It started as a necessity. Due to a prolonged shoulder injury I wasn’t able to dance or participate in any sport for that matter as I couldn’t move my left arm. To still find a way to work on my shoulder ROM and maintaining my strength, I joined a Pilates class. Actually just because yoga wasn’t my cup of tea. I like strong coffee better. It turned out to be a great way to exercise without too much shoulder pressure or engaging in boring endurance training (yes, I’ve always been looking for ways to avoid cardio training). As my injury progressed positively, I fell in love with it. The mind-body connection, being able to analyse my own body alignment and the whole pelvic-core focus. It blew my mind how much Pilates can contribute towards a positive recovery. When I made the first move As an injured pole dance teacher, I was looking for something else to bite my teeth into. The first couple of Pilates classes I took at a dance studio were kind of easy. I copied the teacher's movements and I looked exactly the same in the mirror! So nailed it! Pilates is not that hard and good for the core. I was wondering if this could be something I can teach. In my search to find the Pilates style that suites me, I bombed on BASI Pilates (Body Arts Science International). And luckily for me The Movement Practice is a host for BASI. So I tried it. My oh my, what was I thinking?! This class was everything but easy! I noticed I didn't had as much body awareness as I thought and I executed every movement different/wrong. I always thought I had a strong core, but this was next level shit! I loved it! Running, running, running As running is my Achilles heel, why still Pilates weekly? Last week I joined the Saucony runners training at All4running. Gert-Jan Wassink, an endurance athlete, helped us with the right technic to run more efficient and faster. We ran a couple of km’s with different Saucony shoes. I tried one with lots of cushioning, for long slow paced runs and one with less cushioning, for faster runs. My preference went to the last one. That shoe was so light and with the new learned technic I ran so fast, within 10 minutes I was completely gasped! What’s Pilates got to do with it? One of the technics we learned is to slightly tuck your pelvis under, pulling your abdominals in (where did we hear that before . . . ?), like you are holding in your pie, or a cue for the males, “nuts to guts”, lifting your testicles upwards. From this position you can elevate from the pelvis and lean forwards to create more momentum. Pelvic stabilization, core activation, spinal elongation, I totally understood what he was saying! Those cues sound quite easy, but it actually takes a lot of practice to be able to execute while running. To train this, I need to do more Pilates! Actually, we all should do more Pilates. Together 😊
0 Reacties
Its been a rough week. On every level. A tragic family loss has put a heavy weight on me, making me reconsider parts of my life 'cause everything has just lost it’s meaning. I know, in time, daily activities will adjust to a new normal and training will be on the top of my list again. But now, the world stands still. On the other hand, subjects with greater meaning became even more important to me; like this crying earth, this weeping shore (Michael knew already). And it’s not just limited to the environment, but everything in and on it that experiences fear, grief, pain, obstacles and is in need of help. It’s stupid to imagine, so early in my training journey, I already want to bailout. My own overcoming is just not an enough motivation to make this journey worthwhile I guess. Maybe in time I can find a cause I feel training for. Two weeks ago I was in a complete different state of mind about my training towards the Strong Viking obstacle course race. To help my performance I went for some running shoe shopping. The store All4running helped me so much finding the right shoes. I tried different kinds of shoes and they made me run on a small indoor track a couple of times so they could measure my foot placement. Noticing the pressure points of the foot tells a lot about your running efficiency, needed foot support and maybe the required technic you should work on. The straighter the lines, the better. Apparently I run quite efficient and don't necessarily need specific shoes. But still very interesting and helpful for more improvement. Cause there is always more to gain. According so, they recommended me, my now owned, Adidas blue shoes. Those were also the ones I found the most comfortable. The first two runs I did right after the purchase were definitely my best tries of the 5 runs so far. I even did a 7k in one go! In a slomo go, but still 😝 Soon I will pick up my pace. But for now, I just want to stay at home and hammock away. PS. I will not say enjoy life every minute. I know, I hate it when people say that too. It completely lost its meaning and it's impossible to be conscious of that every second of the day. But we can be conscious about the experiences we seek and make the choices we intrinsically want. That will evolve in an overall feeling of happiness, right? Have you ever run an obstacle course race? I've never. Watched a couple, though. What brought me to this point as you may know. So i can imagen what to expect "on paper"; some monkeybars, carrying crazy heavy buckets and chains and ofcourse lots and lots of running. My favorite activity :/
I realise that running will be my biggest enemy in my training to come. But next to that, I need some technic to conquer the obstacles, because those notorious burpees, that I want to avoid! WoD WHaT? Since somewhat months, Toughground, an indoor obstacle course and Crossfit gym, has arised a 30 minute drive away. My guy has been training there and as persistend as he is reminding me of THE goal, I went with him. The first thing that I noticed is that they all are talking a different language. Especially things about something called "the WOD". The whole time. And I couldn't follow any conversation, didn't understood what the hell they all were talking about. How to feel alienated so quickly he pfff. Ohye and don't ask after an half hour into the conversation, "whats a WoD?" Perfect way to feel like a idiot, creating a shockwave of silence through the gym, with this deadly question. Oke so I learned the hard way about the WoD: It's the Workout of the Day. (it's not even a right abbreviation?!). What’s the WOD? The WoD (yes I know what I'm talking about now) was:
Honestly, I didn't know what that all meant. I just followed my "buddy", as this seemed to be a two persons game. I apologised at the start, and many times during, for not being the fittest, or lets say what it is, slow as hell. You can guess I died a little again on the running part, but surprisingly the monkey bar went quiet oke! For a rookie. And of course I have proof (check the vid on Instagram!). My buddy and I got third. So maybe there is still hope . . . Now I really need to do somethng about my gear. Starting with some new shoes. What's the best for running? Next time! |
Archieven
September 2018
Categorieën |