Do this one thing and every workout will feel brand new!

Sometimes I am not super excited about my workout.

After waking to a rainy day, I took one look at my stability ball and yoga mat and thought, ugh. So instead of hitting the floor, I grabbed a second cup of coffee and went out on the balcony.

It felt so nice (it's in the low 80s today)! That's when I decided to move my workout outside.

As usual, I brought the stability ball into things. Today I worked on single leg squats. Just like when I use the ball during wall squats, it aids the motion of moving up and down. I still get the burn, but I feel "safer" especially since the ball is pushed up against the door.

In addition to my normal strength exercises, I mixed in some yoga poses that specifically work the quads. Here's a ***list in case you are looking to add yoga into your strength workout:

chair pose
warrior 1-3
crescent lunge (low & high)
goddess pose
bridge

***I linked to GaiamTV because I think it has the best information and step-by-step directions for beginners like me.

It's amazing how doing one little thing, like moving your workout to a new place, can make it feel brand new. It works with my runs, so I should've thought to use this trick with my strength workouts too.

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Another amazing thing that I want to share is dinner from last night. Back home we always grill the blackened salmon fillets, but here in China my only option was the microwave method. I usually steer clear of using the microwave (except to reheat), so I had a backup plan to order pizza if it didn't turn out well. It was DEE-LISH-OUSSS!! Oh my GOODNESS! I can't wait to have more.

In case you want to get some for yourself, here's the exact brand we buy from Sam's.

I saw this on Instagram and definitely think I should get it. mrC and I run a lot together.

The links I shared in this post are just from me...no compensation was made to me on behalf of any product or company.

New Running Partner and New Gear

We had a mellow weekend. We went to church Sunday afternoon. It takes about 45 minutes to get there, so we combined it with a shopping trip to Sam's Club (along with about 100,000 Chinese locals). We did score some Blackened Salmon, which we'll be having for dinner tonight. I love finding favorites from home.

On the walk to the church from the metro, we stopped to buy some water and I saw this Pea Protein. I'd never heard of it, but I guess it's all the rage now especially if you are on a plant-based diet.

Today I met up with my expat friend for our first morning run together.

The weather was on our side: no rain, but lots of clouds. It was still warm as heck, but so much nicer than trying to run when the sun is out.

We did an easy out an back along the waterfront. It worked out nicely that we have a similar pace in this yucky humid environment and she likes to run for time, not distance, too.

My knee was a little stiff after the run, so I made sure to foam roll, massage, and stretch.

Later while I was surfing Instagram, I saw BAMR Bands was having a bundle sale, so I snagged myself some new gear to celebrate my knee feeling better and because I love my MRTT group.

If you haven't tried BAMR Bands yet, you should. They are super cute, affordable, and a dollar from every sale goes to charity. You can read more here ---> BAMR Bands

To see my Instagram posts, like from my run this morning, follow me --> Running Escapades

Tomorrow is strength day. I'll be putting those videos I shared in my last post to work again.

When you look at the beginning of the week as a fresh start, Mondays don't seem so bad.

It's What We Make Of It

Yesterday I did not go sight-seeing or to the fitness center.

Long story, short: We had a power outage in the middle of the night. Being awake for a couple of hours in the middle of the night makes me feel like a zombie the next day. You get the idea.

Oh, and the thunderstorms that were forecast for Thursday were a day late. It's been raining and storming all day.

Days like this can make me feel a little lazy. Two days in a row and I start feeling like a slacker.

But then I was talking to a friend who reminded me that we don't have to run/bike/swim every single day. There are other ways to get in our fitness. Just cleaning the house can be a workout. Fitness is what we make of it, not how much we can do!

This made me think about what I did do on my so-called lazy days:

1. I foam rolled

2. I did more trigger point therapy on my VM

3. I did some strength training: stability ball, core, knee strength exercises

4. I took walks

5. I let my body rest ---> it's true. Rest is important!

I also did some more reading on the vastus medialis and learned a few more things. Like, a weak VM can cause the knee cap to not track properly and a tight VM can lead to knee pain.

I found a couple of exercise videos that focus on strengthening the VMO, but liked this one the most. I'm sharing in case you are dealing with the same symptoms and because we all need to protect our knees with strong quad muscles.

But I also liked this one from Popsugar ---> leg strengthening workout. 

