Before I give you a little Christmas treat, I want to take the time to say two things:
1. Thanks for being awesome! Many of you are friends that I have never met in person, but we have shared our triumphs and defeats. I love working for you and helping you achieve your goals and live YOUR dreams (this is how I live MY dreams). We have had another outstanding year together and I cannot wait to see what 2014 has in store for us.
2. Christmas can get so busy, it can feel overwhelming – and then it is all over and we feel let down. So this year, take some time to enjoy the season and just keep it simple. If I find myself getting rattled, I remember these words of wisdom from none other than Linus…
Have an awesome Christmas and a happy holidays whatever you believe or celebrate!
A Little Christmas Gift For Your Groins
If you have been riding along with me for a while, you know that not every single goalie in the world will be able to get into the splits. You also know that although it is dramatic when a goalie does a split save, it is a very small percentage of saves over the course of a season or career, so I believe there are other things you should prioritize.
But…
Since it is Christmas, I am feeling charitable so here is your gift and it should get you a few more centimeters lower in your splits. It is simply a self-myofascial technique to help improve the tissue quality and perhaps the stretch tolerance of the adductors.
If you cannot see the video in the player above, simply click here:
http://youtu.be/yRlNiqsb0l4
Remember to go at a nice steady pace – don’t race. If you find a trigger point, then spend some time just putting pressure through that until it dissipates a little. You can work along the lines of the muscle as I show in the video, but you can also work across the muscle, that is not wrong, but for the adductors, I would spend a little more time working along the length.
Spend about 1-2 minutes on each side every day. Do this before you stretch, you can also do it after you come off the ice as part of your cool down (although you will get some funny looks, so maybe wait until you get home).
My preference is to use a lacrosse ball, but you can start with a tennis ball if that is too uncomfortable.
When you do the PNF adductor stretch, just make sure you gradually build the tension during the course of the hold, go for a 3-5 second contraction followed by a 10-15 second stretch and hold. Repeat five times .
All the best – Merry Christmas.
Cheers,
M