Flexibility and Stretching Part 2: Corrective Flexibility

Flexibility is important. This is obvious in how we move everyday; if we have poor lower flexibility we can't bend over and touch our toes, and poor shoulder flexibility makes it harder to reach that top shelf. Too many people come into the training studio I work at and simply state that they want to be more flexible. This is fine, but understand that this does take time! Flexibility, like fitness, doesn't appear overnight, you do have to work for it. According to the method of practice most personal trainers use, there are three types of flexibility (usually practiced in this order): corrective, active, and functional.

Let's start with corrective flexibility. Corrective flexibility deals mostly with correct joint motion, increasing joint range of motion (ROM), and correcting muscle imbalances. As I've stated before these are all quite important concepts when it comes to fitness and flexibility. This type of flexibility tends to use something called self-myofascial release (in other words, foam rolling) which allows for muscle relaxation and is also used to handle knots found in the muscles. Corrective flexibility also used static stretching, which is when we hold one position for an extended period if time attempting to lengthen the muscles. This type of flexibility is most used for people who are just beginning flexibility training, when the client is working on stabilizing their muscles and joints.

The next level if training is active flexibility. This involves the same self-myofascial release, as well as active-isolated stretching. Active-isolated stretching is used for increasing muscle flexibility as well as increasing joint rang if motion. During this type of stretching, two different groups if muscles are stretched. For example, holding your leg straight out in front if you stretches your hamstrings but also works your quads and hip flexors as they hold up your leg in that position. If you were to use your arms to hold up your leg then you would still stretch your hamstrings but instead your shoulders and biceps would be working to hold up the leg. This type of flexibility is used mainly for clients working on their strength, who have mastered the stabilization phase if training.

The third and final type if flexibility is called functional flexibility. This type of flexibility is used once a client has enough control over their muscle moments so as to prevent possible injury.  Finctional flexibility uses again self-myofascial release and something called dynamic stretching. This is the type of stretching you see soccer and football (or other sport) players use before a game or match, when they walk down the field in a sort of line kicking their legs up or moving their bodies in a particular way. Dynamic stretching uses the force produced by a muscle movement (momentum) and moves that joint in whatever the full available rang of motion is. An example would be butt kicks or high knees or even high-knee skipping. This type of stretching is most often used before an athletic competition or in a training studio where the client has proved they have enough muscular control to not hurtthemselves.

As can be seen, working on flexibility is helpful but can also be risky if one does not understand what they are doing. As in any sort of exercise, the risk of hurting oneself is always there no matter what one is attempting when it comes to fitness. Now, I'm not trying to scare you away from this, I just want to make sure you understand that, as with any hobby, there are risks with exercising too. I do encourage everyone to do the best they can to take care of their bodies since we only get one. Good luck and stay safe!

Also, quick update: my CPT test is tomorrow morning! Wish me luck!!

Flexibility and Stretching Part 1: 3 Types of Flexibility

I've been pretty terrible at using this blog lately, but I've been hitting the books for my upcoming CPT test so I have new material for you all if anyone is still here to read it. If not, I can only blame myself, my other blog has been doing much better!

I'm going to be talking about flexibility for a little while because I think that it is a bit misunderstood as far as importance and practice. When we think of flexibility, what first comes to mind? Those girls (and boys) in the olympics for gymnastics doing the splits, the crazy poses figure scatters can put themselves into while they spin (which actually involves their core, but that's not the point here), or maybe it's walking past a yoga studio and seeing the crazy positions the instructors can put themselves and their class into. These are all good examples of flexibility, but they are more extreme examples. Did you know that stretching is what allows these athletes and normal people to be this flexible? When we stretch properly, our bodies become more and more flexible. When we are children our bodies are naturally more flexible because we are still growing and out muscles are looser and replace faster.
There are three different types of flexibility: corrective flexibility, active flexibility, and functional flexibility. These three types of flexibility work together to allow your body to both prepare for and recover from a workout or athletic performance. I will go deeper into the types of stretching involved in these types of flexibility later.
I do want you all to remember something about flexibility training, as well as about every other type of training there is out there. No matter what type of training you choose, there is always a risk of you getting hurt, be it on the football field, in the weight room, on the treadmill, or in the yoga studio, there is no workout that is entirely without risk. I don't mean to scare you, but there is always the risk that if a person were to stretch incorrectly, they would for sure hurt themselves, just like if you were to run head-long into another football player on the field you would risk a spinal injury. Injuries don't take a lot, but they can be prevented if you are careful and take directions from a personal trainer or other fitness professional, they are there not to criticize everything that you do but to help you get to where you want to be while keeping you safe. Use your resources! More information on stretching and flexibility to come!

