Day 9: Tuesday
You did it! Exercise day 1 down! Take a minute to celebrate.
I know it may sound silly, but I am serious. Day 1 was hard- probably the hardest of all the days. It has the most steps, the most to-dos- and it’s hardest to rip the bandaid off and do something that is uncomfortable. So we have to celebrate.
One of the things we are going to practice here is the celebration of small steps. Because generally, we are so hard on ourselves. When it comes to exercise, we have been conditioned to think that it needs to be hard and sweaty and lengthy- and that if we do less than that then we are lazy. And as you saw in Day One- the Autoimmune Strong exercises are not like that at all. They are gentle and quick and don’t even require exercise clothes or a sports bra. And I am sure that after one day of 5 to 30 seconds of abdominal bracing, some of you thought- hmm, that isn’t really exercise. It’s not going to help me. BUT… if you trust me and the thousands of others who have gone through Autoimmune Strong and seen results… slow and steady exercise like this really does work. AND, we need to stop putting so much pressure on ourselves to do these really big hard things, and just celebrate the baby steps we are taking each and every day. (And if you didn’t get started yesterday? No problem, just email me and tell me what stopped you from starting!)
Ok- onto Day 2. If you are on calendar B or C, you are going to repeat day one abdominal bracing. Ab bracing is foundational for so many reasons- a strong core is essential to prevent joint pain, back pain, and neck pain, and having a strong core will even help prevent future injury. As for flare-up reduction- by adding a little pressure to the body by squeezing the transverse abdominis, we are beginning to teach the body how to handle a teeny tiny bit of stress… just enough stress for the body to begin the process of adaption.
If you are on calendar A, it’s foam rolling time. Don’t be scared- foam rolling is another essential foundation of Autoimmune Strong. It can be a bit complicated in the beginning, but I promise it’s worth it. So get your foam roller and get started!
And as always, PLEASE message me, either through the facebook group or the link below, and tell me how it’s going. That’s how you will get the most personalized experience, I will respond with feedback that is pertinent to you and your body!
Important information you need to know:
A strong core is essential to prevent joint pain, back pain, and neck pain, and having a strong core will even help prevent future injury, especially around joints such as neck, shoulders, hips and knees.
As for flare-up reduction- by adding a little pressure to the body by squeezing the transverse abdominis, we are beginning to teach the body how to handle a teeny tiny bit of stress… just enough stress for the body to begin the process of adaption.
1. Do something for yourself to celebrate doing your day 1 exercise! And if you didn’t get to day 1? No worries! Practice the evaluation technique we worked on last week. What limiting things got in the way? How can you overcome them today?
2. Exercise: Practice Day 2 on the Calendar!
3. How are you feeling? How did you like abdominal bracing? Send me feedback on how it went! Was it hard? Was it easy? Was it confusing? Was it effective? Did you do it- or did life get in the way? What did you do to celebrate day 1? Whatever it is, please tell me!