Author: movewelldc

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Why Protein Isn’t a Dietary Silver Bullet

Why Protein Isn’t a Dietary Silver Bullet.

Originally published by STACK.com | August 15, 2013

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Check out my STACK Expert profile for more articles on fitness and nutrition. //

Our collective desire for quick fixes makes diet crazes appealing. But although the names may change—Atkins, Zone and, most recently, Paleo—all fad diets tend to have one thing in common: an emphasis on increasing protein intake.

For years, fad diets have demonized healthy fats and carbs, claiming that if you eat too much of these macronutrients, you will get fat. Yet, protein has remained largely unscathed by the mainstream media.

This also holds true for athletes. Lean protein—and lots of it—is considered essential for athletic recovery. Muscle-repairing fats and energy-replenishing carbohydrates are given short shrift.

If you are one who focuses your nutrition on protein, it’s time to listen up.

Protein is an essential part of our daily diet. It constitutes the structural basis of our muscles, skin, nails and hair. There’s no doubt that it’s essential to our well-being. However, it’s not the only important nutrient.

Pick up your favorite fitness magazine, and you will see why our nutrition mindset is biased toward protein. Pages and pages of ads celebrate the latest protein powder or bar, but do you see any ads for products containing carbs or healthy fats? You’d think Americans were suffering from a serious epidemic of protein deficiency.

Fortunately, that is not the case. In fact, most of us—including vegetarians and vegans— get more than enough protein through our regular daily food intake.

For the average person, it’s recommended to consume 0.8 to 1.0 grams of protein per kilogram (pounds / 2.2) of body weight. If you’re an athlete or someone performing high-intensity physical activity (e.g., training for a triathlon or marathon), you should increase your daily protein intake to 1.1 to 1.4 grams per kilogram of body weight.

In other words, an active 135-pound woman should eat around 75 grams of protein per day, and an active 180-pound man should have 140 grams. Anything beyond the amount your body can use will be excreted through urine, so ultimately any excess protein is wasted. And, consuming too much protein may stress your liver and kidneys when converting it to carbs or fat for energy.

So despite its celebrated status, too much protein simply won’t do you any good. Remember also that protein isn’t a miracle food that you can chow down on without the risk of gaining weight. It has just as many calories per gram as carbs.

So, what should you focus on in your diet?

Ideally your daily caloric intake should include 25 to 35 percent fat, 15 to 20 percent protein and 55 to 60 percent carbs. In contrast, the Zone diet calls for a 30:40:30 ratio. That’s double the amount of protein and not nearly enough carbs to fuel your body for quality workouts.

Bottom line: although protein is an important component of a healthy diet, you need to break the mindset that protein is the silver bullet of nutrition. Accept that healthy fats and carbs have a place in your diet, and you will be more likely to reach your fitness and health goals.

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Find Freedom with Backbends this Summer

Though it feels like spring here in DC, the summer is still upon us. Summer is the perfect time for backbending postures like full wheel (Urdhva Dhanurasana) which require warm muscles and an open mind. Backbends are intended to broaden and expand the chest and rib cage to enhance the body’s ability to perform breathwork (pranayama). Backbends can be exciting and empowering. They can also, however, be intimidating and scary. If backbends are not a freeing experience for you, your approach—both mentally and physically—may need some fine tuning.

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Photo Credit: Leo Matsuo / Wardrobe Provide by Endless Summer Design

When performed correctly, backbends increase your range of motion. Many of us spend hours upon hours sitting—and let’s be honest, most of us don’t have the best posture when doing so. As a result, we lose a few degrees of the normal curve in our lumbar (lower) spine. That curve is part of our natural architecture as bipeds, distinctly purposed to provide us humans with the ability to carry our own body weight without damaging our joints and overall health. When we lose that gentle arch in the lower back we increase our likelihood of lower back, hip and knee pain because we aren’t properly stacked to handle our body’s mass as it moves through space.

Backbends help counter our daily damage by increasing extension and restoring that lumbar curve. They have also been linked to arthritis prevention, increased stamina and energy, depression relief, and  improved lung capacity, circulation and digestion. On a more emotional level, many practitioners believe that backbends help them let go of the past and focus on the present, and open their heart when fear has taken it hostage.

