Wholistic Fitness

The Wisdom of Active Recovery:  Engaged, Focused Fun!

coach steve ilg, ryt,uscf/cpt

founder, www.WholisticFitness.com

“Damn, ilg, do you ever take an Off Day?” comes the not-uncommon question, from not only my students yet other athletes.

Not really. As a Wholistic Fitness™ athlete,  my Practice involves engaging “Five Noble Fitness Disciplines” as well as “Four Lifestyle Principles.”  The Five Fitness Disciplines are; Strength, Cardio, Yoga, Meditation, and Nutrition.  The Four Lifestyle Principles are; Conscious Breath and Posture, Mindfulness, Appropriate Action, and Practice.   So, unlike a conventionally trained endurance athlete, we “WF” Warriors are constantly dancing, learning, and
benefiting from a fluid sequencing, creative choreography, and endless studying of wholeness instead of specificity.

Take a conventionally-trained runner, for instance.  As a typical coach, I would monitor his or her ‘hard days’ with either ‘easy’ or ‘off’ days.   Trouble with this predictable, boring approach is two-fold;  1) the runner feels guilty when not training hard or worse, if there is a prescribed ‘off day’ which is enough to send the usually compulsive if not obsessive into conniptions and 2) as my friend and fellow Durangatang, Ned Overend (maybe you’ve heard of him!) taught me many years ago, “Steve, here is the thing; most athletes train too hard on their easy days, and not hard enough on their hard days.”

When you study Wholistic Fitness, there is no longer any anal-puckering going on if an easy or an off day arrives in your weekly program, because in WF there are no ‘off days’…and there are no ‘easy days’ because, well, re-read my first Lifestyle Principle above and then consider your own Conscious Breath and Posture as you’ve been reading this.  Or in the few hours before reading this…and the next several hours.  You see, Noble Warriors,  the Practice toward Wholeness instead of specificity is the steepest, rarest, loftiest Path in the world… which is why you see so many compulsive, obsessive sport-specific athletes that are inevitably injured and not very wholesome.  Be honest.

Instead of ‘easy’ or ‘off’ days, a WF student is trained to engage and explore another WF Discipline on that day;  say a yoga or meditation session.  Did you know, for instance, that learning to consciously breathe during sustained backbends is likely to deepen cell respiration, increase ventilatory threshold, enhance internal flotation, soften adhered tissues within the thoracic/respiratory cage, and increase cell communicative factors to a degree far more positive for overall health, well being, and sport performance than just going out for an ‘easy run?’

Is the Wisdom of Wholistic Fitness, sinking in yet?

If the above doesn’t turn you on,  perhaps my own racing results so far this winter will;

• 1st place Snowshoe, 1st place AG, 4th place Overall; Chapman Uphill/Downhill Challenge, February 3rd, Durango, CO
• 1st place AG (35+), 4th Overall; Langlauf 15k Freestyle, February 4th, Durango, CO (12 hours after the Chapman Challenge)
• 4th place Overall, 2nd AG Coke Race Series #2; 10k Skate, January 7th, Purgatory, CO
• 1st place Overall, Chama Ski Classic, 7.5k Skate; January 14th, Chama, NM
• 2nd place Overall, Chama Ski Classic, 10k Classic; January 15th, Chama, NM
• 4th place Overall, Chama Ski Classic, 5k Snowshoe; January 15th, Chama, NM
• 2nd place King Of The Mountain competition, Chama Ski Classic, 10k Classic into 5k Snowshoe, January 15th, Chama, NM

That’s a pretty nice spread across sports, physiologic spectrum, and skill sets…especially for almost 50 years old and a father of a 4 year-old (who, by the way, still receives MAP and has been since she’s been in her momma’s belly!).

So, instead of ‘easy’ and ‘off’ days…I’d like you to re-consider another notion:  Engaged, Focused Fun!  For instance,  even though I still compete in the world’s most physiologically demanding endurance sports (nordic ski racing and snowshoe racing),  for my ‘easy’ or ‘off’ workouts,  I often go tele-skiing*…or I do my Yogic Breathing (Pranayama)…or hit the Iron Temple (for strength training), or Meditate, or just practice the application of the 4 Lifestyle Principles while taking my family into the great outdoors.

When we begin training wholistically? Our workout is everywhere…

my Mountain Yogi’s version of “Chair Pose”…here I am recently chasing down the great champion, Clay Moseley in the 10k Classic Race at the Chama Ski Classic, in January.  I always take 5 MAP AMINOS about 30 minutes before a race like this…and 5 more immediately for recovery.  photo by Pat Hogan

Ilg’s preferred choice for an Active Recovery day:   the expert run known as ‘Styxx’ on tele skis with 4+” of fresh fluff atop the purest cord any mountain yogi can even imagine. photo by ilg at Purgatory Ski Area at the Durango Mountain Resort.

the scant scent of snow (5)
freshly fallen, virginesque  (7)
may ilg ski empty (5)

Lynx tracks on my Winter Warrior Snowshoe Course last week at the Durango Nordic Center. pic by ilg.

most people think about changing their diets or their training…rare is the Warrior willing to think about changing themselves through their fitness!

After winning the 7.5k Freestyle in Chama, New Mexico.

May all your sweat be sacred,

coach steve ilg, ryt,uscf/cpt

founder, www.WholisticFitness.com

online training in Wholistic Fitness™ available…email;   steve@wholisticfitness.com

steve offers free guidance for those taking MAP and COMPLETE  when they sign up under Ilg’s Bodyhealth Affiliate Link

*  tele-skiing (short for Telemark Skiing) is the traditional technique from Norway to ski downhill; with your heel’s free.  Telemark skiiing on steep terrain often necessitates a very deep lunge juxtaposed with a type of plyometric scissor jump in order to turn two-skis into one, creating a very artistic, carved turn.  A few hours of tele-skiing means you are actually doing thousands and thousands of lunges, usually at altitude!