Smoking Pigeon Sighted in Rogers Park

Smoking Pigeon Sighted in Rogers Park - Hurts so good
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July 2010

Date:	2009-06-08 12:31
Subject:	Hurts so good
Security:	Public
Tags:	exercise, roller derby

I know I’ve officially lost my mind because I find I enjoy getting hit at roller derby almost as much as hitting. After that first good slam, I don’t feel anything except jazzed. Could this be what my Danish and German ancestors meant by ‘berserk?’ 36 hours later the Ooog, or Good Hurt, sets in.

Short of injury, I love it. Anything that goes crunch, or Ow after a minute or so, or blood, not so much. Athletes know that there is a Good Hurt and a Bad Hurt. Now you know.

Yesterday I learned three things that may get me to the next level.

First, tuck yer butt! The lower back should be slightly rounded, the tailbone pointed at the ground. This not only engages the abs more securely but also lets the glutes take over some of the work that, in a more up-heinie or baboon-like posture, is thrown upon our overworked quads and hamstring muscles.

This is the opposite of what we do in horseback riding, where an arched back and a popo-prominent posture are approved.

Second, when crossing over, the weight transfers from right leg to left leg in a natural progression, timed to allow the left (inside) leg to r-e-a-c-h as far as possible so you get the most snap and greatest acceleration.

I’ve been doing everything but. . . keeping my weight on the right leg the whole time, which makes the pull with the left skate a weak sister, or transferring my weight too soon, which prevents a long reach and again, weakens the pull.

Three, do all your turning with your hips. This prevents the shoulders and arms from swinging around, soaking up energy you want put into forward motion. It also helps keep the right hip and the bottom right ribs almost in contact on those tight end turns.

This time, the lightbulb went on thanks to the ministrations of Pominatrix,who took over our speed class. All hail Pom!

These wonderful things result in the Good Hurt: sore glutes and sore lowest-band abs, two areas that I have a hard time getting to work.

If you know any glute or low-ab exercises, shoot ‘em over!

Jen alias Flash Hottie - read my stuff here.

Post A Comment | 6 Comments | Add to Memories | | Link

User:	cat_o_mighty
Date:	2009-06-08 18:21 (UTC)
Subject:	(no subject)

Yay, good hurting!

For crossovers, I start kicking the inside leg (usually the left leg, unless your skating clockwise) under the other just as the hip of the outside leg is passing in front of the inside hip. So the kickunder is already well under way by the time my outside foot hits the floor. Once I figured out that was how I did my left turns, it made learning how to do smooth right turns much easier :}

In tight pack situations, you can do just a half-cross -- only do the kick under half with every other stroke and not the full cross-over. This avoids tripping penalties. When there is wide open space for the full cross over, the more you bend the inside leg, the longer and stronger push you get with the outside.

My abs workouts = sit ups crossing over the elbows to touch the opposite knees. This also works the diagonal oblique muscles which are also crucial and can be overlooked. I do half my sit ups with my knees straight up -- works the upper abs more. I do the other half with the soles of my feet together and the knees out to the sides -- works the lower abs more.

Glutes = squats. At the bottom of each squat, stick the butt out and up, then roll it back in and down before standing up.

Now off to see if I can get some good hurting in myself tonight!

--Cat

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User:	smokingpigeon
Date:	2009-06-09 17:23 (UTC)
Subject:	(no subject)

Thanks, Cat!

For upper abs I do the Flick 100--10 each of little crunches flat, knees bent, knees up, legs up, then crossing from the shoulder right hand to left toe / left hand to right toe (doubletime)--then back down again.

Lower abs--the only thing I've ever learned is the one where you put the soles of your feet together, lift head slightly as for regular crunches, and lift the legs using lower ab muscles. The butt/pelvis should shift slightly off the floor. Very few of these do a good job on that stubborn puffy part at the bottom of one's tummy.

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User:	cat_o_mighty
Date:	2009-06-11 02:09 (UTC)
Subject:	(no subject)

Hey Flash,

Actually, I lost the puff on the bottom of the belly pretty quickly. But I still have little muffin-tops on the sides :P

Also, what I've found really works the core muscles for me is doing falling drills (which are soooo much fun!) as soon as my elbows and handpads have touched down, I start scootching my legs up under me even as I'm still sliding forward. Even before I come to a complete stop, I can get a toestop under me and stand up using the last bit of forward momentum from the slide to pop up pretty quickly. We were doing a lot of fall-on-the-whistle-blast drills last week, then get right up and sprint. Wow, did that really work the abs et al.

--Cat

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User:	smokingpigeon
Date:	2009-06-11 05:03 (UTC)
Subject:	(no subject)

Wow is right! That falling drill and jumping up thing is a killer. I could use more of those myself.

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User:	cat_o_mighty
Date:	2009-06-21 17:23 (UTC)
Subject:	(no subject)

This is a total glute, thigh & calf builder (and intercostals for random bonus muscles):
http://mo-sporting.livejournal.com/6486.html
--Cat

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User:	smokingpigeon
Date:	2009-06-21 17:47 (UTC)
Subject:	(no subject)

Ow, yeah, that sounds like it would hurt. I don't do much with weights--never been trained on 'em.

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