Basics on Assessments

Anyone who visits a personal trainer will go through was are referred to as assessment tests. These tests, though they seem quite mundane and random and even out of place in the opinions of some, are how a personal trainer learns about your body and it's muscles. We use our muscles every day but we don't use them equally. This is no real fault if our own, it is simply how the human body works; when we walk we use our legs more verses a person in a wheelchair who would have better arm muscles from pushing their chair around. Through tests such as the one-legged squat assessment, pulling assessment, pushing assessment, the overhead squat assessment, and posture assessments, personal trainers can learn which muscles are overactive and which are underactive from the compensations your body will make when doing certain actions. This tells the trainer what muscles should be focused on during the training. These tests fall under the category if posture and movement assessments.

Another type of assessments are the performance assessments, during which the personal trainer tests a client's endurance, agility, stabilization, speed, neuromuscular control, as well as strength if lifting is an option for you. These are measured by the following basic tests: the push-up test, the Davies test, the shark skill test, and the bench press and squat assessment tests. These tests tend to be used more for athletic improvement rather than rehabilitation or direct injury recovery.

Sit Up Straight!

"Don't slouch!" "Sit up straight!" "Shoulders back, stand up tall." How many times does the average teenager hear this in a week? Too many! Is there validity to a parent's concerns over their child's posture? Turns out, yes! Having good posture has been proven to improve and help with muscle health. Not only are you less likely to suffer an injury if you practice good posture, but proper posture allows the muscles to stretch and maintain their proper length, which ensures that the ,pmuscles can work together correctly and that the joints move correctly.

How someone presents themselves posture wise is known as their stoic posture. This provides a base from where your limbs and extremities. Basically, if there is something wrong with this base, meaning posture, this can lead to problems in other parts of your body. As we know, the body relies on itself in the sense that if one part of the body is malfunctioning it affects the rest of the body as well. So watch your posture, cause it really is important!

End of My First Coaching Season

Well, today marked the end of my first season of coaching. It was hard and frustrating at points but I had a great time and learned a lot! Plus I got invited back next year to coach which must mean I didn't do too bad :P

In all seriousness, it was time consuming and required a lot from me both physically and mentally and emotionally at points, but I would and will do it all again next year. Not only that but I might be helping with a pre-season camp or two next summer since it looks like I will be around.

I'm not sure what will come in the future but I know that I want to keep doing this type of thing for a while. Anyone who has an interest in coaching, go out and give it a try! You never know what you'll think of it until you go for it :P it could end up being one of the most relaxing parts of your day or it could be the most stressful, I guess it all depends on the day!

I also learned that the rule book changes after four years of not playing and I should really relearn them before I start teaching them....oh well! Good thing to know for next year!

Important General Terms 2

Today's terms are muscle actions. These terms include: isotonic, eccentric, concentric, isometric, and isokinetic.

Isotonic - force is produced, muscle tension is developed, and movement occurs through a given range of motion. It includes two phases: eccentric and concentric phases.

Eccentric - moving in the same direction as the resistance, decelerates or reduces force

Concentric - moving in opposite direction of the force, accelerates or produces forces

Isometric - no visible movement with or against resistance, dynamically stabilizes force

Isokinetic - the speed of movement is fixed, and resistance varies with the force exerted. Requires sophisticated training equipment often seen in rehabilitation of exercise physiology laboratories.

Coaching Job!!!

Hey guys! I know I've been gone a while from here, but I wanted to quick update you on something quite exciting. I'm coaching for the first time!! I got hired by my old school (k-12) as a third coach for the girl's middle school field hockey teams! We have 53 girls as of now and that may increase before our first game (next week!). I'm super excited about this opportunity and look forward to having fun but also learning about how to help out middle school athletes.

