Equipment review: Medi-Dyne Prostretch

Well, so far so good with the weight training and abdominal work! After a long run of 12.5 miles on Sunday, I let myself take Monday as a rest day instead of a cross-training day, and rearranged things slightly so that I will be cross-training on Friday instead (normally, Friday is the rest day). So my weight training schedule for this week will be Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Ideally, I would like to do a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule, although I guess that sort of interferes with a genuine rest day. I'll figure it out as time goes by. My weight workout was combined with a four-mile treadmill run which, in spite of the fact that it took place on a treadmill, was rather enjoyable. The workout definitely took the edge off my bad mood, which is always a win.

But enough about me. The real purpose of this post is to talk about the Medi-Dyne Prostretch, which I received as a gift for Christmas. The instant I opened the package I was excited about it and couldn't wait to use it! I have what feel like perennially tight calves, despite my constant attempts to stretch them. There are also very few stretches that I really feel in my calves; I'm not sure, maybe my calves are flexible and just need deep stretching in order to feel really good. All of the general lunge-type stretches that are common for calves feel like absolutely nothing to me. When I stretch my calves, I often just find a set of stairs and hang one heel off the back of one while pressing down through it. Even this can end up being only somewhat gratifying.

Enter the Prostretch, which I affectionately refer to as the calfinator. Never have I felt a deeper, more relaxing, and more pleasant stretch in my calves! My tight calf problem has been solved. To use the Prostretch, you place one heel up against the back and gently dip your heel back until you have hit a point where you feel like you are getting a good (though not uncomfortable) stretch. What is really great is that there is a huge range of motion allowed; the Prostretch can accommodate people who are looking for a lighter stretch but also satisfies people like me who need an angle that feels like it must be close to 70 degrees.

From what I understand, the Prostretch is extremely useful in helping to treat and prevent plantar fasciitis and also helps relieve heel pain. After using the Prostretch, my lower legs and feet feel really good, and I look forward to using it after my runs!

A word to the wise, though: wear your shoes when you use it, otherwise your heel just sort of smashes against the hard plastic on the heel platform. Not comfortable. Also be aware that if you don't have the best balance in the world, you may want to use the Prostretch near a chair or something you can hold on to for support. You will, essentially, be putting the majority of your weight onto the leg you are stretching, so act accordingly.

Happy stretching!

The return of the weekly challenge

So, yeah, my previous weekly challenges weren't all that successful. I'm the first to admit it! They weren't all spectacular failures, though, which is important to note--I am still pretty much Diet Coke free. I do have one every now and then, but it is super rare. So score one for me and the weekly challenge!

At any rate, I thought that given all the life changes I'm going through lately, and all the effort I am making to sort of reset my life, it would be appropriate to bring the weekly challenge back. As of tomorrow, I am going to give getting up early in the morning to run another shot. Not only will this be more convenient with my work schedule, it will also give me a chance to relax during the day and not worry about going running in the afternoon or evening, and will (hopefully) help me to avoid some of the crowds in Central Park (which have been exceedingly unpleasant lately).

On a semi-related note, I have started the 100 push-up challenge over again. Man, am I out of shape. Since today is September 1st, I think today would be a good day to make a commitment to strength training. I've been so bad about doing it consistently in the past, but lately the importance of it has really been driven home to me and I'm kind of scared of the consequences of not doing it. Case in point: a couple weeks ago I visited my paternal grandmother, who is in a rehabilitation facility recovering from a knee injury. One of the women who is in the rehabilitation facility with her is there because her bones pretty much collapsed one day while she was watering her garden. Essentially, her bones were so porous as to be see-through, and got to a point where they could no longer support her weight. While she was watering her garden, they just shattered. Hearing about that was a wake-up call! And, to a slightly lesser extent, so was the difficulty of doing those push-ups this evening.

Blergh

Yuck.

I have a marathon/half-marathon to run in less than a week (Sunday, to be exact) and I don't have the mental strength to make it through 3 miles anymore. My lack of appetite and inability to sleep when I am exhausted are probably also not helping at this point.

