Stealthstitcher Aaargh ...

[stealthstitcher]

Okay, super fast post. Thought I was going to have some time this challenge. I am not. Got a last minute call to work the Nutcracker ballet and therefore have no spare time till next Monday. But I don't want to skip the challenge. So, I will be here next week. In the meantime, aaargh ...

[MichiruSedai]

*hugs*  Have a good week!!

[stealthstitcher]

Right, so, on to the challenge!

Actually, I'm not feeling very exclamation mark-y. Mostly just tired and run down and not in the mood for the holidays. Not in a bad mood; more like, can we do this later when I'm not so tired?

 

Anyway, to the challenge portion of the challenge. I'm going to focus on stretching for this one, because I've been feeling really stiff lately. However, I'm not sure exactly what to do. I've been reading articles on stretching and they're all over the place, ranging from "the only way to improve flexibility is to stretch till it hurts for an hour a day" to "stretching is completely unnecessary and does nothing". Some claim that yoga is the only way to go; others say that yoga is largely useless for improving flexibility and only works with the flexibility you already have. I have to admit, several years ago I did 20 - 30 minutes of yoga every single day for nearly a year in a focused effort to finally touch my toes (a lifelong goal) and saw very, very little improvement. Which is depressing and unmotivating. Yoga is still cool for other reasons, though.

 

The article that made the most sense said that people these days spend hours a day training their bodies to sit in chairs (true). So your body gets used to sitting in a chair and the range of movement that involves. If you want your body to be as good at doing something else as it is at sitting in a chair, you'll need to spend time using that range of motion. And the more you do it, the better your body will get at doing it. So if I want to be able to touch my toes, then I need to spend time using the joints and muscles required for toe touching in the range of motion required for toe touching. 

 

However, outside toe touches, I don't even know what I want to be able to do. I'd like a level of flexibility that will help me prevent injuries. My day-to-day tasks, however, require very little range of motion. And since everything is stiff and inflexible (hips, shoulders, wrists, hamstrings, you name it) I'm not sure which areas or exercises to focus on. Suggestions welcome.

 

Anyway, to start with, the plan is to set aside 30 minutes a day for just stretches and see if doing that leads to any improvement. 

 

Okay, that was way longer than I meant it to be.

 

[stealthstitcher]

30 minutes of stretching done yesterday. Every time I do a stretch, it just reminds me of all the other things that need stretched. Trying to stretch hamstrings? Can't even get to them because my calves are so tight. 

But I could just be grumpy because I have a cold and a ton of adulting to do today. Boo, adulting!

[MichiruSedai]

*gives you a gold star for all the adulting*

[stealthstitcher]

Welp, the cold accelerated into an evil, evil cold. So I have done no stretching sessions since Tuesday. However, I seem to be alive again so I will resume today. 

[stealthstitcher]

Struggles ... I can't seem to keep it together when people invade. So I have done some stretches every day but we're talking five minutes, not 30. 

Looking back on my 2016 challenges, I keep making them easier and easier. It makes sense to take a crazy schedule into account, but I've got to find some way to still accomplish things even if I have to work overtime or company comes. 

[MichiruSedai]

Five minutes is better than zero!  Be kind to yourself, and I hope you survive The Invasion.  *hugs*

[stealthstitcher]

On 12/24/2016 at 6:24 AM, MichiruSedai said:

Five minutes is better than zero!  

You are correct!

Just returned from my parents' house. I did continue to do short stretching sessions while there - mostly because they have the worst spare bed in the world and I got up all stiff and twisted in the morning. Still, did it to some extent.

Next hurdle - roommate's reunion over New Year's. This will be both harder and easier. We're spending the weekend in a small house with a lot of people, but I also get up a lot earlier than everyone else. So it should work. 

Working on my plan for health, exercise, and diet after New Year's. 

[stealthstitcher]

Wrapping up - I can't really say I accomplished my goal this challenge. Although I did stretch deliberately most days, it was for maybe 5 - 10 minutes. Oddly, everyone got up early at the roommate reunion this year so I didn't get any alone time. However, there also weren't enough seats for everyone in the living room so I sat on the floor where I could stretch. So there you go. On to the next challenge.