Category: Xero Heroes

There is no shortage of race training plans, strength-building exercises, and recovery plans out there for runners. If you’ve ever followed us on our journey, you know that we think the physical aspect of running (and especially racing ultramarathons) is important…but your mental side is key too. Finding the balance in training those two for a big event is a Ted Talk and a half itself. We want to dive into what happens outside of your running program. Depending on how you handle it, what you do outside of just your running can be the difference between hitting the podium and pulling from the race.

Instead of just telling you to stretch properly and practice positive self-talk, we want to share resources and tools that have had a big impact on both our training and our lives overall.

1. 7 Way Hips Mobility Routine

We heard about this from Ryan Flaherty who is known as the “Savant of Speed” and has trained all kinds of professional athletes specifically looking to increase their running speed. It’s a nice short routine (it takes about 5 minutes). We like to do this after a run to force our bodies to move and strengthen in different ways and explore different ranges of motion. Overall, it’s helped our hips to feel strong and stable while running. 

2. Alo Moves

Anyone who follows us will know we are big advocates of yoga. But we, like so many people, find it tough to always make it to a studio for a yoga class. Alo Moves offers all kinds of yoga classes, which makes it easy to pick something to fit your schedule. The routines help you either stretch out your hips and quads, build some stabilizer strength, or even just zone out and let yourself flow through a regular vinyasa class. We’ve been members for over 4 years now! 

Another huge benefit of regular yoga is the strength work involved. An athletic therapist friend of ours explained to us that many long-distance runners risk injury when they are pushing their limit and their bodies start to fatigue. Once this starts to happen, their form will go and it’s only a matter of time before they’re at higher risk for injury. By incorporating strength work in your weekly training, you’ll be able to hold that good form even when you’re starting to fatigue. 

3. Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins

In need of developing some mental strength? This book could help you. It’s not for everyone, as Goggins is pretty frank in a lot of cases. However, hearing his journey about going through a rough childhood, extreme obesity, and ultimately becoming a Navy SEAL and running ultramarathons, is a great lesson in mental toughness.

4. Thera-Gun

While this recovery tool is a bit on the expensive side, it’s one we’ve found worthwhile. We’re still advocates of tools like a lacrosse ball, foam roller, and roller sticks for most of our recovery routes, but the Theragun can be great for digging into very specific areas that are hard to pinpoint. This includes things like tibialis, or anywhere along your forearms, and especially deep hard to reach spots around your hips). One, albeit slightly spoiled sounding, the benefit of this tool is it’s easy of use! When you’re exhausted from the day of work and training and don’t feel like rolling around the floor, the Theragun can be used while you’re sitting on the couch watching a movie, or laying in bed. 

5. Ice Cold Showers

If you have the mental stamina to take your entire shower ice cold–go for it. That being said, you’ll still reap the benefits of a cold shower even if it’s for a shorter amount of time. Take your regular shower in warm or hot water. Right before you’re about to get out, crank the water as cold as it goes, whether it’s for 10 seconds or several minutes. Feeling uncomfortable? That’s the point. The simple act of turning the water cold can develop mental fortitude. You know it’s going to be cold. You know it’s not going to be comfortable. You’d rather stay in the steamy shower and take the easy road. But if you can find the courage to turn the water cold, you start to exercise that muscle in the brain that can choose to go down the hard road. Having the courage to face discomfort is key during running, whether it be during a race or just during inclement weather.

There are so many of these hidden gem resources, and we’d love to hear what the Xero community has found to have the biggest impact on your training regime.

Happy running!

Melissa & Jonathan Sinclair

The content of this post does not constitute and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions or concerns you may have about your health or a medical condition.

Parallel bars that are low to the ground are known as parallettes. Though they might not appear to offer anything special at first glance, these little, low bars are an amazing tool.

Wrist pain is one of the most common issues associated with floor exercises like planks, L-sits and handstands. Since parallettes allow your wrists to maintain a neutral position during these and other exercises, they offer a great way to work around (and possibly help eradicate) any issues that may plague your wrists. Additionally, squeezing parallettes while practicing these exercises creates more tension in your upper-body, which can facilitate a greater mind-muscle connection. This will help incur greater strength gains, especially with regard to your grip, core and shoulders.

