Reflexology: The Missing Ingredient in Your Movement Routine?

I’ve mentioned movement/mobility a few times – here, here, here, over here, one more here, and oh yeah, right here.

I’m a bit of a link-hoarder. I follow topics I’m interested in and save links to review – at some point. A lot of these lists sit idle.

But I recently made time for the mobility/movement links. Below is the categorized list of my recent review.

There are a lot of great ideas in that list. But one caught me by surprise with its simplicity and effectiveness.

Reflexology is an alternative medicine involving the application of pressure to the feet and hands with specific thumb, finger, and hand techniques.

I’ve been working my feet and hands the past month or two. I’m amazed at the connections that run throughout the body – from your big toe to the top of your neck!?

Here’s a good overview video, and some suggestions to practice sitting at your desk. Give it a whirl.

Recent movement/mobility link review:

 

 

Zen and the Art of Mobility: A Minimalist Approach to Stretching and Mobility [Fitness Bonus]

I won’t claim to be an expert on Zen. But I dig the Zen/Buddhist ideas I’ve studied.

I’m a big fan of simplicity and minimalism. Both of which seem to have strong ties to Zen.

Simple and minimal also have a broad application to an efficient, productive everyday life – a core focus of the Dude’s world these days.

Including health and fitness.

You can dig a bit further on the Zen philosophy and the relation to minimalism in this blog post:

Rather than a focus on esoteric ideas, let’s use this post to explore a minimal, simple, quick and easy approach to mobility and stretching.

And start to consider an efficient, minimal approach to fitness as a whole.

I’ve mentioned the idea of “mobility” a few times:

  1. Take Care of Yourself
  2. Best Exercises to Keep a Dude Healthy
  3. Dude’s Flow: Off the Reservation
  4. You Should Stand More
  5. Everyday Mobility: Every Dude Needs to Move

From my experience, mobility has always been a drawn out approach – from a short and long-term perspective.

I stretch and foam-roll for 40+ minutes almost every day. And I’m still working through deep-seeded damage to muscle groups.

It’s not a quick fix…but neither was the damage.

Progress is being made, but there is a strong time commitment as well.

As I explained in Dude’s Flow: Off the Reservation, my approach to fitness has changed drastically over the last few years, and it is continually evolving.

Efficiency and minimalism are at the core of my fitness approach.

It’s great to see the fitness and health world moving in this efficient/minimal direction as well – forget the gym, use everyday objects and activities, stop over-training, use science to focus on minimal exercises with best impact, get back to nature and use your body.

I could share a long list of resources that are moving in this direction, but rather than an overload, let’s look at a couple recent gems I’ve enjoyed (check my posts listed above for additional links)…

And the motivation for this post – Dan John.

Dan is an impressive dude with a long list of credentials and experiences.

Jumping from one link to another I landed on a post Dan wrote about his go-to mobility exercises:

2 exercises. That’s it!

A big difference from my daily 40 minutes+.

I see value in my slow, deep approach to mobility and stretching. But dang, only two exercises?! I dig. Always room for efficiency.

I’m now working with both approaches. Some days long. Some days short. Dan’s exercises, every day.

Dan sums up his approach to minimal mobility well:

Listen, I KNOW you can do more…I know it! But, will it be better?

Checkout Dan’s great explanation – Two minimal mobility movements:

  1. The Windmill Stick
  2. The Stoney Stretch.

Bonus

Dan shares a great minimalist fitness practice (Pavel says don’t call it a workout) in the same post:

Day One

  • Warm up with Turkish Get Up, Goblet Squat, and Swing
  • Bench Press
  • Snatch

Day Two

  • Warm up with Turkish Get Up, Goblet Squat, and Swing
  • Bench Press
  • Deadlift

Everyday Mobility: Every Dude Needs to Move

Mobility: The Dude Abides

As you may recall, I plan to live to 137.

To make that journey worthwhile, I’d like to make movement a prerequisite.

In order to maintain, said,  movement, we need to move. Everyday.

I’ve mentioned the idea of “mobility” a few times:

  1. Take Care of Yourself
  2. Best Exercises to Keep a Dude Healthy
  3. Dude’s Flow: Off the Reservation
  4. You Should Stand More

Mobility has become a part of the Dude’s everyday. Not even in my vocab a few short years ago, but now it’s daily go-to. We gots to move.

