Tag: stretching
7 Steps to Rock Your League Holiday Break!
You know I love chocolate, right? So, if someone told me I needed to give up chocolate to be 3.7% better at roller derby, you know I’d tell them exactly where to shove their advice in a hurry. (#teamcocoa) And that’s why I would NEVER tell you that …
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My Best Derby Training Tips of 2016
Just about everyone can agree, we're all super (DUPER) glad to be seeing 2016 in the rearview mirror. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, you crazy year! Nevertheless, there were a few good things to look back on. Perhaps you started pl…
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My Super-Quick Warm-Up Routine
Is that you? Late for practice again?Or maybe you're trying to slot in a quick but intense workout on your lunch break?I've been working on warm-ups and cool-downs, aka "flexibility training" a lot lately (You can check out my Pre-Hab! On-Skate Warmup, t…
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How to Stretch Everything in Eight Minutes
Stretching feels like a chore. “Flexibility Training”, however, feels like something I can sink my teeth into. Competitive Yoga anyone? I kid. But if you’re like me, you’re a fairly competitive sort, and you like to push your boundaries. That’…
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My Quick and Dirty After-Derby Stretch
We’ve all been there. Practice ran late and you’ve got a big meeting at work first thing tomorrow. As quickly as you can, you gear down, throw your sweaty gear into your bag and run out the door – only to wake up the next morning feeling like you…
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Pre-Hab: How to Build A Derby Booty
It’s time for a frank discussion about your butt. It’s lovely – really it is! But it’s been slacking on the job lately, and that’s not doing you any favours for your game. Today I’m going to show you how to first awaken and recruit, then stre…
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Pre-Hab: Build an All-Star Derby Booty
Hello All-Star! Some of this post is identical to the free, public post - but there are added goodies in here, and an extended video, so be sure to read through all the way!It’s time for a frank discussion about your butt.It’s lovely – really it i…
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The Advice that Got 11,023 Skaters Talking in 2015
Could 2015 have been any more [insert spazzy word here!]?? I’m going to give you the hit list of my best advice of the year, but first, a quick rundown on what 2015 brought. It was shocking: Rollercon left the Riviera, Rose City won the Hydra, and …
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7 Steps to Rock Your League Holiday Break!
You know I love chocolate, right? So, if someone told me I needed to give up chocolate to be 3.7% better at roller derby, you know I’d tell them exactly where to shove their advice in a hurry. (#teamcocoa) And that’s why I would NEVER tell you that …
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Guide to Off-Season Training
Guess what? I missed my third birthday.It's true. Roller Derby Athletics turned three in October, and I was so busy helping athletes kick ass that I forgot to properly celebrate. Good thing those WFTDA Championships helped me celebrate in a different way,…
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Back to Prehab! Feet and Ankles
Given that most of us who follow the WFTDA season are currently on some form of an off-season, now seems like a GREAT time to do some pre-hab for the upcoming season's smashing-each-other-around. If you're not one of the 320 skaters hitting the decks in M…
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Salute The Sun Workout
Some days, you just don't have it in you to get out there and do a plyo routine. You want to get some exercise in, and you know you'll feel better if you move, but a lingering cough, or a twingy muscle tell you not to overdo it. Or maybe you're coming bac…
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PreHab: Dynamic Roller Derby Warmup
As I wrote in my last article, a dynamic warmup is a key step in the exercise process. A dynamic warmup brings increased blood & oxygen to your muscles and joints, increases your range of motion, and prepares your body for more intense work to follow.…
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Why Your Stretching Routine Is Bogus!
I get it. I do. In your elementary school gym class, your teacher (well qualified to be an educator, but not an athletic trainer) taught you to hold a series of standard stretches for a few seconds each before you all started tearing around the gym bounci…
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Prehab! Feet and Ankles
Today's workout isn't exactly a workout to get your heart rate up and your sweat on. It's a PREHAB session - a routine to help minimize ankle injuries and keep your body in kick-ass shape for kicking ass on the track. This is the preventative work we sho…
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Whatever Shall we Do in the Off-Season?
[caption id="attachment_237" align="alignleft" width="500"] Look Familiar? Gif courtesy of http://thegifofderby.tumblr.com[/caption] To paraphrase a popular sports quote, der…
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How 1,435 Female Athletes Built Happy Knees
Today's video is an exercise program designed to reduce knee injuries. I've actually adapted this workout from a program for female soccer players, developed by the Santa Monica Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Research Foundation. They called it PEP (prev…
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Dynamic Warmup (dryland)
Here is a warmup you can do that follows the theory of dynamic stretching: warming up and lengthening your muscles in preparation for athletics, without using sustained stretching. For more background on dynamic warmups and the reason they're good, check …
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