Elevating your hands with parallettes makes many exercises more accessible than when they’re performed on the ground. Oftentimes, beginners lack flexibility and/or core strength. Having extra clearance beneath your body can make just enough of a difference to help you nail your first L-sit. You can also adjust the width of your parallettes to suit your individual proportions, which you cannot do with affixed bars.

Here are 3 exercises you can try with parallettes:

1. Plank Knee Raise

Grasp your parallettes with your body fully extended and toes on the ground like the top of a push-up. Keep tension in your abs, legs and glutes while maintaining a straight line from your heels to the back of your head. Carefully lift one leg in the air and raise your knee as far toward your chest as possible. Pause briefly with your foot still off the ground, and then return to the start position. Repeat with the opposite leg, being mindful to stay in complete control of your movement.

You might be surprised by how much you feel your abs the first time you try this exercise. Anytime you remove a contact point during a plank, your abs will have to pick up the slack.

2. L-Sit

Grab your parallettes with your torso upright and your shoulders and hips directly above your hands. Your feet will be flat on the floor with your knees bent. Press down into the handles, point your elbow pits forward and allow your upper back to round slightly so that you can spread your shoulder blades apart, being mindful not to let your shoulders shrug up toward your ears. Lift your feet off the floor and extend your legs away from your body until they are parallel to the ground. Your body will resemble a capital letter “L”. You may point or flex your toes. Either way make sure your feet remain engaged. You may find yourself swinging or shaking a bit on your first attempts. This is normal and should minimize with practice.

If you aren’t able to perform the exercise with both legs fully extended, you can try keeping one leg tucked and one leg straight. Alternate which leg is tucked on each set.

3. Parallettes Handstand

Place your parallettes near a wall. Grip them so your hands are positioned approximately 6-8 inches from the wall. With your elbows fully locked, kick your legs into the air until your heels come to rest against the wall. If you’re having trouble kicking up, it can help to think about getting your hips over your hands rather than focusing on your legs. Either way, don’t let your elbows bend. Hold this position, then come down as gently as possible. With continued practice you will learn to rely less on the wall until you are able to perform a freestanding handstand.

Many people will find it helpful to look in between their hands while performing this hold, though others will prefer to keep their head in a neutral position.

For more information, check out my new book, Next Level Strength.

–Al Kavadlo, @alkavadlo

The content of this post does not constitute and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions or concerns you may have about your health or a medical condition.

Stop, Drop, and Yoga

Yoga has become increasingly popular over the last few years with a 50% increase of Americans doing yoga between 2012 and 2016 with approximately one in three American having tried yoga at least once, men practicing yoga has doubled (4 million in 2012 to 10 million in 2016), and 75% of yoga practitioners also take part in other exercises. View all the interesting statistics on Thegoodbody.com collected from studies completed by Yoga Alliance, Harvard, and more.

There is a good chance, that if you’re reading this blog post, you practice or have tried yoga and also participate in other physical activities! You may also believe that yoga requires a pass to a yoga studio, an expensive mat, and bare feet but in reality, the benefits of yoga –such as increased flexibility, improved mental and physical health, and stress relief– can be accessed and applied throughout or between your daily routine.

We challenge you to Stop, Drop, and Yoga! Can’t think of a yoga pose off the top of your head? Try these five yoga poses, for a warm up or a break and reset from whatever you are doing.

1.  Chair Pose: Start standing with big toes touching and heels separated. Inhale to raise your arms overhead, as you exhale lower the heads of your femurs to your heels, allowing the knees to bend and keeping your knees tracking over your feet. Maintain a neutral position in your spine and back and allow your torso to lean slightly forward over the thighs. Hold for several breaths. When you’re ready to release, us the activation of your feet, hamstrings, and torso to lift you back to standing.

Variation: As you lower into Chair Pose try lifting your heels and coming up onto the balls of your feet for a balance challenge. Hold for several breaths.

2. Standing Wide Angle Forward Fold: Step your feet 3 to 4 feet apart with your toes pointing straight ahead. Place your hands on your hips. Feel a lift up through your whole torso, with control fold forward over your legs pivoting at your hips. Keep hands on hips or grab opposite elbows behind your back and relax your head and neck. If the floor is within reach, allow your hands to come to the floor. Hold for several breaths. Return your hands to your hips and engage through feet, legs, and torso to lift yourself back up to standing.

