Wholistic Fitness

At age 50, I’m still as much enthused with finding and cultivating the workout within, instead of merely the workout without the within. pic by Heidi Snell during a podium effort at Sandia Crest race in New Mexico.

Most Noble Warrior Sangha,

I trust this entry catches you in conscious breath and elegant posture.  I chose to open today’s entry with that sentence pretty much as a re-Minder to myself.   Conscious Breath and Elegant Posture is my very first of four Wholistic Fitness™ Lifestyle Principles.   Truth be told?  I created the now world-wide followed Path of Wholistic Fitness(WF) from what Gandhi would term, ‘selfish altruism.‘   Sure,  WF has positively transformed the lives of thousands of fitness warriors yet I created it as much for myself as for others.  Why? Because as we learn again and again, and endlessly again throughout our sports and life, it’s the degree of our conscious awareness which gives depth, meaning, dimension, sacredness, and elevated levels of performance throughout our sports, health, and life.  I knew, in 1981, that if I was to stay motivated in fusing spirit and sweat?  I’d need to create a whole new Path, one devoted toward Wholeness – instead of specificity within the fitness and sport realms.   It’s worked.  At age 50, I’m still as much enthused with finding and cultivating the workout within, instead of merely the workout without the within.

Keeping my own Practice grounded is my left thumb (still sprained from a tele ski crash) and my right knee tweaked (the result of a peleton crash in New Mexico),  I’m still doing my cardio workout on the road bike.  Usually by now, I’ve traded the road bike for my mountain bike and running shoes to contest such great local and regional events as the Pagosa Mountain Duathlon,  Kendall Mountain Run, Kennebec Pass Trail Run, etc.  However, it’s been fantastic in one respect to actually build some base on the bike and beat some of the guys that crush me in my usual years on the road bike!

Sometimes you are the hammer, and sometimes?  You are the nail.  Regardless, Transformation pivots upon ongoing Conscious Awareness. pic of Coach Ilg after being the nail and getting hammered in the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic criterium this May in Durango.  Ilg eventually finished 11th out of the 200 racers who contested the three-event omnium category; the Road Race, Criterium, and Time Trial.   photo by Joy “Ananda” Kilpatrick.

Injuries are considered ‘upa guru’s’ in Wholistic Fitness™.   An upa guru can be anything, anyone that enlightens us to an otherwise dark, hidden, ignorant part of our psychospiritual self.   A red light, for instance, is one of my personal upa guru’s…often, perhaps you can understand, I’m in a hurry to get somewhere because I’ve left too late.  In my rush to get to my destination,  the inevitable red traffic light(s) crop up, as if in Divine Humor.   My typical trait of impatience arises at the red light.  So,  I’ve trained myself and taught others to accept red lights as our Teachers;  they can function as “Conscious Breath and Posture” re-Minders if we so choose.  Next red light?  Try it.  Take a Conscious Breath; perhaps a deep nostril inhale and exhale.  Adjust your posture.  Feel your tongue soften, your forebrain recede.   Tell me what you find.   That’s an example of a basic WF Lifestyle practice.  Simple?  Yes.  Effective?  Absolutely.  Transformation pivots upon ongoing Conscious Awareness.

Bringing Consciousness to our injuries is critical.   In fact,  I usually spell injury as, ‘inner-jury‘ for there is nothing like an injury to pass judgment on the wholeness of our training.  Sport-specificity is a primary culprit of many injuries.  Each sport, when done at even moderate specific levels, soon pulls taut our connective tissues, puts neurohormonal kinks throughout our endocrine system, and produces a serial distortion within our internal sea, tissues, and structural components such as bones.  One reason why Masters Road Racing, for example, is so competitive is because of the high fall-out rate from injured triathletes and runners and other endurance athletes.  Since there is not substantial impact on the body on a road bike (unless you crash!),  older athletes – both males and females – can maintain national and world-class cardio fitness by becoming ‘roadies.’  Race times for 50+  year-old licensed road cyclists are equal to those found in the 25 year-old bracket….sometimes, us old guys are even faster than the young guns like when Ned Overend (53) wins the Pro Division like he did last season here at the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic road race.  So, when age and/or injury creeps into an endurance athletes life?  Fear not; there is always the call of the asphalt ribbons to be ridden!

Here in the ‘bubble’ known as Durango,  we’ve got weekly road training rides that traverse incredibly beautiful scenery, road quality, and topographic profiles.   Equally impressive is the cadre of cyclists which show up for each weekly ride.  Any Race Director would salivate at the chance to have a roll call of cyclists the caliber of which show up at our little mountain town’s rides.  We’ve got professional cyclists (mountain and roadies) that live here, visiting pro’s here for altitude training, and we’ve got an incredible depth of strong local Club A and B riders that just light up each ride with a race intensity which makes for scintillating and effective training.  Even my BODYHEALTH™ fellow columnist, Marisa Asplund, uses Durango as her training base camp for crushing her competition in multisport events.  Marisa and I often match up during the hard rides and as we are midway up some 3,500′ climb  I might gasp to her, “I’m glad I took my MAP Aminos today!” to which she might reply,  “Me too!” We even have enough local cyclists for a “C” group which is pretty impressive for a town of 50,000.  Just this morning on our  Friday ‘tempo’ (steady, sustainable flow)  group ride,  there were two pros, one collegiate national team member, an X-terra pro,  three State Champions, a guy on his mountain bike visiting from North Carolina,  and a few other club riders.  As we took turns setting and maintaining a ‘tempo’ pace, we conversed as our wheels spun smoothly beneath sun-soaked waterfalls and past shady sandstone walls flung like temples toward Father Sky.  For cyclists visiting Durango,  I’ve enclosed our summer schedule of  local club rides below.  Maybe Marisa and I will see you on one of them, soon!    Then, I’ve selected a letter from my inbox on basic road cycling posture questions which is always good to hear,  even if it’s basic stuff.  It’s the shining basics which give all pros their glitter.

