Psyching myself up for the 30-day Challenge at BYA!

This is it! I don't know how I'll do but it's definitely worth a try. Plus since I want to start taking advance classes, this should be good for me because I'll be able to start conditioning my mind and body for this. Am I scared? Yes. Will I back out? No. My fear comes not from how tired I'll be but from my back. I realized that my back injuries always surface when I get deeper into my practices and instead of backing down, I want to be able to learn to practice with it so that I'll be more in tune with my spine. 

I will definitely blog about this 30 day challenge to document my ups and downs. watch out for it!

Class Struggles

For the past few days that I've been doing Bikram, my practices have been good on the outside but they have been killing me and my body! My middle spine now is the one that has been hurting and I think because it's opening up--this is good but painful/uncomfortable. 

Omar, one of our teachers, just came back from a trip in India. My first two classes with him were hard because he hardly opened the door and he did it one time in a full class(33 students). While in class, I could feel myself having shortness of breath. I would try my best to breathe deep and slow but it was damn hard! The air was so thick and I could feel everyone sucking so much oxygen and I could hear everyone panting. When I told Omar after class that I had a tough time breathing he told me that he didn't even notice since I looked well in class and that my practice was strong. In my head, I couldn't believe it because I really was struggling just to get enough air in my system. 

This morning, we had a full class once again and Ginger was our teacher. I knew we would be in for a tough class and I was right. I don't know why but I felt real hunger at the start of the class and it threw me off a bit at the start but I was fighting to be in control. When the triangle pose came, my true test came. Ginger told everyone to sit down except for me and she placed a towel in front of the class and asked me to demo the posture. (I just want you to know that a towel on the floor without a mat was slippery as hell so I had to tighten everything while doing the posture while going in and out of it.) I think it was good for me to demo in the sense that it jolted me and made me try even harder and to put in more effort in every posture while breathing deep and slow once again. 

Sometimes I wonder if I am improving because in my head, I think that I have improved with regards to the postures but I know that I need to train my mind some more. I know that I still make excuses so that I can just breeze thru classes some days. I would still drink water more than I should and I hate it that I can't seem to stop myself from doing so. 

This July, the studio will be having a 30-day bikram challenge and I plan to take it. When I first about it, I told myself that I wouldn't do it because I didn't want to hassle myself when I know that I can practice and still get better. But I realized that I need to strengthen my mind. I know that I'll have a tough time doing this but our bikram yoga community in BYA has been getting closer and I know that I'll have a good support group to help me through it. 

Plyometrics FAQ's

I found this really informative site and it has FAQ's about plyometrics. For all those who might be interested to learn about it. Here are some information that may be helpful to you:

1) Q: What are plyometrics?

A: Plyometrics are any exercise where the muscle is contracted eccentricly then immediately, concentricly. In plain English, the muscle is stretched (i.e. loaded) before it is contracted. A good example is push-ups with a clap in-between each push-up. Your muscle (pectorals in this case) is elongated and loaded by the downward force of your body, then immediately you must contract the muscle to push yourself back up.

2) Q: Why do I care?

A: Because plyometrics is one of the best ways if not the best way to improve power. To justify this answer lets first look at what is power. Power is similar to strength except you are adding the time factor. Therefore the relation of strength and speed is what we are talking about when we talk about power. A person who can perform a specific resistance movement, such as jumping, bench press etc., the fastest would be said to have more power in that movement. So what we are looking at is not just the contraction of the muscle, but how fast will it contract. It has been shown that a muscle will contract the fastest when it has been loaded. This is why you should be able to jump higher if you crouch down then immediately jump up than if you started in the crouch. So if this is the best way to perform a powerful movement lets practice these movements. This practic e is called plyometrics and has been shown in study after study to decrease the time it takes for the muscles to contract, resulting in more power.

3) Q: What are good plyometric exercises for increasing vertical jump?

A: There are an infinite number of plyometric exercises to increase vertical leap but here are a few good ones:

Two foot ankle hop (low intensity)

keeping your feet together and remaining in one place hop up and down using only your ankles and calves. Concentrate on getting as high as you can and exploding off the ground as soon as you land.

Rim Jumps (medium intensity)

Stand under a basketball rim. Jump up touching the rim (or net or whatever) with alternate hands. Concentrate on getting as high as you can and exploding off the ground as soon as you land.

Box to Box jumps (high intensity)

Place two boxes that will support your weight about 3 feet apart. Standing on one box step (NOT JUMP) off to the ground and immediately jump back up to the other box. Turn around and repeat. Obviously the difficulty of this exercise is increased as the height of the boxes are increased. Once again concentrate on getting as high as you can and exploding off the ground as soon as you land (notice a pat tern here?)