Whether you’re looking to improve your emotional or physical health—or both for that matter!—look no further than yoga backbends. From the milder baby cobra and sphinx poses to the more intense camel and king pigeon poses, there is a backbend for every level.

Check out my Favorite Eight:

  1. Sphinx Pose
  2. Upward Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana)
  3. Bow (Dhanurasana)
  4. King Pigeon (Kapotasana)
  5. Camel (Ustrasana)
  6. Wild Thing (Camatkarasana )
  7. Full Wheel (Urdhva Dhanurasana)
  8. Dancer (Natarajasana)

If you fall into that “intimidated/scared” category when it comes to attempting backbends, here are a few helpful hints to do them the right way:

  • Warm up your body! A few Sun As and Bs should do the trick. The key is to move the body in ways that open the chest, hip flexors, quads and hips.
  • Focus on maintaining length in the front body. True, backbends increase extension in the lower back but people have a tendency to collapse in these poses, crunching the lumbar spine. To avoid back pain, focus on keeping a broad chest and long front body, and bending from the middle and upper back instead of hinging from your sacrum.
  • Don’t squeeze your booty. Squeezing the muscles of your rear end counteracts internal rotation of the hips which is essential in all backbends to avoid compression of the spine. When you activate your gluteus maximus, your hips externally rotate causing your knees to splay wide. To develop the muscle memory needed to encourage internal rotation of the hips, squeeze a block between your thighs when practicing full wheel, camel, and other belly-up backbends.
  • Breathe. Fear can be paralyzing in a backbend and the more you resist the more likely you are to tense the muscles that lead to compression and ultimately discomfort. When going into backbends, focus on your breath and allow your mind to calm down and enjoy all the goodness a backbend can bring.

Just a quick note of caution (safety first!): If you have any back issues, please consult with your yoga instructor and doctor before performing any backbends.

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Dairy-Free Banana Bread Muffins

If you liked my Banana Bran Muffins and Blueberry Banana Muffins, you’ll definitely dig my healthy Banana Bread Muffins. Like both of those recipes, this one is made dairy-free by using banana, vegan butter, rice milk and apple sauce. They are soft, moist and a much healthier alternative to most bakery muffins which can pack a serious caloric punch at an average of 450 calories a pop. My version come in at under half that number.

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Above being waistline-friendly, these muffins feature folate-full garbanzo bean flour, potassium-packed bananas and nature’s own multivitamin, raw honey. Raw honey contains Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 and C, as well as minerals like magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium chlorine, sulphur, and phosphate.

What You’ll Need:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup raw honey
  • 1/4 cup cane sugar
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil or Earth Balance “butter”
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 very ripe bananas
  • 8 oz unsweetened apple sauce
  • 1/2 cup rice milk (or almond/coconut)
  • 1 tbs vanilla extract
  • Optional: 1/2 cup of any of the following–dark chocolate bits, walnuts, dates

How to Make Them:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F; spray 12-muffin pan with oil or line with fun paper liners
  2. In a bowl, mix together dry ingredients (flours, baking soda and powder, spices and salt)
  3. In a separate, large bowl (or KitchenAid mixer if you have one), vigorously whisk together sugar, honey and vegan butter until smooth. Add eggs and whisk again on high until mixture stiffens. Add in your mashed banana, apple sauce,  rice milk, and vanilla extract.
  4. Slowly fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients.
  5. Once combined, gently mix in optional treats (dark chocolate bits, walnuts, dates)
  6. Evenly distribute batter across muffin pan; bake for 45 min (or until a toothpick comes out clean)
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Post-Workout Recovery Fuel: The Golden Rule

Diet crazes may come and go, but one macronutrient has always remained largely unscathed by the mainstream fitness and nutrition media.

Protein is an essential part of our daily diet, forming the structural basis of our muscles, skin, nails and hair, amongst other functions. True, this macronutrient is mighty important, but the hype it gets and the marketing power that is thrown behind protein powders and other supplements could make you think the entire American population is suffering from protein deficiency.

That is just not the case. In fact, most of us get more than enough protein through our regular daily food intake—including vegetarians and savvy vegans.