3. Pyramid Pose: Start standing with your feet hip-width apart (in yoga this is called Mountain Pose) and step your right foot in front of you 3-4 ft. Place your hands on your hips and draw your torso and left hip towards your right side to square the front of your pelvis. Ground through the heel of the left foot. With your exhalation lean your torso forward over the right leg until you are parallel with the floor. Hands can stay on hips, arms can grasp forearms, or the hands can reach for the floor. Press thighs back and lengthen the torso forward. Hold for several breaths. Come up with an inhalation and repeat on your left side.

Variation: If available, bring the torso closer to the top of the thigh from the waist and not by means of rounding in your spine.

4: Quad Stretch: This is a classic and common stretch. Start standing. Bring your weight into your left leg and bend you right knee. Grab your right foot using your right hand or use a towel, strap, or band to hold the foot. You can use your left hand on a wall or chair to assist with balance. Gently pull your foot towards your butt. Be mindful that you feel the sensation in front of your thigh and not in your knee, modify as needed to find a deep quad muscle opening. Hold for several breaths and then switch to the other side.

Variation: You can experience a similar quad opener on the ground in a crescent lunge or low lunge option.

5: Malasana or Low Squat: Start standing with your toes turned out. Take a breath in and with your exhale lower your heels to the floor to come into a squat. If the heels want to lift, place something underneath to support them. The thighs will go slightly wider than your body, and your torso will lean forward so your elbows can press against your inner thighs, while the knees resist the elbows. Hold for several breaths and then release and straighten to standing.

Variation: If squatting is difficult try sitting on the front edge of a chair with your feet planted wide and your torso in a right angle with your thighs. Gently lean your torso forward between your thighs using your exhalation. Arms can rest on the knees or lower between the thighs to rest on the floor.

Remember in all physical practices to listen to your body and modify, change, or stop movement when necessary or if you experience any pain. You may also need to adapt your movement to your specific location, physical needs, and restrictive attire like jeans or shoes. Otherwise, don’t let your current environment or the busyness of life stop you from doing yoga, even if it is a couple mins here and there –those minutes can add up!

–Chris and Roxy, @wildacroduo

The content of this post does not constitute and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions or concerns you may have about your health or a medical condition.

By Mel & Jon Sinclair

“Running is 90% mental and the other 10% is in your head.” – Ray Zahab

We’ve all heard it before…your mind will give up before your body. And after running a 90 hr 36 min 200 mile race…we can vouch for that statement.

If this is such a big deal, how much time are we spending on focusing on physical training versus solely focused on mental tenacity and developing that?

Through our ultras we’ve noticed the few “hacks” below and exercises have worked to help keep our mind failing before our body.

1. Three positives to every negative.
This is a rule I’ve been using since I started running. For every single negative thought I have bubbling up (i.e. “ugh my legs hurt!”), I have to think of THREE positives that are genuine and in the present (i.e. “the sun is up”, “I have these amazing legs that work and allow me to do this”, “the smell of the fresh air”). This extinguishes those negative thoughts fast and returns me to a neutral if not positive state of mind.

2. Nip negative thoughts in the bud.
As soon as you notice a negative thought bubbling up, recognize it then let it go–ASAP. The more you dwell on it, the more energy you give it, the more likely it is going to drastically affect your performance. Be careful of what you let in. I remember we were racing in a 7-Day Stage race in Madagascar. I was having a rough start to the day, was dehydrated from the day before, had a bit of trouble getting breakfast down, and overall not the happiest camper from the get-go. The negative thoughts were popping up left, right, and center—“What if I don’t finish this stage?” or “I’m for sure going to bonk with not having much feed in me!”. However, I once the thoughts came up, I focused my energy on something else. After 10 minutes of constantly doing this, my mind was silent and at peace…and I had one of the best race days that day.

3. Self-growth books/podcasts/videos.We like to focus on working on ourselves. Once you can know your triggers, what your motivations are, your tendencies and when you doubt yourself, you become a lot more powerful in controlling your mind. The more you are versed here, the easier it is going to be able to catch yourself and turn yourself around when you’re in a negative spot during a race. Few of our favorites:
– You are a Badass by Jen Sincero
– Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins
– 10% Happier
– Impact Theory

4. Cold showers in the morning.
Intentionally put yourself in situations you don’t like all the time but know are good for you, in my case, cold showers. I know I’m not going to like it, but a cold shower forces me to really suck it up, look at all the benefits of it, and just get ‘er done. Is there something in your life you know falls into this category of “I should do it, but it sucks so I shy away from it”? You’d be amazed at how accomplished you can feel after a small victory like standing in a freezing cold shower for 1 minute (and physically you feel great after!).

