Tag Archives: pandiculation

Day 13 – The Veal 

You knew this day would come. You probably hoped I would forget. Not a chance! Today we are going to smash our calves. Your tight calves are the result of your shoes, the way you walk, the way you exercise, how little you move, genetics and many, many other factors. However, a little bit of soft tissue work on a regular basis can be the thing that keeps you running strong for years to come.

In order to make your calves nice and tender it will take time and pressure. Hence we call this move “The Veal.” Set yourself up on a chair or bench and place a Yoga Tune Up® ball behind your knee and sit down and wait. Breathe deeply and use that time and pressure to tenderize those calves. Don’t be in a rush. Lean from side to side. Keep the foot dangling over the edge and move it slowly. Reposition the ball occasionally and find those sweet spots.

Check in and check out with your air squat or a standing forward bend and see how that ankle flexibility is after trying the veal.

The rules for the Ball Fucking Harder Challenge are easy. First, I recommend getting some Yoga Tune Up® balls to roll on. All you have to do is post a pic or video of yourself doing the technique and tag me (@coachpanda). Use the hashtags #ballfuckingharder #30daypandachallenge #supplepandas #pandiculation. The challenge is even better when you share it with friends so tag your friends to play along.

Day 13 of 30. The Veal from Force Distance Time on Vimeo.

Day 12 – The Minor Pecker Wrecker

Your pec minor is ruining your life. It makes you slouch and keeps you from being able to move like you’re supposed to move. You probably shouldn’t have it removed though because you will need it eventually. Your best bet is to bend it to your will. Take a Yoga Tune Up® Alpha ball and dig it in there real good. Then move that shoulder joint and get that pec to release it’s hold on the front of your humerus. Do this move in a doorway or a corner or a squat rack, or, if you’re a real masochist, you can do this laying face down on the floor on top of the alpha ball (you sicko!). Pin and stretch the muscle by applying deep pressure and moving the arm through various ranges of motion.

Here’s a tip for finding the pec minor. Take your left elbow and lift it out to the side like a chicken wing (abduction). Reach across your chest with your right hand and put four fingers into your left armpit and grab the front wall of your arm pit and pull it forward. That piece of meat is your pectoralis muscle. Where your thumb closes and presses into the front is your pec minor. Place the ball right where your thumb is pressing.

The check in and check out is to test your overhead position and/or your extension position (arms lifted in back of your body).

The rules for the Ball Fucking Harder Challenge are easy. First, I recommend getting some Yoga Tune Up® balls to roll on. All you have to do is post a pic or video of yourself doing the technique and tag me (@coachpanda). Use the hashtags #ballfuckingharder #30daypandachallenge #supplepandas #pandiculation. The challenge is even better when you share it with friends so tag your friends to play along.

Day 12 of 30. The Minor Pecker Wrecker from Force Distance Time on Vimeo.

Day 6 – The Mermaid(man)

Today we are going after the abdominals. We are using a Yoga Tune Up® Coregeous ball. If you don’t have one, grab an inflatable dodgeball or something from your kid’s toy chest. You are going to lie on your side like a mermaid or merman and place the ball to the side of your belly button. The reason I have my shirt off is that the ball in contact with the skin will create some nice warm shear forces also because I’m a crossfitter and we don’t wear shirts. You should feel like your abs are being pushed to the other side of your torso. Breathe big belly breathes into the ball and exhale slowly and completely and let the ball sink in more on each exhale. Stay relaxed and soft. Occasionally change your position slightly to get a different vector on the pressure.

This technique has a huge down-regulating effect. You will most likely be very sleepy and relaxed after doing this. I recommend doing it before bed to get a restful sleep. That will be the best test of whether this was effective. However, a word of caution, some people get very uneasy and emotional doing deep abdominal work. That’s perfectly fine if that happens. Take some quiet time to yourself if you start catching all the feels.

The rules for the Ball Fucking Harder Challenge are easy. First, I recommend getting some Yoga Tune Up® balls to roll on. All you have to do is post a pic or video of yourself doing the technique and tag me (@coachpanda). Use the hashtags #ballfuckingharder #30daypandachallenge #supplepandas #pandiculation. The challenge is even better when you share it with friends so tag your friends to play along.

Day 6 of 30. The Mermaid(Man) from Force Distance Time on Vimeo.

Day 4 – The Tiny Conductor

I don’t know why my forearms are always sore, but I think it has something to do with barbells, pull-up bars, rings, ropes, kettlebells, dumbbells and jiu-jitsu…basically everything I do. So this is my first move when I roll out my forearms. It’s easy. You take a Yoga Tune Up® therapy ball and place it on your forearm and lean against a wall. I move around until I find a gnarly knot and then I put my weight into it because I want to Ball Fucking Harder. Breathe deeply and apply pressure. Then to really take things to the next level, I move my wrist like a tiny conductor. This pin and stretch technique is totally legit. You will love it.

Check in and check out with either the front rack or the overhead position. This technique will feed slack into your shoulders and wrists and will help alleviate some elbow and wrist pain. Roll for at least two minutes on each side.