Anyways, that's my quick update. I promise I'm working on something for this blog pertaining to vegetarians and fitness, so stay tuned for that to come later :P

Important General Terms

There are many different terms that are thrown around in the athletic and healthcare fields and I wanted to set things straight for people who aren't familiar with kinesiology, the study of human movement. Feel free to ask me to put up more if you have some terms you'd like to clarify :)

Overweight - this refers to a person who is between 25-30 pounds over the recommended weight for their height, or with a BMI between 25-29.9

Obesity - the condition of being considerably overweight, a person who is at least 30+ pounds over the recommended weight for their height, or have a BMI of 30+

Another bunch of terms that are important to learn are what are referred to as anatomical locations. These are terms which describe specific landmarks and locations on the human body. Actually several of these terms can be used for more than just the human body...also animal species now that I think about it!

Reference point - usually the center point of the body the following terms are all used in reference to this reference point

Superior - positioned above the reference point

Inferior - positioned below the reference point

Proximal - positioned nearest to the point of reference (eg. Shoulder)

Distal - positioned farthest from the point of reference (eg. Fingers)

Anterior/Ventral - front of the body

Posterior/Dorsal - back of the body (like a shark or dolphin's dorsal fin!)

Medial - positioned near the middle line of the body

Lateral - positioned toward the outer parts of the body

Contralateral - positioned on the opposite side of the body

Ipsilateral - positioned on the same side of the body

I'm gonna stop here for now, there are more terms to be had, but they shall be added along with pictures later on!

Camping, S'mores, and Tents

It's camping time! I leave a week from Sunday for a 3 night camping trip with some college friends, super excited! I haven't been camping in a long while, so this will be my first time tent camping in over a year. Being outside is always fun and one can find something to do no matter what the weather throws at us. So, I'm going to share some of my favorite camping activities, for multiple weather scenarios. Oh! We are going tent camping, so that will make it even more fun!

For a sunny day:

-hiking - you're already outside and in nature, why not go out an explore?

-take pictures - momentous for after you leave. Try taking a photo of every place you visit and using them as starters for stories of what happened on each trip!

-campfires - s'mores, good company, (and drinks for those over 21) need I say more? 

-fishing - I'm not a big fisher myself (pun not intended) but catch and release is always fun

-swimming - in a natural or man-made lake or a swimming pool, swimming is always a good choice

-picnic - campfire frosted kabobs or burgers....mmmm

-mountain biking - riding a bike over rough terrain, you can find trails of different difficulty levels or ask your campground what they'd suggest your level be for their trails

-rock climbing - not all places have this (obviously) but its a lot for fun for kids and adults of all ages, just stay safe
-collect pine cones, leaves, or any nature related object of your choice for later crafts

For a rainy day:

-splash in puddles - yes I am a 5-year-old who loves to splash in puddles, but make sure you have dry cloths to change into after

-board games/card games in the tent - if its really raining so much that you'd rather stay inside, card games are always a good bet
-talking - when was the last time you sat down and talked to your fellow camper(s), tell them about your thoughts or just about whatever comes to mind, trivia and fun facts are always a good way to go

Anyways, what are some of your favorite camping activities? Any suggestions for additional things I do while camping?

First Long-ish Bike Ride

Since I've gotten out of my boot I've gone for one or two short bike rides down into town to the library to get new books, however today was a little different. Going into town is about 5 miles there and back total which is a nice ride, but not really a workout. I got super antsy and kinda cranky at home so decided that it was time to head out on a longer ride since my foot is still sore from being on it for 11 hours of work yesterday (not fun) so a run was looking less appealing. I went out and headed north on the Wisconsin bike trail. I put on the album "Awake" by Skillet and proceeded to bike until I reached the end of the album, then turned around and listened to in on the way back. I wasn't going for distance or for speed (though I did get up to 14 mph at one point) but was aiming to make it home in the same amount of time as it took for me to get out there. This was a success! I biked a total of 13 miles and I'm still feeling quite good! I'm actually feeling much happier, got those endorphins flowing! :P This was also the first time I got to wear my brand new helmet! :D We misplaced my other one (seriously.....I'm not sure were it is!) and so I got a new one about a week or so ago. 

