April 15, 2014

Re-vamping My At Home Workout List + Shin Splint Rehab

I’ve decided to come up with a new at-home workout list, aka my at-home “physical therapy list.”

I’ve mentioned me attempting to do this before (about a month ago), and it pretty much was a failure. I know, I know, I should remember to do these exercises. My my leg was feeling great and I was doing really well, and then after ramping up how many ballet classes I’m doing and my running  workouts–it started to ache a lot again. I had also started to slack a little bit with icing my leg, which I imagine wasn’t helping matters. Fortunately, I’ve done a pretty good job at remembering to drink enough water with a few exceptions.

Continue Reading

Filed Under: Ballet, Blog, Running Tagged With: , , , 2 Comments
March 13, 2014

Frozen Peaz Review

Disclaimer: Frozen Peaz provided me with a discount code for 30 percent off to purchase this product for review.

As someone who has struggled with shin splints and stress fractures, I’m always constantly icing my legs after any type of activity (running, ballet, etc.) as part of my regular recovery routine. Your typical ice pack makes it difficult to target a specific area (especially on my legs) and tends to lose its cool pretty quickly.

So when I first heard of Frozen Peaz, I knew I had to try them out. They’re flexible hot and cold wraps that come in all sorts of shapes and sizes depending on what your need is. They’re a bit on the pricey side, but totally worth it.

Here’s a little bit of information about them via their website:

The secret to the performance of FrozenPeaz® packs is the unique Clear Ice™ Solution. Unlike gel based beads and pearls, the VirtualPeaz™ in FrozenPeaz packs won’t break down with frequent usage. And unlike colored gel packs, the VirtualPeaz are floating in a non-toxic Clear Ice Solution that is free of preservatives, petroleum-based products, and animal by-products. The ingredients in the Clear Ice Solution are 100% natural! So natural that they are certified by the Natural Products Association (NPA).

Frozen Peaz

My Frozen Peaz arrived super quickly (they ship via Amazon Prime, too, if you’ve got it) and I was surprised to find that they were pretty heavy–a lot heavier than I expected, and a fair amount heavier than your typical ice pack. I ordered a single large wrap for my shins/calves.

I’ve been using the Frozen Peaz ice pack for about a month now and its the only ice pack I’ll use now. It stays colder than most other packs (I can get at least 20 minutes in on each leg at a time) and conforms to my legs really well (ignore my messy bedroom, I had just gotten home from class):

photo (5)

 

The only cons I really have are a) they are heavy and therefore tend to fall down if I try to get up and move around and b) they don’t conform to my calves (from underneath) as much as a would like. They still work better than anything else I’ve tried.

Frozen Peaz has been nice enough to offer 15% to all my readers if they use the code “Ballet.”

How do you deal with ballet-related injuries?

Filed Under: Ballet, Info, Outside Class, Reviews, Running Tagged With: , , , Leave a Comment
October 14, 2013

Shin Splints and Dealing with Injuries Emotionally via Pointe Magazine

Image via Pointe Magazine by Colin Fowler.

Image via Pointe Magazine by Colin Fowler.

I should really subscribe to Pointe Magazine.

I bought an issue about 6 months ago while I was working on a design project (one of my assignments was to transform the layouts of an already established magazine to fit my own, for adult ballet dancers). I love some of the things that are written (a lot moreso than some of the other dance magazines).

For instance, this is one of my favorite articles on shin splints. So often, most articles mostly talk about shin splints and running. And while I’m doing all that I can to help prevent shin splints on that front (I finally have insoles and will probably get fitted for my next pair of sneakers once I’m up and running again)–the problem still persists in ballet because of my super flat feet. This article helps address what causes shin splints in ballet dancers and gives some really good tips for treatment–I love my pinky bouncy ball for massage and using a cup filled with ice to ice massage.

I’ve been in PT for about a week now, working on strengthening my feet, ankles and calf muscles to get back to ballet. Hopefully, this will finally help me get better and I’ll be able to dance (and run) pain free.

I also loved this column about dealing with emotions while injured. I had such a tough time coping with being out of ballet back in April when everyone around me was seemingly really busy. It seemed like I was always  at home watching TV while people were out having fun because the boot made it really tough to get around and I couldn’t go to ballet or run to keep myself occupied.

