yoga for athletes – Move Well with Amy Rizzotto

March 19, 2014

Yoga for Athletes: 3 Hamstring Openers for Lower Back Relief

While getting into the preliminary training for my upcoming half marathon earlier this winter, I put together a three-part series of yoga poses intended to open tight hamstrings and their supporting muscle groups for Active Life DC. Tight hamstrings are the common culprit of lower back pain and frequently contribute to back injuries in yogis, runners and office warriors alike. Hamstrings are a finicky group of three muscles located on the backs of our thighs. Two of the muscles (semitendinosus and semimembranosus) stem from the sitz bones and connect along the inner side of the knee. The other one (biceps femoris) also originates at the sitz bones but connects along the outer side of the knee. When these muscles lose their elasticity they tend to lock the pelvis, removing the normal curve of the lumbar spine and flattening the lower back. This rigidity makes your back work extra hard to accomplish simple tasks like bending down to pick something up, let alone what I and most fitness fiends ask of our bodies on a daily basis. Without proper attention to caring for tight hamstrings you are bound to end up achy, or worse, injured.

Fret not! With daily stretching (like the yoga poses I provide in my monthly Yoga for Athletes series for Active Life DC) you can start to proactively compensate for rigidity, mend your hamstrings and ease lower back pain. Check out my favorite yoga poses for providing some much-needed TLC to your hamstrings below. All three poses are designed for all people of all abilities and all body types.Yoga for All!

No. 1: Modified Extended Hand-to-Foot Pose

Stand with one leg extended onto a chair, straight but not locked out. Your heel should rest on the chair’s seat.
Take a strap (or belt) and sling it around your lifted foot, holding onto either end with your hands.
Square your hips to the front edge of the chair and bend forward until you feel a gentle stretch, adjusting your strap to the appropriate length. Hold and breathe into that initial feeling of tightness for 90 seconds to three minutes. With each inhale try to lengthen through both sides of the body. With each exhale slowly hinge forward millimeter by millimeter, tightening up on your strap as necessary. Ground down through your standing leg for stability.
Once you’ve completed your long hold, relax and switch legs.

An important reminder—the key to safe hamstring stretching is to ease in, listen to your body for signs you might be pushing too far, and hold each pose for at least 90 seconds (and ideally a full three minutes.) Holding a pose for this amount of time allows your body’s connective tissues to open up and release.

No. 2: Supine Hand to Foot Pose

Lying on your back, loop a strap (or belt) around your right foot and extend the sole of your foot toward the ceiling. If you know you have tight hamstrings you can bend your left knee, planting the left foot firmly on the ground and enabling the right leg to straighten out.
Gradually pull the strap toward you until you feel a gentle stretch, adjusting it to the appropriate length by wrapping the loose ends around your hands.
Hold and breathe into that initial feeling of tightness for 90 seconds to three minutes. Let comfort be your guide—this should feel good and if it doesn’t you’re likely pulling too hard or too fast. With each inhale try to ground down through your rest leg and length through the heel of your extended leg. With each exhale slowly pull your leg closer to your torso, little by little, cinching up on your strap as necessary. Make sure you stabilize both hips on the mat—perhaps even draping a heavy blanket across your belt line—to keep the stretch in your hamstrings.
Once you’ve completed your long hold, relax and switch legs.

No. 3: Supine Bound Angle Pose

This third pose (also known as Reclining Butterfly) focuses on the supporting cast of tight hamstrings and an achy lower back: the adductor group. Adductors, or inner thigh muscles, and groin muscles are closely linked to stiff hamstrings. When big muscles like the hamstrings or quadriceps get overworked as they often do, adductors and abductors are left underdeveloped. This common imbalance can lead to injury. The muscles of your inner and outer thighs play a crucial role in stabilization and movement of the legs and pelvis. One of the key functions of adductors for athletes is that they pull your legs in toward the midline so that as you run your weight stays balanced on your planted foot and your gait doesn’t bow outward, which can lead to rolled ankles and stress on outer knee ligaments. Since they help keep you upright as you stride from left to right, they’re also key to getting maximal power out of each and every step. What athlete doesn’t want a little extra oomph wherever they can get it?