For most people, the RDA for protein intake is 0.8-1.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (2.2kg/1lb). If you’re an athlete or someone performing high-intensity physical activity (e.g. training for a marathon), you should bump that RDA up a few notches to 1.1-1.4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (Williams 2006).  In other words, a 135 lb woman should consume between 68 to 86 grams of protein, while a 180 lb man should target 90 to 195 grams. When we get too much protein, excess is converted into carbohydrates or fat and can stress the liver and kidneys. Eventually excess protein substrate is doomed to be a waste, excreted through urination.

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The ideal food intake breakdown for athletes is to get 25-35% of your calories from fat, 15-20% from protein, and 55-60% from carbohydrates. For the sake of comparison, the once very popular ZONE Diet encourages a 30:40:30 ratio, or double the amount of protein according to RDA standards and not nearly enough carbohydrates to fuel your muscles’ glycogen stores for exercise. While these ratios are helpful for me as a nutrition coach, most people just want to be told how much protein they need after a workout.

This question always prompts my Golden Rule for Post-Workout Recovery Fuel: consume 10 grams of protein within one hour of intense physical activity for improved muscle repair.

Ideally, your post-workout snack or meal would fit into that 25-35%:15-20%:%55-60% ratio of fats:proteins:carbs. Most Clif bars fit the bill when you’re on the go with 45g carbs (5g of which are dietary fiber), 10g protein, 5g fat, and only 250 calories. And if you’re looking for something lighter—maybe saving room for that brunch in a couple hours—Clif Builder’s Snack Size are my go-to. The still have that 10g grams of protein your body needs, are a mere 130 calories, and provide a good source of iron, magnesium, zinc and calcium, as well as vitamins A, C, E and K and many of the B vitamins that are so essential to our metabolism.

I’m a big fan of Clif bars not only for their impressive nutritional profiles but also because of the company’s ethos. Clif is a 1% for the Planet member, they use 100% recycled materials for their packaging, and their bars never contain ingredients like artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, or trans fats.

Please keep in mind that these kind of bars should not be viewed as a regular meal replacement. Whole grains, fruits and veggies, beans and other sources of lean protein are essential to a well-balanced, healthy diet. That said, they are definitely a MOARyoga-approved, convenient way to fulfill the protein needs of your muscles in that one-hour post-workout window.

References:
Williams, Melvin H. Nutrition for Health, Fitness and Sport: 8th Edition. McGraw-Hill. May 2006.
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Zucchini Flower Fritters (Dairy-Free)(Gluten-Free)

With summer in full swing, farmers markets are overflowing with delicious produce and fresh cut flowers. What could be better than a farmers market find that is both food and flower? Nothing, clearly. So when I locked eyes on the beautiful and edible zucchini flowers last weekend, I knew immediately I had to have them. These vibrant orange blossoms can be eaten raw or cooked and are a favorite in Mediterranean cuisine. Into the tote they went, merrily whisked back to the MOARyoga shoebox test kitchen. Equipped with the best of nature’s bounty, I set out to prepare a fun finger-food hearty enough for a meal but still light enough on the palette for a hot summer night.

…the result…

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Zucchini Flower Fritters

What You’ll Need:

  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
  • 1/2 roasted poblano, finely chopped
  • 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup cooked quinoa
  • 1/3 cup garbanzo bean flour
  • 3 tbs nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp adobe chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • Lemon wedges (for garnish)

For the Beer Batter:

  • 1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour
  • 1tsp salt
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1/3 cup chilled gluten-free beer
  • 1 egg
  • Canola or grapeseed oil for frying