Luckily, thanks to PT I should be back soon and I’ve been pretty well occupied since I’ve stopped running or dancing (after the Rescue Run 5K). I may even be able to start barre as soon as Thursday or Saturday!

Filed Under: Ballet, Blog, Running Tagged With: , , , , , 2 Comments
August 26, 2013

Weekly Wishes: Last Week of Summer!

Beach

So I was going to fill you in on a short and quick recap of what I did this past week (ie no ballet and no running–but lots and lots of walking) but I’ve instead decided to go with this rather cool idea of Weekly Wishes (thanks for the idea, Amanda!) than bore you with how I walked miles across the city of Philadelphia with different friends who were visiting and spent a day at the beach.

The Nectar CollectiveI wish…to get back on track in ballet and running. And not to be so hard on myself when it doesn’t happen like I want it to. I did neither last week, and my left leg is still really tight from flips flops and subconsciously putting more weight on that leg because of injury to my right foot.

I wish…to be injury free, and for patience when I’m not. Even if it means  missing out on a few weeks of ballet and running, it’s better than pushing my injuries further.

I wish…that everything goes well with starting a new part-time job next week and possibly extending my current internship, and that I can handle and organize both well.

On that note, I think I’ll be scaling back how much I blog on this blog from 4 or 5 times to about three times a week (Especially while working on the studio website). Feel free to let me know if you’re interested in guest blogging!

What do you wish for this week?

Filed Under: Blog, Etc. Tagged With: , , , , , 1 Comment
August 19, 2013

Weekly Recap: Ballet, Pointe Shoe, and Running Updates

This past week started off rough.

Sunday 8/11:  We ran about a mile last Sunday to get some of our favorite mac and cheese, but it was too hot out to do anymore than that. We stopped by the library on the way home and I picked up Apollo’s Angels, a history of ballet.

photo (21)

I did a 3o minute barre3 workout (HQ‘s birthday present to me) and a few hours later my left calf started nagging me.  I can’t wait to share more about Apollo’s Angels (once I read more) and Barre3 once I do a few more workouts–but so far, I’m in love with both!

Monday 8/12: We ran about a mile out the pier here (one of my favorite routes to do near our apartment) and both of us were having horrible shin/calf/knee pain. We ran about 3/4 of a mile back before eventually quitting and walking the rest of the way home. I decided to skip ballet.

Tuesday  8/13: I worked for a little in the morning and then we went to an awesome event about becoming an entrepreneur featuring a panel of young entrepreneurs in the city. You can read my recap here.

Wednesday 8/14: Got to pretend I was editor at work for a little and then got some more mac and cheese for lunch. Clearly, I have a mac and cheese problem.

Thursday 8/15: Finally got some more exercise into this week in the form of beginner ballet, which went really well. We then attempted to go to Night Market here in Philly but the lines were horrible and the tacos I wanted were gone by the time we got there. So we got Jim’s Steaks instead.  This further proves that my life is pretty much the definition of #fatfluential. I exercise, but I eat pretty badly. My legs were also exhausted from ballet plus a ton of walking.

Friday 8/16: Family came down for a last minute so trip, so today meant lots of walking as well. Good news is, I’m now a member of the zoo and I can go whenever I want with up to two guests.

The giant tortoises at the zoo are my favorite.

The giant tortoises at the zoo are my favorite.

Saturday 8/17: Day of the horrible ballet class. I hate when I have a bad class, especially when my teacher can tell I had a bad class. My legs were just too tired. I went to pointe class for a little but the shoes came off roughly 5 minutes in, and 3 hours later I have a little bit of pain on the top of my foot (yes I realize, my feet are probably too weak).

Good news is, I’m staying on top of the squat challenge and got 80 squats in.

Sunday 8/18: Hellloooooo, rest day. Took it easy with some stretching (and catching up on Doctor Who).

I plan on taking the rest of the week depending on how I feel. Luckily, if I decided I need to take the week off, I’ll be fairly busy with work and friends visiting to not go stir crazy.

How do you keep yourself from going stircrazy from an injury?

PS. I’m contemplating a name change, so let me know what you think. Run. Dance. Write. is what I’m debating right now.

Filed Under: Blog, Etc. Tagged With: , , , , , , , 3 Comments