Active Living

Skiing, Snowboarding, Snowshoeing - Using Yoga to improve Winter Sport Performance

2009-01-22T14:53:00.000-08:00

Last winter I wrote an article in Impact Magazine about using yoga to train for our fave winter sport....

Surely, ancient yogis silently meditating in the Himalayan Mountains weren’t visualizing their next great ski run down those peaks. But if they did, they would have had the physical foundations to be great performers.

Whether your winter sport of choice involves skis, skates, or snowshoes, yoga can be the perfect complement to increase your performance. From its core building strength poses to its lengthening hip openers and challenging balance postures—not to mention all the calming, energy giving breath in the middle—yoga not only improves performance but can also help prevent injury.

Connecting with the Core

The muscles that support our centre—namely the rectus abdominis, the transversus abdominis, and the obliques in the front and the erector spinae and transversospinalis groups in the back—are where we derive much of our power and spinal stability. Yoga employs the use of bandhas, or energy locks, to control the flow of pranic energy within the body. It just so happens that this ancient practice engages very important muscles. Mula bandha activates the pelvic floor, lifting the pelvic muscles to aid in force closure of the sacroiliac joint, thus helping to stabilize our pelvis. Udiyana bandha, the subtle drawing up and in of the lower belly, activates our transversus abdominis. These two activities of the core can be practiced throughout a yoga class.

Bringing awareness to these areas is important when we consider activities like turning on the slopes, where our torso is facing one way and our hips another, or in cross-country skiing, where spinal stability is regularly tested and trained with the opposing motions of contralateral shoulder flexion and hip extension.

Locust

We can mimic this action in a controlled environment using a variation of the yoga posture salambhasana, or locust pose. Lying on the floor, forehead to the ground, with arms extended in front of us, we can alternate raising the opposite arm and leg off the floor by a few centimetres. For example, beginning with the left arm and right leg you slowly raise them off the floor, pause, then lower, and switch to right arm and left leg. Repeat at least five times each side.

A Strong Foundation

Whether we want to master moguls or skate longer without burning out, our lower body muscles are major players in winter sports. The quadriceps, gluteus muscles, and adductors not only require strength and endurance for winter sports but also have the necessity of staying long. Yoga poses often combine a lengthening, or stretching of one muscle group, while focusing on stability and endurance of another.

Warrior I

An excellent pose for winter athletes is Virabhadrasana I, or the popular warrior one pose. Come into a lunge, with your front knee bent no greater than ninety degrees behind your toes, and your back foot angled in forty-five degrees with your foot on the floor, so that both your iliac crests are angled forward (the bony part of your pelvis that you can feel beside your lower belly). Check that you can see your big toe on the inside of your bent knee leg. This tells you that your knee is tracking correctly over your ankle and you’re not putting undue strain on your medial/inner knee. Raising both arms up overhead, think about reaching out through the fingertips as you sink lower in the hips. This pose is excellent because we are strengthening the quadriceps, glutes, and hamstring of the bent knee leg, and at the same time stretching the psoas, quadriceps, and adductors of the extended leg side.

Finding a Balance

Balance comes down to one key principle: proprioception. This is our body’s awareness of its position in space. This is the part of our nervous system that sends signals from our feet to our brain and enables us to stand on one leg with our eyes closed without falling over. Proprioception allows us to glide on one skate or shift our weight subtly on a snowboard. Our proprioception is challenged in yoga when we are relying on our body to orient us upright, rather than relying predominantly on input from our eyes.

Warrior III

From Warrior I pose we can transition to Virabhadrasana III, or Warrior III. Shifting your weight into your front foot, gently lifting your back leg off the floor, hinge at the hips so that your body is parallel to the floor and you are standing on one leg like a figure skater’s spiral. Your arms can be out in front of you, beside your ears, or out in a “T” if you need a little more balance. Keep your iliac crests facing towards the floor. Hold and breathe calmly. Then with control, step your leg back into Warrior I.

Becoming Open
As mentioned before, with strength and endurance must also come length and flexibility to be able to achieve the full range of motion our body needs to perform. The key muscles that need to stay open in the winter are our hip flexors (psoas and quadriceps), our hip rotators and stabilizers (gluteus group), our calves, and our groin muscles. Flexibility is the most well-known aspect of yoga. But the most common misconception of yoga is that you have to be able to put your body into a pretzel to participate. There is no such thing as being “bad” at yoga. Avoiding the flexibility component of our sport preparation limits our peak performance and predisposes us to injury when our muscles can’t lengthen as they need to.

