Embrace winter with fitness at the 2nd Annual IF Toronto Biathlon Event. Contact your trainers at IF Toronto for details on winter training programs and how to sign up!
For the past few months I have spent most of my time training at home. Being in one place for an extended amount of time is not very typical when sailing on the World Cup circuit, but it certainly has its upsides and its pleasant surprises.
Training at home has meant that I have become a regular again at one of the IF circuit classes. Every week I train for one hour alongside a diverse group of people from young high school athletes to top corporate executives from downtown Toronto. I have been to many of these classes over the past few years and am familiar with many of the faces, but recently we have developed a stronger connection. In the past when I have gone away for an extended period and returned for a short period, I have been asked by my fellow participants in the class “how is your sailing season going?” The dialogue continues as we share only the surface of what we have each been up to in the past few months. At this point warm-up time is over and the class begins with little else discussed.
Having been home for so long recently (in relative terms), I have attended all but one of these classes. Upon return after missing this one class, instead of being asked the usual “how is your sailing season going?” I was asked or rather confronted with a “where the heck were you last week?!” Once the guilt subsided, it was replaced by a warming feeling. I had become accountable to someone without even knowing it.
Becoming a regular somewhere gives you a sense of community and can make you feel accountable to people you would have never expected. For some, sharing their fitness goals with others can be a challenge, but once you have worked out alongside each other long enough you begin to feed off of each other, encourage each other, and share in each other’s achievements. Sometimes getting a push from someone you know only through a regular weekly activity can have more of an impact on you than a friend, coach, or family member. Do it for yourself, but don’t be surprised if by doing so you are also contributing to someone else’s enjoyment and willingness to push through the tougher moments of a workout.
As we crawl into the darker colder months, I encourage you to find a regular fitness schedule you can sink yourself into. It’s like the feeling you get when you become a regular at your local coffee shop. That sense of community… it can be nice.
STRETCHES THAT SAVE
Wall-ball Ankle Mobility Stretch
This stretch really is more of an ankle mobility, shin and quad stretch all into one. Incorporate it into your warm-up to increase range of motion in ankles and to prime the lower body for squats, lunges, deadlifts and the like.
How To: Kneeling on a mat with one leg up, place a wall-ball of any weight between the front of your knee that is down and the back of your heel of the leg that is up. Squeeze the ball slightly and begin driving your knee of the leg that is up over top of your toes. Place your hands on top of your knee to give it an extra push forward into a deeper ankle bend. You may also feel a slight quad stretch now on leg the is down. Hold for 3-5 seconds then draw your top knee back so that leg begins to straighten. As you pull back, flex your toes up to the sky keeping heel on the ground. You should now feel a slight pull in your calf and shin. Keep the tension as you go through this move. Refer to images below.
Repeat sequence 5-8 times on both sides.
Claire Merry
Canadian Sailing Team
IF Sponsored Athlete
Toronto Ritz-Carlton
Innovative Fitness Oakville
p. 416.572.8000 / c. 416.660.5429
www.InnovativeFitness.com
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