I'm aiming to get out and ride my bike like 2-3 times a week? That's a little ambitious but I wanna get back into shape! What are you doing this summer to keep in shape? Where are your favorite places to ride? Any suggestions for more music to listen to while I ride?

Panic!

Wow...I have been seriously neglecting this blog...I am so sorry!

In order to help, why don't people send me updates on things that they want to learn about. I do research and look up what I've heard before posting I promise, so I'd really find that helpful. I have been trying to keep up on my regular blog, but since I just got done with the musical last night and I work more than twice the number of hours this week as I did the last few weeks, I'm hard pressed to find time :/

The time for my test is drawing near and I'm realizing that I'm not making nearly good enough progress on my studying so I also need to start doing that daily, which will help with my posting, since I will have information that I will have wondered about that I can post!

I'm super sorry guys! I'll just have to do better! A new challenge? Any thoughts?

Statistics on Chronic Disease

I'm sure that many of you have already heard many of the statistics concerning what we call chronic diseases. For those of you who don't know chronic disease is defined as a "incurable illness or health condition that persists for a year or more, resulting in functional limitations and the need for ongoing medical care". This definition goes so far as to include cancer, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and even allergies and asthma. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2006 chronic diseases were five of the top six causes of death in the United States, of these nearly 80% of those caused by cardiovascular disease and cancer (over 50%) could have been prevented by a healthier lifestyle (1). We hear all the time about how our schools are getting less and less healthy and the obesity rate in children is increasing. Over nine million of today's young people are obese or over weight, and it has been predicted that this nearly 1/4 of all American children will be overweight by 2015. The issue with this shows itself in the health of the nation. It has been proven that excessive body weight has a very high probability of leading to chronic diseases later on in life as well as a general decrease in the quality of a person's life.
Now what I'm doing here is not saying that we should all be super skinny, that's not the point here at all! However, if anything other than numbers can be taken away from this then I hope that people understand that it is very important to monitor your health, a healthy lifestyle is something that we can all live with and is something that is, thankfully, becoming more and more popular throughout the nation. Hopefully, we can decrease these percentages of overweight and obese children, and a great example that is set for them by their parents. I also understand that a healthy lifestyle isn't always possible or easy. But I will tell you that if you are willing to put just a little more effort into making homemade meals and eating closer to the correct portion size can make a big difference. At my house we have meatless mondays (well, I'm vegetarian so I'm always meatless, but none the less) and even just trying new foods and replacing some of the unhealthy snacks with healthier ones or even no snacks when we realize we are bored and not hungry. Why not give it a try? It will not hurt if it is done right! Keep that in mind!
Good luck and good health to you all! :)

Figure Salons and Rolling Machines

As you may have heard, I'm getting ready to take the CPT exam, either in September or October (yes, I'm going to need that long to study...). CPT stands for a Certified Personal Trainer, which is what I am aiming to be. I got my study book today, which is a quite large textbook that goes over everything a CPT should know and everything I will need to know for the exam (all in all, quite a lot of information), but I am super excited to get started and began reading it today. I wanted to share a little bit that I learned in the first chapter.
This first section is about the history of personal training, starting in the 1950s with the men's fitness centers, which were called 'gyms'. Women's centers were brought about in the 1960s and were referred to as 'figure salons'. The men's centers concentrated on body and muscle building, while the women's concentrated on figure and weight loss (in many people's minds, this is not too much different than how we stereotypically portray genders at the gym). Similar to today's advertised workout tools, there were many different machines and accessories that people would use in order to help attain the desired results. For women, there were two machines that were mentioned in my studying. The first being the rolling machine which was supposed to roll away the fat, and the second was a jiggle machine, which was supposed to jiggle away the fat especially from the thighs.
I looked for a video of either of these two machines but there weren't really many that showed what I had wanted so here's an old exercise video from that time. This was the original television fitness show called The Jack LaLanne Show. Enjoy!

