Category Archives: sports

30 Day Posture Challenge

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A video with posture exercises crossed my path last month via my facebook feed. After trying the exercising and finding them extremely difficult I decided to finally listen to all my martial arts instructors and to try to get my head in the right place, literally!

The first thing I did was find a few friends to take on a monthly challenge with me, read on for our experiences including a “miracle” exercise that is helping my lower back pain immensely. P.S I am not a DR. or medical practitioner so don’t take any of this as professional advice just my own experiences. P.P.S In some of the photos in this post you will see my nipples, if you have a problem with that, don’t look.

Week 1

The first few days were filled with a lot of research, learning about posture types trying to figure out what is a good posture to begin with and trying out different exercises (see summary at the end)

I realized that correct alignment should come from the feet, where you should have 3 point support structure, toe, little finger and heel all holding the weight equally. With me the small toe doesn’t push the ground at all and that changes the whole center of gravity and moves it forward.

I also learnt about correct alignment of skeleton, having a neutral pelvic not tilting up or down, 2 cm deep curve in lower back when leaning on wall, 4 cm difference in neck, ears should be in line with shoulders and also how dangerous forward head posture could be because as we get older it will effect blood flow to our brain. Here are some video’s I liked.

Diagnostic vids

Types of postures
Correct alignment
Test posture
Dangers of forward head posture

 

On the second day I noticed how much your posture affects your visual input. Sitting in a better posture forced me to change the angle of my eyes too if I wanted to get the same visual input I’m used to falling on my Fovea. I also realized how always being short and looking up using my neck has had an effect on my posture. I’m guessing tall people have the same effect just in reverse.

 

Week 2

All three of us participating in this challenge began to feel the original exercises were getting easier. Ashley was reported decrees in her usual neck pain. On day 13 I was brushing my teeth and thinking how big my boobs look! Then I realized I was standing in a really good posture. In my regular hunched posture my boobs disappeared. I think a lot of this posture comes from when I was growing up and hated having boobs. We weren’t the most diligent bunch, and sometimes exchanged the exercises with a massage or yoga but updating each other via a joint Hackpad, reminded kept us going.

Week 3

I combed through a long Reddit post about good posture, and a few posts recommended foundation training. I was very skeptical when watching the charismatic chiropractor give this Ted talk claiming that all our problems were from sitting and that he has one exercise to fix it all. I did try the exercise though and lo and behold it has been a miracle exercise for me. It lengthens and strengthens the entire back and the next day I didn’t wake up with my chronic lower back. It actually helped me realize what the other exercises were about and do them better. Since then whenever I feel my back start to ‘twinge’ I’ll do this exercise (including morning and night) and it has an amazing affect, activating the strong back muscles that support the spine reducing the pain immediately. This has made me think that perhaps some of the stretches I have been doing weren’t good, even though they provided some immediate relief, I might have been weakening my muscles instead of strengthening them. This is always the big debate about stretches.

I also got a picture of me taken while slacklining and really didn’t like the posture I saw. I looked terrified and frozen which actually was the case. So much of our posture is based on emotional wellbeing.

 

Eran 30 day summary:

I think I am more aware of my posture, in the sense that I think about it more times during the day and try to adjust it.
Sitting in incorrect posture in bed is more painful than it was before the exercises
I think I am standing more straight.
Complete speculation and possibly unrelated – but I feel like I had more positive (more interactions and they were more positive) social interactions with strangers in the last month.

 

Ashley – 30 day summary

I think I should have focused on my lower back posture more. Especially given the focus on posture from the past month, I noticed recently how inflexible my lower back is versus my neck/shoulders. I pretty much exclusively did the #2 exercise for upper back/neck. I found that exercise was quite helpful to my upper back/shoulder posture and felt good, but also found it quite burdensome to do regularly, especially twice a day.

