Day 10: Foot, Ankle and Balance
Let’s think about how walking works. Stand up, get away from the computer or phone, and take a few, slow steps. Notice what happens. You put a foot down, you lift another foot up off the ground, and then place it down in front. And we do it again and again and again.
Did you figure out that walking requires incredible balance? AND… when we walk normally (not in this slowed down fashion) we do it quickly and repetitively, so you are standing on one leg over and over again. When you think about it this way, it’s actually incredible that we don’t fall over.
So, to prep our bodies for cardio, we need to get our legs working on their own- single leg balance work. This includes working on our foot stability and ankle strength. The goal is to have strong yet supple feet and ankles for proper mobility, and for our feet and ankles to support the weight of our entire body, over and over again. It’s a big task!
So, that’s what we are going to do here today.
Beginner: Watch video 3 foot and ankle
Intermediate: Level 2 Workout Video #1
Advanced: Level 4 Workout Video #1
Tell me: How is your balance? Is it something you need to work on? Or do you feel solid standing on one leg? How do your feet feel barefoot?
Please continue to:
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Day 9: Core Work- Again!
It's a core day! Celebrate!
Why do we do core again when we already did it once? Well, it's all about repetition.
The more we do something, the better we get at it. And since core work is where our strength comes from- we have to keep repeating the work to get stronger and more powerful. You will find there is lots of repetition in Autoimmune Strong- that’s how we keep improving. Doing an exercise for 1 week and moving on does not actually increase our strength and capacity. In order to see results we have to do things over and over again.
So, before we go to our core workout, I want to revisit the self check-in and see what we have learned about ourselves. This check-in part is the MOST important piece of the entire process, and it takes a lot of time to practice and fine tune. A check-in after a rest day might feel different than a check-in after a day or exercise.
Do you feel stiff? Sore? Flare-ey? Or is your body feeling ready to go after your rest day yesterday?
If you are ready to move, here’s your exercise for today. However, if you need an extra rest day, that’s okay too!
Practice the following ab bracing moves:
Beginner: (New to AIS or in Level 1):
Intermediate: (In Level 2 or 3):
Advanced: In Level 4, 5 or 6
Please continue to:
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Day 8: Rest Day
Rest days are an essential part of a cardio routine. We are going to practice them often, starting with today.
What does a rest day mean? It’s actually a recovery day. Many people think of rest days as a lazy day. But the reality is these rest days are essential to the entire process, and they are very productive.
You see, during exercise, your body breaks down. This is not a bad thing, it’s actually a good thing- it’s how exercise works! Your muscle fibers get these teeny tiny micro-tears through the pressures of the exercise. And as you recover, not only do these muscle fiber tears knit themselves back together, but they actually knit them together more firmly than before. This is the process of building strength- and this is exactly what we want to happen.
However, if we always are breaking down the muscle fibers and never giving them time for repair, our body will become stressed- and we know what that means! Stress can contribute to flare, and we do not want that.
Rest days are the days in which your body recovers and rebuilds. This is why they are essential.
I typically like to do 2 or 3 days of exercise followed by a day of rest. Since we did a core day and then we practiced our warm-up routine, it’s now time for rest.
You may find that your body needs more rest than this. You may find that you might need a day of exercise followed by a day of rest, or a day of exercise followed by two days of rest. And that’s ok! If you are sore, make sure you add in an extra day of rest and recovery.
On the day of rest, you may find that your body craves a little movement, like stretching or ab bracing. If you have been in the program for awhile that’s totally fine! But if you are new, I encourage you to take a rest day as an actual rest day.
Your check-ins will guide you about how to listen to your body and determine if you need an extra rest day or two. You may be needing more rest days than I even include here- so take them! They will be beneficial for you down the road. But make sure that on rest days, you actually take some time for rest and relaxation- and some deep breathing too.
Continue to:
Post on Facebook or share with me! How will you be spending your rest day? Do you feel ready for a rest day? Or are rest days difficult for you?
Day 7: Your Warm-Up Routine
Yesterday, we began the process of creating strength in our bodies; that will keep us strong and mobile to be able to move and do cardio safely, without flare and injury.
Today we are going to begin the process of creating a healthy warm up and cool down routine.
