Oilcan, part 1

One of my clients asked me about my oilcan exercises.  Somebody might have a better term for them than I made up, but oilcan exercises are the things we do every day to keep our bodies mobile, the equivalent of the Tin Man’s oilcan in The Wizard of Oz.

 

Because we are all unique Tin People, what we need in our oilcans will vary.  Additionally, our bodies change over time.  We may realize that our continuous practice has made a former problem area stronger, so we can remove something from our oilcan list.  Or, conversely, we may have an injury or develop a new issue that needs the oilcan daily TLC, making the list longer.  However, we want to make sure that our oilcan list does not take more than five or ten minutes, start to finish (once we’re familiar with it!), because if it gets longer than that, we will just not do it.

 

I hesitate to share my oilcan list because, as I just said, we’re all different, but I am the handiest example and I’ll explain why the various things are on my list as a way to access the kind of thinking we need to put into the process.

 

Here’s what I do:

 

YTB

ball under PSIS/glute

supine arm twist

supine hip circles

supine thigh press

supine knee to chest

half happy baby

bridge with block

side leg lifts

mermaid

pelvic floor

 

Now I’m going to explain why.

 

1.     YTB – this stands for Yoga Tune-up Balls.  They are a brand-name item and come in pairs in a little mesh bag.  They’re about as dense as a Pinky ball (remember those?) and two of those in a sock would be a good and cheaper alternative.  (People who want a less firm option can use tennis balls; people who want a firmer option can use lacrosse balls.)  There are gazillions of ways to use them for self-myofascial release, but I limit myself to two ways on a daily basis.  I get on all fours and roll my shins on them to help my ankles flex better.  This relieves my plantar fasciitis symptoms and improves my ankle function.  For me, this is important because I have ruptured my plantar fascia and I do not want to repeat the process ever again.  Then I put the balls in their little bag so that the space between them lines up at the base of my spine as I am lying down.  I roll them up my spine from the bottom to the top, slowly, letting them release the knots.

2.     ball under PSIS/glute.  This is another YTB thing.  I, like most people in our culture, am functionally scoliotic, which means that the muscles in my trunk pull my right shoulder and hip toward each other.  This affects my posture.  It also does not play nicely with my hip issues (right hip pain due to overuse in biking/spin).  To even out the muscle tension, I put one of the balls under my right glute and the other under my left PSIS as I lie on the floor.  (PSIS stands for posterior superior iliac spine, which is the top of the pelvis in the back, the spot where the dimple is!).  I take at least five breaths in this position to allow my body to adjust.

3.     supine arm twist.  This is one I do both with the YTBs and without.  I lie on my back with my knees bent, feet flat on the floor.  The first time through, I put the balls just above my bra strap.  With straight arms, I put my palms together over my breast bone.  Keeping my arms straight and my hips down, I twist my arms right and left, staring at the ceiling.  This hurts.  It is the good kind of hurt, but it may take some getting used to.  I repeat the exercise, taking my head with me (looking at my thumbs).  I repeat it one more time, my head turning the opposite direction as my arms.  I take the balls out and repeat the whole sequence.  The purpose of this exercise is to loosen up the 100+ joints in the thoracic spine.  Movement in the thoracic spine allows better breathing, which enables better posture and more aligned movement.  This exercise is great for anyone stuck in a chair for long periods during the day.

4.     supine hip circles.  Lying on my back, I extend one leg along the floor and take the other one up into a tabletop position.  Using my hand, not my leg muscles, I circle my femur in the hip socket five times in each direction and then repeat with the other leg.  This exercise helps move nutrition into the hip joint (synovial joints get nutrients via movement not circulation), helps set the head of the femur deep into the socket, and improves stability at the sacroiliac joint.  For me, it also reduces hip pain.

5.     supine thigh press.  Again, lying on my back with one leg in tabletop, I press the opposite hand into my thigh as I press the thigh into my hand (isometric pressure).  This improves SI joint stability and reduces hip pain.

6.     supine knee to chest.  Still lying on my back, I hug one knee to my chest while pressing the other leg away from me along the floor.  Then I do it on the other side.  This improves flexibility in the hip joint, stretches the butt muscles, and reduces hip pain.