It helped to have the group tracking going on, and i regularly wished we were tracking other things besides the posture stuff, as it helped me keep going. that said i seemed to mostly fall off the band wagon after when i stopped doing the exercises/lost my routine. After that break in the pattern, I seemed to mostly only be able to keep up the prior routine i have in place with yoga, that I rationalized as being equivalent/inclusive of doing “posture exercises”… definitely a rationalization as my neck feels much less good than it was feeling around day 7.  I think in order to really start to improve my posture I’m gonna need to figure out a better way to integrate it into my day rather than just these annoying repetitive exercises I have to do twice a day.

My 30 day summary and before/after pics:

Hopefully I don't have to tell you what's before and what's after

Hopefully I don’t have to tell you what’s before and what’s after

The main outer difference is probably opening of my upper chest, I think my neck and shoulders still need a lot of work.

The inner difference is much less lower back pain, more awareness about posture and the deep realisation (once again) that these changes in habit must come from enjoyment and not just repetitive exercises. I now have a few different variations of exercises (see below) that I play with and include dancing/ kundalini shaking and focus on the “feel good” of the movement. Also doing this thing with friends was awesome and highly recommended. Thanks!

Summary of exercises

Foundation training basic exercise. Helps me more than I could imagine.
use foam roller slowly to open back and relax and some sitting exersizes
The basic exercise we were doing, I was also doing it laying down and sitting instead of standing sometimes
Warming up neck and chin tucks that can be done when sitting http://www.posturecisecrashcourse.com/forward-head-posture?mc_cid=b49d8e1a38&mc_eid=a24c4430d9
Finding movement and alignment in your spine
Hannan somatic stretches I’ve been doing for years on and off
Kundalini shaking
Back mobility exercises I learnt from dancers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rail Meat

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Boats have always been my nemesis. Last time, in Thailand, I threw up and swore I would never get on a boat again, the time before that, in Ireland, was even worse and my gastric fluids turned into fish bait! Somehow a sail boat competition I got invited to made me give boats another chance… read on for details…

It's crowded out there!

It’s crowded out there!

Don't worry, no one really let me drive

Don’t worry, no one really let me drive

I’ll start with the end, and get the suspense over with. I didn’t throw up! I’m not sure if it was the relatively calm bay or the fact that I had to be physically active, but I was mostly fine. The physical activity was what convinced me to come along. Every person on a sail boat has to help with the sailing, even if it’s just being ‘rail meat’ like I was, having to crawl under the sail and switch sides every time the boat turns to help keep its balance and speed.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, because before you actually start sailing there is a lot of prepping to do. I usually complain about the hassle of lead climbing, having to go through the rope and clip on all the quick draws. Well sailing is sort of like that, just 100 times worse. You have to unpack the sail, thread lots of ropes in the right places, tie them and then recoil them so it doesn’t get too messy. The knots were mostly figure 8 knots I use in climbing so I had that down but the rest was totally new with the pro lingo being total gibberish to me. The only word I still remember is ‘head’ for the top part of the sail. Oh, and grinders, can’t forget that, they are these handles that are used to turn the ropes that controls the sail.

All those ropes!

All those ropes!

Turns out sailing races are all about getting to the starting line on time and in the right position. These things are really hard to maneuver and never stand still. So if you accidently go over the start line ahead of time you disqualify. Also with so many boats so close together it was pretty hard to avoid crashing into others. Luckily, there were two pro sailors on board who directed the 5 others who didn’t know much of anything. I got the very important job of calling out the depth so we don’t get stuck in mud before the starting line. Then I was sent forward where my meager weight could be used as counter balance. It was pretty scary to duck under the sail and switch sides as the boat turned sometimes tilting sideways at crazy angles. It seemed very easy to slip and fall over board. I got a few bruises and screamed a few times but it was good fun.

Sailing races are also like judo, there are various categories based on length. In our category (over 30 ft) there was only one other boat, which we left in the dust! We even managed to catch up with some of the faster boats that started ahead of us, even without using the secret weapon of a spinnaker, an extra massive sail that is used to go upwind. The pros thought it would be too much for us to handle.

The most impressive part to watch was actually reversing the boat back into it’s docking place! Talk about some tight maneuvering. After that we had to fold all the gear, but it wasn’t as bad as expected. All I had to do was use my weight once more to keep the sail from flapping while others folded it. And we could do it while doing what sailing enthusiasts seem to like best, drinking beer!