But here’s the catch, Mobility is not a quick fix. It’s a marathon. We’ve done years of damage to our bodies. It takes time and consistent focus to get back on track.

I squeeze my mobility into the early AM routine, before the young’ins start to get too crazy. A little meditation, some movement…recipe for a great morning.

Here’s a quick rundown on some sweet mobility ideas I’ve been digging lately:

  • Becoming a Supple Leopard
    • Great mobility “bible” written by the rad mobility guru Kelly Starrett.
    • Best advice I’ve seen about this book is don’t try to do it all at once. Choose a muscle group and focus on slow, consistent improvement.
    • Read the first few chapters. It will change the way you move everyday, in every way. Do you squat right? Probably not.
  • Mobility WOD broken down by muscle groups
    • Awesome library of Kelly’s mobility YouTube videos categorized by muscle group. Seriously good resource. Hat tip Bryce Lewis putting it together.
  • 5 Things You Should Do Everyday
    • Bret Contreras is a rad dude. Worth following for fitness and mobility ideas.
    • Squatting everyday is one of the best things I’ve started to do…and one of the most difficult. Seriously, as simple as lowering you butt into a squat and holding it for 30+ seconds will rock your world. I’m a believer this will help me hit 137.
  • Sarvangasana(shoulder stand)
    • Loving this classic inverted yoga pose. 10 reasons you should too.
  • Circling Hands
    • Sticking to the classics, here’s a perfect start for Tai Chi beginners.
    • Tai Chi Circling Hands offers most of the potential health and healing applications available in tai chi–without the complex choreography.
  • Boomerang pose rocks.
  • Thoracic Bridge – rockin’ fo sho. Hitting some hard to reach spots. Especially for you desk sitters.
  • Hips don’t lie
    • His and shoulders are key. Hinges that allow you to move. Open ’em up!
    • Great ideas to gain strength and mobility in your hips
  • Test your mobility skills
    • Some good tests to see how mobile you are and to track your progress.

Get to moving.

Take Care of Yourself

There’s only one person who can take care of you. You.

The other day I mentioned that I was going to expand Dude Knows Best to include some more of the “Dude’s Flow” – i.e. anything that the Dude is currently into. Maintaining my core focus on family life, but also including the Dude’s hobbies of the moment.

Nobody sticks the Dude in the corner.

One of the topics I’ll throw out there from time to time is health. That’s a broad category, but we’ll narrow it down from time to time.

Let’s start with mobility. Strange place to start a discussion on health? Not really. We all need to move well, and to do that we need to focus on maintenance. Mobility is one of the foundations of good health.

Mobility may not seem as exciting as diet and exercise, but the results are immediate and often overlooked.

“All human beings should be able to perform basic maintenance on themselves” – Kelly Starrett, DPT

I love stretching and yoga, but there’s a lot more to mobility than stretching. We need to have a consistent focus on maintaining our bodies. It feels great – in a painful way – and you’ll thank yourself for the effort.

This Kelly Starrett cat is legit. His videos are quick and packed with practical info you can use on a regular basis.

Don’t get caught up in every detail of every video. Or get overloaded on info too quickly. Pick the info that makes sense for you.

Two pieces that I’ll point out:

  1. This couch stretch is amazing. Do it while you watch tv. It will hurt…a lot. But that means it’s working. Your hips need to be opened. And this will do it.
    1. And Kelly is entertaining – “Patting the dog…that’s what we’re talking about.”

 

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZX1QMTdAC4[/youtube]

  1. Get a lacrosse ball – or “pain ball” as Kelly calls it. Start a regular practice of deep tissue massage. You have knots that need to be worked out. It will hurt. But also feel great.
    1. The video is of the shoulder, but this works for all muscle groups.
    2. And Kelly is entertaining. “Don’t ever pass out drunk on your lacrosse ball.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SA56ZCzYGTA&feature=plcp&context=C476bcc0VDvjVQa1PpcFOq-qJSvqR-V7LJcSncMlFYyVHJwzw2chQ=[/youtube]

Take care of yourself.