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How to Make Them:
  1. In a medium frying pan, saute shallots in olive oil over medium heat until translucent. Add garlic, red pepper, poblano and jalapeño. Saute another 3-5 min. Remove from heat and let cool.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix cooked quinoa with nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, chili powder and garbanzo bean flour.
  3. Add cooled veggie mix to your dry ingredients and mix to combine. Add eggs (whipped up in a separate bowl first) until everything comes together.
  4. Take zucchini flowers and use your fingers to remove any stamens from the inside of the blossoms. Rinse the flowers and pat dry.
  5. Using your fingers and/or a teaspoon to work a dollop of the quinoa mixture inside the blossom. Leave enough room at the top to twist the petals together, creating a neat little package with the flowers.
  6. Chill stuffed zucchini flowers in the fridge for at least 30 min.
  7. While that’s happening, prepare your batter. Mix garbanzo bean flour, salt, oil and gluten-free beer together in one bowl. In a separate bowl whip your egg vigorously until frothy. Combine the contents of the two bowls and stir until smooth.
  8. Remove flowers from fridge. Line a tray with paper towels.
  9. Fill a deep saucepan 1/3 of the way with canola or grapeseed oil, then heat on medium-high until a drop of water makes the oil hiss and spit (stand back!).
  10. Working in batches of four, slide the flowers one-by-one into batter. Allow any excess batter to drip off, then deep-fry for 4 min (flipping once) or until golden. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, transfer to paper towel-lined tray. Repeat until all flowers are frittered!
  11. Scatter with salt and serve with lemon wedges.
These fritters are light, gluten-free, dairy-free and delicious. Try dipping them in my Tomatillo Spicy Green Salsa for some added kick!
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Tomatillo Spicy Green Salsa

I don’t know what it is about summer, but all I want to cook these days is food with spicy, Latin American flavors. Perhaps I just want to embrace the sweltering heat and fire up my body’s natural cooling system–a.k.a. get my sweat on. As a result, I’ve become mildly obsessed with trying out different gazpacho and salsa recipes. And with farmers markets in full flourish the available ingredients are bountiful, fresh and packed with flavor.

Most recently I taste tangoed with a curious little fruit and member of the tomato family: the tomatillo (or “little tomato” in Spanish). To me, tomatillos look like miniature paper lanterns. They have this thin, veiny husk and it’s like unwrapping a present when you reveal the brilliant lime-colored gem underneath.

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Beyond their aesthetic appeal, they are incredibly good for you. Packed with fiber, iron, magnesium, potassium, vitamins C and K, and antioxidants, these low-calorie beauties will help keep your body fit as a fiddle from the inside out.

Without further ado, the recipe….

What You’ll Need:

  • 10 medium tomatillos
  • 1/4 sliced sweet onion
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 jalapeño
  • 1/2 poblano pepper
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup fresh cilantro

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How to Make It:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 450F
  2. Place tomatillos, onion, garlic, jalapeño  and poblano on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Dust with salt and pepper to taste and toss to coat.
  3. Bake at 450F for 15 min or until skin on tomatillos and peppers start to caramelize and bubble.
  4. Let cool then seed your jalapeño and poblano (unless you want it suuuuper spicy). Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor with one cup of fresh cilantro. Process until smooth.
  5. Refrigerate for at least 30 min then serve.

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This is delish on homemade fish tacos or drizzled over a piece of grilled flank steak. It can also be frozen in an airtight container for up to three months.

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Zucchini “Fettuccine Alfredo” (Vegan) (Gluten-Free)

Growing up in a half-Italian household, there was no shortage of ricotta stuffed shells, eggplant parmesan, and creamy pasta dishes at family gatherings. You’d think I’d be naturally endowed with the ability to digest all that deliciousness. Sadly, like so many others, over the years I have lost the ability to properly digest lactose (a.k.a. I am dairy defunct). According to the NIH, “approximately 65% of the human population has a reduced ability to digest lactose after infancy.” So what’s an Italiana to do?

Thanks to creative cooks across the web and world, there are thousands of recipe alternatives out there for some of your favorite cheese and cream-heavy dishes. Ever since noshing on an amazing dish of dairy-free Fettuccine “Alfredo” in Austin, TX back in February I’ve been angling to make my own version that was both vegan and gluten-free. After reading countless recipes and making several attempts to fuse what I saw as the best elements of each, this is what I came up with…and it’s super tasty if I do say so myself!

Zucchini “Fettuccine Alfredo”

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What You’ll Need:

  • 1 cup raw cashews
  • 8 oz boiling water
  • 3-4 cloves garlic
  • 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
  • juice of half a lemon
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 small or 2 large zucchinis

How to Make It:

  1. Soak cashews in water overnight.
  2. Drain cashews and add to a blender or food processor. Add 8-oz of boiling water and blend until mostly smooth.
  3. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy.
  4. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Let cool and store in the fridge for up to a week or use immediately (continuing to steps 5 and 6).
  5. Using a vegetable peeler, shave long slivers of raw zucchini into a bowl until you’ve used up the entire veggie. The strips should look like thin ribbons (see below).
  6. Toss zucchini with “Alfredo” sauce until well coated.
  7. Let marinate for at least 30 min so the sauce seeps into the “fettuccine.”

