Resilience1 as we’re mentioning it here, is in relation to our bodies’ ability to sustain consistent effort as and when needed.
Resilience in 3 is a technique I use to help increase our muscles’ flexibility and likelihood of being able to resist injury and also speed up recovery after we’ve used them. This happens by encouraging improved blood supply, immune function, nutrient absorption and even detoxification.
We can actually trigger all these changes in just 3 minutes (actually it’s less than 3!) by working specifically on what we call muscle spindles which are little brains in our muscles.
Here’s one exercise you can trial for yourself to work on your calf muscle (it’s worth eye-balling the vlog here if you need a visual guide):
- Start by positioning your foot, specifically your toes, on the edge of a step;
- Let your heel drop slowly down below the level of the step;
- Allow a gentle stretch for 3-5 seconds, while breathing out;
- Then, take the next step to help those signal those muscle spindles to release, by pushing back down on your toes while breathing in, 3-5 seconds; and then you’ll find you can let your heel drop a little lower when you take it to a gentle stretch again.
- Repeat 2x
This resilience stretch is incredibly effective, and I don’t use the word ‘incredibly’ lightly. When we train our major muscles, in our calves, quadriceps, hamstrings, buttocks, plus sides and back of our necks and shoulders, the difference in our total body resilience can be significant.
So, I’m curious to hear how you get on with this…how do your muscles feel during and afterwards?
This exercise can help us prevent and even avoid injury, plus improve our performance. I’ll see you on this week’s #AliveWithFi where we’ll take a closer look at how this wee exercise can help you or someone you know.
1In “Measuring Physical Resilience,” John Davy defines ‘physical resilience’ as “an ability to maintain or improve function in response to illness, accidents, or age-related changes”. Building resilience in our muscles is especially vital to aging healthily and preventing injury. (https://www.matherlifewaysinstituteonaging.com/2011/12/23/measuring-physical-resilience/).
Fi Jamieson-Folland D.O, The LifeStyle Aligner, with over 26 years experience in Europe, Asia and New Zealand as a qualified osteopath, educator, writer, certified raw vegan gluten-free chef, speaker, health mentor and Health Brand Ambassador. She loves to globe-trot with her husband Chris (NZ, Australia, USA, UK + Europe and Indonesia are current favourites) relishing an outdoor lifestyle and time with family and friends.
