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dreamsharkSTRANGE THINGS I DO IN THE REST ROOM
- Very deep calf stretches, leaning hard on the solid faux-granite counter. (This is my most basic stretch - I do it every morning at home, at random times during the day, before bed and sometimes in the middle of the night. And still I get calf cramps occasionally.)
- Watching myself in the mirror, raise one knee gently 3 times, then lower it almost to the floor and swing it forward, toe pointed, hold 5 seconds. Repeat on the other side. Sometimes swing out to the back or side for variety. If I do a few of these every day my balance gets better, even if I just do a couple of reps. If I don't do it every day my balance gets worse. Not like riding a bike at all. Go figure.
- Watching myself in mirror, pull in my abs and stand up tall, then bend knees slightly and cross one leg tightly over the other. Massage the place that hurts in my hip when I do this until it loosens up, then bend knees a little further and twist torso slightly to the side. (I came up with this one when I discovered that in 6 weeks of not skating my hips had become so stiff that I could barely do front cross-overs. It's helping, gradually.)
- Start with the widest possible horse stance, hands on the counter for balance. Shift weight to one side, shifting into a very deep lunge with back foot turned to the side. Slide the front foot further out and go so deep that the sole of the back foot is completely off the floor, side of the shoe pressed flat. Come back up just high enough to flip the hips and switch to the other side. Try to get down to shoe leather on the floor again. (This is a skater's lunge, not the kind they do in exercise classes. When I get to where I can do it without the counter for balance, I should be able to do it on skates. At least that's the theory. I have only just recently developed enough stretch in the inner thigh to be able to do this, so this is definitely helping.)
- Pause in the middle of a step and balance for just about a second with my foot in whatever position it happens to be in. Repeat on the other foot. Look around to make sure no one can see me. I'm sure this one looks really odd.
- Stand on one foot while waiting for things to happen.
- Slow knee bend to a full squat whenever I have to fiddle with something low down on a rack. Stand up from the squat slowly without holding onto anything for balance.
- Here's how I stand up, pretty much every time. With my feet about 3 feet apart, slowly lean forward with my back arched as far as I can go, then collapse forward, and roll back up to seated position. Repeat, the second time continuing on to a standing position. Raise arms overhead and stretch. Then take a couple of steps in place to get hips working again. If I've been sitting too long, walking will continue to hurt for about half a dozen steps. Then everything stretches out and feels fine.
- Place hands on arms of chair (which are lowered as far as they will go so my elbows never touch them). Raise and lower myself 3 or 4 times, using my feet as little as possible to support my weight. (I don't do this very often. If I remembered to move around while I was seated at my desk, maybe I wouldn't have so much trouble standing up)