This can be served hot or cold. It makes for the perfect summer meal: very light, very healthy and, to top it off, very satisfying!

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MOAR’s Daily Dozen: The Full Sequence

Over the last 12 days, I’ve broken down my Daily Dozen Yoga Poses for Post-Athletic Recovery.  If you’ve been following along with the daily poses, it’s now time to string them together. The whole sequence should take you between 20-25 minutes, holding each pose for 10 deep breaths.  If you can work these stretches into your routine three to five days a week, you’ll be well on your way to a more flexible, strong and injury-free body.

To recap…

MOAR’s Daily Dozen:

  1. Hero’s Pose (toes tucked + untucked)
  2. High Plank w/ Flipped Hands
  3. Dolphin
  4. Wide-Legged Forward Fold
  5. Low Lunge w/ Twist
  6. Half Split
  7. Prone Shoulder Opener
  8. Plow
  9. Half Pigeon
  10. Seated Spinal Twist
  11. Reclining Thread the Needle
  12. Reclining Shoelace
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1: Hero’s Pose (toes tucked + untucked)
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2: High Plank w/ Flipped Hands
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3: Dolphin
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4: Wide-Legged Forward Fold
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5: Low Lunge w/ Twist
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6: Half Split
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7: Prone Shoulder Opener
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8: Plow
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9: Half Pigeon
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10: Seated Spinal Twist
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11: Reclining Figure-4
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12: Reclining Shoelace

Pair this preventative and repairing sequence with my tips for pre- and post-workout fueling to keep injuries and fatigue at bay. With proper post-athletic stretching and nutrition you’re bound to stay at the top of your game, ready to tackle the next test of your endurance and strength.

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MOAR’s Daily Dozen: DAY 12 – Reclining Shoelace

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Step-by-Step:

  1. Lay flat on your back, legs long with head resting heavy on the mat.
  2. Draw your knees in toward your chest, bent, and cross your right leg over left. Reach for your ankles or feet with each hand (right hand grabs left foot, left hand grabs right foot). Gently pull the feet toward your hips as you lower the legs – still stacked in this pretzel-like set up – to the mat.
  3. Holding the left foot with your right hand just outside the right hip, rotate your pelvis toward the left side, coming to rest on the left hip. Your left hand is still gripping the right foot as you twist. Keep your shoulders glued to the mat and turn your head to the right.
  4. Stay here, or deepen the pose by extending the right leg. Kicking your right foot into the left hand and working to straighten out that right knee will bring an intense IT band stretch into this contralateral twist.
  5. Hold for 10 deep breaths, then slowly come back to center and hug your knees into your chest. Plant your feet on the mat, hips width apart. Windshield wiper the knees from side to side.
  6. Repeat steps 1 through 5, this time crossing left leg over right, twisting to the right as you look to the left.

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How It Will Heal You:

Hip Pain – The best way to prevent and treat hip pain is to increase your ROM (range of motion) in all directions. If you play a sport like soccer, which involves a lot of explosive movement and running, you are particularly susceptible to hip pain. As you work into this hip-helping posture, chances are high that you’ll notice that one hip will be tighter than the other. To bring balance to the body, be sure to hold postures for 10 extra deep breaths on the side that’s talking to you. Use your breath to calm your nervous system and let the body open.

Hamstring Pulls – The vast majority of the time, hamstring pulls are a direct result of inflexible hamstrings. This big muscle group requires patience and daily attention to open up and can be really frustrating in their resistance to change. You are not going to go from barely touching your toes to Jordyn Wieber overnight. Commit to working on this posture every day and slowly but surely you’ll get the results you want and your body needs.