Knee-Up Challenge Finish

So I missed my deadline for the knee-up challenge, but I will have you know that I got quite close! I can now do 15 knee-ups before having to drop down. So I didn't quite make my challenge :( But now I also know to do a slightly easier challenge :P At least  for now. I also finally got my boot off!! This means I am back to bike riding and most workouts, minus running. I should be able to start my running again by the end of July, which is super exciting!! :D

Summer Runs

Well, it's about that time again. More like past that time... Anyways, it's summer, and that means time to run outside! There are a few things I wanted to share with you regarding my outside running experiences and just some reminders for those of you who do plan on running this summer :)

First off, make sure you have nice shoes, and the right shoes. If you plan on running outside, then get some running shoes. I understand that there are many different types of running shoes and it can be overwhelming to try and make a choice, especially when you are new to the entire thing. I would recommend that you go to a store such as Dick's and ask for help. People there are always able and willing to help you find whatever you need. Sometimes it make take more than one attempt to find the right shoes, but know that you will eventually find the pair of shoes that are right for you!

Secondly, don't forget to stretch! It's is something that many people forget while they are running. Stretching before and after are a must in order to prevent excessive pain the next day or two (you may still feel it the next morning, and in fact if you worked hard then you will), I would also personally recommend stretching in the middle of your run. At this point I would also recommend doing some abdominal exercises however I leave that choice up to the individual. :) otherwise, stretching before and after are a must. This will also assist with your flexibility.

Thirdly, drink water. It's warm outside people, don't forget to drink your water. There are water bottles that are specially made for runners that allow you to hold on to them comfortably while running. Otherwise, make sure that you are drinking plenty of water throughout the day.

Forth, sunscreen! I've gotten burnt so many times in my life that you would think I have learned my lesson. But here I am reminding you to put on sunscreen before you go out running. You don't want to have to deal with a sunburn on top of everyone else! Make sure you use sport sunscreen or stuff which you are sure won't sweat off while you're running.

Fifth, don't give up! Running is hard and in the heat there are many things to be worried about, but make sure you have fun and keep your goal in mind. Whether that goal is to run two miles or twenty-two, remember it whenever you feel like giving up. Put up inspiring pictures or get into the habit of running everyday, find something that works for you and stick with that. :)

Good luck with your summer running! 

Also, quick update: I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday to find out if I can finally take off my boot and how long until I'm back into running and biking. Wish me luck!!

Knee-Up Update

Alright, so I have a confession. I haven't been able to keep up on increasing the number of knee-ups I can do. I've been doing them and pull-ups nearly everyday, but my progress forward has ceased for the time being. I've just finished day 13 of the 21 day challenge, and I'm still resting at 10 knee-ups. I'm hoping for this to increase soon! But I am only pushing my body as hard as I can right now, and its actually my arms that are struggling here. Any suggestions?

