In late winter of 2012 when our boys were 6 and 4, we spent a couple of days at an indoor resort that happened to be hosting the Under-14 Provincial Tennis Championship for Ontario. What an eye-opening experience it was to see 13 and 14 year-olds playing at such a high level, displaying many of the skills and competitive spirit that one might see on the pro tour. Read more
4 medium Yukon gold potatoes
5 tablespoons of melted butter or vegan margarine
1/3 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh thyme or 1 flat teaspoon of dried thyme
1 flat teaspoon of sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
A pair of chopsticks Read more
Gymnastics rings have become my favourite tool for developing upper body and core strength.
In this video, I have a light resistance band tied between the two rings to provide support as I work at the challenging transition phase between a pull-up and dip while moving with control. Read more
In a previous post where I described a few benefits of reasonable exposure to cold, I explained why I begin my days with a cold shower. To answer the many readers who asked if there are benefits to taking hot baths, the answer is an emphatic yes. Read more
If you have shoulder pain and stiffness while using your arms overhead, I encourage you to add scapular mobility exercises to your self care routine, as optimal movement of your shoulder blades along the posterior surface of your ribcage is vital to ensuring proper biomechanics of your shoulder joints when your arms are raised overhead.
If you're new to scapular mobility exercises, I would start with the Cow-Cat drill found here: Read more
Hanging from an object overhead is one of the most effective ways of maintaining and improving shoulder and spinal mobility.
Be sure that you are warmed up before engaging in hanging exercises - ideally, you want to take your shoulders and spine through a solid warm-up and even work up a bit of perspiration to ensure that your tissues are well perfused with blood to prevent injury. Read more
Begin with your heels on the ground and the balls of your feet against the lowest rung of your stall bars, or if you don't have stall bars but have a secure object to anchor your hands to, you can have the balls of your feet pressed up against the wall with your heels on the ground. Read more