Before you perform cardio, your body must warm up. This warm up eases your body into the a workout. It’s like a slow build-up to the real work. The warm up helps you switch out of the day to day activity of your life and gets you mentally focused for what you are about to do. The warm-up starts to slowly increase your heart rate. The warm up begins the process of deeper breathing, leading to more oxygen intake and more active blood flow… and it begins to get your muscles ready to move. It loosens up the connective tissue, gets blood flow into the muscles, and gets the muscles ready for the pressure they are about to face. This is why the warm up is essential: by preparing your body for exercise, you are preventing pain and injury down the road.
A healthy warm up routine has three parts:
Foam Rolling
Static Stretching
Dynamic Stretching
Today, we are going to start with foam rolling, and then as we get to the intermediate and advanced levels, we will add in static stretching and dynamic stretching. If you are a beginner, don’t worry about missing out on these other kinds of stretching- your body isn’t ready for them yet. Foam rolling is what you need right now.
Beginner: If you are new to the AIS program and to foam rolling, watch this video and practice. Also, please take note of the modification options as well. (To learn more about foam rolling and what equipment you will need, check out this blog)
Intermediate:
I want you to continue to practice your established foam rolling routine.
Also, add in your static stretching by watching this video here.
Advanced:
I want you to continue to practice your established lower body foam rolling routine.
Add Level 4 foam rolling to your practice if you haven’t already.
Add in your static stretching by watching this video here.
And finally, end with 2 rounds of dynamic stretching, here.
For beginners, this foam rolling process may be clunky and slow in the beginning, that’s okay- it’s a totally new thing, unlike anything you have done before (probably) and it takes time to figure it out. Also, you probably have lots of knots to uncover, so going slow is important.
For the intermediate and advanced members, you can begin to think about this: there is a difference between “restorative” foam rolling and “warm-up” foam rolling. “Restorative” foam rolling is when you concentrate on holding for 30 seconds on the tight areas and releasing those knots. This is a very thorough process and can take awhile. “Warm up” foam rolling is different. If you have a big knot, yes, you should stay on it… but for the most part, “warm-up” foam rolling is a quick run through of the full body foam rolling. You will probably find that your body has a lot fewer knots after doing this foam rolling practice for awhile anyways. The goal with “warm-up” foam rolling is to cover your body with the foam roller, to get your connective tissue loose and your muscles ready for movement. It can be a quick run-through and you can do a more thorough session on a rest day. So, this means that you can keep an eye on time- how long does it take you to do a basic full body foam rolling routine? Eventually, I want you to get to a 5-7 minute warm up foam rolling routine.
Continue to:
Post on Facebook or share with Andrea: What do you think of foam rolling and the idea of the warm up routine????
Day 6: Ab Bracing
Today, we begin our cardio preparation in a physical way. We are starting with the core.
Why start with the core when cardio is mostly leg work? Well- that’s actually a misconception.
Strengthening the core muscles is critical because that is where all your physical power comes from. We typically think of cardio as coming from the legs, but without a strong core, the legs take on too much intensity and it can cause injury. A strong core also supports our spine, shoulders, and neck properly to prevent injury, muscle soreness and back pain.
So, let’s work on the core today.
Practice the following ab bracing moves:
Beginner: (New to AIS or in Level 1):
Intermediate: (In Level 2 or 3):
Advanced: In Level 4, 5 or 6
For beginners, you are going to learn how to activate your core through a process called ab bracing. This exercise firms up your deepest core muscles in your front and back, to hold the spine up and prevent back injury during cardio.
Intermediate members are going to learn how to hold that ab bracing activation while moving their legs- which is a walking simulation. This will help you practice ab bracing while moving, so when you begin cardio, your body will know what to do.
Advanced members work on deepening the body’s strength in the core area.
* Note for beginners: Don’t be intimidated by the intermediate and advanced exercises. You will eventually gain strength to be able to move into these higher levels. Remember, slow and steady wins the race. We can’t push ourselves to do more than we are ready for.
* Note that for intermediate and advanced members I included the clips of these exercises because I am assuming you have been doing these for awhile and are familiar with the exercises and jst need a reminder. If you want the full instruction, I recommend that you go back and review the instructional core videos Level 2 and 3.
Don’t forget to practice your check-ins and breathing work before you begin. And please- continue to track your steps.
(To review how to check-in with your body click here )
(To review our deep breathing exercises, click here )
Tell me- how does your core feel as you go through these exercise routines?