Next time you’re putting that training plan together, look at what you have going on to develop your mental strength. Think about what extra efforts you can put so when the going gets tough your mind doesn’t quit on you but, rather, you come out crushing your goal.

Run Free!

Mel & Jon

The content of this post does not constitute and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions or concerns you may have about your health or a medical condition.

It might be a lot of fun, but jumping rope is not just for kids. The jump rope is a fantastic device for building stamina and athleticism, plus it’s also a great method for burning fat.

In fact, a jump rope is one of the best cardiovascular conditioning tools out there–way better than a treadmill or elliptical trainer. Plus you can take it with you anywhere!

Jumping rope can also have a huge impact on improving your coordination and agility. You can probably expect to get winded and feel uncoordinated the first time you try jumping rope for cardio, but after a few sessions you will start to get the hang of it.

Basic Jump Rope Techniques

The first thing to learn is the standard two-foot jump. Start with the rope behind your heels, then whip in over your head and jump over it with both feet at the same time. If you are brand new to this, it might be best to just practice single jumps, resetting your rope after each rep. Eventually the aim is to transition from jump to jump as smoothly as possible.

Once you get that move down, you can try alternating feet like you are jogging in place while the rope passes beneath you on each step.

Crossovers and Double Unders

After you’re comfortable with the basics, you can start to play around with crossover jumps. This entails switching the position of your hands in mid air, so your left hand winds up outside your right hip and your right hand is outside your left hip. On the next jump, you’ll then switch them back. It takes focus and coordination to get the timing right for this one, so be prepared to put in some practice before you will be able to perform them consistently. Also be prepared that you may need to jump a bit higher in order to stay in the air long enough to cross your hands back and forth between jumps.

A double under refers to a jump in which the rope goes underneath the feet of the jumper twice during a single leap. In order to perform a successful double under, you’ll need to whip the rope extremely quickly and jump higher than normal to make room for the rope to pass beneath you twice before you land.

Programming Your Jump Rope Workout

In the beginning, I suggest simply practicing the basic techniques before you worry about any specific programming. You can practice for a few minutes at the start of your workout as a warm-up, or do it at the end. You can also do it on a separate day entirely. As long as you get it in, when you do it is up to you.

Once can comfortably jump continuously for at least 60 seconds, you can try doing intervals where you alternate between one minute of jumping and one minute or rest. Keeping that pace up for 20 minutes can be surprisingly tough at first! As your technique and conditioning improve, you can aim to make your jumping intervals longer and your breaks shorter. You can also increase the length of your sessions.

For variety’s sake, I recommend practicing some crossovers and double unders, particularly during longer sessions. Be aware that these moves will be more tiring, however, so you may need to adjust your work-to-rest ratio to account for this. 

One of my favorite ways to practice crossovers and double unders is simply to pick a total number to aim for in a single session, then hit that target in as many sets as it takes, with as many breaks as needed. At first, you might aim to perform just 10 of each in a given session, as you will miss many of your early attempts and expend a lot of energy doing so. As you get more proficient, you can increase that number to 100 or more.

So what are you waiting for? Grab your Xero Shoes and let’s jump around! 

-Al Kavaldo 

http://www.AlKavaldo.com

The content of this post does not constitute and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions or concerns you may have about your health or a medical condition.

When was running reduced to merely an exercise and when did we abandon the discovery and connection to the world it provides us? If your run has hit a plateau, try pointing your soles towards a goal not measured by modern, wrist-worn metrics, and run for exploration and discovery.

For the past 24 months, Bears Ears has been a virtual battleground for several entrenched political and philosophical perspectives in the United States. But we realized a painful irony: nearly everyone has an opinion but hardly anyone has actually been here. We decided we needed to see Bears Ears for ourselves.

We equipped our Jeep for the journey and set out at 3:45AM from Salt Lake City to rendezvous with explorers in another Jeep near Moab, UT. An adventurous couple and our frequent exploration companions, Greg is a retired geologist and Fran is a retired veterinarian, specializing in reptiles and large animals. They’ve spent the past 30 years getting lost in this region and its history.

