Three Branches Wellness

What do you do when you’re 55 and have a whole long weekend free?

If you’re me, you trek out to the backcountry with friends ten years your junior and go on gruelling, hours-long hikes with 11kg of gear and food on your back, through often thorny and swampy paths, over beaver dams, and grabbing saplings to hoist yourself up craggy, 75° inclines. All so you can finally land in a secluded spot next to a pristine, clear lake, where there are no other people and the only sounds are those of the local fauna – crows, owls, frogs, the occasional splash of a fish surfacing to dine.

Why? For me, it's so that hopefully, 10, 15 and 20 years from now, I can continue to do the same thing.

Maintaining strength, mobility, balance, resilience, and endurance is hard work, and truth be told, it does get harder as you get older. Fortunately, regardless of your age, the effort is equally rewarding.

The best way to mitigate this is to make health and fitness a priority early in life - something that is not imparted nearly enough in our largely desk, car, and couch-bound society. Barring that, the next best way is to start from where you are now.

It’s now going on fifteen years since I started helping people of all ages with their health and fitness, and I am always looking for more effective ways to do this.

In June, I head out to Salt Spring Island in B.C. to work with Shira Yaziv and Sebastian Grubb at Spiral Camp, a week-long movement study intensive. I plan on returning with a bagful of new options and fresh perspectives.

When I get back, I will be hosting a workshop on Saturday, July 13 at Conquer Fitness Bloor West Village - “The Science of Breathing”. Learning to breathe well gives us control over nervous activity, and when we have that in our pocket, everything else tends to flow more smoothly. The workshop will be open to gym members and non-members alike.

Lastly, I am also working on a rebranding of my services. Many of my clients want to focus on getting stronger, and while I have resistance bands and kettlebells to assist with that, some people will quickly graduate from that equipment, and will do well to move on a more diverse training system. Fortunately, I have a space where there are free weights, cardio equipment, a running track, as well as a room for movement study and yoga practice – the aforementioned Conquer Fitness.

Bespoke personal training, coming soon – stay tuned for details. 💪🏽

FASCIAL FLOW: ANALYZING SEATED TO PRONE ROLLING

https://threebrancheswellness.com/2024/02/moving-into-spring-movement-labs-at-conquer-fitness-bloor-west/

With my two Moving Into Spring movement study workshops coming up (March 23 and April 6, details in the above link), I want to give primers on some basic movements we explore in these sessions. Get these down pat, and you’ll be able to fall and roll with ease, as well as expand them into more dynamic sequences.

1. LEAN INTO THE FALL: When we fall, our instinct tends to be to avoid doing so, typically by leaning away and bracing. Even from a short distance, this actually accelerates your velocity - meaning, you’ll fall faster and harder, increasing risk of injury. It might seem counterintuitive at first, but leaning into a fall makes for a softer landing, with more options to transition out of it.

2. HAND PLACEMENT MATTERS: Landing your hand before the rest of your body allows you to use your whole arm as a shock absorber. Place your hand out too far, you’ll likely impact your elbow and/or strain your shoulder - too close and you’ll reduce the range you have to lower down. There’s a sweet spot for your hand where it feels relatively effortless to both land and push away.

3. USE YOUR SQUISHY PARTS: It doesn’t feel good to land on bony protrusions like elbows and knees. Try to land and roll onto your body’s natural pads: in this case, the pinky side of your hand, the back of your forearms, and the meaty part of your shoulder.

4. SLIDE TO SWITCH: As you roll your torso to a prone position, your legs need to follow. Slide the leg closest to the ground under the top one, rather than lifting the top one over. Much less effort, and also helps the pelvis to drop and makes completing the roll easier.

5. PUT IT ALL TOGETHER: Moving from prone to seated means doing everything we covered in reverse. To make it all smooth and fluid, start slowly – as your body begins to memorize the key placements, you can add both speed and power, giving you all sorts of options for further transitions.

Starting after the civic holiday weekend, I'll be bringing my practice to the midtown-based, Reflexology & Shiatsu Services of Toronto. Every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Click the link for full details.

Starting August, 2023 - New Midtown Clinic Space