Bound Angle

To open our adductors, Badhda Konasana, or bound angle pose, is great. Sitting on the ground on the edge of a cushion, bend your knees and bring the soles of your feet together. Placing your thumbs on the balls of your feet, open your feet like you are opening a book and gently allow your knees to float towards the floor. Sit up tall, and allow your elbows to gently rest on your thighs if they reach. Avoid putting additional downward pressure with your arms.

The Calm of Winter

Last but not least, yoga’s most powerful benefits lie in the sense of calm, the ability to tame our busy minds and bring a feeling of light when the powder may be plentiful but the sunshine is lacking. A deeper focus and a clearer mind can undoubtedly improve any athlete’s performance.

Stay Active: Preventing Sports Injuries This Winter

2008-10-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

As fall slowly turns to winter we start looking north to the peaks to see how much white is appearing, hoping for our first ski run. Some of us return indoors revisiting our favorite spin class or yoga teacher. Whichever activity you choose to stay healthy, happy, and fit this winter, there are key things you can do to prevent injury.

Prepare to Participate. You may have been in top form on the slopes by the end of last season, but summer held all sorts of different activities. Work back into your winter sport slowly, allowing your body to get used to the new challenges.

Warm Up & Cool Down. Approach the beginning of each activity slowly, using a sport specific warm up. This means recreating the actions you will be using in your sport or activity without the added weight, gravity, or speed. A cool down helps your heart rate drop slowly, and limits the build up of lactic acid in the muscles which can contribute to delayed onset muscle soreness in the days following your workout.

Stretch. Love it or hate it, stretching can help you avoid injury. Only stretch when you are warm – such as after a warm up – and be sure to hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds to get the most benefit. Stretching helps maintain range of motion, which is one key way it helps you avoid injury.

Use the Proper Gear. No I do not get a kick back from Mountain Equipment Co-op. Wearing shoes that fit correctly, boots that fit, skis and boards that are the right size and style for your ability – all these things can really help you prevent injury. Used equipment or gear is fine, as long as it is right for your body. When shopping take a friend who knows, or go to a sporting store with qualified staff that can advise you on what shoes are right for which activity, whether you are a foot pronator or a supinator etc.

Pay Attention to Your Aches and Pains. The most common cause of an ache becoming an injury is athletes ignoring the initial signs and playing through it. If you are starting to feel a tweak, a twinge, a pinch – whatever you want to call it – slow down or stop your activity and take a moment to determine what might be happening. Do you need to stretch? Did you just take a fall and need a time out? When was the last time you took a sip of water? If your pain becomes nagging and doesn’t seem to be improving, consult a health professional familiar with sports injuries so that you can get treatment before you loose out on a season of your favorite sport.

Avoiding sports injuries doesn’t have to be complicated. Taking simple steps to minimize injury can keep your body moving with ease this season, and many seasons to come. Enjoy an active winter!

Get Active - Older people can prevent heart flutters with light exercise

2008-10-08T11:10:00.001-07:00

A recent study in Circulation Journal found that adults over the age of 65 can prevent atrial fibrillation - an irregular heart rythm- by light exercise.

Researchers followed 5,400 adults over 12 years, who entered the study without arrythmia in their heart. Those participants who reported walking at least 60 blocks per week were 45% less likely to be diagnosed with an irregular heart beat compared to those who walked less that 5 blocks per week.

Pace also played a role. People who walked at 3-5 kilometere per hour had a lower risk that those who walked more slowly. Interestingly, high intensity exercise didn't lower the risk of atrial fibrillation.

The researchers concluded that walking at least 12 blocks per week at a modest pace (3km/hour) would prevent a quarter of all cases of atrial bibrillation.

More incentive for you or the people you love to get active and stay active.

Get Active / Stay Active : Yoga improves balance and strength

2008-09-23T10:18:00.000-07:00

Yoga as steadiness training: effects on motor variability in young adults.

J Strength Cond Res. 2008 Sep;22(5):1659-69.

