Round 5: Day 27: X Stretch

Not that I want to flog a dead horse or anything, but I'm really enjoying the new "barefoot" shoes I recently purchased. I've noticed that I'm starting to retrain my body to walk with a slightly different gait to land on my mid-sole rather than on my heel. When there's no padding on your heel, it soon becomes apparent that heel-striking is a painful way to walk and that adjustments are soon required to preserve the heels, knees and lower back. It will probably take a couple of weeks wearing the new shoes to develop a more appropriate walking style.

Today's workout, X Stretch, was rescheduled from last Wednesday. I don't particularly enjoy this workout, probably due to the uninspiring music, but I do recognize that it's an important component in a balanced exercise program. Stretching is critical so that the body can not only recover from the stresses imposed on it during the other, active workouts, but to condition the body against injury in those workouts as well. A body that is capable of a broader range of motion is less susceptible to injury when subjected to the high speed, high intensity, high impact movements of a workout like Insanity, for example. Even though I don't necessarily love X Stretch, I do acknowledge its importance. I approach the stretches very seriously, and concentrate on what each stretch is supposed to accomplish. I listen to my body and try to diagnose why I may be having difficulty in achieving a good stretch when in one posture or another, and use that information as a caution to either take it easy when doing an exercise which affects that part of the body, or spend more time stretching out that part of the body. I want to be able to continue exercising daily, and understanding the body is a key aspect to succeeding in that.

This ends Recovery Week. I'm looking forward to increasing the intensity with the onset of Week 5.

Bring It!