Getting A Good Night's Sleep

Sleep (n): "a condition of body and mind such as that which typically recurs for several hours every night, in which the nervous system is relatively inactive, the eyes closed, the postural muscles relaxed, and consciousness practically suspended", this is the definition given to us by dictionary.com. This is great to know and all, but what about getting a good night's sleep? Are there directions on how to do that?
Actually, there are. You can Google search 'how to get a good night's sleep' and follow the links that show up. Or there's always my favorite, Pinterest, where you can always find something on how to get a good night's sleep. But what I'm going to do is give you some things that have helped me to earn a restful night's sleep, it may not work every night, but if I follow these tips then I tend to feel more rested when I wake up.
First off, electronics. This is something that I have heard again and again and never really paid it much mind until I found that I wasn't sleep through the night: turn off your electronics and don't use them within at least 15-20 minutes of trying to fall asleep. There are studies saying longer, but for me the 15-20 minutes works just as well. I have found that if I just read part of a novel, a short story, or 3-4 poems (depending on length) before bed instead of checking Facebook for the last time or checking on my ebay site, I get a much better night's sleep and am more likely to fall asleep faster.
Secondly, exercise. Again this is something that my parents tried to tell me for years and I barely acknowledged: do something physical during your day. In other words, engage in a regular exercise routine. This is where what you do during the ret of your day can affect how you sleep. If you sat around at a computer all day, chances are that you won't get a great night's sleep since your body is still full of the energy you gained throughout the day from eating. So, seriously, exercising has more than one benefit!
Thirdly, food and drink. Let's face it, more the majority of people, if you drink a cup of coffee right before bed you aren't going to get a good night's sleep, same with eating chocolate or cake or any sort of high calorie food. So, just don't go there! Instead, how about having a Naked juice, or some water. It's important to not go to bed on a full stomach or an empty stomach, both can cause a disruption in sleep. Plus, a full stomach, don't you get that feeling like you just don't want to do anything? Well, sleep is included there! On the other hand, with an empty stomach, your stomach keeps you up growling all night, begging for food! Not to mention you feel like you haven't slept at all when you get up the next morning. The moral here is to eat healthy before bed and don't over indulge or under feed yourself.
Fourthly, your bed. Well, your bed being the mattress and pillows and blankets. If these aren't comfortable then you are in for a long night of tossing and turning. Even in college dorms, it's better to  be safe and to get a nice mattress cover to go over those thin and uncomfortable dorm mattresses, I know that's what I did! Face it, if your pillow is too hard or too soft, then there is no way you are going to be comfortable enough to sleep.
All of these factors are going to be different based on the individual person and that is acknowledged. I have a friend who used to sleep without a pillow because the pillows didn't work for him to sleep, and another who claims that a cup of espresso helps him to sleep at night. Every person is different and that's what makes up the human race. So, sleep on my fellow human beings!

Knee-Up Update

I'm up to 9 knee-ups my friends! It's hard work, the 5 seconds is also getting pretty long, and that very well could be my downfall in this challenge. I'm breathing hard and my hands are starting to hurt by the end. Don't forget to breathe when you do any sort of strength exercise, breathing is important! I could go into the scientific part of that, but I'll save that for another day. I have another longer post coming up right after this one, so you guys are lucky, it's a 2 post day! :D Enjoy!

A Balanced Breakfast...Nutella or Peanut Butter

A balanced breakfast is usually advertised as a glass of orange juice, a piece of fruit, and a piece of toast with some sort of topping. The two most common toppings for this toast are peanut butter and Nutella. I'm here to try and figure out which one is healthier. Now, I agree they are both very tasty and I enjoy them both (together they are magical!). I'm using regular Nutella and creamy Skippy peanut butter with a serving size of 2 tablespoons each. Lets compare, shall we?

Nutella

Calories: 200

Calories from Fat: 110

Total Fat: 12 grams

Protein: 2 grams

Peanut Butter

Calories: 190

Calories from Fat: 140

Total Fat: 16 grams

Protein: 7 grams

I didn't expect to have one be clearly more healthy than the other, but in my opinion, it seems that the Nutella is a bit better since fewer of the calories are from fat. He body does need a certain number of calories per day, and getting them at breakfast is a perfect time. There are studies out saying that breakfast should contain more studies than the rest of your meals. Nutella also has fewer grams of fat per serving by quite a few, and fat is something that many people, especially Americans, eat too much of. I would probably also go for Nutella as far as taste goes! However different people have different tastes, so I won't be judging on that aspect :P For instance, I had a discussion with someone from school who was a firm believer that peanut butter is better. I'm open for debates!

What are your opinions on these two toppings as far as a balanced breakfast go?

Pull-Up Challenge Update

Progress has been made! I'm up to being able to do 5 knee-ups at a time :) and it's only day 2! I think that things are looking pretty good. Foot is doing better. I'm working on a longer and more informative post for you guys, so expect one soon!

Pull-Up Challenge

My first challenge on this blog! How exciting! Now, since I can't run or jump or anything, I've decided to do a different sort of challenge, a strength challenge. Yesterday, I was lent a piece of equipment that will help me with this challenge: a pull-up bar. My challenge? Knee-ups.

What are knee-ups? 

Grab the pull-up bar, and pull your self up until you arms are at a 90 degree angle. Then point your toes and bring your knees in to your chest, hold them there for 5 seconds before lowering them slowly. Keeping your arms at that 90 degree angle, raise your legs again.

What is my goal?