Yoga has been recently studied and shown to improve leg strength, leg muscle control, and balance in young adults.

Over an 8 week program of Bikram (hot power) yoga maximum voluntary contraction of the elbow flexor and knee extnesor

muscles was assessed as well as steadiness of elbow and knee muscle contraction, and timed balance.

It was found that for young adults, a short-term yoga program of this type can improve balance substantially, produce

modest improvements in leg strength, and improve leg muscle control for less-steady subjects.

Maybe it is time to add yoga to your fitness routine to get active or stay active.

Stay Active: The Five Stretches Every Runner Should Know

2008-09-10T21:54:00.000-07:00

The 5 Stretches Every Runner Should Know

*Only stretch when you are warm - either after your run or after a warm up of 5-10 minutes. Hold each stretch for at least thirty seconds, and always stretch both sides.*

The Gas Pedal

To stretch the calf muscles (gastrocnemius, soleus, tibialis posterior, flexor hallucis, and flexor digitorum), go to a wall. Lift your toes up and move your heel closer to the wall so that your fore foot is pressing into the wall like you press into a gas pedal, keeping your leg straight. Let the acceleration take hold and lean your body into the wall until you feel a stretch in the back of your calf. The gastocnemius muscle is the largest of the calf muscles, the closest to the surface and the only muscle to cross the knee. To take the gastrocnemius out of the equation and go deeper into the calf, bend your knee with your foot and body in the same position.

The Curler

In many of us, our hip flexor muscles (namely psoas major and minor, rectus femoris of the quadriceps, and sartorius) become quite tight due to all of the sitting during our days. If we are also runners, the hip flexors come into play with every stride as we bring one leg forward, and the other must extend back. If we have limitations in our hip flexors, we may have limitations in the length of our stride. To stretch the hip flexor group step forward into a lunge with one leg, allowing the rear leg to trail, imagining gliding along the ice as you throw your curling rock. Allow your pelvis to sink towards the earth but keep the hip points of your pelvis pointing forward.

Thread the Needle

In runners, the muscles of gluteus area (buttock) have a very important function. Since running requires you to repeatedly stand on one leg during the stride, the glute group provides stability to the hip joint and pelvis, enabling the pelvis to stay level and provide balance to your stride. Lying on your back with both knees bent, feet flat on the floor, pick up your left foot and cross it over the right thigh just below the knee (when looking at your thigh). Using your hands or a strap/belt/tie reach through the hole, like thread through a needle eye, wrapping around the right thigh and pull the thigh towards you. Keep your head relaxed on the earth and energetically (i.e. without using your hands) imagine your left hip opening and your shin moving towards perpendicular to your right thigh.

The ITB Curtsey

The Iliotibial Band (ITB) is a band of connective tissue that runs from your hip to your knee. It has a close relationship with the outside quadricep muscle of the thigh as well as the gluteus muscles of the hip. In runners, the ITB can come under tesion due to the repeated flexion and extension of the knee and hip, which can sometimes lead to friction between the ITB and the underlying muscles or bone. To lengthen the right ITB, begin your curtsey by stepping your right leg behind your left. Hitch your right hip out to the right to deepen the stretch. You may also incorporate a side stretch by reaching overhead with your right hand, away from your right hip, opening into the Quadratus Lumborum muscle of the trunk.

The Rubber Ankle

There are a number of muscles in the front and side of the shin that are involved in the running gait. As we run our foot moves from eversion (outward facing of the sole) to inversion (inward facing of the sole) as well as pronation (ankle shifting inward) to supination (ankle shifting outward). To stretch into the outside of the shin, sitting with legs extended, reach down from the inside of the foot and wrap your fingers around the outside of your foot. Using your hand, move the foot so that the sole is facing inward stretching into the outside of the shin. To add a stretch into the front of the shin, point the toes lengthening the muscles of the front compartment (tibialis anterior, extensor digitorum, extensor hallucis).

Stay Active: Avoiding Yoga Injuries

2008-08-01T09:53:00.001-07:00

The four keys to keeping you on the mat

We all came to yoga for very positive reasons, to calm the mind, improve the physical body, or to heal an injury. Yoga is very good at helping us achieve all of these things. In fact science is now recognizing the use of yoga to treat conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome, high blood pressure and low back pain. But despite our best intentions, sometimes injuries just happen. This article will teach you how to prevent injuries in your yoga practice.

