Michael: At Home

The dripping bird’s call;
Slow, clear, descending before
A quick high note pause.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

The last exercises I do everyday are stretches at home before dinner. This is a complete reversal of the routine and philosophy I was taught in high school where we ritually gathered in a circle and stretched before we trained.

Turns out that what we did after we stretched in high school; jog a perimeter around the school then do some straights and curves or pick ups across the football field, was all the warm up we needed or should have been doing. That’s pretty much all I do now before a run or race.

So why do I stretch at night? One, because I have to stretch and two because it’s a good way to unwind and cue the body that it’s time to wind down and prepare for a good night’s rest.

I haven’t always wanted to stretch and if I hadn’t developed Achilles tendonitis years ago, then heel bursitis and lower back pain more recently, I doubt I would be. But routinely stretching everyday has eliminated the first two aches and now I’ve thrown in a series of stretches from a book called How to Live a Pain Free Life by Dr. Wiley to work on the pain in my lower back.

The stretches, called the Wiley method, only take 6 minutes to perform and are suppose to make sure that all my joints are well lubricated with synovial fluid. I didn’t even know I had synovial fluid until I read his book, but now that I do know, I want to make sure it gets to where it’s suppose to.

I figure I’ll give his routine 3 months. If it relieves my lower back pain before my race at the end of March, I’ll be a convert for life.