Build a Base with the Foot
Many people are training with improper footwear that affects movement in the entire body. Lack of foot intrinsic (small muscles in the foot) strength can lead to inefficient movement patterns, placing excessive stress on the foot, ankle, knee, hip and low back. To check the status of your arch, see if the inside bones of your feet touch the ground. If so, you can benefit from simple exercises to support your arch. A common exercise used in rehab is to perform toe towel crunches. To perform: sit in a chair with feet flat on the ground with toes pointing straight ahead. Then, place a towel under feet and curl toes trying to pull towel under foot while rolling feet out to lift arch up. Do for 1 minute reps for 3 sets. Improving the strength of your foot intrinsics will build a greater base to move from.
|
Active Isolated Stretching
Your active isolated stretching (AIS) routine will help you gain flexibility and reprogram your body to remember your new ranges of motion. In AIS, you'll notice that you do not hold a stretch for 10 to 30 seconds, as you may have done in traditional stretching, as that does not force your body to reprogram itself for the new ranges of motion. Instead, you use a stretch rope to gently assist in pulling your muscle a little farther than your body would ordinarily allow.
|
Aches and Pains
Pay attention to the small aches & pains that creep up in your training. Often they are a 'red flag' that some part of your training is not being performed correctly. It may be related to training intensity (over-training), mechanics (compensations), or slight positional faults. Ignoring them can only lead to bigger problems that may significantly impact your training later on.
|
|
|
