Physical Funness for the Motion Starved

Fit more fun into your fitness while exploring the outdoors.

Tag Archives: recovery


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Stupor Bowl Monday

Super Snackage

Did you watch the Super Bowl? I didn’t, I totally appreciate it but it’s just not my thing. I even got invited to a big party where they trucked in a special cast iron kettle the size of a washing machine to brew up a special Super Stew. Two weeks prior to the event the “chef” emailed a spreadsheet to his friends asking us to sign up for shifts to help chop veggies and stir the Super Stew. I couldn’t open the document but I think the concoction needed to be stirred constantly for something like 24 hours. It’s pretty nuts but after all, the Super Bowl requires super special snackage. Fortunately for me in this case, the kind hostess granted me a pardon recognizing I’d be happier using my time in a different fashion. Thanks Pen!

With the Super Bowl comes bowls of grub. The latest treat is something called Tater-Tot Nachos. Kinda sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen. Or, at the very least, an impending need to dig out the “fat jeans” and spend more time than usual on the potty… As much as I like the occasional greasy treat, more than a couple of Tater-Tot sponges would be a bad idea. But seriously, who’s thinking straight in the throes of the “big game” surrounded by hordes of friends, 7 Layer Dip, Buffalo Wings, beer, little hot dogs wrapped in pastry, beer, spinach dip, beer, pizza, and more beer. Even the toughest among us can only keep our hands in our pockets for so long. Eventually we all give in. It’s human nature (for most of us).

Oh well, now what? Rather than giving into Super  Stupor Monday, get right back on the wagon!

Kelley’s Super Stupor Recovery Recipe:

  • #1 Water yourself up like a Pony Express steed. Drink as much as you can manage the second you retain your senses. (Sure you can drink too much water but that’s not likely to happen).
  • #2 First thing in the AM, heave your carcass out of bed and go for a walk, run, ride, anything you can manage for AT LEAST 20 minutes. If you didn’t get out first thing in the morning, then get to it right after work.
  • #3 Eat as clean as you can. If you can manage it, eat nothing that has a label on it. At the very least try for 85% of your foods being whole (nothing processed or labeled). Got it?
  • #4 Wake up and do it again tomorrow. It just gets easier and you feel better and better from here… I swear!

P.s. If you liked this post you should read, “It’s a Gut Bomb!” I wrote it this time last year. Kinda amusing and helpful if you ate stuff that might cause you to “explode.”

P.s.s. When I was researching Tater-Tots I learned that there’s a guy in St. Paul that’s starting a food truck business that serves only Tater-tot stuff. He’s got things like, Nachos and Bacon rapped tots. Yikes! Good thing I don’t live in St. Paul cuz I might have to try the bacon rapped ones. Just once!


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12 days of December (The Season of Eating – Navigation Tip #3)

Eight Santa's Running

I wrote you a little song. It’s also a workout. For 12 days you’ll add one new task to your fitness routine until you have 12 tasks. It’ll be fun. Give it your best effort and sing along if you dare!

On the first day of December my trainer said to me… drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the second day of December my trainer said to me… eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the third day of December my trainer said to me… 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the fourth day of December my trainer said to me… run up 4 hills, 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the fifth day of December my trainer said to me… eat 5 colors fruits & veggies, run up 4 hills, 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the sixth day of December my trainer said to me… 60 bicycle crunches, eat 5 colors fruits & veggies, run up 4 hills, 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the seventh day of December my trainer said to me… climb seven flights of stairs, 60 bicycle crunches, eat 5 colors fruits & veggies, run up 4 hills, 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the eighth day of December my trainer said to me… drink 8 glasses of water, climb seven flights of stairs, 60 bicycle crunches, eat 5 colors fruits & veggies, run up 4 hills, 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the ninth day of December my trainer said to me… 90 walking lunges, drink 8 glasses of water, climb seven flights of stairs, 60 bicycle crunches, eat 5 colors fruits & veggies, run up 4 hills, 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the 10th day of December my trainer said to me… 100 bench dips, 90 walking lunges, drink 8 glasses of water, climb seven flights of stairs, 60 bicycle crunches, eat 5 colors fruits & veggies, run up 4 hills, 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the 11th day of December my trainer said to me… 11 minutes of stretching, 100 bench dips, 90 walking lunges, drink 8 glasses of water, climb seven flights of stairs, 60 bicycle crunches, eat 5 colors fruits & veggies, run up 4 hills, 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…

On the 12th day of December my trainer said to me… use your foam roller, 11 minutes of stretching, 100 bench dips, 90 walking lunges, drink 8 glasses of water, seven flights of stairs, 60 bicycle crunches, eat 5 colors fruits & veggies, run up 4 hills, 30 minutes of cardio, eat protein for breakfast, and drop & give me 20 burpees…


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Enough already! Take care of your feet!

