My 21 Day Challenge!

So the thing with being an athlete is that it's almost always a lot easier to go out for a run than it is to admit it's probably a day to take it easy. Having a training plan helps a lot with that, but lately I've been battling the IT band issues that cropped up about a month ago, and while I've been training, my running still is lame because that's the one sport that the IT band really matters in for me. So since this week is finally a recovery week for me, my goal is to start having a consistent yoga practice to help prevent injuries. I don't have any real injuries other than tight muscles, really. Tight muscles with trigger points in them. That then pull and rub on something else and irritate it. It's annoying and fairly elusive to treat. I've basically given up on finding a massage therapist that can help out because 1) it's expensive and 2) a really REALLY helpful and good and amazing massage therapist is about one in a million. Which means it will take awhile to find one anyways, and by then I'd be out of money. Sigh.

So, along with my magic muscle zapper, which I have completely worn the electrode pads down on - I need to get new ones of those - I've decided that it's in my best interest to pick up yoga again. In years past I've signed up for a class at school to add another credit hour to my load, and lo and behold, I've ended up not injured for the time that I'd been taking the class. It was basically a result of being forced to keep a consistent practice. A consistent practice helps keep muscles loose, and amongst other benefits, that's probably the one that I'd notice the most. I even remember someone saying (who told me not to reveal this information to a certain other person, hence the anonymity) that the only thing that ever helped (and cured) his plantar fasciitis was a 6 week long beginner's yoga class.

Which brings me to my 21 Day Challenge, as created by Yoga Journal. I'm totally starting it late, but it's better late than never, right? The idea is to basically have a way to help to cultivate a DAILY home practice in order to truly get the benefits of yoga, which, surprise surprise are only really achieved by regular practice. Which takes me back to the trigger points. Trigger points are most likely to show up in chronically tight muscles such as those that are overworked - like mine. How do you keep muscles from getting tight? Well I would say stretching, but in reality, it doesn't really help me that much. Yoga is different. It's not stretching. Not in the traditional sense, anyways. Isometric stretching, maybe. But more well rounded than that. It's a warmup, workout, and cooldown.

So, in an effort to help prevent my own injuries and hopefully push others to do the same, I am starting my 21 days as of this morning, and through training and working, I will keep a consistent practice.