Injuries happen for 3 major reasons: we go past our body’s physiological limits, we succumb to a repetitive strain injury, or our body’s asymmetries get the best of us. We can prevent injury with four key points:

1. Honour our old injuries. Tell your teacher about your injury and respect the limitations your injuries present. Talk to your chiropractor or health professional about what motions to avoid. An injury is an excellent time to practice the yogic tenet of ahimsa or non-violence towards our own bodies by not pushing ourselves too far.

2. Warm up and cool down. Start with slow flowing movements to build heat in the body before progressing to more challenging postures. If necessary come to class 5 minutes early to get in your own warm up. Allow time for a proper sivasana, the final relaxation pose, to slow down the heart rate and decrease the body temperature.

3. Cross train our yoga. Try a different style of yoga every now and then. Not only is it mentally stimulating, but it also challenges our body to move in different patterns. This helps to prevent injuries caused by repeating the same motions over and over.

4. Take our yoga off the mat. We all have habitual activities that undermine our body’s natural balance from left to right or front to back. Try carrying your bag on the opposite side, or talking on the phone with your opposite ear. Our bodies need symmetry to function properly so pay extra attention to areas in your body where this is out of balance.

What if an injury does happen?

Stop your practice, take a breath, and tell your teacher. Use aparigraha, non-attachment to finishing the pose or the class. Put ice on the injury as soon as possible to decrease inflammation and consult a health professional who understands yoga injuries to get a diagnosis and appropriate treatment. We all hope to have a smooth and successful yoga practice.

Injuries can happen, but if we use mindfulness and follow these four key injury prevention strategies, we can greatly decrease the chance of injury.

For more tips specific to yoga see my other blog smartyoga.blogspot.com

Get Active: Healthy Cycling - Bike Fit

2008-07-22T10:14:00.000-07:00

Bike Fit
With gas prices high, and the summer weather here, more and more people are choosing to cycle as their main means of transportation. It is important that you get your bike set up right to minimize injury, and mazimize power output to make those hills a little easier.

Here are a few simple tips to remember when setting up your bike.

Seat
In the pedaling position, with the ball of the foot on the pedal, your knee should have a slight micro bend so that it is almost straight. This should also prevent any rocking from side to side in your pelvis as you are pedalling. Put the nose of the seat a bit higher than the rear. Women's seats should be wider than men's since a woman's pelvis is wider. Many women's seats now have a cutout or low density foam section in the center to take pressure off the pubic bone while allowing a level seat position. You may be able to change the position of your seat from front to back. Having the seat behind the pedals gives you a little more of a mechanical advantage to access the large gluteul muscles of your backside. It also prevents your body weight being shifted to your upper body and the handle bars.

Handlebars
Your handlebars should be close enough to reach when in a comfortable sitting position. The handlebars merely act as a distibuting point for your upper body weight, not a total supprt. Check that you are not in a shrugging position and that you are not rounding your back in order to reach the handle bars.

If you are having difficulty adjusting your bike, take it to a local bicycle shop, get your yearly tune up and ask them to help you set up your bike properly. Most bike mechanics have a general understanding of how your bike should be set up, depending on your needs. There is of course a difference between training for the Tour De France and biking to the grocery store.
Setting up your bike correctly is one way to prevent back,seat, and wrist discomfort and ensure that you will stay active and contribute to a healthy environment.

Stay Active: Preventing Golf Injuries

2008-06-15T19:22:00.000-07:00

The lure of the golf course is strong. On a sunny day, who can resist the call of freshly mowed greens? By the year 2020, the World Golf Foundation expects there to be 55 million participants in the game of golf. Unfortunately, low back pain is one of the most common golf related symptoms, comprising up to 50% of all complaints. So how can you prevent yourself from becoming another statistic?

We can prevent golf related low back pain in three key ways:

1. Consult the experts. In professional golfers, low back pain develops due to repetitive strain - long hours on the course cause problems. But in most amateurs, low back pain results due to the wide variation in the golf swing. Inconsistency leads to back pain as a result of poor swing mechanics. It is worth it to spend some time with a golf pro to analyze your swing and give you tips to stay more consistent. A few extra yards wouldn’t hurt either.