Why are you so mean to me?

I am completely baffled by people who don’t take care of their feet. I’m not talking about the folks who walk around with monster-long toenails or filthy-dirty feet (although that’s nasty). I’m talking about those of you who don’t take proper care of your overall foot health. You don’t wear proper athletic footwear and you let the muscles in your feet stiffen so badly that it hurts to walk. And then you complain that your feet hurt. ‘sup with that?

Think about it! You’ll be stomping around on those poor little tootsies for 80 or 100 years. Please people, show ‘em some love!

You may not think about your feet that often, way down there at the ends of your legs, but they’re an essential part of almost everything you do. Whether walking, running, exercising, or just standing, having feet that are happy and well cared for make life far more pleasant. Therefore, knowing how to care for your feet is key.

I’ve posted about this before but lets refresh with some basic things you can do to keep your feet moving.

#1 – Stretch and massage the tendons and muscles in your feet. Especially the thick tissue that runs along the bottom of your feet. Here’s how.

  • Toe Writing — With your feet on the floor and your shoes off, use your toes to “write” the letters of the alphabet, from A to Z, on the floor.
  • The Grip — With your feet on the floor and your shoes off, try picking up a pencil or pen with your toes. Or try picking up a marble.
  • Toe Stretches — Kneel on you knees and curl your toes under your feet. Heals will be up and your rear end will be resting on your heals.
  • Flex & Point — Lift one leg off the ground. Point your toes forward, like a ballerina pointing her extended foot, and hold that position for 15 seconds. Now flex your foot, hold 15 seconds and repeat 10 times each foot.
  • Stretch your arches every day — I like to sit on my shins, butt resting on my heels with toes curled under. You can also stand with your toes against a wall (one foot at time) and lean slightly into the wall until you feel a stretch along the bottom of the foot. Do each foot twice. If you don’t like those ideas, just sit on the floor and pull your toes back with your hand. The idea is to stretch the bottom of the foot.
  • Stretch your toes — Squeeze your toes together (they might crack) and hold for a few seconds, then flex them up. Do this a few times every day.
  • Don’t forget — Ankle Circles and Toe Points to keep the supporting joints flexible.

General Foot Love

  • Stimulate the bottom of your feet — The soles of the feet are extremely sensitive due to a high concentration of nerve endings. Post workout give ‘em a nice soapy scrub with the loofah to wake up all those neurons & synapses. A little lotion massage after is always a good idea too.
  • Rule of thumb — As soon as you’re finished working out take off your shoes. Your feet will swell from the workout (or hard day at work) so give em’ room to breath.
  • Ice your feet — After a long run or day on your feet soak your feet in an ice bath or rest them on a ice bag for 10-15 minutes, then lay on your back on the floor and put your legs up the wall. Stay here for another 10-15 minutes.
  • Don’t file down or shave calluses or corns too much —These are nature’s way to protect you from abnormal pressure. Get appropriate insoles, padding or bigger shoes. A specialist podiatrist or biomechanical evaluation may be required for this.
  • Get a foot massage — You can do it yourself but I recommend having someone else do it for you.

Shoe stuff

  • Buy all your shoes late in the day — Your feet are larger at the end of the day.
  • Running shoes — Replace your shoes every 300 to 500 miles.
  • Obvious stuff — High heeled, pointed toe shoes, mules, strappy sandals and sandals that have thongs between the toes are best avoided. If you want to wear them, keep it to short periods and show your feet some extra love when you’re done torturing them.

This is just a start but you have to start somewhere and this is easy no brainer stuff.

P.s. If you liked this post you may like this one too.


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Stretch before bed

Forward Bend

It’s difficult to get a good night’s rest or even get to sleep when you have a lot of muscle tension and stress.  A good solution to this menacing problem is to stretch before you get into bed.  This is a much better option than reaching for other sleep aids.  Connecting your breath with stretching allows your body to relax and sheds unnecessary muscle tension.  If you’re someone who tosses and turns in your sleep, you may wake up with a stiff neck, sore shoulders or back.  In extreme cases muscle tension can cause cramping in your muscles.  A simple stretching routine before bedtime may help ease these symptoms. Look at it like this; five minutes to calm yourself before bed is better than staring at the ceiling half the night.