May it help and Blessed be your Practice,

Coach Steve Ilg, CPT/USCF/RYT 500
author/Total Body Transformation

Summer Schedule; Durango, Colorado Local Club Rides

Tuesday: “Tuesday Night Worlds” – Pros and strong “A” riders only.   or;  Durango Wheel Club “B” ride.  5:30pm usually check website for starting place.
Thursday: Time Trial Series.  start time: 5:30.  check Durango Wheel Club website for route.
Saturday: Durango Wheel Club Group Rides;  A, B, and C.   start time;  9:00 am. check Durango Wheel Club website for route.
Sunday:  The Church Ride; all abilities…a social ride which sometimes, okay, oftentimes, turns up the throttle.  check the Church of the High Pines website for more info.

Especially when suffering hard on the bike,  it’s easy for most cyclists to submit to what I call, “Shoulder creep,” where the shoulders start gathering like cumulus clouds near the ears which shortens and rounds the spine subtracting power from the hips.  Instead;  remember WF Lifestyle Principle #1:  Conscious Breath and Posture…take a few conscious, deep belly breaths and then send the traps down the spine.  As you lengthen the spine, the hips become free to channel the power within the glutes and legs.   Engage the core as ever.  Again;  Yoga – especially my High Performance Yoga™ style will help unconditionally. pic of coach in Visvamitrasana by Joy “Ananda” Kilpatrick.

STUDENT Q&A:

Coach!
got a road bike/slash war-pony and went for my first long ride today after work!   After working all day and then putting in some miles I can barely walk straight or see for that matter.  Had a few questions, since i’ve only stuck with the single-tracks.

– Hand position.  My MTB (mountain bike) only has a single position, so, should I keep my hands down low on the bar and knees rubbing near top-tube on each stroke?

•  Coach Ilg:  I see you’ve been doing your research!  Well, first, congrats on your first road bike!  Take your time, a road bike is a different beast than a mountain bike;  where mountain biking requires more yang,  the road cycling mandates more yin.  MTB is fire.  Road is water.  Road cycling is all about fluid effort; conserving energy and power for the moments that matter most.   The basic road cycling position for the hands is on the ‘hoods’… the brake hoods with the cradle of your thumb and index finger nested comfortably on the hood.  This position keeps your fingers close to the brakes, yet allows for elbow suppleness in extension and flexion.  As time goes on,  keep your elbows soft, low, and your spine elegantly extended.   And YES!  Keep the knees ticking over at a rate of 80-90 revolutions per minute drawing close to the top tube.

Q:  My hands were becoming numb during ride.

A: Not uncommon.  This is one (among many) transitional pains which your body/mind must accustomed itself to over the miles ahead.  Usually hand numbness/tingling comes from compression of the ulnar nerve beneath the palmaris muscle (palm of hand).   Yoga is the best cure.  Shifting hand position and shaking out the hands like a rock climber on lead are temporary techniques that might help.  Don’t over grip your handlebar…stay relaxed, yet firm.

Q:  Shoulders down, away from ears, right?

A:   You’ve read my books and articles, haven’t you?!   Yes, yes, and yes!   Depress the trapezius (traps) muscles (upper back/neck) down the spine.  Create and maintain space between the shoulders and the ears.  Especially when suffering hard on the bike,  it’s easy for most cyclists to submit to what I call, “Shoulder creep,” where the shoulders start gathering like cumulus clouds near the ears which shortens and rounds the spine subtracting power from the hips.  Instead;  remember WF Lifestyle Principle #1:  Conscious Breath and Posture…take a few conscious, deep belly breaths and then send the traps down the spine.  As you lengthen the spine, the hips become free to channel the power within the glutes and legs.   Engage the core as ever.  Again;  Yoga – especially my High Performance Yoga™ style will help unconditionally.

Q:  Do I arch in lower back, like upward-facing-dog in yoga?

A: Well, yes and no.   You DO want to cultivate a kinesthetic blueprint of Upward Facing Dog in yoga asana…the sternum moving away from the pubis, the back of the heart blossoming, and the lower back expanding.  However,  you DO NOT want to arch the lower back.  The sit bones (ischial tuberosities) can be turned upward however you want the tailbone to stay ‘melted’.  Technically, this is known as sacro-illiac counter nutation which takes advantage of the 5-degree movement within the sacrum/pelvic bowl articulation.  Practically, just study professional cyclists postures on the bike…naturally they arrive at or near this biomechnical position simply because the countless hours they spend on a bike whittles away all superfluous biomechanics resulting in a flat, extended spine, melting tailbone, and soft elbows.