7.     half happy baby.  Happy baby is a yoga pose in which I lie on my back holding both feet with my hands, knees pulling in toward my armpits and feet poking up toward the ceiling.  Half happy baby is just like it except that one leg is stretched out along the ground.  Both the whole and half versions stretch the lower back and behind and do good things for the SI joint and, again, work to reduce hip pain.

8.     bridge with block.  Bridging takes the spine through a full range of motion, so it is a good exercise for almost everyone (do a bridge without articulation if you have osteopenia or osteoporosis!).  Adding a yoga block under the sacrum on the last rep provides some traction for the lower spine.  I do it to improve glute strength, lengthen my spine, work my pelvic floor, wake up my hamstrings, and align my knees.

9.     side leg lift.  This is exactly what it sounds like.  I lie on my side, legs long.  With a flexed foot, I lift and lower my top leg, keeping my hips still and stacked on each other.  Then I roll over and do the other side.  This is more hip nourishment, alignment practice, and pain prevention.

10.  mermaid.  With my legs in a Z-sit (one shin parallel to the shoulders in front of the body, the other tucked back along the side of the body), I inhale my arms out to the side and then exhale as I side bend away from my back foot.  I do about five reps and then stretch the other way.  Then I repeat on the other side.  This exercise works the internal and external rotation of my hips, helps me align and create space in my spine, and stretches out my rib muscles.

11.  pelvic floor.  As a person who has had two babies and a hysterectomy, I have pelvic floor issues.  I do a quick series of exercises to keep the pelvic floor strong and functional.

 

This is a long post already, so I’ll discuss what exercises a person might want for some hypothetical issues tomorrow.

Monday Workout: Efficiency!

We are working, as usual, on all our compound exercises to burn calories, build muscle, and pump up our metabolisms.  Three rounds.

 

squat to leg lift	30
bench press	20
curls	10
suitcase swings	30
flies	20
reverse flies	10
sprinter starts	30
renegade rows	20
pretty princesses	10

 

Six stretches

So now that I’ve spent two days convincing folks to stretch, which stretches should we all be doing?  As always, it depends on what else we are doing, but here are some that pretty much all of us need:

 

1.     Chest stretch.  This one is fun.  It can be done one side at a time or both at once.  Stand in a doorway and put one or both arms on the doorframe.  If you are doing one arm at a time, turn away from the arm in the doorframe until you feel a stretch in your chest.  If both arms, just lean through the doorway, supporting yourself with your arms and feeling both sides of your chest stretch.  This is a good one to do after slumping at the computer all day.

2.     Piriformis stretch.  There are a lot of ways to do this stretch, but today I will explain the chair version.  Sit in a chair with one foot flat on the ground.  Place the other ankle on your knee (as if you were starting to sit crisscross applesauce) and press that knee down toward the ground and/or lean forward from the waist until you feel a stretch in your behind on the crossed-leg side.  Repeat other side.

3.     Neck stretch.  Sit or stand up straight.  Keeping your shoulders down, pull your head toward one shoulder with your hand to stretch the opposite side of your neck.  Bonus points for turning your face toward your bicep to target your sternocleidomastoid (you don’t have to spell it; you’ll feel it!)  For both stretches, you may need or want to press the arm you are stretching away from down toward the ground to improve the stretch.

4.     Quad stretch.  Again, there are several ways to do this stretch, but I’m going to explain the one that requires the least balance.  Lie on the floor (hooray!) on one side.  Bend the top leg at the knee and grab your foot (or loop a strap or towel around the foot if you can’t reach it yet).  This may be enough to feel a stretch in the front of the thigh, but if not, you can press your hips forward.  Also, try to keep your knees next to each other for best results.

5.     Calf stretch.  Stand back up (sigh.) near a table or sturdy chair or wall.  Using the wall for balance, step one foot back behind you as if you were lunging.  Keeping the back heel down and the back knee straight, lean your hips toward the wall until you feel a stretch in your calf.

6.     The Olympic salute.  Stand up nice and straight with your arms in a Y.  Inhale and lift your breast bone to the ceiling, extending your upper spine.