In all the above exercises you are using your body weight and gravity to load the muscle before contraction. The forces you generate are much larger than could be safely accomplished using conventional resistance (read weights) exercises. It is true these forces only exist for a brief amount of time, but they still stress the muscle which is the point.

Also these exercises can be combined. For example try jumping off a box before jumping up to the rim.

4) Q: What are good plyometric exercises for increasing speed

A: While all of the above exercises will also increase your speed (leg speed), these are many others that just focus more on movement. Here are some examples

Zig Zags ( medium intensity)

run an elastic cord about a foot off the ground. While on one foot hop back and forth over the rope. Repeat with other foot.

Side to side ankle hops

Same as regular ankle hops (see above) but instead of remaining in place you jump 2 to 3 feet side to side.

Sprints

Yes sprints are plyometrics since the force of your body coming down loads the hamstring.

5) Q: Do strength shoes work? Where do I get them? How much do they cost? Are there alternatives? Why are strength shoes included in a plyometrics FAQ A: Yes strength shoes do work, they make every step a plyometric exercise for the calf. Since they only work the calf though you must do regular plyometric exercised in them to work the other muscles. They do come with a excellent plyometric regime and a nice video. For those of you who dont know what a strength shoe is: It is a shoe with an elevated sole, but the sole is only on the ball of the foot. The calf is allowed to hang free forcing it to be stretched ( thus loaded) on every step. Be aware that the calf plays a limited role in jumping and acceleration, approximately 30%, so while strength shoes will help they are no magic pill and are just a tool for a good plyometric regime. 

6) Q: What is a good book on plyometrics and where can I get it. A: The best book on plyometrics is Jumping Into Plyometrics by Donald A. Chu. It has a great many exercises and good tips about how to put together a program. Also each exercise is cross referenced by what sport it helps. All in all a good book.

7) Q: Are plyometrics dangerous? A: Since so many exercises could be considered plyometrics, of course some of them are dangerous. Jump squats are a great example. This is where you perform a regular squat (with weight) and actually jump at the top of the motion coming off the ground 1-2 inches. You perform this exercise with about 1/3rd of your max. weight. This is one of the best exercises to increase your jumping ability. Unfortunately it is also a dangerous one. If you dont have great form, and you cant do at least 50 reps of regular squats at the weight dont even think about them. Also stay away if you have a bad back or knees. On the other hand the two foot ankle hop is very safe, and will offer good benefits. A good general test to see if you are ready for plyometrics is to stand and jump up as high as you can. Measure this height (chalk on your fingertips and a clean wall is a good way to measure). Then jump off a 18 inch box and jump as high as you can. If you cant reach as high as you could on the ground you would be better off hitting the weights and coming back later.

8) Random thoughts While plyometric will increase your vertical jump, form has quite a bit to do also. Try to crouch to a point where your knees reach a 90 degree angle. A good arm swing will easily add inches. By throwing your arms up as you jump you are decreasing the weight that you have to push off the ground and the inertia of your arms going up will help pull the rest of your body up. Also the faster you are moving before the jump, the higher you can jump. You can transfer this horizontal speed to vertical speed with the proper form. This is why high jumpers get a running start to jump much higher than they could standing still.

Shin Splints

My shins have been hurting a bit lately because I've been jumping a lot when I do my plyometrics. I had shin splints years and years ago when I was into all that body combat in Fitness First and I decided to join a marathon so that was my first time to really feel the pain in my shin.

My shins have been hurting a bit but it's not so bad. Anyway, I decided to look at the wiki pedia term for shin splints and I found that it is:
"The term shin splints refers to pain along or just behind the shinbone (tibia) — the large bone in the front of the lower leg. The medical term ismedial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS). Shin splints occur during physical activity and result from too much force on the shinbone and connective tissues attaching muscles to it. Shin splints are common in runners and in those who participate in activities with sudden stops and starts, such as basketball, soccer or tennis; along with sports that apply extreme pressure to the legs, such as gymnastics. Ten to fifteen percent of running injuries are shin splints.Treatment of shin splints includes rest, ice, and non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Ice helps to reduce inflammation as well as the steroids which is what causes some pain. Rest is the best way to treat shin splints as this gives the shins the full time necessary to heal. This can be a couple weeks in mild cases up to about 3 months for severe cases. Acute therapy options for treatment include physical therapy modalities such as ultrasound, whirlpool baths, and electrical stimulation."