Lie down on your back. Bend your knees bringing the soles of your feet together and allowing the knees to fall open to either side.
Add a pillow under each knee or wrap a strap around your ankles as depicted to enable yourself to remain comfortable and feel supported in this pose as you hold for 90 seconds to three minutes. Your arms can rest by your side, or atop you hip bones if you’re using a strap. Be sure your elbows relax to the mat and you release any tension in your shoulders, neck and jaw.
When you’re ready to let go of the pose draw your knees into your chest, give them a strong hug and take Happy Baby pose to neutralize the spine and feel some nice compression on your hip-flexors.

Head over to Active Life DC to view the full articles on therapeutic hamstring opener poses 1 (Modified Extended Hand-to-Foot Pose), 2 (Supine Hand to Foot Pose) and 3 (Supine Bound Angle Pose), or revisit my Daily Dozen Yoga Poses for Post-Athletic Recovery.

August 7, 2013

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.

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.

July 14, 2013

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:

SONY DSC — 1: Hero’s Pose (toes tucked + untucked)

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.

July 13, 2013

MOAR’s Daily Dozen: DAY 12 – Reclining Shoelace

Step-by-Step:

Lay flat on your back, legs long with head resting heavy on the mat.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Repeat steps 1 through 5, this time crossing left leg over right, twisting to the right as you look to the left.

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.

July 12, 2013

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

Step-by-Step:

Lay flat on your back, legs long. Head is heavy, face is relaxed.
Plant your left foot flat on the mat, knee bent. Make sure you can just barely reach your left heel with your left fingertips.
Bend your right leg, placing right ankle on top of left knee. Flex the right foot.
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.
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.
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.
Return to laying flat on your back, legs long.
Repeat steps 1 through 7, this time bending the right leg first and taking the left leg across.

How It Will Heal You:

July 11, 2013

MOAR’s Daily Dozen: DAY 10 – Seated Spinal Twist

Step-by-Step:

Start in a seated position, legs long, tall spine.
Bend your left leg, bringing left knee to mat, left heel to outside of right hip.
Bend your right leg up and over the left leg, right ankle hooks outside left knee (sole of right foot presses into the floor).
Bring your right hand behind your back. Press right palm into mat and sit up tall as you inhale. Exhale and twist to the right, hooking left elbow outside right knee.
Use your breath to twist deeper. Sit tall and straighten out the back on the inhales and use the leverage of your left elbow on your right knee to twist deeper into the middle back on the exhales. Relax the abdominal muscles to go even deeper into the twist. (Imagine you’re a washcloth and you’re working to wring out all the water).
Take 10 deep breaths then switch sides Follow steps 1 through 5, twisting to the left.

How It Will Heal You:

July 10, 2013

MOAR’s Daily Dozen: DAY 9 – Half Pigeon

Step-by-Step:

From Downward Facing Dog, start by sending your right leg up and back. Shift forward, stacking shoulders over wrists and bring the right knee to the floor behind the right wrist. Work to bring the right foot as close to the left wrist as it will go.
Pressing into the mat, distribute your weight evenly between both hips. On the right side, those with tight hips/IT band will have a tendency to put more weight on their right hip. If this is you, grab a block or blanket and shove it under the right hip for a little support and lift.
Flex the right foot strongly to protect the knee joint.
With balanced weight, slowly walk your hands out. If you can, bring your forearms to the mat or perhaps to two blocks or a pillow.
Keep a nice long spine, reaching out through the crown of your head and breath into the hip for 10 deep breaths.
If you’re on the more flexible side and want to take this deeper you can walk your hands all the way out, bringing forehead to mat.
Slowly walk your hands back, torso upright. Press your hands into the mat, tuck your left toes under and send your right leg up and back into one-legged down dog (your starting position).
Take three big hip circles to gently release the hip.
Repeat steps 1 through 8, this time leading with the left leg.

How It Will Heal You:

July 9, 2013

MOAR’s Daily Dozen: DAY 8 – Plow

Step-by-Step:

From laying on your back, exhale and use your core to send your legs up and over head with control. Slowly lower your feet toward the floor behind and beyond your head. Keep your chin to your chest, neck straight, and do not look from side to side.
If your toes touch the ground, your hands can stay long by your side. Work to keep your torso as close to perpendicular with the floor as possible, legs fully extended and engaged.
If your toes don’t touch, bring your hands to your lower back, fingertips facing up. Rock your shoulders underneath you so the shoulder-blades draw closer together, creating a little air pocket for your C7 vertebra (that little knobby bone at the base of your neck). Again, work to keep your torso as close to perpendicular with the ground as possible, legs fully extended and engaged.
Hold for 10 deep breaths then slowly roll down one vertebra at a time, using your core to decelerate, until your legs extend long.
Hug your knees into your chest and rock a little from side to side for a quick release of the lower back before moving on to other postures.

