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Posts tagged ‘roller’

Jan 27

The season for trimming down

January is the month when people take their resolutions far more seriously than they do any other month. I know. I’ve made and broken a lot of New Year’s resolutions in the first month of the year.

It’s also the year when big-box stores put all the workout equipment front and center. Plus, there are usually great deals to be had.

On Saturday, my husband and I visited our local Sears store. He needed to buy a nail gun so we could finish putting new baseboards in our bedroom, thereby finishing the epic master suite renovation of 2013. (We have nice vaulted ceilings which are great in general, but a pain to paint.) Our home is 20-years old and likely hasn’t been painted for the last 10, so the paint job was much needed.

My favorite part about Sears? The treadmills and workout stuff are right next to the tools.

That’s where I found a toning loop set for $11.37, tax included.

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It event comes with a workout DVD. I actually have a qualm with that. I’m spoiled maybe, but I’d rather not collect more DVDs in my house. I’m big on getting rid of clutter. I’m always throwing bags upon bags of stuff I consider garbage away. Can’t we get an Internet video link NordicTrack? Just saying. End rant.

I’ve been looking for a set of these to work my inner thighs and arms, places that often get neglected when I run.

So my husband bought a nail gun. I bought toning bands.

We completed two separate purchases, because I paid cash, and were talking the whole time my husband was in line before me.

“Do you know that man?” the associate asked me when I got up to the register.

“He’s my husband,” I said.

The associate gave me a funny look, then looked at my husband, then at me. Then he asked if I wanted to use Thomas’ reward card.

“Sure,” I said.

“Do you know his phone number,” the associate asked.

I wanted to say: “No, we’ve only been married for nearly five years and together 11, but I don’t know his phone number. In fact, I wouldn’t know what he looked like if he hadn’t have come to the house we jointly own for the first time last night just to introduce himself.”

I didn’t. But that’s the sort of thing that goes through my head when people ask me questions like that.

The biggest deal I saw with all the NordicTrack-related fitness gear was for a 3-in-1 roller set. I paid $45 for my Grid roller. I paid another $25 for my Stick roller. Then I paid $25 for my Tiger Tail, which is my favorite of the three. Altogether they cost me nearly $100.

Then I saw this:

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Shut up.

Sometimes I hate myself for over thinking things. Wow. I could have paid less than $30 for nearly all those things. They have this bad boy at Sears.com too. That set also includes an instructional DVD. (Or you can go to YouTube and search “foam roller” and find some iPad friendly tutorials.)

I actually checked out the rollers. They aren’t pool noodles. Add a little Duct Tape to those and you have yourself a not-so-fancy roller, but with not as much support as you’d probably get with a more expensive, not-homemade one.

Also on sale? Medicine balls. Weights. Jump ropes.

Lots of stuff to help you trim down.

I have to be honest: I only visit that area because in the likely decline of my treadmill, which will happen sooner rather than later, I’m hoping I know what to pick up immediately when I need to buy a new one. That said, I’m hoping my $800 NordicTrack has a few more years of life left in it, especially since I maintenance it myself now, lube and all.

True story: I used $500 I won in a graduate-school journalism competition toward my treadmill. Most people would have bought a video camera or something, especially me since I love shooting video. Nope. I bought a treadmill.

Sep 12

My best friend today

In the middle of my Tuesday-night run (with new shoes!) I started getting a nagging pain in my left glute.

The nagging pain became more and more substantial with each step, so I slowed down. Nothing changed. The pain grew as did my grimace. There was no way I was going to go my six miles for the day.

I settled for four.

Not horrible, but not up to expectations either.

Was it the shoes? They are the same, exact pair I had before. Was it the speed? I was moving along at a 10-minute mile pace.

I don’t know. All I know is when I got off the treadmill and started walking, it didn’t seem to go away. So much so that I took some pain reliever and called it a night.

This morning I woke up determined to run and get some of my missed mileage back. But I grabbed my Grid roller first. Instead of spending 30-minutes running three miles on my treadmill, I spent that time working out a massive ball of hard muscle in my leg.

The pain was killer. I was making grunting noises. My dogs kept looking at me like I was a lady possessed.

But I jumped on the treadmill, queued up my iPad and ran three slow miles just to see how it felt. No pain. For now.

My work today included a two-hour video shoot where, outside of some discomfort when I did a ground shot, my glute didn’t feel bad. I also took my TigerTail to work to rub out the spot whenever I was sitting for a long period of time. (Yes, I totally rub out my legs at work. My job includes coding and hours of word/video editing, so sometimes I sit for awhile and it’s really helpful.)

I haven’t had any severe or significant pain in my legs for sometime. In fact, the last I can remember is nursing an IT band in my right leg at the beginning of the year. I’m hoping that I just tweaked something by running or stepping funny. Otherwise my Grid roller and my TigerTail might be my new best friends for some time.

Crossing my fingers that’s not the case.

Oct 11

My Monday night date

The last two weeks I’ve woken up to a very stiff right ankle/heel.

After my Achilles pull earlier this year, I’m trying not to put too much pressure on that leg. I’m giving it the rest it needs whenever I can. I’m taking rest days. But the pain is still there from time to time. When it is, I have to roll it out.

I spent a good deal of time rolling it out for the first four weeks after my injury in mid-August. I’m realizing I need some more stretching, though, as of late.

I took Monday night off my run. My Sunday/Monday running days are my only back to back ones. So if I do an extra long run on Sunday, such as my 15-miler, I am giving myself the option of taking Monday off. So I did.

It’s good I did. I noticed some gnarly bruising on my legs tonight. It’s from all the rolling I’m doing on my legs lately. It also proves to me that I need to setup a massage some time soon to help work those muscles out a little more.

So I pulled out my rollers again tonight, specifically the Trigger Point Foot and Lower Leg kit. (Mine only came with one ball, though.)

Here’s a better closeup:

I’m spending a lot of time trying to make my legs less tight. I up my mileage and my body has moments of rebellion where it basically says “really, we’re doing this again?” Yes, yes we are.