Kevin, I'll be looking for some feedback on this one...
In talking with one of my dancing friends about my current back and shoulder problems, she compared our prepping for a competition to that of a marathon runner prepping for a marathon or a body builder prepping for a competition.
She has run a few marathons in the past and explains that after months and months of training, the competitor is often in their worst condition on the day of the competition. Bringing with them an array of icy-hot patches and pain killers. They are likely nursing an injury caused by gearing up their training.
If that is the case, then I am right on track. Currently, both shoulders are hurting (normally it is just my right) and my back is really hurting (normally just my lower back). I been trying to cram for this competition. I have been trying to drill in the correct frame for the smooth style of ballroom, which is an incredible unnatural pose for the woman. This is not totally new, but has not been emphasized this much in the past. I am trying to force this position to feel natural and comfortable enough to hold this position despite changes in my lower body. In order to do this it takes extreme strength in my back and shoulders which I have never had. Therefore, the muscles from my elbows down and my hind quarters up feel as though they are tied up in massive knots.
Try it: Here is the position for the women. 1. Stand up as straight and tall as possible both feet together with whole body facing forward. 2. Bend knees maintaining the length through the rest of your body. You should lose about 3 inches in height. 3. Roll shoulders as far back as they can go and then press them down into your core. 4. Bring arms up to be parallel with the floor. Continually push them forward applying constant pressure through your entire arms. 5. While keeping hips and feet facing forward, rotate your upper body to the right to almost a 45 degree angle. 5. Arch your lower back and lean backwards approximately 20 degrees. 6. Turn head left just shy of the left shoulder. Extend neck as high up as possible and look upwards. Meanwhile, maintain all of the length created in the first step. Now imagine changing the direction of travel, changing hip direction and concentrating on steps all while maintaining this incredibly unnatural position. This is what I am cramming.
I am just getting over the stomach flu and I have my lesson with Ray this week. I am just short of terrified. Tim is a pusher. He doesn't settle for anything less than my best. In fact sometimes he doesn't even settle for my best. He will be my partner during this lesson. Then there is Ray. Who is an incredible wealth of knowledge and also known to be a pusher. He is also known for putting you in the frame you need to be in and causing extreme soreness the next day. While I know this experience will be invaluable, I am so nervous. I want to make sure I am dancing at the best of my ability so as to get the most out of the hour I can.
We are in the count down until comp. Just a mere 11 days until I am competing. Yikes!
So Kev, do you agree that you are in your worst physical condition right before a race?
When Glory Becomes Visible
1 day ago
4 comments:
Your description creates a verbal picture. Good job on trying to get that description into words. You are right, you have to see it to believe it.
You will do great!!
Relax and enjoy. You would hate for this experience to have passed you by, and then realize you should have enjoyed it more.
Do I agree? Yes and no. Ideally, as you are preparing, you are taking the necessary steps to ensure that your body is strengthening and adjusting safely. Stretching is huge, paying attention to sore muscles is huge, rest is huge.
So much of what I do now has preventative components to it. We do ankle exercises to build strength there and prevent sprains/strains. We run hills and train at high cadences or in big gears to make the race seem easy, but then we add core strength, drink protein, and eat properly to make sure our bodies can support those changes.
Injuries do come though. They should be less likely to come if you are training properly and working to be preventative. I don't necessarily like her statement, because it sounds like she wasn't be careful training for her marathons, but you are changing and retraining your body, so there's always a possibility of injury.
Do what you can to pre-strengthen, to recover, and make sure to rest!
Kevin is right on. Training should build you up so you do not have injury. That is one of the purposes of training. Warm up and cool down. I think Mara Soakem would say that also. :)
Thanks for the feedback, guys.
I am working on building the muscles I need. Unfortunately, I thought that I had more core muscles than I really do. It is only now that training has picked up that I have learned how weak they are. Never the less, I am headed upstairs to do some pilates now before I head into the studio to work for 4 hours.
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