Ecuador Bits

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I’ve been in Ecuador for almost 10 days so I guess it’s time to tell some tales…  read on!

It's not a poster it's the view from the window!

It’s not a poster it’s the view from the window!

Nature in Ecuador is beautiful. The long bus drives are filled with amazing views that can compete with New Zealand or Switzerland. So much untouched nature between one human settlement to the next. Taking that into account the roads are surprisingly good.

Spot the nickle?

Spot the nickle?

Like all third world countries there is a vast difference between the cities and the villages. The cities are cities, Guayaquile could just about be manila or even Tel Aviv. But the villages are a different story. People look different, they talk different, there are no fast food chains and almost no one speaks English.

Ecuador uses dollars which makes things more expensive than some other places in South America but still cheaper than Colombia. The strange thing is they use a mixture of U.S Coins and local coins (and they use a lot of coins!) but don’t use $50 bills! I guess this is the best proof that the whole money system is a belief system like any other.

Sandwich Sandwich

Rolling the boat on the log into the ocean. simple human ingenuity.

Rolling the boat on the log into the ocean, simple human ingenuity.

Canoa is a strange little beach village in the center of Ecuador. It is dependent on tourism but is still a fisherman village with families rolling their small boats on tree logs into the ocean every day casting their nets for fish and huge shrimp! Not all families are created equal, some have many young men and boys helping, others had old women pushing. It was strange to see that the boat engine itself is carried each day from the house and connected to the boat, theft is a big issue.

Boat loads of dead sardines are dumped back in to the ocean by the 'corporate' boat because there is no demand for them. At leas the Pelicans enjoy this feast :(

Boat loads of dead sardines are dumped back in to the ocean by the ‘corporate’ boat because there is no demand for them. At leas the Pelicans enjoy this feast 🙁

My well documented sea sickness prevented me from joining a local fishing boat that my friend managed to get invited on to. He came back with the most hilarious tales. The fishermen spend the day smoking weed while laying their nets. Then they head out to a larger commercial fishing boat were they begin to negotiate with the ‘corporate’ fishermen. The men manning the large boat stay at sea for days at a time and for a fresh can of soda or some chips will throw some fish into the local fishermen’s boat. When all valuable goods had been traded for fish the local fisherman commanded my friend “Make me a sandwich sandwich”.

“What’s that?” My friend asked.

“Two pieces of bread with another two pieces of bread inside”.

“Oh, you have a sandwich sandwich” said a ‘corporate’ fisherman and traded some more fish for it.

After trading the fisherman return to their nets to collect the day’s loot.

Surfing Vs. Climbing

Art or destruction of nature?

Art or destruction of nature?

Ecuador is known for its surf but a ‘professional’ surfer I met wasn’t happy with the waves. “They are all mushy,” he said. “And there is no easy path out into the ocean because the waves break everywhere.” The biggest surprise for me was how much your ribs hurt after a day of surfing. Laying on the board and battling the waves gets your chest and ribs scratched up and banged up!

The climbing so far has been surprisingly good. It is a new young sport here and the rock was well bolted and local climbers were at both crags we arrived to. One of the crags just outside of the city was covered with graffiti which I had mixed feelings about.

Ecuador Vs. Thailand

The beaches I’ve seen were not as good as Thailand but this is not the high season so the sky is always cloudy. The coconuts and fruit shakes can give Thailand a good fight but they are more expensive here so once more Thailand is at an advantage.

Only in Ecuador?!? Yes the shrimp is bigger than the fork!

Only in Ecuador?!? Yes the shrimp is bigger than the fork!

It also feels a lot less safe. Bags are stolen (including my friend’s) and locals warned me not to sit outside the backpackers with my computer or a camera at night. The buses are easy to use and cheap but not nearly as fancy as Thailand buses. I guess for these reasons and more Ecuador is a lot less touristic than Thailand. I have also been using Couchsurfing here which I never did in Thailand. From the locals I learnt that I just missed the Gay parade which had thousands of people marching in it. Although tolerance here is not close to the strange status gay and transgenders have in Thailand it’s nice to know things are getting better (While in Israel the minister of education said that a Jewish state should tell Gay couples they are not a family).

