Week 3 in the 100 day contortion flexibility challenge was a heavy concentration on shoulders and hip flexors, my two weakest areas.
For the most part this was a light stretching week with more focus on strength building moves and dynamic stretches. My hip flexors and my shoulders developed a bit of a twinge that I had to work out. I took it easy for the most part to avoid injury and made sure to do strength developing moves in balance with flexibility poses.
On my rest days I took full advantage of the farmers for good food. Recovery is the key, if you don’t recover from last week due to inadequate water, breath, nutrients and vitamins; you’re bound to strain a body part.
For more tips and tricks visit The Flexibility Challenge
Day by Day Progress
Here is a day by day breakdown of week 3 in The 100 Day Contortion Challenge.
Day 15 | Rest, Recovery & Food
I took it easy on day 15 after a hard long week. My shoulder and hip flexors were the only things bothering me that day, but I managed to work them out literally. Sometimes I feel to get rid of my aches and pains from stretching, strengthening really helps.
I ate big bowls of sprouted mung beans, shredded carrots, red bell pepper, cilantro and ginger garlic sauce. I call it the spring sprout salad and it is super delicious not to mention good for stretching recovery.
Food For The Week
This is the same as last week, because this is my favorite routine and set of habits.
The entire week I consumed many different herbs, barks, berries, roots, etc., along with fresh produce; especially greens, from the farmers. I also drank about 8 gallons of reverse osmosis water. I also mix in a lot of grains, beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds.
This diet is perfect for my digestion type. If your body is too busy digesting processed foods or poor food combinations, you’ll have no energy left for your body to repair the muscles. Not to mention that many foods are empty calories, meaning they lack nutrients and vitamins, thus starving your muscles of the fuel they need to repair. When I ate poorly in my younger days it was harder for me to recover and I would end up being injured.
Day 16 | 2 hours | Warmup Hike ->Dynamic Stretches ->Static Stretches -> Upper and Lower Body Poses
On day 16 I taught a private to my friend Gina on the Potomac River in one of my favorite spots. Unfortunately most of my videos were mysteriously messed up, and so I only had 2 videos that actually worked at the end of the day. Oh well I will never forget my time spent stretching overlooking the potomac river, it is by far my favorite place.
Using rocks and other objects in nature are so good for leverage. We used the rocks for many different stretches with the breeze and sun on our skin, it was one of those days you couldn’t ask to be more perfect.
Day 17 | 1 hour | Warmup ->Dynamic Stretches ->Static Stretches -> Lower Body Poses
Day 16 was one of the hottest spring days I have ever encountered. I think it probably felt like 90-100 degrees on the back deck. I tried to sneak in a quick stretch on my lunch break but I was so hot I couldn’t breathe properly. Therefore I was not able to get into my full middle split. It just goes to show how important breath is.
It is also important to be as comfortable as possible. If you are in a stressful environment or and uncomfortable environment it is harder to concentrate and thus harder to stretch deeper.
I went inside shortly after where I did not get any good photos or videos.
Day 18 | 2 hours | Warmup ->Pole Strength Moves ->Dynamic Stretches -> Static Stretches -> Upper Body Poses
Day 18 was a 4 hour day at the studio. I went in an hour before my classes to play around on the pole. Then we did some dance flow, shapes and line concentration. After that I did some more pole strengthening in between and finished up with a good stretch class.
I haven’t focused on pole in a while because I needed to take a break from pure strength moves, and focus on flexibility. I want to get better at the more advanced pole tricks which require contortion flexibility. There is a lot I need to work on now that I have been out of the scene for a while but I’m really excited to get back into it!
Day 19 | 2 hours | Warmup ->Dynamic Stretches ->Tree Tricks
Day 19 was the farmers market where I stocked up on fresh herbs, veggies, and greens for the week. I was so happy to see all the fresh basil, cilantro and watercress with the roots still on. I put them in a glass mason jar with some water and displayed them the kitchen. It smells so good that every time I walk into the kitchen I want to make myself a salad with fresh herbs!
I also taught a wonderful private stretching class outside, we hiked a nearby lake and found some really cool trees to play on. It was a really fun time, we both enjoyed nature’s beauty and the perfect spring weather.
All I ate that day was greens, grains, veggies, herbs and spices, I was feeling pretty good and ready for action! We kept our bodies busy for 6 hours straight on a Sunday! 😉
Day 20 | Rest, Recovery & Food
No stretching for me on Day 20, I had to take it easy and massage myself with a lacrosse ball. I also did full range of motion moves to keep loose.
Eating is my main focus on recovery days, I made my first ever ravioli from scratch and they came out so delicious I was in food heaven!!
Day 21 | 4 hours | Warmup ->Dynamic Stretches ->Taught 2 Pole Classes and 1 Flexibility Class
Every Tuesday and Saturday I teach pole and flexibility classes. I am always demonstrating and doing all the moves with my students. We focus on correcting posture, breathing, and isometric techniques.
I also like to come an hour early to do my own warmup and practice to get in the zone of fitness.
At the end of the night I am always dead tired that the next couple days I have to rest. I feel a couple day rest coming on.