How It Will Heal You:

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.

Neck Pain – From foundational issues in the ankles and feet to the top of the tower, the neck is a critical player in athletic endeavors and requires great care. Having had two of the most important people in my life suffer debilitating neck breaks, I really can’t stress this one enough. Full rotation of the neck makes all the difference in any sport you play. How else are you going to see your opponent coming up behind you to try and steal the ball away? And with a fastball speeding toward you, you want to be able to turn your neck and see that baby coming! Unfortunately, like the feet and ankles, the neck is often neglected when it comes to stretching and strength training. Avoid that pitfall with the postures in this post.

July 8, 2013

MOAR’s Daily Dozen: DAY 7 – Prone Shoulder Opener

Step-by-Step:

Come to a prone position, laying belly to mat, face down. Bring your arms to a “T”.
Take your left hand to the mat underneath the shoulder, elbow bent and pointing up. Push into that hand and peel your chest off the mat.
Bend your left leg behind the right, placing the sole of the foot to the mat.
Make sure your neck is relaxed, head resting on the mat.
If this is already intense, stay as is. If you want to go deeper, bring your left hand behind your back and interlace the fingers with your right hand. Only do it this if you can reach your right hand without shifting the arm down toward your feet.
Take 10 deep breaths on the right shoulder then change sides.

How it will heal you:

Shoulder Pain: Football, lacrosse, and baseball players know shoulder pain. As a yogi, I can also vouch for the frequency of shoulder injuries in yoga–a misaligned jump-back to chatturunga is one of the fastest ways to wreck your rotator cuffs. Shoulders, like hips, are a ball-in-socket joint and thus are designed to have a broad ROM (range of motion). Athletes and office bees alike experience a lot of shoulder pain because not enough attention gets paid to maintaining the flexibility of this critical joint. Increase the openness of your wrists, chest and upper back to prevent and treat discomfort. Additionally, focusing on contralateral movement (i.e. twists) will help to eliminate rigidity from the upper body.

Wrist Problems: Football, lacrosse, baseball, tennis and basketball players are incredibly susceptible to wrist injuries. Amongst others, yogis should be added to that list–just ask two of my fellow yoga teachers who went through training with me and are still modifying their Down Dog months later. In order to avoid wrist issues, it’s critical that you build strong forearms, biceps, triceps, shoulders and upper back. Like all other joints, it’s also important to maintain ROM (range of motion) and flexibility in the joint itself as well as the elbows and shoulders so that the body can maintain proper form and alignment when generating power and movement from the upper body and arms.

Neck Pain: From foundational issues in the ankles and feet to the top of the tower, the neck is a critical player in athletic endeavors and requires great care. Having had two of the most important people in my life suffer debilitating neck breaks, I really can’t stress this one enough. Full rotation of the neck makes all the difference in any sport you play. How else are you going to see your opponent coming up behind you to try and steal the ball away? And with a fastball speeding toward you, you want to be able to turn your neck and see that baby coming! Unfortunately, like the feet and ankles, the neck is often neglected when it comes to stretching and strength training. Avoid that pitfall with the postures in this post.

July 7, 2013

MOAR’s Daily Dozen: DAY 6 – Half Split

Step-by-Step:

1. Start in downward facing down.

2. Come into a low lunge, bring your right foot forward just inside your right hand. Knee stacked over ankle.

3. Shift your hips back, straightening the right leg and stacking the left hip over left knee.

4. Keep your hands or fingertips to the mat and keep a long, flat back. If you are rounding through the spine, bring a block under each hand.

5. Inch the heel forward if you want to deepen the stretch. Engaging the quads will also work to open the hammies.

6. Take 10 deep breaths, perhaps walking the fingers a few inches forward every couple of breaths.

7. Shift forward back into a low lunge. Plant your hands on the mat framing your right foot. Press the mat away and hips back into downward facing dog.

8. Repeat steps 2-7 on the other side.

9. Come back to downward facing dog and pedal your feet from side to side.

How it will heal you:

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.