How much do you move every day outside of your workouts? This was on my mind this morning as I woke up to snow and had to do some shoveling at 5:45am to take my trash and recycling bins out.
Daily movement includes things like shoveling snow, walking the dogs, doing the dishes, sweeping the stairs, carrying a basket of laundry, and many other things. These things aren't enough on their own to keep a person fit, but they are a step up from just being sedentary.
Another thing about these types of activities, is that being fit makes them easier. Keep up and build your strength, work on your flexibility, focus on maintaining or increasing your mobility, and on correcting your posture (if needed). When you are in fit condition, shoveling snow is not hard. The laundry basket is not heavy, bending to load the dishwasher is no problem at all. But if you allow your strength, mobility, and flexibility to degrade, then pain and difficulty will begin to creep in.
Now, above I wrote about how shoveling snow is not hard when fit. Yes, this morning the 4 or 5 inches of snow I shoveled off of my deck, stairs, and sidewalk was easy. It can feel like a tough workout, however, to shovel two feet of wet snow from my driveway. The difference is- I can keep plugging away at it like a machine and not have pain; whereas my husband will be developing back pain. So the difference is not ease, but whether or not it results in pain in this case.
Disclaimer: You should understand that when
participating in any exercise or exercise program, there is the
possibility of physical injury. If you engage in this exercise or
exercise program, you agree that you do so at your own risk, are
voluntarily participating in these activities, assume all risk of injury
to yourself, and agree to release and discharge Jennifer of Jenn's Fitness Journey from any and all claims or causes of action, known or unknown, arising out of Jenn's Fitness Journey.
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Saturday, November 2, 2019
Progress Towards Side Splits
Hello!
Side splits have always been something that I wanted, but never knew how to achieve. I would do wide legged seated forward bend static stretches daily, but never made any progress. I got a small amount of progress in martial arts class with partner stretching, but still not enough. Once I learned about kinesiological stretching and learned some of those stretches, I got some progress. The most progress so far has been through Easy Flexibility. I purchased their Master Splits Combo (it has 9 training programs: Side Splits, Open Front Splits, and True Front Splits, with beginner, intermediate, and advanced programs for each type of split).
So far I have spent the most time on the Side Splits. In the spring I started the beginner program. I chose that because my side splits were less than 135 degrees. I did the program slightly less than once per week for a couple of months (and then took a break for a few months due to an injury in my right hip flexors that I got during Lyra class conditioning exercises and an injury in my right deep buttock region obtained while doing canicross style trail running with my huskies). Over the summer I maintained the progress I had made with mild static stretching, because it would not have been safe to try to increase my flexibility while injured. It took a long time for the injuries to heal, probably because those areas get used even while "resting". I still walk and go up and down my stairs, etc. Plus I did a lot of physical labor work over the summer (I removed decaying concrete stairs with a sledgehammer and built a deck and new stairs to replace it).
Yesterday I decided I am ready to start again, but now I have moved up to the intermediate program because my side splits angle has gone above 135 degrees. My plan for now is to do the Side Split Intermediate Program once per week (either before or after the ZGym workout that I do on that day).
I am eager to get to 180 degrees, but I must be patient. My body does not build muscle easily and heals slowly, so patience is very important for me. Below are the photos of "before" and "during" for my side splits. The pics were taken in May and October. I really hope to be able to post a lovely "after" photo in the future, of me at 180 degrees!
If anyone reading is wondering about the measurements on the photos, I used an app called Stretch 180. Here's a screenshot of it on my phone:
I mostly just use this for checking my progress (like in the photos above), and have found it quite useful.
As I mentioned above, I started the Side Split Intermediate program yesterday (after doing Power Yoga #35 in the ZGym). That was not on the ZGym schedule, but I was feeling off due to fighting the mild cold that's going around. Today I have only a small amount of muscle soreness, so that is good and I think the intermediate level is right for me now. I did the ZGym Power Yoga #33 today (also not on the ZGym schedule for today, but I'm sticking to only yoga and stretching until I'm over this mild cold). Note that if my cold was worse or if I had a fever, I would not be exercising, I would be following the rest and fluids plan.
I will write about the other splits programs later. Happy stretching until next time!
Disclaimer: You should understand that when participating in any exercise or exercise program, there is the possibility of physical injury. If you engage in this exercise or exercise program, you agree that you do so at your own risk, are voluntarily participating in these activities, assume all risk of injury to yourself, and agree to release and discharge Jennifer of Jenn's Fitness Journey from any and all claims or causes of action, known or unknown, arising out of Jenn's Fitness Journey.
Side splits have always been something that I wanted, but never knew how to achieve. I would do wide legged seated forward bend static stretches daily, but never made any progress. I got a small amount of progress in martial arts class with partner stretching, but still not enough. Once I learned about kinesiological stretching and learned some of those stretches, I got some progress. The most progress so far has been through Easy Flexibility. I purchased their Master Splits Combo (it has 9 training programs: Side Splits, Open Front Splits, and True Front Splits, with beginner, intermediate, and advanced programs for each type of split).
So far I have spent the most time on the Side Splits. In the spring I started the beginner program. I chose that because my side splits were less than 135 degrees. I did the program slightly less than once per week for a couple of months (and then took a break for a few months due to an injury in my right hip flexors that I got during Lyra class conditioning exercises and an injury in my right deep buttock region obtained while doing canicross style trail running with my huskies). Over the summer I maintained the progress I had made with mild static stretching, because it would not have been safe to try to increase my flexibility while injured. It took a long time for the injuries to heal, probably because those areas get used even while "resting". I still walk and go up and down my stairs, etc. Plus I did a lot of physical labor work over the summer (I removed decaying concrete stairs with a sledgehammer and built a deck and new stairs to replace it).
Yesterday I decided I am ready to start again, but now I have moved up to the intermediate program because my side splits angle has gone above 135 degrees. My plan for now is to do the Side Split Intermediate Program once per week (either before or after the ZGym workout that I do on that day).
I am eager to get to 180 degrees, but I must be patient. My body does not build muscle easily and heals slowly, so patience is very important for me. Below are the photos of "before" and "during" for my side splits. The pics were taken in May and October. I really hope to be able to post a lovely "after" photo in the future, of me at 180 degrees!
If anyone reading is wondering about the measurements on the photos, I used an app called Stretch 180. Here's a screenshot of it on my phone:
I mostly just use this for checking my progress (like in the photos above), and have found it quite useful.
As I mentioned above, I started the Side Split Intermediate program yesterday (after doing Power Yoga #35 in the ZGym). That was not on the ZGym schedule, but I was feeling off due to fighting the mild cold that's going around. Today I have only a small amount of muscle soreness, so that is good and I think the intermediate level is right for me now. I did the ZGym Power Yoga #33 today (also not on the ZGym schedule for today, but I'm sticking to only yoga and stretching until I'm over this mild cold). Note that if my cold was worse or if I had a fever, I would not be exercising, I would be following the rest and fluids plan.
I will write about the other splits programs later. Happy stretching until next time!
Disclaimer:
As an affiliate of Easy Flexibility I will receive commission if anyone
clicks on the link in the image and makes a purchase.
Disclaimer: You should understand that when participating in any exercise or exercise program, there is the possibility of physical injury. If you engage in this exercise or exercise program, you agree that you do so at your own risk, are voluntarily participating in these activities, assume all risk of injury to yourself, and agree to release and discharge Jennifer of Jenn's Fitness Journey from any and all claims or causes of action, known or unknown, arising out of Jenn's Fitness Journey.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)