Children playing football on the beach all day, every day.

Children playing football on the beach all day, every day.

 

 

 

Paradise Lost

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I know I’ve disappeared a little in the last few days. I’ve made it out to Tonsai, a remote beach in Thiland, dominated by climbers. It’s where the ghost of Bob Marley has come to live and smells of ganja mixed with tiger balm, sweat and magnesium. Such beautiful people on a beautiful beach that I find myself contemplating ‘what I have done to deserve this?’

Beautiful beach beautiful people

Beautiful beach beautiful people

The uniqueness of Tonsai starts with the remoteness. It’s not an island but there is no way to get to it over land. Getting to the “modern” Reily beach is done by treking through the jungle or crossing over slippery stones at low tide. This means there is no law enforcement around, and “sex, drugs and Bob Marley” rule the island. But that’s only the beginning of the story, there are many such remote beautiful places that have been taken over by big resorts and hotels. Tonsai is different. Locals own all the small bungalows and restaurants. The reason for that seems to be due to Tonsai’s one major imperfection. Its beach doesn’t have enough sand. At low tide the water front moves far out and a stone field takes over making it almost impossible to get into the ocean while at high tide the water covers the entire beach and you have to wade through the waves to go from one bar to the other.

Climbing with monkeys!

Climbing with monkeys!

This is not the only imperfection that keeps the main stream crowd away. There is no electricity in Tonsai during the day and no hot water anywhere on the beach. When it rains the paths become one big mudslide, evil mosquitoes are always buzzing around and sometimes you literally do get ants in your pants!!!

 

Pink Floyd reggae style with a violin... Nuff said!

Pink Floyd reggae style with a violin… Nuff said!

Most everyone that comes to Tonsai comes to climb the beautiful cliffs. Even those that didn’t come for that get sucked into the sport/art. Climbers don’t usually just pass through, they come for longer periods, which allows for a real comradery to develop between climbers from all over the world. I’ve already written about the sharing and support I’ve found in climbing culture and Tonsai is no different, only more international and the night life is more active. With fire shows, drinking, some really good local bands and some terrible open mic nights and obviously the weed (some mushrooms and LSD too).

Locals playing a crazy game that combines Soccer and Volleyball

Locals playing a crazy game that combines Soccer and Volleyball

There is also a very interesting symbiosis between the locals and the climbers. I’m hoping that it’s not just the money that the climbers bring in that makes the locals who have ‘seen it all’ so laid back and ok with it all.

Anyway, I’ll probably be here for a while more…. It is my version of paradise after all.

 

 

 

Viet Climbing

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Viet Climbing

One of the best aspects of climbing is that it takes you to the most beautiful places; in that respect the climbing trip to Huu Long was no different, though other things were… read on.

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Mud on the way to the crag

Mud on the way to the crag

I don’t usually join ‘group’ trips but climbing isn’t that popular here so rocking up to some crag and hoping to find people with equipment wasn’t really an option. Also foreigners have to rent a car with a driver and the roads are crazy! For these reasons I thought it best to join Viet Climb, the local climbing gym’s, organized trip. There were around 12 of us, mostly from France and the U.S. There were only two Vietnamese, one of them works for the gym. When I asked why there were so few locals I was told that Vietnamese like soccer and swimming but climbing is very new and not popular here.

Anyway, the trip started with a two and a half hour drive in a mini bus, luckily the air con broke down only a few minutes from the crag! The whole way there (at least the points were I was awake) seemed to be filled with houses along the highway and the same small stores you see everywhere.

No hands rest point

No hands rest point

The crag itself is situated in the back yard of some farm lands which probably don’t know it but seem to be practicing Permaculture. To get to the crag we had to walk through a mud pool but it was really close to the road so it wasn’t too bad. The heat and humidity were another thing entirely. I really doubted my ability to climb in this weather. My shirt was drenched even before I touched the rock! For those of you who know my aversion to using chalk and are thinking that now I would see its usefulness, sorry I’m going to have to disappoint you. The sweatiness was way beyond what any little bit of white powder can deal with.