We never know what to expect with these two, and we bring a few different pairs of Xero shoes to be prepared to participate in their adventures. Freezing-cold mornings at 8,000-ft elevation demand the full-coverage of the Terraflex shoe or Daylite hiker. The coverage is also perfect for hiking overgrown trails, keeping your foot protected while still feeling every shape of the sandstone or sand beneath your feet. But you’ll also be longing for a sandal, so definitely pack your favorite pair.

Located one hour south of Moab, UT, Bears Ears stands in quiet contrast to that crowded town and the surrounding national parks, Canyonlands and Arches. Relatively few people visit Bears Ears. The monument is named after two short buttes which rise above the plateau, held sacred by generations of Native Americans. As you drive south of Moab and first see the ears in the distance, the namesake formation is uninspiring and barely distinguishable—an irony that’s not lost on us when we see it for the first time.

Give your mind and feet permission to explore. There are over 100,000 archaeological sites protected within the area, with evidence of indigenous cultures dating back more than 13,000 years. Cliff dwellings are common and can be found with a guide book, compass, determination and plenty of drinking water. There are hundreds of miles of trails and undeveloped roads, meandering through this expanse of the Colorado Plateau, including one that passes between the two ears.

In these lower elevations and higher temperatures is where the Z-Trail sandal shines. The same traction, grip and feel as the as the Terraflex shoe, but without the shoe. Ladies: a great functional, minimalist option is the Jessie sandal, which Roxy has worn almost exclusively since its release this year. She would have worn it for our entire experience in Bears Ears, were it not for a park ranger who strongly recommended she consider a full shoe for one of the trails. (Complete with wooden ladders, numerous cacti and the occasional scorpion, perhaps he was right.)

There is a trail and vista for nearly any aspiration—from a challenging, multi-day backpacking adventure to a short out-and-back hike in a slot canyon full of ancient cliff dwellings. You could run along the 8,000-ft plateau for days, with little elevation change but a new vista at every turn. Or drop down into one of several canyons, remembering to save energy for the 2,000-ft climb back to the top. You will find natural bridges and arches, and descend through millions of years of geological time. But it’s not for everyone: You will not have cell service and you will see few, if any, people.

Primitive and undeveloped campsites are plentiful, and after a busy day exploring we found a new campsite each afternoon; each one more beautiful than the last. The relatively high elevation of the area—spanning from 5,000-feet to more than 8,500-feet above sea level—produces warm days and chilly nights.

Dirt roads provide access into several areas of the monument, from which you can car camp and then set off on foot for a discovery-filled run or hike. A high-clearance vehicle certainly has advantages here, but don’t be discouraged: virtually any model of rental car or small SUV will give you the mobility you need. Keep an eye on the weather. Summer temperatures can be furnace-like in the lower elevations, while winter storms deliver thick blankets of snow to the higher elevations. In September, we observed daily temperature swings from 38°F. to 91 °F., depending on time of day and our elevation. Be mindful of thunderstorms with the lightning and flash floods they bring. This is nature in North America at its wildest.

Originally proclaimed in December 2016 as a National Monument with 1.35 million acres, the area was substantially reduced by 85% less than 12 months later. Regardless of the designation, it’s public land and available for your exploration. But you might want to hurry: people will eventually stop calling it a battleground and suddenly realize it’s a frontier.

Follow us for more adventures at @WildAcroDuo.

Until next time,

Chris & Roxy

There is an overwhelming amount of information available in the world today on how to best make the switch from regular padded or “supportive” footwear to minimalist footwear. The Xero Shoes team themselves have accumulated an amazing amount of great information and other tips on making the transition, but as a couple of ultra-marathon runners who train and race (and actually spend most of our days every day) in minimalist footwear, we would like to share some of the things that helped us early on when we made the switch. Won’t be going into too much detail around the science and research side of it all, as we aren’t doctors or researchers ourselves, but lean on more of our purely experiential learnings from heavy training and recovery practices that we have.

Transition Time

This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, as it’s talked about quite a bit surrounding the minimalist running topic. But we still want to reiterate it because it’s such a foundational part of transitioning to minimalist and really will be a key factor in your longevity in the practice. If you do just one thing from this entire article, do take your time during the transition, as no amount of stretching, rolling, supplements, or any other medical treatment will be able to PREVENT issues or injuries, the way building a solid foundation will. If you take the time to let the body adapt and strengthen the muscles, tendons and other tissues, you’ll save yourself a lot of setbacks down the road!