Here’s what I suggest

  • Lying on your back, draw your knees into your chest place your hands on top of your knees.  Keep your feet together.  Circle your knees in opposite directions breathing deeply as you circle.  5 times each way.
  • Now, sit up and cross your legs in front of you.  Place your palms on the floor in front of you.  Walk your hands out as you exhale and lean forward from your hips, over your crossed legs.  Stay there and inhale and exhale a few times.  With control, roll back up to a sitting position.  Repeat 3 times.
  • Sitting up straight, extend both legs directly in front of you.  Sit tall and reach your arms in the air as if reaching for the sky. Now bring your arms down twisting your torso to the left, as you twist, place your right hand on the outside of your left thigh and left hand behind you. Hold for three breaths and then repeat on the other side. Remember to stretch your spine by reaching for the sky before you twist. Repeat on both sides two times.
  • Finally, sitting tall on the floor lean forward from the hips over your legs (forward bend). Rest your hands on your legs if necessary otherwise reach for your toes without forcing the stretch. Stay in this position for three to 5 breaths. Relax.

Now you’re ready for bed.


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Very interesting

I can help you with that!

Well, it’s Friday. I hope you’ve had a fruitful week. I must say I’m very disappointed that only one person responded to last Fridays post. Remember, “Put the hurt on Kelley?” I asked you to help me get out of my comfort zone and challenge me to a little friendly competition. My friend Dawn came through, but the rest of you seem a bit shy. It’s not too late. You can still play.

In my travels this week I’ve learned a few things that I’m quite impressed with. I hope you find them interesting and useful as well.

Endive — According to Dr. Oz, if you eat ½ cup of endive two times per week you can reduce the risk of getting ovarian cancer by 75%. I say, what the heck, eat up! All you have to do it put it in your salad. Super easy and either way, good for you. Click here for additional info on endive.

Muscle Pain Relief — I read this on Basic Training SF’s blog, and then did a little checking on my own. It’s true! Peppermint oil can be used externally for providing relief from pain. It’s believed that the presence of calcium antagonism in peppermint oil aids in removing pain. It also improves blood circulation, which aids in soothing sore muscles.

Basic Training says, “Dilute peppermint oil with water (or body oil) and give your back, shoulders, hamstrings, or IT band a rub down. Instant gratification.” Check out their site for other good ideas.

Write an “ignore list” — Most of us have to-do lists but they never seem to end. Cross one thing off and another few seem to appear. Real Simple Magazine suggests, in order to succeed in today’s distraction-prone world, you should ask yourself: What is not worth doing? Write down what you’re willing to disregard, emails you don’t really need to respond to, posting things on Facebook, the guilt of not doing the things on your to-do list. Make the list and get those things out of your head. Review the list from time to time just to be sure they aren’t getting your undeserved attention.

Okey-dokey, that’s it for me till Monday. Do something to talk about this weekend!


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Labor Day extended….

Hi All! I hope you had a wonderful long, Labor Day weekend. It’s time now to get back to business and start working on a survival plan to get us through the rapidly approaching Holiday Season (Or cookie eating season as I refer to it).

But before we do that I’m going to be taking a few extra days off to recharge my batteries and work up a solid approach.

While all classes will be in session this week, blog posts will not be updated until next Monday 9/12. Until then I ask you all to consider your fall fitness goals and look into signing yourself up for an event to keep you motivated.

While I’m away, remember to eat your five colors a day, stay hydrated, stretch and get at least 30 minutes of exercise five days a week. Oh…and learn something new while you’re at it.

See you soon…


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Learn from Aunt Kelley

Banana Slugger

This is going to be a short lesson today because I can’t really type. It’s a long story but basically I burned the top of my hand really badly (second degree style). Then, I went hunting for Banana Slugs with my nephew and let a couple of slugs crawl on my charred hand, getting really dirty and slimy. The next day I went swimming in the kinda gunky Russian River and, lo and behold I woke up this morning with a hand so swollen it’s close to twice the size of the other one. Not a pretty sight as you can imagine.  With that, I’ve spent much of today freaking out in one way or another while watching doctors marvel at the mess I made of myself.

Anyway, looking back at the events of the last few days it seems pretty clear where I went wrong, but at the time I was having too much fun to worry about something that “might happen.” The lesson for today is don’t be a dumbass like me, be respectful of your body when you wound it. You can really mess yourself up. Take my word for it, or if you like I’ll send you a photo of my oozing elephant hand (that may never be the same again because of my stupidity).