My goal through this challenge is to try and get up to 25 knee ups without straightening my arms. Think I can do it? I do! I give myself 21 days to get there, while I know that might ne pushing my luck considering I tried this morning and I can do 2 and I'm out of breath... But I'm not one to say no to a challenge!

What am I getting out of this?

I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to get myself if I accomplish this task. I'm big on having rewards for doing something challenging and achieving my goal! It won't be anything big, maybe a new sports bra or I may do a painting for my room...we shall see! I'm up for suggestions!

Wish me luck guys! Updates to come over the next few days!!

How to Exercise with a Broken Foot

As you know, I have this problem called a broken foot. Quick explanation: I was skateboarding and fell off just right and landed on the side of my foot, consequently breaking it and causing a minor sprain at the same time! In fact, this has been a problem for about a month now, and it looks like I'll be in a boot for another month (I even walked across the stage for graduation in a boot!). So, how do I exercise? The thing is that now I can't run, causing a bigger problem of how I keep active. Well, allow me to present you with a few things that it turns out you can still do with a broken foot.

First, I should explain a bit about having an avulsion fracture. An avulsion fracture is quite common and (according to dictionary.com) is "a fracture occurring when a joint capsule, ligament, tendon, or muscle is pulled from a bone, taking with it a fragment of the bone to which it was attached". They are apparently quite common on the 5th metatarsal (pinky toe), which is what I broke. These specific breaks are often called a dancer's fracture because it happens so often to dancers. The picture to the left, is of an avulsion fracture, not my own, that I found online.

For the first week and an half I was on crutches and in a boot (I later learned that it probably should have been a cast for the first 2-3 weeks), and remain in a boot, but off of crutches since then. I am allowed (after a month) to do some basic exercises with it, but no dynamic exercises. Which means no running or jumping, which is fine since that stuff hurts. Yet, I am allowed to go on the elliptical and the bike for short periods of time (like 15-20 min at a time short), and I can go swimming! :D I went swimming for the first time yesterday and it was super nice! I did have limitations even in the water due to the injury, but overall, I could swim laps and even do some fancy tricks with my younger sister :)
I'm attempting to find an abs challenge that I can do even with my current limitation. If you have any, please send them on! Otherwise I'm taking from some sources and I will try and make my own workout (wish me luck with that).
Have any of you had to work through major injuries or surgeries due to a workout? What happened? Storytime? :D

Let's Get Some Things Straight

I have been an athlete for nearly all of my life, it wasn't until college that I actually stopped participating in sports. And I stopped because I developed a mild version of compartment's syndrome. That was my freshman year in college, less than a month into track season. Currently, I have a different sort of obstacle: an evulsion fracture on my 5th metatarsal (in easier words, I  broke my foot). I graduated from college with a BA in exercise science just over a week ago, and I'm using this blog as a way to document my fitness travels and experiences and what I have learned through my time.

Let me get a few things straight now, before I get too into this fitness blogging business. First off, I am not an athletic trainer. I am not a physical therapist. I am not a personal trainer (yet, gonna be working on that over the next year or so). So, what I say should not be taken as fitness law or anything. I am a mid-twenties post-undergrad student, trying to share my love for health and fitness with those who want to listen! Secondly, I am a vegetarian. Well, more a pesc-itarian, meaning I still eat fish, eggs, and milk. On my main blog, The Backup Zone, I do post some recipes when I get the time and the motivation to exercise. Third, don't expect this blog to be updated daily. I'm not a super human and I do need to go out and actually exercise and I am in the struggling path of finding a job currently...ugh. I will update as often as I can, and hopefully each time it will be with interesting facts and/or updates on my fitnessing (yes, that is now a word).

I would like to try some challenges, and I hope to use this blog to keep myself honest and to keep track of what I am doing. I'm not setting a goal weight, because right now, at 5'2" I weight a comfortable 127 lbs. I do want to work on toning, and if that means losing weight or gaining some, I don't mind so much. This is my outlook on fitness, that it is to show us our bodies as they can be, because they are what we make them into.

I think that's all for now, I'm sure I'll come up with more later, but for now I'll just say later, fitness friends!