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Day 1: Introduction
Welcome to Day 1 of the Cardio Party!
The goal of the cardio party is to give you the tools to help you build a healthy cardio practice.
By working on your cardio fitness, you will find that it will improve all areas of your day to day life- doing housework, running errands, playing with your kids, gardening- you name it.
Here’s how it works.
This process is split into 2 parts. The first 15 days are called Cardio Prep. I want to be upfront about this first half… we won’t be doing a lot of actual cardio in the first 15 days. I know, you must be thinking- but it’s a cardio program! I swear though, there is a method to my madness, so hear me out.
In order to do cardio safely, there are a lot of things you need to know. I want to set the stage for healthy habits, so that when you begin to actually participate in cardio, you are ready for it, both physically and mentally. This will help you to remain injury and flare-up free as we get going. This first half is essential to teach you the tools you will need going forward.
The second 15 days will be actual cardio practice. After you learn and practice the healthy habits around cardio in the first half, I will show you how to apply the healthy habits to your cardio practice. My goal is to ease you in, so it becomes a life-long exercise habit. I hope that after this you will love cardio as much as I do :)
Now, your turn. I want to learn about you!
Tell me about your past experience with cardio, and what you hope to achieve in the next 30 days.
You can post on the Cardio Party Facebook Page and introduce yourself to the group
And/Or: you can email me and introduce yourself by clicking the button below
Day 2: Flare-Ups
Today begins the first of many lessons about the healthy habits you will need to foster in order to have a safe and effective cardio routine.
The first thing we need to discuss is exercise induced symptom flare-up. I don’t want to scare you, but, since cardio can cause a flare-up, I would be remiss if I didn’t give you a heads up about it, tell you what to watch out for, and what to do if it happens.
Flare-ups happen due to stress. Cardio adds a lot of stress to the body- which is exactly why we aren’t going to start practicing cardio until your body is ready for it. We are going to do everything in our power to prepare the body for cardio, so that when we begin, the body is ready for it and the cardio activity won’t be AS stressful as it would have been if you had begun without preparation.
Does that make sense? I hope so. (If not, let me know??)
So, before we begin, I want you to evaluate your body and how much stress you think it can handle.
Let’s start by answering these questions.
Do you feel like you are always tight, tense, holding your breath, ready to spring into action?
Do you feel like you are totally exhausted, wiped out, and the thought of movement is overwhelming?
Do you feel like the world is simply too much and you are in overload mode?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, it means that you are at a higher risk of a flare-up. Your body is already under stress and duress, and extra effort and energy expenditure might tip your body over the edge and into flare-up territory.
So, you have two options.
The first is to keep going, with just a heightened awareness of where your body is at. And if it feels like too much? Then we can stop the cardio party, go back to the regular Autoimmune Strong program and work from there.
The second is to stop right now and go back to either the Autoimmune Strong program or the Flare Recovery Challenge- with the goal of getting your body settled down and you are out of the flare danger zone. This way, you can come back to the cardio party when the time is right for you.
Note that stopping the cardio party here this is NOT a failure- this is actually a success. Recognizing where your body is at, not pushing through, and doing something less intense is exactly what I want to teach you to do when your body is at the edge of a flare-up. This is how we take care of ourselves, and prevent flares in the future.
If you are ready to continue?
Let’s take the next step (haha no pun intended!)
Make a mental note of how you answered these questions- especially noting whether you are tight and tense, or if you think your body and mind are not in alignment about what you should be doing. This is the first step to the “check in” process, which is the beginning of learning how to listen to your body.
If you want feedback, please share with me how this “check-in” process went for you. As you know, I am here to support you, and so are the other members!
You can post on the Cardio Party Facebook Page and introduce yourself to the group by clicking here:
And/or, You can email me and introduce yourself by clicking here:
Day 3: Breathwork
It is incredibly common to find yourself holding your breath.
You might not even know that you are doing it. We often hold our bodies tight with tension. It’s actually a form of numbing… by making our bodies so tense, we are preventing ourselves from feeling anything, which is a form of self-protection. And in some cases, it’s good… but it’s only helpful in the short term. If we do this for a long period of time, it can have some not so great effects on our body.
So, the first step is to check in with yourself and your body.
Can you feel yourself holding that tension? I bet you can. I certainly do.