Have a good weekend! I’ll be back Monday with something more chipper (unless my hand explodes).


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I am one filthy hot mess!

Since I workout outside, there’s never a time when I don’t finish a workout without some sort of chunkage attached to my body in one way or another. Along with the chunkage my clothing is always soaking wet and often salt (from sweat) infused. I look pretty bad sometimes. Today an old Chinese couple seemed very impressed with, or possibly concerned by my appearance as I bounded through my stair climbing/run. I have no idea what they said as they smiled politely and yammered, they had quite a bit to say. It was the hand gesturing that made me come to the conclusion that it was my sweat-covered body and dusting of salt that caught their attention.

My point — No mater who you are, post workout you need to take the time to stretch, eat and clean your body, preferably in that order. You need to stretch out your muscles, feeding them with oxygen rich blood to alleviate soreness, prevent injury and prepare them for future workouts.

Eat as soon as possible after an intense workout — The rule of thumb is to eat a small protein/carb rich meal within one hour of your workout. I eat as soon as I can muster the strength. This window of time is when your body is best suited to replenish what it’s used during your workout, supporting better recovery. Eat real food or suck down a “recovery drink.” I’ve used both, but I prefer real food.

Hit the showers — You stink and there’s fungus growing on those wet cloths and in all your cracks and crevices. The best thing to do is to immediately change out of your wet cloths, stretch and eat. After you’ve eaten, get in the shower and loofah up. Don’t forget to moisturize, all that sweating dries your skin.

After that I usually lay on the floor with my legs up to rest my legs. Do what you like, just make sure to be good to your body and let it recover so it’ll be even stronger for the next workout.

Ooh! Don’t forget to rehydrate with water while you’re doing the above!

P.s. If you liked this post, you may find this earlier MS post interesting.


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Recovery is counter intuitive

It’s hard to believe; sometimes the best thing you can do for those super sore muscles is to workout. We call it “active recovery.”

I know how it is — You worked out really hard and your legs hurt, all you can bear to do is to lay on the couch because it hurts to walk or even get out of a chair. The problem with not doing anything is that you’re not encouraging oxygenated blood to flow through those taxed muscles. With that, the stiffness (metabolic waste or muscle pooh as I like to call it) will take even longer to find it’s way out, allowing the spunk to come back into your legs.

The general theory is that your muscles grow and get stronger while you rest, not while you’re working out. I believe that. Work out hard, then let your body repair itself becoming stronger while you “rest.” However, when I say “rest” I don’t mean sit on the couch and do nothing. I mean actively recover.

Active recovery workouts are low intensity and low volume workouts in which the goal is to get blood into the muscles to enhance recovery. In addition, active recovery  loosens up stiff muscles allowing them to perform even better the next time you tax them.

An active recovery workout really just means to keep moving, be active. Go for a long walk, easy jog, take a yoga class, go for a spin on the bike, play with the kids, just keep moving and have some fun. You can lay around when you’re sleeping (or dead as some like to say).

Got it?

P.s. Same rule applies for a hangover. Keep moving to cleanse the body of those yummy toxins.


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If they worked for Granny…

Recipe for recovery

Remember your Granny’s support hose? Ever get a look at a pair of those uncomfortable contortions? They looked like a full-length girdle, sort of. The good news is they’re back in fashion, although now they’re called Compression Socks.

Anyway — Compression Socks or sometimes-called Recovery Sox are currently all the rage. Essentially they’re a knee-high version of Granny’s support hose. Their soul-purpose is to create an upward flow of blood through the lower legs helping to get unoxygenated blood out and replace it with fresh oxygenated blood. A desired effect for anyone who wishes to increase circulation in the legs. I.E. athletes, diabetics, folks that work on their feet or sit for long periods of time.

Fresh oxygenated blood is what athletic recovery is all about, which is why athletes are willing to drop $30 plus dollars for these magic socks.  I have a pair thanks to my friend Mo.  At first I thought “gee, thanks Mo…what do I do with these? They’re ugly.” Now I am addicted to them. I can’t say for certain if they help my legs recover but I know they don’t hinder recovery and the squeezy feeling is oddly nice.  Kind of a tingly massageie feeling. I even sleep in ‘em sometimes.

Get your Google on if you want more info, or take a risk and pick some up.  They’re socks. Everyone needs socks and these are magic socks!