So tonight's crappy workout was 3 terrible miles at the indoor track at the school gym followed by a piddling 15 minutes of the Minna Lessig workout. I can't remember the last time I ran more than once a week, and I also can't remember the last time a run hasn't ended in a feeling of complete defeat accompanied by a generous amount of tears.

A word to the wise: don't sign up to run a second marathon after you have just finished running your first unless you have seen the future and you are sure it is something you must, absolutely must, do. If this is not the case, do yourself a favor and take a break. Otherwise, you risk dealing with what I am dealing with right now, which is to say a complete lack of enjoyment from running (something that you once loved more than life itself) and a profound sense of burnout and failure.

A change of plans

Oof. I just finished doing "Tank Top Arms, Bikini Belly, Boy Shorts Bottom" with Minna Lessig (who, it is true, does use a lot of somewhat silly expressions) and my muscles are still shaking. Last time I did it, I didn't do the whole thing; I omitted the total body workout, which, it would appear, is like the double-chocolate whipped topping, and cherries, and sprinkles on top. I mean, the whole DVD is challenging, there is no doubt about that, but doing the full hour is wow a tough workout. As I write this my triceps are twinging a little bit. In the best way possible, of course. I know I will be feeling it in the morning.

So why revisit this DVD, since I have already mentioned it here? Well, because I decided that instead of doing that workout for your shape routine featured in Fitness, I would try doing this routine three times a week over the next month. At that point, I will have firmly established a weight-training routine. Plus, I think that in order to get the full effect of the Fitness routine, the best thing would be to do the cardio workout that goes along with it, which I would prefer to do after finishing up with this imminent marathon. So that's the new plan, just thought you might like to know :)

Shape-ups for your shape

Ah, the dreaded afternoon slump. I feel like I may be in an Emerald nuts commercial. The question is what weird group of half-celebrities is going to harass me when I fall asleep? I find both the Robert Palmer girls and the Swiss Family Robinson commercials especially creepy, so I hope it is neither of them.

Instead of munching on nuts (I lost four pounds last week and I want to keep my progress going!) I thought I would blog for the third time today. What can I say? I am making up for lost time. I am probably also going to make some tea with a bit of honey because my throat is acting a bit wacky. I'll be right back, just going to pop off to put the kettle on.

Okay, I'm back with a cup of steeping tea and some interesting news to share. In this month's issue of Fitness magazine, there is an article about how beneficial following a workout plan that is designed for your body type can be. The article includes exercise plans for three different body types, generic enough that everyone should be able to find themselves in the mix. Here are your options:

1. Pear-shaped: most of your weight is carried below your waist and you could stand to develop a bit of muscle tone on your top half to balance your ample...er, womanly, hips and thighs.
   
2. Apple-shaped: you carry your weight around your mid-section and torso and tend to have thinner legs.
3. Chile pepper-shaped: you have narrow shape and could benefit from developing muscle tone all over your body. I think this one is the best because if you are chile pepper-shaped, you can wear the "I'm a pepper" shirt that Jeff Goldblum wears in The Life Aquatic. Not the exact same one, of course, although that would be sort of hot.

After quite a bit of soul-searching, I figured I probably fall into the category of pear-shaped, what with all that junk inside my trunk, and all that ass inside my jeans (I'm hoping that at least one person gets that reference). This whole concept has made me curious. On one hand, it could just be a way to get people to exercise, and feel like they are doing a bit more than just a random set of different things. There is, of course, nothing wrong with that. In fact, I'm the sort of person who loves a concept like this and loves falling for it even if I know that it may not necessarily yield different results from those that I would get doing any weight training and aerobic exercise on a regular basis. In brief, I sort of love it and let myself fall for it when people say, "Oh, this particular workout will work well for you..." Yeah, I'm more likely to do it if I think it is slightly personalized. It just makes me feel good about myself for some reason.

So here's what I have decided. For the next 30 days, I am going to take on this "Love your shape" workout plan and see how it goes. The exercises are straightforward and not gimmicky, and require little equipment--just a set of weights and a stability ball. Plus, if it does what it says it should, in a month I will be the most toned pear on the block!