I started by leading a really well bolted 5C and flashed it feeling dizzy from the heat when I came down. The rest of the day I top roped some 6a-6b+ but had to rest once or twice on each route. The routes were really fun with big side poles and strange overhanging features with very good jugy hand hold, and a lot of interesting no hands resting places.

Food!

Food!

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Tired!

We had a great lunch break eating local dishes a local family cooked for us. Getting back to climb after that was a very hard feat indeed. Luckily it cooled down. Unluckily heavy monsoon raining started shortly after. Somehow some sections of the rock managed to stay relatively dry so I kept on climbing in pouring rain and almost slipped on a wet jug. Coming back down from the crag when everything had turned to one big mud slide was a mission of itself but eventually we got back.

We were soaked filthy and all scratched up but all complaining aside it was a good day.

 

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Adventure Racing

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You’ve probably never heard about this sport and you definitely should! I stayed awake until the wee hours of the morning with volunteers and hard core fans and met the world champions on the last leg of their crazy race – read on.

From the GodZone Media kit ( My pictures are not so good)

It all began when I asked, J who I climbed with in Wanaka, if I could catch a ride with her.
“Sure, I just have to stop on the way to encourage my friend who is racing”. I happily joined just to discover this crazy sport. Adventure racing is a group race of a combination of navigation, trekking, mountain biking, kayaking, canoeing and sometime other disciplines. The participants race across huge distances in a race that last several days, deciding for themselves when and where to rest. As we speak one of New Zealand’s best international adventure races is taking place (although the winning group already finished). On a feminist note, each group has to have at least one female participant and I was pleased to discover that there were groups with a majority of women.

The Godzone adventure race was designed by a close group of friends and family members who enlisted many volunteers to help with the logistics of the race.  The volunteers take their job very seriously and try to take into account every small detail, for instance if the light in the shed where the participants were changing their gear and building the mountain bikes should be left on or off.  They decided to keep it relatively dark as to not destroy the night vision of the participants who were going to have to mountain bike in the darkness.

Volunteers and fans Checking results

Volunteers and fans Checking results

The volunteers themselves are usually into some type of outdoor sport and a lot of them have family and friends that are racing.

The volunteers and fans obsessively check the online map which is updated with the GPS coordinates of the participants. I quickly found myself drawn in to the action checking the online map and observing the horizon postulating when the group J was rooting for, who were second place, would arrive to our point. Some of the real hard core fans and the photographers have an adventure race themselves trying to meet up with the participants at as many way points as they can. The fans are not allowed to give the participants any information about the other groups or navigational tips.

results

Map of results

 

 

First the world champions arrived, their head lights appearing at a distance like strange alien beings. Two and a half hours later J’s team got to our point. They went to sleep for the whole of half an hour before continuing on the whole night up to the finish point! You could see how tired and worn out they were after three days of almost no sleep and constant strain yet they were determined to continue.

 

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The world champions building their bikes for the last leg of the race

 

It’s not only endurance of the body, they also have to stay focused, navigate and build and take apart their mountain bikes. One of the participants even wrote on his arm every step of taking his bike apart because he knew his limits. Tactics and deception are also part of the game. Last year’s winners were closely followed by another group so the leader shouted out let’s put our jackets on and made as if they were slowing down then suddenly all the grouped dashed and ducked into the bush to get rid of their followers.

Another leg of the race I saw after some sleep

A team just reaching a previous stage of the race after the winners finished.

This sport is not endorsed by the government in any way and the groups have to find themselves sponsors varying from computer hardware companies to manufactures of oats. The price for entering is quit steep around 6000$ for the group of 4 while the prize money probably won’t even cover all the costs (around 10000$ for the whole group). So what brings these people to push themselves so hard for so long?

Don’t get me wrong I’m all for pushing one’s limits and I would love to go on an adventure race myself, but I would like to do it with a good night rest and some decent food between each leg. Anyway, even though there is a wining team, the race is still going on so check it out.