How I improved my straddle split with foam rollers

When it comes to stretching, most people are very haphazard. They do the stretches they like (read: good at) and avoid the ones that hurt. They stretch whenever they think about it, which ends up meaning they do it once a month.

Now, I am fairly flexible person and have been for as long as I can remember… yet I am still like most people. I regularly do the stretches I like (am good at), but tended to avoid the ones that hurt. Yet, as a fitness professional, I knew that I could just avoid things and expect to reach my goals.

For as long as I could remember, I wanted to be able to do a straddle (aka middle) split. I was always pretty good with the front-and-back split, so I had little motivation to work on that one. But whenever I tried to stretch my straddle split, it just hurt and I didn’t know how to make it not hurt. I didn’t want to suffer through intense stretching sessions. I read about various stretching techniques, but it was all unpleasant and I couldn’t get myself to do it regularly.

Until one day I happened to lay across my foam roller. I had been using the foam roller in the typical method of self myofascial release for a few years, but I thought I could put it to an additional use.

My problem was that when I tried to stretch, my thighs tightened up reflexively. I thought that if I could support my chest and prop myself up to the height where I was ready to stretch, I could finally relax into the stretch. When I did it, I felt the completely new sensation of my thighs relaxing and my hips stretching.

[Aside from stretching, my regular workouts include full body strength training and mobility work. I always start with foam rolling my hips, thighs, and back and move on to muscle activation exercises to warm up.]

this was where I started stretching – laying on a 6-inch foam roller

After practicing this regularly for a while, it actually became comfortable. The day I thought I could take a nap in this position was the day I decided I was ready to move to the next level. I needed something similar to this foam roller that brought me just an inch or so closer to the ground.

step 2 – laying on a squishy air roller

Encouraged by my progress, I quickly tried a 3-inch half roller.

step 3- the half roller

From there I was finally brave enough to go unsupported. In this photo, my hips are actually just an inch or 2 off the ground, but this is a huge improvement for me. I found a stretching method I didn’t dread – in fact, looked forward to and could even smile while doing it – and got results. 🙂

flat out like a pancake

Even after reaching this point, I still start each day’s stretching session with the 6-inch roller, than the squishy roller, the half roller, and then floor. I want to keep this a happy comfortable experience that I ease my body into each time. Looking back at the photos, it doesn’t look like such a huge difference from step 1 to step 4, but I assure you it felt like a huge difference.

Wash-and-Chop: The answer to getting yourself to eat more vegetables

Getting yourself to eat more vegetables like you know you should can be a battle. There are lots of common hurdles, including the time and effort to prepare vegetables for meals, or just not “liking” vegetables. The answer to “not liking” vegetables is to buy better quality (fresh, local, in season) and learn to cook! The answer to the time stumbling block is…

Wash-and-Chop

A streamlined method for washing and prepping your vegetables for the week ahead of time. This is a simple concept: right after you do your weekly grocery shopping (and plan out your meals for the week – planning is big key to success), you gather up all your veggies in a colander, wash them, cut/chop, and put back into the fridge in tupperware (or if you are like me, GlassLock reusable containers).

I know from my own experience comparing weeks when I successfully wash-and-chop versus failing to do so that I easily double my intake of vegetables by doing this.

Having the veggies ready to go makes it super easy to throw them into your omelette or salad or stir fry.

Have leftover shopped onions and broccoli (or whatever) at the end of the week? Put them in a frittata. (this is a baked egg dish that you can put any kind of meat or vegetable you like – it is the answer for leftovers!)

But what about pre-cut veggies?

Pre-cut is convenient, and convenient comes at a higher price. Also, there is a price in terms of compromised freshness. In my limited experience with pre-cut fresh veggies, I also seem to be slightly more likely to get food poisoning from them (and that is after washing and cooking!). That’s just my take on it, but I suggest washing and cutting your own vegetables.

actually, this is enough vegetables for just 2 meals for me – a week’s worth would be a lot more

Lemon tahini salad dressing

I have to say, I can’t stand salad dressings from the grocery store. All those gums and thickeners make me gag. Once I realized how easily it is to make my own, I never went back.

My initial forays into salad dressing making were naturally oil-and-vinegar variations with some spices. These work well, but sometimes you want something that will stick a little more to all your greens and not just pool at the bottom of the bowl.

I forget how I happened upon this dressing that became my basic go-to dressing. Maybe I wanted to put some tahini sauce on my falafel. I kept tahini in the fridge, but needed to thin it out somehow, and I had lots of lemons.

Basic lemon tahini (sesame seed paste) dressing

• 1-2 TB of tahini
• Juice of 1/2 lemon (or more if needed/desired)
• Salt to taste
• Desired spices (such as garlic, pepper, oregano…)
• Can be thinned out with a small amount of additional water, olive oil, and/or vinegar

Directions:

Start with just the tahini and lemon juice in a bowl and slowly mix together. As it mixes, the acid from the lemon juice will cause the tahini to lighten in color and change texture. After you have a smooth consistency, you can add in spice and any other flavorings.

lemon tahini dressing before mixing

 

lemon tahini dressing after mixing