 

Go play.

Another approach to stretching

Yesterday I offered some information about how and when to stretch.  There is another option to build flexibility, for those of us who just don’t ever get around to it.  May I recommend Pilates?

 

Pilates is not primarily focused on flexibility, but as a practice, it encourages optimal length-tension relationships.  In English, this means that when we do Pilates, we are working on making our muscles neither too contracted nor too loose.  For some muscles, this means that we need to figure out how to get them to pull their fair share and for other muscles—you guessed it!—it means that we need to help them stretch out and relax.

 

Let me know if you want to schedule a free introductory session!

Streeeeeeetch...

Our dogs do it.  Our cats do it.  So why is it so hard for us to do it?  (Besides, you know, having more important things to do than bark at the mail carrier and snub what’s for dinner.)  (No, I am not talking about constant napping, although maybe I should be?)

 

Stretching.  I’m talking about stretching.

 

First, let’s talk about how to stretch.  Stretching works best on warm-ish muscles.  This means that before we get out of bed in the morning (or just after, if we have to stand up for whatever stretch we’re doing) is a perfectly good time to stretch, but if we’re going outside in the dark and cold to run, we might want to make sure we walk a bit to get our muscles less frozen before we stretch.  Alternatively, in the before-workout space, we can do dynamic stretches (think about things like high-knees or walking lunges).  We want to save the kind of stretches we hold (static stretches) for after we’re done with the workout.

 

No matter what kind of stretching we are doing, our goal is to give the muscles we are stretching enough time to relax.  Science says it takes between 30 seconds and 2 minutes.  Here in reality land, I don’t think too many of us have 2 minutes’ worth of patience to hold a stretch that is intense enough to do us good, so my pro tip is:  hold the stretch for about five breaths, which will, for most people, be about 30 seconds.  Also, counting five breaths will distract us from the sometimes not entirely comfortable sensation of stretching.

 

Now, about that intensity thing:  in a perfect world in which we all have plenty of time and enthusiasm to do the stuff that is good for us, we would spend five breaths at a range of motion that we could feel but that didn’t hurt.  And then, once our muscles had settled in to that level of intensity, we would move a little farther because space to do so had opened up, repeating until we really reached the limit of what we could do.  However, the important bit is not to push ourselves past the point of healthy discomfort and into pain.

 

In my time working as a personal trainer and Pilates instructor, I have learned that almost nobody does enough stretching unless there is someone (like me!) standing over them and telling them to do it.  It is not because stretching is hard.  I think it is actually because stretching is easy and mostly feels good.  This gives us the idea that it’s not really important.  Let me put on my bossy pants for a moment here:  we are worth the five or ten minutes of stretching time, so let’s just do it.

 

In case me bossing everyone around is not enough motivation, here are some good reasons to stretch:  it increases range of motion, helps prevent injury, and keeps us supple.  Did I mention it also feels good?

 

Go play.

Monday Workout: One More New One!

Just one new exercise this week!  The reverse lunge twist works like this:  we begin standing with feet hips distance apart, with light weights held down at our sides.  Then we lunge back, bending both knees and raising our arms to shoulder height.  Finally, we open our torso away from our front leg in a twist.  Return to start.  Everything else should be familiar!  Three rounds!

 

jacks	30
reverse lunge twist	20
kickbacks	10
1 arm clean and press	30
rows	20
YTA	10
mountain climbers	30
squat press	20
plank/side plank	10

 

Friday Reading Report: Dynamic Aging

Katy Bowman’s book Dynamic Aging is not just for those of us who are senior citizens.  It’s for all of us who happen to be getting older (hey, that’s me, and you, and everybody else!).  Yes, the target market is what she calls “goldeners,” but the very goldeners featured in the book all say that they could have benefitted from the movement practices earlier.

 

This is not a book about really tough workouts.  It is a book about the small adjustments that make a big difference to our alignment, our movement patterns, and our quality of life.  It affirmed me in my commitment to working on balance, beginning with the feet, with every single client and I learned some fresh approaches to some common issues.

 

The prose is clear, the type is large and well-spaced, and the illustrations add useful information.  Highly recommended.