BEE’S BLOG
Technique Tuesday: Side Plank
Exploring modifications in side plank this Technique Tuesday. Side plank builds endurance as the heart rate rises to hold balance from your crown to your heels, a true full body expression. Stacking your hand under the shoulder and following that line down to your stacked feet is the standard definition, displayed above. Let’s now look at ways to safely modify:
Kick standing your bottom leg to alleviate too much pressure on the stacked shoulder. Top leg is long or could be lifted up as you gain stability.
Sometimes simply coming down to a forearm can be much more comfortable, less angle and space from your mat. Keep practicing and focus on form and posture as you progressively get stronger. True athletes modify! Give yourself permission today,
#YESYOUCAN - BEE
In The Kitchen: Protein Bar
I love love love Perfect Bars, which you can find in the refrigerated section of many grocers. However, sometimes they are too big for a pre workout snack. I also wanted to make a cleaner version that was dairy free with lower sodium and sugar. This recipe is great because it has very few ingredients and they store in the freezer for longer shelf life.
1 part almond flour*
1 part nut butter
honey & salt (if desired)
dark chocolate chips
(if desired)
plant protein powder (if desired)
Press into a lined loaf pan and chill. Cut desired size squares without letting knife go all the way through. Store in freezer safe container, breaking off squares to eat.
*safe to eat raw
Depending on the oil content of the nut butter chosen, you may need less or more almond flour. I chose to mix my dark chocolate chips into the ‘batter’, but you could wait and press them into the top when you flip the mold out before cutting. The freezer not only allows you to keep them longer, but they taste so much better chilled! Enjoy… BEE
Technique Tuesday: Russian Twists
Controversial technique tuesday coming in hot...
I have been the student and instructor in many different modalities. This is one of the exercises that most frustrates me.
❌Mechanically you are just using momentum to swing your arms, at the expense of your shoulder (top video). Worst case scenario you are taxing your Lumbar and SI region.
✅Keeping your hands or equipment at the heart and twisting as one unit is so much more effective and purposeful (bottom video). This reduces arms traveling without the trunk, arching of the back and an opposite hip/foot lifting from the floor. Even my back muscles look more engaged in the bottom video, bonus!
In The Kitchen: Cookie Dough Protein Bites
I fondly remember making cookie dough with my brother after school as kids. We would eat most of it raw and barely have any left to bake actual cookies. Apparently this is a no-no, the raw flower and eggs etc. Enter the vegan cookie dough craze that is making all of our inner kids jump with joy.
Omitting raw flower, eggs and butter creates a yummy treat you can eat by the spoonful, or create into bite size protein packed bites like above. If you are fancy, you can drizzle with dark dairy-free chocolate for that nice crack when you bite into them. These are so much more truffle than pre-workout fuel feeling when you eat them, and you deserve it!
As always, feel free to play around with the ingredients and make it your own:
1 cup Almond Flour (safe to eat raw and super fine texture)
1/2 cup nut butter of choice
1/4 cup Protein Powder (I use chocolate or vanilla garden of eden)
Honey/Agave to taste
Kosher salt to taste
Water to mix (amount needed varies on oil from nut butter)
Dark Chocolate Chips (option melt some to drizzle over)
Add water last until mixed, but not sticky. Depending on how much fat/oil your nut butter has you may need more or less water to combine everything. Roll into balls and place on parchment paper to chill. If melting chocolate to drizzle over, use a double boiler or slowly stir and microwave at 30 second intervals until runny. Chill in the fridge until set and then store in a container in the fridge for 7-10 days.
These are a great switch up from oatmeal bites, protein bars and smoothies. The crack of the dark chocolate with the smooth creamy feel of almond flour almost feels guilty. Trick your friends and ENJOY - Bee
Technique Tuesday: Cardio Knee Pulls
One of my favorite sprints is on breakdown this Technique Tuesday. Not only are you getting your heart rate up, you are also finding strong balance and calling on your powerhouse core to stabilize and support the limbs to move. As always, you want to start slow and find balance before you level up to bigger and quicker movements.
Avoid dumping weight into the back leg (top video), you are trying to keep your head and shoulders still for the whole movement. Train yourself by putting less and less weight on the back foot as you find your balance and strength. Eventually you will keep the foot floating and be able to speed it up (bottom video).
At any time you can pause and tap the foot down to regain your balance. You could also omit the arm pulls if you have shoulder issues or need them still for balance. Make it yours and stay strong! - BEE
Technique Tuesday: Toe Taps
Toe taps, aka Leg dips, is a trigger for incorrect form very often. This move trips up many people, so let’s use a visual cue to perform it more effectively. The entire leg should hold its bent shape and move as one unit. In this position our legs are the weights and our lower abs are the driving force. You want to avoid just bending the leg and keeping the knee close to you. Work to tap the toes away from the seat, with your leg frozen in a 90 degree bend (note the difference in the video of where my toes tap).
Another way to check your form is to place your hands on your thighs, as the legs move you should feel the thighs leave and return to your palms. Legs should only lower to a point where the low back stays pasted to your mat, which means the toes might not tap just yet. It’s far better to move smaller with no contact, than to just bend the legs or arch the back to make the toe tap happen.
Inhale/release as you lower to your point of control and then exhale/engage to return the legs back up.
Practice, Modify and Stay Strong - BEE
Technique Tuesday: Kneeling Push-Up
Whether you are nursing a back injury, currently pregnant or post natal you might find the need to do push-ups on your knees. Coming down to the knees for push-ups can still be very challenging as long as you keep the work in the right area by focusing on your form.
Over the years, one of the most common incorrect alignments I have seen is during this position. A client will place most of their weight onto the patella (kneecap) with their seat high, and therefore too much pressure on the shoulders and low back (see top of video).
Work to have the same flatback as you would in a plank, finding the quadricep (thigh) as opposed to the kneecap. Thinking of the neck to kneecap line you would have in a ski position, and maintain that as you lower and press away in the push up (see bottom of video).
This form will help you gain strength as you work to get back to a straight leg plank or push up. Muscle memory will take over and also help you excel in your yoga stretches, especially modified crescent lunge and king pigeon. Now go get it, because you know….. #yesyoucan
Bee
JANUARY NEWSLETTER:
HELLO 2021! This month’s theme is RENEWAL, a time to shed our doubts and turn dreams into goals. I do not ascribe to the ‘new year new you’ mantra, but I do believe that a New Year can help put things in perspective for you. And after 2020, you deserve anything on this horizon…go get it!