Let us make one this very clear though, it’s not at all about the actual time (in days, weeks, months, etc.) it takes to transition, but more about the method of how you transition. The actual time to transition will depend on so many factors, so just focus on paying attention to your body and how it feels. When you feel like you’re ready to increase speeds or add volume then do so. Some people will adapt faster, some people are coming from different backgrounds, so just pay attention to your own journey and know that this is a long-term change and you will reap the benefits far into the future.

One last tip we’ll include on this topic. If your goal is to transition to running in minimalist footwear, keep in mind that running is only a small portion of every day. Think about ways you can also spend time in minimalist footwear at work, around the house,  while running errands. Between the Genesis sandals and the Hana/Cassie shoes, there’s footwear for just about every style, so these are great ways to build that muscular stamina you’ll need in your lower legs.

Form 

This is the second layer that is super important to also PREVENT injuries from popping up during this transition. Watch videos, find a coach, read articles, basically consume as much information you can about minimalist running (this is one great video on the topic here) so that way you’ll know what you need to work on, and what things aren’t worth worrying about. For example, during the early days of the minimalist movement, it was all about landing on your forefoot. As more research was done, it wasn’t so much about which part of the foot lands first, but more about where your foot lands in relation to your center of gravity (good article on this). There are also some coaches who hammer on technique drills to get your movement patterns dialed in. Whereas there are other coaches who feel that it’s pretty tough to change 20, 30  or 40 years of muscle memory, so it’s more valuable to focus on proper muscle development to work with your pre-wires movement patterns.

Bottom line, there’s a lot of conflicting information out there, and there’s no one perfect answer, or method or training, or form to use. But don’t just wing it by slapping on some huarache sandals and going for a 40km (25 mile) run!

Bottom of foot rolling

Two of the issues we BOTH noticed came up for us while we were ramping up our mileage in minimalist footwear, was 1) a mild cramping on the bottom of the foot, and 2) a more intense pulling pain on the top of the foot. After lots of troubleshooting, it seemed like the root cause of both of these was tight calf muscles. By switching to a more mid/forefoot landing, our calves had to work harder. This cause the calves to tighten up. The calf muscles are connected to insertions on the bottom of the feet by the facia, which explained why we were feeling the tightness down below. And because the calves were tight, they were pulling on the bottom of the foot, which required the muscles that attach to the top of your foot to hang on a little tighter to keep the foot stable. It was literally like a tug-o-war match!

The single most effective remedy to both of these was surprisingly enough rolling a ball under our feet (while standing). We found a lacrosse ball was the perfect size and density to give good pressure without making us scream. However, a golf ball is also a decent option that you might have around your house. There’s no textbook technique, but two quick pointers: i) Move slowly ii) do long rolls from the front to the back of your foot.

Magnesium (both internally and externally)

After some longer runs on the weekends or other hard training sessions, you’re bound to feel some tight muscles. When a lot of your muscles are tightening up, it’s sometimes good to take a broader approach and address and help all of your muscles. Magnesium is something that many of us are actually deficient in, and it’s one nutrient that actually aids in our muscle function of letting go and relaxing.

Magnesium supplements can be taken orally to give your body (including your aching leg muscles) some calming help. You can also find different muscle rubs that are applied to the skin and allow magnesium absorption that way, so this can be done specifically on the calves or other leg muscles that might be feeling extra tight.

Kinesiology tape

This one we want to set a precaution for. In a similar fashion to the way we think about painkillers, and that is that they simply mask an issue and risk pushing your body to a severe point of damage. Kinesiology tape does help two relieve certain types of pain. They also don’t have any of the side effects that painkiller medication have. And it does have some great benefits for improved blood flow and other neurological functions. But the overall “masking” issue is still there. Applying kinesiology tape to a muscle or body part in order to avoid pain or help you push through it, risks causing a lot of damage to the muscle.

Now that we’ve said this, we are both advocates of kinesiology tape when a situation calls for it. Best to talk with a physical therapist (and best to have them apply it too!) to see if it can benefit you.