My left leg is still very weak compared to my right. I'm now on a mission to change that. Otherwise, I fear my knee problems will continue to haunt me. Ever since my knee surgery in December, my range of motion has been limited. This makes doing a simple quad stretch extremely uncomfortable and awkward. The added knee pain made me drop the ball and stop stretching. I had no idea how tight my quad had become or how much relief my knee would feel after dedicating a couple of minutes to this simple stretch.

Today I'm thankful for resting, trigger point therapy, and stretching. My knee continues to feel better. And that makes me happy.

Pesky Trigger Points

Last night I discovered a nasty knot right near my left (crabby) knee.

It was Taco Tuesday at Coyote's, our favorite Mexican restaurant here in Shenzhen, so we walked to dinner. My legs and feet were a little achey after we returned, probably from those 5 miles on the treadmill.

I grabbed some lotion and gave myself a self-massage. For someone who foam rolls (almost) every damn day, how do I end up with a knot that feels like the size of a golf ball? Well, for starters that inner part of my quad is seriously tender. I might not spend enough time there since it makes me want to cry.

If I were back home, I would call Dr. Brian for a little Active Release Therapy or Graston to release that bugger. Instead I turned to Dr. Google.

Here's what I found:

1. That muscle is called Vastus Medialis.

2. It's not a knot (haha). There is a trigger point RIGHT there.

3. Catching yourself mid-slip/fall can overload the quad (as a whole) and activate the trigger point. That may be what happened to me. I slipped and fell on a run a couple of weeks ago.

4. Running is a common cause for overloading this muscle too.

5. Treating trigger points can be done at home (yay!) by locating the spot and then applying pressure for 10-60 seconds.

In my research I also read that an active VM trigger point could cause knee pain. Hmmm. After a few minutes of self massage last night, my cranky knee is feeling better.

Crossing my fingers that this is the cause and I can go back to swimming laps.

Today's workout:

Strength training: in the apartment. stability ball workout, ninja ab workout, and this PopSugar plank workout that showed up in my inbox this morning. Note: I modified the circuit to 10 reps. Repeat 2x.

Cross training: a little bike ride around the 'hood and an evening walk with mrC.

Tomorrow the weather is looking questionable: 80% chance of rain/thunderstorms. I'm either going on another sight-seeing trip with friends or biking it to the fitness center for another treadmill workout.

Sometimes being a baby has benefits...

Today was my 23rd run in China.

It was also my longest run 5.05 miles.

I used to run all the time on the treadmill. Then I started running outside and looking down on the treadmill miles as inadequate. What was I thinking? Miles are miles. Some people run 100 miles non-stop on a treadmill. That's pretty bad-ass.

A month ago I was lucky enough to score a membership to the Hilton Fitness Center. I started swimming laps after my hikes and runs. My bad knee started to get cranky. This happened in Dubai too, so I stopped doing laps.

It's been two weeks since I swam laps. Most of my runs have been at the fitness center on the treadmill. At first this bothered me and I thought, I'm being a baby and running on the treadmill instead of being all tough chick in the heat. 

Then I had an awesome run...on the treadmill. During that run my iPod shuffled to a song that I used to listen to A LOT when I first started running at the YMCA in 2005 ---> WOW! I've been running for 10 years! Anywhoo, that song has a slow bpm and my legs kind of naturally fell into the rhythm. I slowed the speed down and then everything just felt right.

I'm learning that there are benefits to running on the treadmill:

1. You can definitely beat the heat running inside. Although I leave sweat drops all over the machine.

2. It's a safe place to test your body after an injury or experiencing pain. No worries about having to get back home if you have to stop part way.

3. There's an ability to control your run to focus on mechanics and feeling. Here in China especially, there's just too many distractions (people and traffic) to allow yourself to concentrate on much more than not running into something.

4. Since I don't usually listen to music on outdoor runs, on the treadmill I can enjoy my iTunes collection of old and new songs. Sometimes a good song is just what you need to reset your running rhythm.

Most of my runs since leaving the U.S. have been 3 miles or less. My hips were feeling a little tight after today's five. My chiropractor recommended rolling my glutes on a tennis ball. Ouch! Hurts so good. But it works.

Tomorrow I'm going to focus on strength. I've heard that even 10 minutes a day of strength can make a big difference in your overall health. I'm on it.