The rules for the Ball Fucking Harder Challenge are easy. First, I recommend getting some Yoga Tune Up® balls to roll on. All you have to do is post a pic or video of yourself doing the technique and tag me (@coachpanda). Use the hashtags #ballfuckingharder #30daypandachallenge #supplepandas #pandiculation. The challenge is even better when you share it with friends so tag your friends to play along.

The Tiny Conductor from Force Distance Time on Vimeo.

Day 3 – The Childproof Lid

If you do CrossFit, then your hands are going to get quite a workout. We use our grip constantly, but how often do we take care of our hands? Most people just wait until their hands rip and then put some lotion on them. That’s not enough. The fascia in your hands is beat up. You need to resuscitate your hands with this awesome technique.

Use a small Yoga Tune Up® classic ball and place it on the floor. Kneel down and interlace one hand over the other like you’re about to give chest compressions in CPR class. With straight elbows, lean your weight straight down on the ball and then twist your hand back and forth like you’re trying to open a childproof lid on a prescription bottle. This move creates a lot of sheer force on the fascia and brings a ton of blood flow to the hands. It will release all the tension you have stored up in your hands and feed slack all the way up to your shoulders. Get the entire surface of each palm and spend at least 2 minutes per hand.

Check in and check out with either your front rack or your overhead position. You should notice a dramatic improvement. In fact, check out the difference after only rolling one hand and you should see a visible improvement compared to the unrolled side.

The rules for the Ball Fucking Harder Challenge are easy. First, I recommend getting some Yoga Tune Up® balls to roll on. All you have to do is post a pic or video of yourself doing the technique and tag me (@coachpanda). Use the hashtags #ballfuckingharder #30daypandachallenge #supplepandas #pandiculation. The challenge is even better when you share it with friends so tag your friends to play along.

The Childproof Lid from Force Distance Time on Vimeo.

Day 2 – Orbiting The Moon

Face it! You sit on your butt way too much. All that sitting makes your glutes useless. You need to wake them up and get the blood flowing down there. This is a simple technique I call “Orbiting The Moon.” I am using a Yoga Tune Up® Alpha Ball for this one, but you can use any ball you have lying around. The Alpha is the best one for the job though. Just like yesterday, check in/check out with a standing forward bend. Notice how close you are to touching your toes and notice how restricted you are in the glutes and hamstrings. Pay close attention to how much more range you have and how much better it feels when you’re done.

The technique is simple. Sit on your Alpha ball and slowly orbit the entire moon. I like to move out in concentric circles starting at my ischial tuberosity (a/k/a my sit bone). I move in a clockwise orbit for about a minute and then switch to a counter-clockwise orbit for the next minute. After about 2 minutes, switch to the other cheek. Breathe deeply and slowly. If it is too intense, you can do this standing and leaning against a wall.

The rules for the Ball Fucking Harder Challenge are easy. First, I recommend getting some Yoga Tune Up® balls to roll on.  All you have to do is post a pic or video of yourself doing the technique and tag me (@coachpanda).  Use the hashtags #ballfuckingharder #30daypandachallenge #supplepandas #pandiculation.  The challenge is even better when you share it with friends so tag your friends to play along.

The Ball Fucking Harder Challenge

I am really excited by how the #stretchfuckingharder challenge went last month.  So many people played along and posted pictures.  Even more people told me that they loved the stretches and did them and had their friends and clients doing them too.  Before I lose momentum, I am issuing another challenge: The #ballfuckingharder challenge. For the next 30 days I will be posting a new myofascial release/ball rolling technique each day.

If you want to play along I recommend getting some Yoga Tune Up® balls to roll on.  The large majority of the techniques I’m going to show will utilize the Classic, Alpha and Coregeous ytuballs but I will also show some techniques using other props as well.  The Yoga Tune Up® balls are soft, grippy, pliable and affordable.  Unlike lacrosse and tennis balls, ytuballs are designed for self massage and will greatly increase the effectiveness of the techniques.

The rules for the Ball Fucking Harder Challenge are easy.  All you have to do is post a pic or video of yourself doing the technique and tag me (@coachpanda).  Use the hashtags #ballfuckingharder #30daypandachallenge #supplepandas #pandiculation.  The challenge is even better when you share it with friends so tag your friends to play along.

Day 1 of 30.  The Foot Schmear.  We are on our feet constantly and, if you are an athlete, you are running, jumping, kicking, squatting and generally applying high amounts of force through your feet.  Additionally, wearing shoes all days pretty much laminates your soft tissues into a tight mess.  The Foot Schmear will unglue your feet and make you feel refreshed and relaxed like a good foot massage.  As a bonus it will also improve your flexibility.

Check in/Check out: Bend down and try to touch your toes with straight legs.  Notice how far you get and notice how tight your hamstrings feel.  You should feel looser in your hamstrings and be able to stretch farther after rolling your feet.

The technique:  Place a Classic Yoga Tune Up® ball under the sole of your foot.  Step on it like you want to flatten it and then drag your foot slowly from side to side.  You want to imagine you are schmearing cold cream cheese on a bagel with your foot.  A new ytuball will be a little stiff, but after doing this technique a few times, you will break-in your balls and they will get nice and soft.  Inhale as you press down on the ball and schmear as you exhale.  You want to do this for 2 minutes on each foot and try to get every inch of the sole of your foot.

Day 1 of 30. The Foot Schmear from Force Distance Time on Vimeo.