We’ve used it during races when a muscle tightens up on us and there simply isn’t enough time to sit down and roll it out or wait for magnesium to kick in. Or if we have a race coming up some leg pain pops up the day before. Sure we’ll roll it out and do what we can, but to make sure we’re good to go for that starting line, sometimes we’ll consider applying some kinesiology tape.

Hopefully, one or more of these tips can help you in your transition to minimalist footwear. The journey is absolutely worth it, and your body will be much better built up for physical activity for a long time to come!

–Mel & Jon The content of this post does not constitute and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions or concerns you may have about your health or a medical condition.C

There is certain footwear that was designed to help your feet move naturally. Similarly, there are certain movement patterns that your body was designed to do. These are called the “primal movement patterns.” The primal movement patterns should form the basis for your fitness plan if you want to move better, achieve better sports performance, or simply make activities of daily living easier.

Over time, the primal movement patterns have slowly been neglected in the lives of many modern people. Perhaps you’ve gradually stopped moving the way nature intended as your lifestyle became more sedentary? Driving cars for long periods and sitting at desks all day are two of the modern day behaviors that take us away from having healthy, functional bodies if they are not adequately compensated for.

So what are these primal movement patterns that your body was designed to do? And what type of fitness sessions can help you weave them into your plan? Let’s find out!

The primal movement patterns

1. Squat

Observe toddlers doing this one if you want to check out some great form! Squats work your full lower body, specifically your quads, hamstrings and glutes. The squat movement provides a powerful foundation for most sports, as well as everyday tasks like picking things off the ground.

2. Lunge

Working similar muscles to the squat, lunges are another fantastic exercise for the lower body. They are performed in a split stance so require a bit of extra balance and co-ordination as compared to the squat. Practice your lunges to get a great leg reach and push when you’re out climbing rocks, or to take really strong strides when you’re hiking up a hill in your DayLite Hiker.

3. Push

The push movement pattern is the one you would do in a push up, or during a bench press. The push action works your chest, triceps and the front of your shoulders. It enables you to push your bodyweight out of a swimming pool easily and to get the inertia needed to push a heavy door or trolley.

4. Pull

Working the opposing muscle groups to push exercises, the pull movement pattern focuses on your back, biceps and rear shoulders. It helps to create a balanced, tall posture and is a great counter-action to the forward rounding posture you might find yourself in when driving a car or sitting at a desk. In terms of workout exercises, the chin up, lat pulldown and seated row are all good examples of the pull movement pattern.

5. Bend

Bending involves hinging forward at the hips with a long, straight spine. It’s a common movement that is often done in place of a squat; for example bending down to pick a baby up off the ground. It may well be the movement pattern with the highest risk for injury, as a result of lower back issues stemming from a weak and/or inflexible spine. The straight legged deadlift is an example of a gym based exercise that uses the bend movement pattern.

6. Twist

Often neglected in workouts, the twist movement pattern is used in a huge number of everyday activities. You twist when you turn to look back over your shoulder, or to throw a ball. Twisting even occurs during walking and running. The twist pattern is often added to another movement pattern. For example, a twist could be added to the bottom of a lunge. It’s also done on its own in the case of exercises such as cable wood chops and medicine ball twists.

7. Gait

Last but certainly not least is gait, which is essentially walking and running. Yes, you were born to run! So whether you’re taking a leisurely stroll through the city in the Hana, or you’re hitting the trail in your Terraflex, you’ll be executing the gait movement pattern.

So how can you incorporate these primal movement patterns into your fitness plan? Here are a few ideas…

Primal fitness sessions

• Do a bodyweight workout that incorporates variations of the primal movement patterns. This is a great option because you can do it anytime, anywhere, and you can even do it completely barefoot. Find a progression level of each movement pattern that suits your ability and you’ll be sorted!
• Try a CrossFit class. CrossFit classes incorporate primal movement patterns using your own bodyweight and small equipment. The CrossFit philosophy aligns with the barefoot movement so many attendees will likely opt to wear barefoot style shoes. The Prio is a great choice for this type of workout.
• Other types of workouts that generally incorporate the primal movement patterns include bootcamps and circuit classes.

How are you going to incorporate the primal movement patterns for a functionally fit body? Grab your favorite pair of Xero Shoes and go for it!

–Elly McGuiness, ellymcguinness.com

The content of this post does not constitute and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions or concerns you may have about your health or a medical condition.

