Foam Roller Workout;
Foam rollers are a great tool to use for a variety of reasons:
1. They are an unstable surface which forces your body to recruit muscles which don't typically do too much work and allows the overworked muscles to take a break.
2. Rollers are great for stretching your arms, back and legs
3. It is like having a cheap massage therapist at your fingertips
4. Cost is only $25/roller and can be purchased through optp.com, pilates.com, some sporting goods stores carry them as well.
Exercises on the foam roller:
On your back with the roller running from top of head to base of tailbone:
- Roll side to side
- As you roll right, turn your head away and switch as you go left for neck release
- Arms to ceiling and as you roll side to side reach your fingertips to ceiling as your shoulder blades lift off the roller
- circle arms 10x each direction
- chicken wings - arms overhead, place back of hands as close to floor as you can as you bend your elbows and pull them towards your back pockets (this is a great pec stretch)
- knee folds single and double
- try to balance by first lifting left arm up and right foot off floor then switch
- do the same thing with both arms and one foot off floor
- upper back curls
- hundreds breath, but don't pulse arms
- single leg stretch with head down or up and don't use arms
- double leg stretch without arms
- Shift off the roller and turn it horizontally. Place roller at your bra line and support your neck with your hands. Lift your hips up off floor and roll up towards neck and back down to bra line.
- Place roller under the arches of your feet and do your bridges
- Stretch hamstrings
- Lift back up to bridge and roll the roller away a few inches and back in
- In bridge, take one leg off and reach toes to ceiling
- On stomach, place heel of hands on roller and send your shoulders down your back as you roll the roller towards you and lift your chest off the floor for your Swan
- lie on your side and place the roller under your ankles. your legs will be stacked on top of each other. bend your elbow right under your shoulder and reach your top arm towards your feet. press your elbow into the mat and your legs into the roller and lift your body off the ground into a side plank - only do 3 since this is tough on the shoulders, lats, obliques, serratus
- Roller is horizontal and placed under the small of your back and your legs are up to the ceiling
- lower one leg towards the floor and keep the other one up to the ceiling and then switch. You can add a pulse. Pay attention to your leg tracking straight down the midline of your body
- open both legs wide and then rotate one leg towards your face and the other one towards the floor then reverse (helicopter)
- bicycle your legs 5x each direction. Try touching your toe to the mat, reach out and bring the leg back up
-Roller is again horizontal only this time you are on the side of your leg close to the hip on top of it. Slowly massage down your leg. This will hurt like no one's business, but it releases your iliotibial band and helps with knee and low back problems
- on stomach with roller at top of thighs. Roll forward and back at least 10x with legs together, turned out and then wide open
In the end you will feel great!
Nutrition recap -
We discussed proteins and fats and Alice reminded us to use fats mindfully. Good fats include but are not limited to:
avocado
nuts
beans (fat + protein)
Olive Oil, Sesame Oil, Hot pepper sesame oil (spicy), Flax Seed Oil
Safflower and Sunflower oils are good for cooking
Avoid Mazzola oils and Crisco
Butter - use good quality, organic
Ghee as a butter substitute
Nut butters - peanut, almond
Cheese, Yogurt - pay attention because too much dairy can cause mucous
More fermented cheeses are easier to digest
Also note if you are using organic or not because animals who are fed hormones can affect your hormones.
If using salad dressings, check labels since sugar is often hidden. Alice recommended Annie's Goddess dressing.
Proteins :
in addition to meats, we talked about Salmon being protein and good fat
Soy products:
edamame is good
Tofu is highly processes
Tempeh is better - more fermented than tofu, builds intestinal flora
Soy has a lot of estrogen
Alice went on to make some suggestions for how to integrate what we have learned so far. Examples included:
Cook your grains in advance
Saute carrots, onions, mushrooms and add leftover rice
Make soup in advance
Breakfast porridge can be made from grains
Millet - can be cooked like rice and used as b-fast porridge
Whole Grain instant cereals are great to have on hand like oat bran or cream of whole wheat
Buy already chopped veggies
Boxed soups
Frozen Veggies are good emergency food (birdseye brand was recommended)
Hard boil eggs
Bake your sweet and root vegetables in advance
We discussed the cleanse at Fruition and what cleanses are
Canned beans - saute and put in tortilla
Raw Salads - shred veggies like cabbage, bok choy, carrots, broccoli slaw
Dressings can be made with lemon juice and apple cider vinegar
Try umeboshi vinegar
No comments:
Post a Comment