I think that I only have a very mild case but I thought I'd just share what I learned =)

The importance of good teachers/mentors

In my journey through yoga, I have come across many teachers and truth be told not all of them were the right fit for me. People have different practice styles and their teaching usually comes from their practice. For me to have an effective teacher, I need to feel how grounded she/he is to her/his practice. 

The cause of my back injury came about from one of my very first teachers and as much as I'd like to blame him for it, I know deep down this problem would have surfaced even after he has stopped teaching me. This problem is about me and until I am able to tune in to my body and learn to open my upper and middle back more to take out the strain on the lower part of my body, I will keep on getting injured. Respecting our bodies with its current limitations and overcoming our fear are the hardest feats to master for me.

Now that I'm taking Bikram Yoga seriously, I'm faced with new teachers once again. At first, I wanted to get the easy teachers, the ones who don't kill me with the heat by opening windows and doors a lot and the ones who don't call my name out so that I can go through class at a steady pace. BUT now I get to appreciate the ones who know when to push me because they know that I can do more. 

I practice at BYA and the teacher that I'm drawn most to now is Ginger. I look forward to her classes but dread it at the same time. We have crossed paths before when I first tried bikram that's why she knows that I have had a strong yoga practice so she has a tendency to push me some more. Just yesterday, I was feeling a bit disoriented and when we had to do our first backbend I have to admit that I was a bit scared because I didn't want to aggravate my back. I just didn't realize how scared I was until Ginger shouted in class "Anna Ledesma, really? really?" I was quickly jolted back to reality and instantly had to face my fear. It wasn't easy but I did what I could to tighten my core by sucking my tummy & squeezing my butt while backbending and breathing at the same time. After doing the pose, I tried to feel how my back was doing and it wasn't any worse from before. I think that my middle back may actually be opening up even more that's why I'm also feeling some discomfort in my back.   

I'm grateful to have her teach me because she always keeps me on my toes during class. Sometimes when I haven't had much rest and I see that she's the teacher, I would get nervous and curse my luck but I always end up having the best practices with her. I think that teachers really shouldn't be there to go easy on us but rather they are there to push and motivate us to keep on trying to do more. If we always get away with putting in mediocre efforts, chances are we'll never push ourselves to do better. 

Conquering my back

I have rested for 4 days by not working out and putting hot compress on my back. The pain has gone done considerably but it's not quite 100% well yet. I will go and see a doctor later but I decided to workout because I don't want my muscles to go all soft on me.

I'm used to working out with pain and this has never stopped me before so I'm not going to let it hamper me now. I did my plyometrics session with my trainer for cardio then I moved on to doing weights with core workouts afterwards. I did pretty well except for the deadlift, my back hurts when I bend over too much so I took a step back from that one. I understand the need to respect my body and when something doesn't feel right, I won't push it until it gets better.

I was able to take some photos of the equipments we use:

My Nemesis

My back is my nemesis. I am lordotic so I have a deep curvature in my lower spine. This means that I bend easily but when I do yoga and undergo serious backbends, I have a tendency to bend from my lower back instead of my middle back so I end up injuring myself.

My back injuries started when I did ashtanga yoga and my previous yoga teacher just found me so bendy that he made me grab my ankles while in a backbend and I tweaked my back. It has been a constant battle for me to overcome this because one wrong move and I injure it again. I have been in and out of rehab because of this and my last one was before I got pregnant with my second child.

Surprisingly, I didn't have any back pains during my pregnancy. Afterwards, I slowly worked my way to strengthening my core by doing weights, plyometrics and yoga. I thought that I have made my back strong enough until the other day.

I slept with my baby and he was having a pretty fidgety night so I had to cradle him in a certain position while lying down. When I woke up and got up the next morning, the right side of my back was in pain. I just thought that it was probably like having a stiff neck but it was happening to my back. I still went to Bikram but modified some postures. When I went to Bikram again the day after that, my back was worse so I had to modify the postures even more. I was in a lot of pain the following day.

I have been nursing my back with hot compresses and massages but my spine and hips are hurting. I have been trying to get an appointment with a doctor nearby but they are either out of town or their clinic here is still at the end of the week.

I can't believe that I'm here in this position again. Injuries don't affect only your body but your mind as well. Inspite of my injury, I still want to practice but I'm trying to find a balance because I know that I'm getting older and that I need to respect my body as well. I don't know what happened to me but I vow to get over this and beat this weakness! I know I can do it but I'm still figuring out how...