The body can be challenging to understand, especially without extensive study both academically and experientially. Most people don’t stretch properly, simply out of a misunderstanding of what needs to be stretched. For example, you may feel sensation in your low back and so you stretch it, when the reality might be that the low back actually needs the opposite and the sensation you feel is your low back trying to pull itself back together.

That can be extremely frustrating.  The good news is there are things you can do to assess your body and make sensible decisions on how to best approach your next stretching session.

First thing to know is that many issues start from the ground up, so if you missed my last blog on foot and ankle health, definitely check that out here. For many of us “the ground” could actually be our hips, especially if you have an office job or spend the majority of your day sitting. The human body is pretty adaptable which has its blessings and its curses. When you sit all day your body adapts itself to that position. Depending on your posture, the buttock muscles might become weakened, the hip flexors shortened, the back muscles over stretched and so on. In short no matter what you do, patterns will always form in your body. Sometimes the patters serve us and sometimes they do not. Even if you decided, I am going to get a standing desk, well that’s a great shift and will create new patterns that may serve you for a while, but eventually you may find that you create a new problem. There is no shortcut around keeping the body healthy, you simply have to develop a deeper understanding of the beautifully complex vessel that you are living in.

The health of your hips quite often dictates the health of your low back. Why? Because your hips are meant to move significantly when you walk and run (and by hips, I mean where the thigh bones set into the pelvic sockets). If the thighs don’t have mobility at the hip joints, then that means your pelvis will start to move instead, and that movement will occur in your sacrum or lumbar spine (low back). When too much movement occurs where it shouldn’t, the body tenses up in order to re-stabilize itself.

Then what do we do? We typically feel that tension and try to release it by stretching.  When we do this, it may feel good for a bit but unfortunately, it’s short lived because we are treating the symptom not the cause. This doesn’t mean there isn’t an appropriate time to stretch the back, but if you sit most of the day with your low back in a rounded position, you are already putting it in a stretch for a very long time, and the tightness we feel there is often a result of the body intelligently trying to bring us back to our natural lumbar curve (back bend). Rather than stretching your low back where you feel the tension, you may need to actually stretch your hips and strengthen your low back. Bring mobility into the hips, stabilize the back and you are likely to feel more at ease.

Are my Hips Connected to My Knees?

How about the knees? Knee pain is often a result of either hyper-mobility of the ligaments that hold it together or an imbalance of mobility and stability of all the muscles that cross the joint, and there are a lot of them!  The knee can be one of the trickiest areas of the body to assess, so if you have knee pain, I highly recommend seeing a movement specialist to evaluate where your imbalances are so that you aren’t playing a long guessing game and potentially doing more harm than good.

To give you a stronger understanding of how tight muscles of the hips can affect the knee, let’s look at one muscle in particular: the Gluteus Maximus.  Your buttock muscle appears and feels like it would only exist in the area of your back side of your hips. However, your buttocks actually runs down the outside of your thigh and attaches all the way down below the knee joint. How? Well the I.T band is a long band of tendon, like tissue, that runs down the side of your leg. The Gluteus Maximus runs from the back of your pelvis and attaches at the I.T band. The “I” stands for ilio which is your pelvis, and the “t” stands for Tibia, which is your shin bone. If your glutes are tight, they pull on the I.T. band which pulls on the shin bone which can twist the knee or pull the knee out of alignment. In addition to the gluteus maximus, the T.F.L which is a hip flexor also attaches to the I.T band, so this muscle can affect the alignment of your knee as well.

So, where do you start?

If you have either low back or knee discomfort, I recommend start with hip stretching. The simplified approach is to think of your hips in four quadrants – front, back, inside and outside of your hips. Do a stretch that targets the front (hip flexors and quads), then another that targets the back (hamstrings and buttock muscles), next comes outer hips (abductors), and inner thighs (adductors). Personally, I hardly ever do passive stretching, but rather I focus on facilitated stretching, which means engaging the muscles that are stretching. I find this to be the most effective way to increase range of motion in a shorter period of time. The downside is that it takes effort and it’s not relaxing. The upside is that as range of motion increases, so does strength, which is ideal for a muscle: at any length it is able to contract. A muscle that can’t contract is called “locked long” and it’s likely to throw off the alignment of your joints and present movement complications.

–Matt Giordano, aka @TheYogiMatt

The content of this post does not constitute and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions or concerns you may have about your health or a medical condition.