Its Easy to Apply to New River Academy

Before coming to work at New River Academy, I had a long history of traveling and kayaking, as well as a history of aggravating my ilio-tibial band. This is not always the best combination. To help combat the large amount of time I spend cramped in my kayak, I have turned to yoga. I have been around yoga for as long as I can remember, but it wasn’t until I started paddling daily that I really found its benefits on my body and my paddling.

Not only does yoga let me sit in my far more comfortably for longer intervals, but it has given a better sense of spatial awareness, and body control. I edge my boat better when I practice yoga regularly, I am calmer on the river, and generally just feel better in my boat.

Sitting in a kayak, at a computer, or in a car all day can be hard on our bodies,  and these activities, like anything we do, create habitual patterns in our movements. This means that we are constantly working to strengthen certain muscles, yet rarely use others. Think about how often you forward paddle in a kayak, and how rarely you take the time to work on back paddling. The problem is that this only works one set of muscles in a certain way. Take a look at most of the kayakers you see. Our shoulders round forwards, partly due to overdeveloped muscles in our backs, yet our chest and shoulder stabilizers stay weak.

Yoga can help reverse the effects of such repetitive motions, strengthening the muscles we do and don’t use daily to help prevent injury. When I teach yoga to the students at New River Academy, I try and focus on kayaking specific muscles: Strengthening what we don’t use, and stretching what we do. This means a lot of chest openers, trying to open the chest, putting it into the opposite position from when we paddle, core strengthening exercises, and a lot of hip stretches.

the Ilio-Tibial Band, connecting your hips and your knees

If you have ever sat in a kayak, I am sure that you were surprised by how much is going on beneath the surface of your spray skirt. Your legs are working hard to help stabilize and control your boat (Edging tip 101: Use your lower body, not your upper body!), not to mention that kayaks aren’t quite as comfortable to sit in as your lay-Z-boy chair.

When I’m not boating with the students, I am sitting in class, or at my computer writing for the blog, or traveling with the kids to our various locations. Long hours sitting in and out of my boat can wreak havoc on my IT bands and my hip flexors.  I get up out of my boat, and my legs are stiff and sore, and I find the outside of my knees to be tender or painful. Our latest activity of climbing the  volcano in Pucon certainly doesn’t help !

But what is your IT band? Your Ilio-Tibial Band (ITB) connects your hips, knees and ankles- starting on the Illiac crest, wrapping around to the head of your tibia  and down the front of your shin. One of the key points to understand about the ITB is that it is not a muscle; it is a band of tissue. Almost like a thick sheet of plastic. However, it is influenced by muscles that work with it, under it, against it and opposite it.

Two of the muscles involved with your IT Band. Weakness and imbalance in these muscles can aggravate your IT Band, and cause Knee pain.

The primary functions of the Iliotibial Band are to:

• Provide static stability to the outer part of the knee.

• Control adduction and rotation (inward motion) and deceleration of the quad

ITB syndrome can result from any activity that causes the leg to turn inward repeatedly, as well as weakness in your hip and core muscles. Sitting in a boat can put stress on your IT band, as well as lead to weak hip abductor muscles- a muscular imbalance that can contribute to ITB problems. What kind of problems? – hows about some knee pain!  ITB syndrome is one of the more common causes of knee pain in runners, and is a remnant I carry from a collegiate career in Track and Field.

Here is one of my favorite stretches that helps to keep me comfortable and healthy, whether I am in my boat or running alongside the river.

Called the FIGURE 4 stretch due to the shape you make with your legs when engaged in the stretch.

I like to do this one after some warm-up- either ending my practice with it, or after some easy spinal twists, or just getting off the water.

Figure 4 stretch.

Starting from a supine position, Bend your right knee so that your right foot is planted flat on the ground.

Draw your left knee into your chest. Bring the outside of your left ankle across your right knee.

Leaving back flat on the floor, reach hands through the gap in your legs to grab hold of your right thigh.

Draw leg up towards your chest, lifting foot off the floor.

Reverse Sides.

For additional stretch, try using the wall by placing your (right) foot against a wall or a friends leg to increase resistance.

Its Easy to Apply to New River Academy