You NEED a Foam Roller
Ever heard of a foam roller? If not, you’re missing out. With a foam roller, you can do a little something called Myofascial Release. Just in case you’re not a fitness dork like myself, the definition of Myofascial Release is:
A safe and very effective hands-on technique that involves applying gentle sustained pressure into the Myofascial connective tissue restrictions to eliminate pain and restore motion. – www.myofascialrelease.com
I can hear ya now. “Ohhhhhh……..nope, still no idea what you’re talking about.” Well, basically you’re finding knots in your muscle tissue, and rolling it out on a round piece of foam like the black ones to the left.
Now basically, there are 3 areas that cause people the most problems. The first is the IT band (iliotibial band), the second is the piriformis, and third is the hip adductor. For a better idea of how to work these areas on a foam roller, I’ve linked to 3 videos. Check them out.
IT Band, Piriformis, Hip Adductor
After watching those videos, you’re probably thinking that doing this looks like you’re humping the ground. Yep. No getting around that. There’s nothing I can say to make that less so. But, if you like to lift weights, you should invest in one of these puppies and get rollin’ those muscles. The good news is, they only cost 10 – 20 bucks! That’s not much money for all the benefit they provide. Just to make it even easier to get one, here are some links for foam rollers on Amazon. Buy one…NOW!
Our New Weapon
Here we have the Donkey’s new secret weapon. It’s the Omron HBF-306C…a hand held bio-impedance body fat monitor. Now, I know these aren’t the most accurate way to test your body fat, but they are pretty consistent. For example, if it says you went from 25% down to 20%…you probably actually lost 5% body fat, but you didn’t necessarily start at 25% and end at 20%. You may have started at 28% and ended at 23%. Ya following me? It also helps if you’re really consistent about what time of day you do the test. So, we’ll be using this as another tool to track our progress and keep us motivated. I’ve done a few tests today with it, and its been +/- .2% every time. Seems pretty consistent! Seeing all of your hard work pay off by watching that number drop makes it all worth it.
New Blog, and New Shoes
Nothing like kicking off a new blog with a picture of my new shoes. They’re called Vibram Five Fingers…and so far they’re great!!! I’ll post an update after my first workout in them to let you know how they work in action. If for some reason they cause a tragic and horrible accident…one of the other fitness donkeys will tell you how things went down.
Update: The first workout in the Vibrams went well. The workout was weights, no cardio yet. I am noticing though, that my feet need to get conditioned for these shoes. It’s not really a surprise, I read that would happen. No complaints from this guy.