Knee Injuries – We all know someone that has torn their meniscus, had a knee replacement, or had some sort of debilitating knee injury. Our knees take a serious beating from all of the physical stuff we do day in and day out—not to mention the high heels some of us ladies rock to look lovely but brutalize our bodies from the tippy toes on up. The best way to prevent pain and avoid trouble is to keep the hips, IT band and hamstrings strong and flexible. Hips, IT band and hamstring mobility keeps the work in your bigger muscle groups (hamstrings and quadriceps) rather than the body’s default of looking to the place of least resistance­–which is almost always the knee joint–for speed, power and agility. If you give the body freedom to move using your large muscle groups and stabilizers it will learn not to rely upon vulnerable and complex joints.

Lower Back Pain – How many of you have experienced lower back pain? I’d venture to say that anyone who sits in a chair all day has suffered through their fair share. This is also a big one for athletes. Why is that? Most often, lower back pain in athletes stems from tight hamstrings. For my fellow anatomy nerds out there, the hamstrings originate on the sitz bone–aka those little nobs deep in the flesh of your booty that us yogis balance on when doing boat core work (my favorite!). , If your hamstrings are tight they will pull down on the pelvis from the insertion point (the sitz bone) tilting it out of proper alignment and forcing your body to compensate using your lower back to remain upright. Another common reason for low back pain is underdeveloped abdominal muscles. I’m not talking just the six-pack abs (rectus abdominis) but also the deeper corset abs (transverse abdominis) that are critical for balance and stability. The simply solution to preventing and treating lower back pain is to stretch out your hammies and workout your core every day.

Foot and Ankle Issues – I can’t tell you have many times I wrenched my ankle playing soccer and field hockey as a kid, or more recently while hiking and running. Ankle sprains, Achilles tendonitis and plantar fasciitis are three very common foot and ankle injuries. These injuries are no fun because let’s face it, when our foundation is out of whack everything else is thrown off and dysfunctional. The answer to avoiding these frustrating beasts of burden is to strengthen the ankle, increase the flexibility of the ankle and toes and work on your balance. Not only does this require concerted effort to increase the openness in these areas but it also means more core work. Core is your key to stability, meaning you’ll be less likely to get thrown off balance and tweak something if your abdominal and back muscles are strong.

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MOAR’s Daily Dozen: DAY 11 – Reclining Thread the Needle

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Step-by-Step:

  1. Lay flat on your back, legs long. Head is heavy, face is relaxed.
  2. Plant your left foot flat on the mat, knee bent. Make sure you can just barely reach your left heel with your left fingertips.
  3. Bend your right leg, placing right ankle on top of left knee. Flex the right foot.
  4. Reach your right hand through your legs and your left hand around the outside of the left leg. Interlace your fingers behind the left thigh and pull the left leg in toward your torso, flexing the left foot strongly as it lifts off the mat. Press your right elbow into your right thigh to open up the hip and take this deeper into the psoas and IT band.
  5. If you want to deepen the stretch, reach your hands to the front of the left shin (left calf and hamstrings muscles squeeze together) and interlace your hands.
  6. Take 10 deep breaths, using your arm strength to pull the left leg closer and press the right leg further out with each inhale and exhale.
  7. Return to laying flat on your back, legs long.
  8. Repeat steps 1 through 7, this time bending the right leg first and taking the left leg across.

How It Will Heal You:

Knee Injuries – We all know someone that has torn their meniscus, had a knee replacement, or had some sort of debilitating knee injury. Our knees take a serious beating from all of the physical stuff we do day in and day out—not to mention the high heels some of us ladies rock to look lovely but brutalize our bodies from the tippy toes on up. The best way to prevent pain and avoid trouble is to keep the hips, IT band and hamstrings strong and flexible. Hips, IT band and hamstring mobility keeps the work in your bigger muscle groups (hamstrings and quadriceps) rather than the body’s default of looking to the place of least resistance–which is almost always the knee joint–for speed, power and agility. If you give the body freedom to move using your large muscle groups and stabilizers it will learn not to rely upon vulnerable and complex joints.

Hip Pain – The best way to prevent and treat hip pain is to increase your ROM (range of motion) in all directions. If you play a sport like soccer, which involves a lot of explosive movement and running, you are particularly susceptible to hip pain. As you work into this hip-helping posture, chances are high that you’ll notice that one hip will be tighter than the other. To bring balance to the body, be sure to hold postures for 10 extra deep breaths on the side that’s talking to you. Use your breath to calm your nervous system and let the body open.