep!!

Follow the rotation of the Earth

The routine is pretty simple. The sun comes out, we awake and go about our business. When the sun goes down, we rest. It's how they did it before clocks, it's also what our natural instinct calls for.

The sun helps to stimulate a hormone in our body called Melatonin which helps regulate your sleep cycle. Getting adequate sunlight (at safe exposure levels) can help you drift into sleep with little problem and even wake up without the assistance of an alarm clock!

Organize your day

As part of your nightly routine, set out 15 minutes to make a list of things that you need to accomplish the following day. This can help to eliminate the stressors that keep you awake.

Tack on 5 more minutes to the routine to mentally wind down the things you have done that day. Try some breathing techniques or meditation to help you calm your mind and ready it to rest.

For tips to get better sleep, check here.

How much sleep are you getting daily?? Do you feel tired during the day? What do you do to combat your yawns?

Learning from Travels

2009-05-13T07:21:00.004+01:00

Photo: Speyside, Scotland taken 05.07.09

It's no secret that I love to travel. Learning about new worlds is a part of my life that I cherish and hope to continue long into my golden years. It has opened my eyes, broadened my horizons and helped me to gain a greater appreciation for people, animals and nature alike.

I feel blessed to have the means to be able to experience all the great landscapes and cultures that I have been exposed to and my thirst for travel grows with each adventure.

My absolute favorite part of continent hopping is meeting the locals. Our inner scoop usually comes from tour guides or convo's over a pint at the local pub. That's where the magic happens, where we learn how the other side lives, how we grow to appreciate how different, yet strikingly similar our lives are from our neighbors.

Find your creative side through travel:

Adventure Tours

Hiking, climbing, sky diving, free base jumping, scuba etc etc etc. Mingle with the people who understand movement in it's ultimate form with extreme adventure tours!

Take a cooking class

Food can make or break a vacation, according to my hubby. Learn how the other side eats and cooks by taking a cooking class in another country! Not only are you experiencing how they cook, you are also gaining insight into their cultural customs, traditions and learning styles!

Photographic adventure

Whether you are touring the amazon or the concrete jungle, there is no better way to view it than through the lens of a camera. Seriously. You would be pleasantly surprised at how you can view things in a whole new way when you are in a creative mind-set.

Folks, I invite you to share with me your own travel adventures. I am in the process of creating a list of things to accomplish in the next two years (prior to the start of my 3rd decade on this earth).

Will keep you updated as it develops! So far, I have: sky-dive, photograph a South African safari, learn to ballroom dance...

Please help me add to this list!!!

Two Tip Tuesday: Strengthen your feets

2009-05-12T08:25:00.001+01:00

Whether you are working on strengthening your ankles, trying to rid yourself of heel pain or just trying to find some relief for your tootsies, foot work can be very therapeutic:

Improves stability and flexibility in the foot to allow it to move with fluidity

Allows the foot to adjust to various footpaths with ease

Can improve mechanics in the foot, knee and hip

Helps to re-align your entire posture, from the feet up

Prevent shin splints, sprained ankles, and plantar fasciitis

Try this exercise

Place some marbles on the floor in front of you with an empty bucket or a rubbish bin nearby. Using your toes, pick up the marbles, one by one and place them into the container. Repeat with other foot.

What feet issues do you have? Do you give your feets regular attention?

Two Tip Tuesday continues below...