The first thing you can do to release that tension is breathe. The tension forces you to hold your breath, and often you don’t even know it. Breathe brings in important oxygen to the body, and gets our heart pumping and our blood moving… which then transports that oxygen around to the body, which is essential for keeping your body healthy. Keeping the body healthy and the lungs healthy is extra essential right now!
It is essential that we begin to relax the body, so we don’t go into this cardio work being all tight. That can cause injury.
So… today’s assignment is to take a deeeeeep 3 breaths.
Stand against a wall, or sit in a comfortable position, or lie down on a bed or the floor and close your eyes. Think about relaxing your chest and releasing tension. You might think this is silly, but trust the process, ok? I want you to feel the breath fill your lungs and your belly. Relax those shoulders. Feel that tension melt away.
Next step is to click below and share with me or post on facebook and tell us about the breathing experience.
Are you feeling that tension? Did the breathing help you release that tension? How can you carry this lesson into your day to day life?
Day 4: Exercise Tolerance Awareness and Measurement
Before we can begin our cardio journey, there are three important concepts I need to teach you about:
Exercise Tolerance
Exercise Intolerance
Your Cardio Baseline
Exercise tolerance is the amount of exercise our body can handle without consequence.
Exercise intolerance happens when we exceed the amount of exercise tolerance we have. Our bodies become intolerant, and we have an exercise induced symptom flare-up, which can result symptoms such as exhaustion, muscle aches, flu-like symptoms, nausea, dizziness, insomnia, and more.
And your cardio baseline is the difference between the two!
So it is essential that we find your cardio baseline- which is how much exercise you can tolerate without going into exercise intolerance mode (which then puts you at risk for flare-up). The cardio baseline will give us information to help personalize this process for you and your body.
One of the easiest ways to find the cardio baseline is to collect data, and match it against your mental check-in that we practiced. This will help us figure out how much is just enough and how much is too much.
Today, we are going to begin learning how to find your cardio baseline, using A step counter.
Wear your step counter for your full day and track how many steps you take. No exercise, just your basic daily activity level. Don’t try to do more than usual. We want to measure a normal day. At the end of the day, write this number down somewhere so you can refer to it later. Learn more about step counters here.
We are going to track your daily steps for a few days, and then use this number as a starting off point for our cardio exercise.
And… don’t forget to keep practicing your deep breathing!
You can post your step counter experience on Facebook or tell me about it here…
Day 5: Evaluating your body
Cardio fitness is very important for our day to day life. You need it when you clean your house, walk your dogs, run errands, play with the small children in your life or go for that hike on a beautiful day.
However, cardio can also be very hard on our bodies. Cardio puts a big increase of stress on the body, and our bodies can’t always handle it. And you know by now, after hanging out with me, what happens when our bodies experience too much stress? We go into a flare.
So, because of that, the number one thing I am going to stress here is that we need to listen to our bodies with very finely tuned ear, to prevent us from triggering a flare.
Our body may tell us that we are stiff and sore and not feeling like moving today. Or it might tell us that it has extra energy and is feeling good. These types of insights will tell us how far we should go with our walks- whether it should be a longer walk day, a shorter walk day, or a rest day.
Our mind might tell us- yes, I am ready! Or no, I am feeling nervous.
We have to be in tune with both our body and our minds. So today, your task is to document how your body and mind feel right now.
Let’s practice the emotional work of tuning into your body, which will be a very important skill as we move towards incorporating cardio into our day. This is taking the first “Check-In” we did the other day and applying it to the movement you did yesterday.
Tell me:
How is your body feeling today, when you think about the cardio activity you did yesterday? Do you feel like your body did too much, too little, or just the right amount? Why do you feel that way? Is your body sending you any signals?
How is your mind feeling today, when you think about the cardio activity you have on your do to list today? Do you feel stressed when you think of your to-do list? Why or why not?
Now, check in- and be honest. Are your body and mind on the same page when you think of the daily activities you have to get done today? Does your body say rest and your mind says no?
If they are not on the same page, if you had to choose one to listen to, which one would you choose and why?
As you think about that choice, consider: am I making this choice because of what I think I *should* do or am I making this choice because it’s the right choice for my body?
Also, today, you are going to continue tracking your steps and practicing your breath work.
Post on Facebook or share with Andrea how this check-in went for you today.