My marathon-runner friend Jill gives us some tips on how we can avoid shin splints. Of course the key word here is avoid. Don’t wait until you have shin splints to do these exercises – just like you shouldn’t wait until to you have an injury to start stretching!
An ounce of prevention…is worth avoiding a pound of pain!
You can check out Jill’s website at runwithjill.com
Filed under Running, Stretching, Training, Video by on Apr 14th, 2010. Comment. 
Use a bat to Stretch your Shoulders
Light shoulder routine from Huntington Beach personal trainer
The shoulder (or glenohumeral joint for you kinesiologists) is a very unique joint in the sense that it permits 360 degrees of rotation. Due to this joint freedom, we are able to make many different movements such as pitch a fast ball and swim rapidly through the water. But since it’s so mobile, it is also less stable (delicate and susceptible to injury), and that’s why we want our training to keep them strong, flexible and healthy.
I think it’s interesting that many physical therapy programs for shoulder injuries (many injuries for that matter) include stretching and light exercises. Regular exercises will restore your normal shoulder motion and flexibility from an injury, but why not work on some prevention, especially if you are involved in recreational activities.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOisYU9fG5ATake care of your body and it will take care of you!
Filed under Stretching, Training, Video by on Jan 2nd, 2010. Comment.
Huntington Beach trainer spills guts on being stupid!
Here is a great example of a bad example. Last week I was really tight and sore from my previous leg workout. It was primarily my hamstrings, from stiff-leg dead lifts, and my hip flexors from hanging leg lifts. The combination of these two muscle groups being tight really put a lot of tension on my lower back. I was aware of this but didn’t take the necessary precaution. Neither did I stretch very well.
A buddy of mine and I had an appetite for some cardio intensity and wanted to eat up a bleacher workout. In a nutshell, this workout consists of charging up and down a flight of bleachers as fast as you can for as long as you can. Fun! We started with running, skipping one, two, three stairs at a time. Then we sidestepped and widestepped up and down. Soon we were jumping.
I think it was jumping up four stairs when I first felt a small twinge in my lower back, just above my sacrum (where the base of the spine connects to the pelvic girdle). And that’s when I probably should have stopped, but again, I missed my cue. “Come on! I can’t stop now and wimp out in the middle of our workout,” I thought. Arching my back while I ran up again, I told myself, “Power through the pain!” It was after I drove home and tried to unfold myself from my car, when I realized I had made a dumb mistake.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jPZtilMU6o
What I did on my birthday in Santa Barbara
The moral of this story is twofold. First, stretch, stretch, and double stretch. When you work your body hard (like you know we’re doing, yeah!) there will be a tendency for your muscles and tendons to tighten up and become stiff and sore as they recover. If you don’t stay loose and limber by stretching, you will eventually injury yourself, just like I did! Please do as I say and not as I did, and stretch like crazy-all the time.
Second, listen to your body. “Bad pain” is a warning sign. When your body says, “hey, something’s not quite right here,” be smart and listen. Become in tune with your body and its feedback. Learn to hear the whispers.and stop before the screams.
I know it’s hard to remember to stretch. I also know it’s hard to stop what you’re doing and spend a few minutes stretching, but I’m telling you how important it is from (painful) experience! Try and stretch briefly a few times throughout the day. Stretch your whole body and especially spend extra time stretching anything that is sore or tight. This will not only make you feel better and more relaxed, but it will help you stay injury-free.
Ask me more about specific stretches next time you see me in the gym!
Filed under Stretching, Video by on Jan 2nd, 2010. Comment.
