Recovery and Stretching with Purpose

So today I want to talk about recovery. In the fitness world, there is a lot of different views on recovery. For the person who is trying to lose weight and wants to see quick results, a recovery days seems like a waste of time. For someone who is constantly training at a high level, recovery day is looked at as heavenly day. But why do we need recovery?

Think of it this way. If we turned a light on and left it on, eventually it would burn out.  It is the same with our bodies. If we train every single day at a high level and never take a recovery day, our bodies will start to breakdown. Because our body is the most adaptable machine we own, it will start to develop compensations to achieve what we want it to. These compensations can lead to injury. Therefore, we need recovery. Plus, in order to see gains and achievements in our training, our body needs rest!

Now that we know why we need it, let’s define recovery. Recovery can mean a variety of different things. Sometimes we need a day off from lifting weights or from running. Sometimes we need a day to stretch and get our legs back underneath us. Sometimes we need to focus on lifting light to get the soreness out of our body. There are many ways to recover. Find what works best for you! My recovery wouldn’t necessarily be the same as a professional athlete who is constantly pushing their body to the limit.  Find the recover that works best for you.

On my recovery days, I like to go to the gym and get my blood flowing by riding the bike for 10 minutes at a slow-to-moderate pace. Then I stretch. Not just “going through the motion” stretching but stretching with purpose. I want to stretch so that I can do more on the days that I work out. I stretch everything but I focus on my deficits. If my squats were a little shallow that week, I focus on opening up my hips more. If my chest still feels tight after a hard chest workout, I focus on stretching my pectoral muscles. If I'm having pain in a certain area, I'm going to focus on stretching that area. I stretch with a purpose.

Recovery is all about finding what works best for you. If you need any suggestions, feel free to contact me. You can email me at mvpannex@gmail.com or find me on Facebook, “Ross Little” or “MVP Annex at Peak Performance in Motion”. Hope that helps! Good luck on recovering! You deserve it…

It’s the most wonderful (and painful) time of the year!

 So while driving the 12 hours back from Mississippi last weekend, my brother-in-law, his dad and I got bored of what we were listening to on the radio and my brother-in-law decided to spice things up a little bit and put on Christmas music. I had no idea the holiday season was so close! It feels like just yesterday we were in September. Where did Halloween go?

Growing up, the holiday season meant good food, good times with friends and family and, my least favorite, decorating. Being the only boy in my house, it was always my job to get the decorations out of the attic. My dad would pass me the box and I had to carry it downstairs. Up and down. Up and down. At the end of it all my parents would always tell me how lucky they were to have me to do all the heavy lifting. But not everyone can be so lucky.

With all the lifting we do during the holiday season, we need to remember the proper techniques. It is extremely important to understand how to lift before lifting. Most attics are cramped and small and a lot of the time we think we don't have enough space to lift properly. But we always do!

3 techniques to remember while lifting:

1) Never lift with your back: You are setting yourself up for a long, painful holiday break if you lift all of your decorations with your back. Make sure to use your lower body to lift. Squat and lift. Do not bend through your spine to pick up a heavy box.

2) Maintain a solid base: A building is only as strong as its foundation. Same goes for our body. We have to have a strong foundation before we lift. Make sure that your feet are shoulder width apart and that you have solid footing. Don't be like this guy.

3) Use your Glutes: I know that it is funny concept and it’s a little weird to do but your glutes can save your back. While squatting to pick up a box, use your glutes to lift you out of your squat. Yes, I am asking you to squeeze your butt to stand up. Your glute muscles are a powerful tool that rarely gets used properly, if at all. Try it now while sitting in your chair. You'll notice that you start to bounce up and down. That’s what we want when you are lifting!

With these 3 techniques, you will be able to lay on the couch peacefully after a meal and not in pain because you threw your back out. I hope everyone enjoys this holiday season! And as always, come see me at the MVP Annex!

Moving Better Before Moving More

Sorry for the late post! I was in Mississippi at a cabin on Friday and had no wifi or cell phone service. Needless to say, it was nice to disconnect.

So I had this conversation with a friend at the gym this week. We were talking about his new workout plan and how it was going. He told me that he has been having lower back pain while lifting but he knew it would go away eventually. I asked him what he was doing about it and he told me, "I'm working out more. It will eventually go away". I was a little confused by this. To help you see what I see, here is an analogy.

Imagine that you were just given your dream car. It has all the bells and whistles. Everything you've ever dreamed of. When you sit down in your car and you begin to drive you notice that the check engine light is on and the car is riding a little rough. What do you do? Do you continue to drive it or do you stop driving it and take it in to get it checked out? If you're smart and you care about your car, you get it checked out. It is the same with our body. If we start to have pain do we continue to move or do we get it checked out? Unfortunately, we typically ignore the pain and continue to move. But why? Do we seriously think that moving more will fix our pain? Unfortunately, yes we do. The main point that I want to illustrate in today's post is this: MOVING MORE IS NOT THE ANSWER, MOVING BETTER IS. Just like a young child should not run before they walk; we should not move more before moving better.

This is a concept that we as adults do not get. When animals are hurt or injured, they stop moving. When babies are hurt, the cry and stop moving. When adults have pain, we move more. It just does not make sense! If we want to get rid of pain or avoid injury, it is imperative that we learn to move correctly before we move more. Now, can we survive moving more without moving better? Yes, we can. Will we avoid injury and not develop compensations? Nope!

That is why I love doing what I do. I take people with "check engine lights" or "flat tires" and I help them perform better. So if your body is not moving properly or you have pain, do not assume that more movement is the fix. Come by and see me and let’s figure out what is going on. We'll get you moving better so that you can move often!