2. Warm up. You’ve probably heard this before, but it cannot be emphasized enough. A scientific study found that injuries were reduced by about 60% in golfers who stretched and warmed up for at least 10 minutes before playing. Unfortunately, another study of over 1,000 amateur golfers found that only about half performed some sort of warm up. Your warm up should start with some dynamic movements to increase your body temperature first, then stretching, then some practice swings. Some experts even suggest hitting balls at the driving range first before heading

3. Prepare your body. Because golf is a game of all ages, and accessible to so many people, we may forget that it is a physically demanding sport. To specifically avoid low back injuries it is important to have a strong core, which means developing our abdominal muscles and our supporting low back musculature. It is also important to have full rotational range of motion in our lower spine. Be sure to include stretches that involve a rotational component, such as lying twists. Finally, the muscles around the hips must be flexible to full rotate through the hip joint, and allow extension of the hip.

What if an injury does happen?

Don’t play through back pain - it will only get worse. Put ice on the injury as soon as possible to decrease inflammation and consult a health professional to get a diagnosis and appropriate treatment.

Golf is a wonderful way to stay active, get outside and be social. If we use the tools above to prevent injury we will be able stay on the greens for years to come.

Get Active: Bike to Work Week

2008-05-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

It's Bike To Work Week in Vancouver from May 26 - June 1.

There will be events all over the city encouraging you and giving you the tools to bike to work.

Commuting to work in an active way, whether it's walking, biking, or rollerblading, is a great way to get active. Not only does it get in your daily recommended exercise, but it is also a great way to clear your head before you start your work day and after you leave the office. All it takes is a little planning.

Plan to Walk?

1. You'll need a good pair of walking or running shoes to start your commute. Maybe there is space at your office to keep a few pairs of your work shoes so that you are not carrying them back and forth.
2. If you carrying items back and forth from work, you'll need a good bag that is ergonomically safe and comfortable for you to carry. Mountain Equipment co-op has a good variety of low to higher priced bags that keep your health in mind.
3. Check the weather! A little rain or cold doesn't have to slow you down or cancel your active commute. Check the weather in advance and just bring the right clothing to keep you comfortable.
4. Find a walk-pool buddy. Maybe an office mate or spouse wants to walk commute too. This keeps you committed to your active way to work.

Plan to Bike?
1. Pick your route. Not sure how to get there? The Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition has links to bike routes for the greater Vancouver area (http://www.vacc.bc.ca/bike_routes/).
2. Just like walking, you'll need a way to carry your lunch or other necessities. There are inexpensive options such as a bike basket on the front or back of your bike, or inexpensive pannier bags which can attach to a rack on the back of your bike. Or a good old fashioned back pack should do the trick.
3. Check the weather! In winter months be sure to check it the weather is approaching zero to avoid black ice in the mornings. You'll also want to check the time of sunrise and sunset and be sure to bring reflective gear (as simple as strapping on a few Velcro reflective bands available at Mountain Equipment Co-op and other bike shops) and bike lights.

Getting active and staying active gets even easier when it's built into your daily routine. You'll set a great example for your co-workers!

Get Active: The more you do it, the better it feels.

2008-05-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

It turns out that the 'runners high' we experience after cardiovascular exercise just gets better the more we exercise, according to an article in the February 2008 edition of the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

In "Exercisers achieve greater acute exercise-induced mood enhancement than nonexercisers.", the authors determined that although both regular exercisers and non-exercisers achieved an improved mood after working out, regular exercisers have approximately twice the effect as nonexercisers. The authors suggested this might be why people quit their exercise routine prematurely - they've yet to experience the full "high".

So don't quit yet, the best is yet to come.

Get Active: You name it, and exercise helps it

2008-05-20T14:37:00.000-07:00

As if we needed another reason to get active.

Recently there was a great article in the New York Times newspaper about the benefits of physical activity.

Science has shown that exercise can lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, dementia, osteoporosis, gallstones, diverticulitis, falls, erectile dysfunction, peripheral vascular disease and 12 kinds of cancer (!). But what about those of us who already have some of these conditions? Should we just give up? This article discusses how people with chronic health problems can improve their health and quality of life by learning how to exercise safely.

Check it out by clicking on the title above, and you'll have a tough time not going out for your morning walk.