A NEW USSSA COLUMN
by
COACH STEVE ILG,
ryt/uscf/nhca
Click Here for
Steve's Bio
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RUNNING ON WATER:
THE SNOWSHOE WARRIOR!
Edition 10
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A NEW USSSA COLUMN
by
COACH STEVE ILG,
ryt/uscf/nhca
Click Here for
Steve's Bio
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RUNNING ON WATER; #10
THE 2nd TRIAD LEG:
CHI FITNESS...It's
HAMMER TIME!
"He that slays his
ego, overcomes his lazy tendencies, and trains wisely
his Higher Spirit in
the pre-season,
will win in the race
reason, no matter what." - coach ilg
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In my previous column, I
introduced you to the first "Leg" of my proven, world-class approach to
Pre-Season SnowShoe Racing Performance; BioMechanical Fitness. The
intent of that first Triad Leg was to "condition the appropriate
architecture of the body relative to the action and intensities of Sport
Snowshoeing."
Well, now it's time to
set aside all the neatly folded Dry Land Training and get onto the
first available snow and HAMMER!
That's right, my second
"Triad Leg" is all about CHI DEVELOPMENT! You know what "Chi" is,
don't you? It's the LIFE FORCE, baby! It's the Cosmic Power of the
entire Universe that always and endlessly dances within our cells!
Oh, is that sounding just a wee bit "New Agey" for you? Okay,
fine. Let me put it into a nicely structured "Westernized" sentence
for your sensitive Intellect before I slaughter that same Intellect
with some good ol' fashioned CHI courtesy of a supervised workout
with me from yesterday! Here you go:
Triad Leg #2) CHI
Fitness
Intent =
progressively overload the appropriate physiology of the body/mind
relative to the action and intensities of Sport Snowshoeing so as to
impart the necessary pain and mental tenacity thresholds inherent to
the suffering of Sport Snowshoe racing.
Any questions?
Good.
Now, follow me into the
CHI!
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Hammering Into A White Heaven!..42 minutes into it and feeling the CHI! Your mental and spiritual tenacity MUST be developed NOW before the peak of the Racing Season! Only your training efforts and intensities will impart your Race Day confidence!
Nearing timberline, my Heart Rate still hammered and my legs are feeling like fried pork rinds; gotta LOVE IT! Oh, one sketchy thing about cranking this type of yoga? Gotta play dodgeball with these meteorites as you break the 11,000' barrier! |
FIRST TRACKS!
ahhhh, finally! The
First Snow of the season graces my Temple Training Grounds on the
Sacred Peak! You know what that means? Yeah baby; your ol'
coach-who-still-does high tailed it ASAP to the
Arizona SnowBowl the
very minute the road was open in order to practice Zen Mind Merged
Into A HeartRate of 181!
After two months of
pretending to be a runner*, now, finally, my upper body strength can
actually help, instead of hinder, me! Running up high, steep peaks
requires a surprising amount of upper body strength to keep the
biomechanics of an upright torso from sinking into the pelvic girdle
and thus dwindling drastically needed hip flexion and extension.
Where there is no inner upliftment, the diaphragms of the body
collapse. When this happens, instead of the mountain runner churning
like a locomotive upwards with pneumatic force from efficient,
consistent oxygenation and pranic infusion, there is an organic
collapse of all physiologic systems**. Once that happens? Mental
vulnerability becomes a dread cairn for spiritual flaccidity. This
notion of balanced upper and lower body strength for all endurance
racers is what I coach in blogs InDirect
Lines,
books, The
Winter Athlete, my infamous The
Infamous HP Prop Workout, and in my Sport
SnowShoeing Basics DVD as well as writing about in this Column
at USSSA.
Throughout
the past quarter century, I've stuffed an awful lot of world class
Tools in your Shed; it's just up to you to use these Proven Tools!
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At my turn-around summit, 11,500'; thanks to my Wholistic FitnessŪ training, I felt superior all the way up, as if I was in my best snowshoeing shape from last winter already! Though, admittedly, I felt as dizzy with delight as I look in this picture! You can see timberline just in back of me.
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Now...the DESCENT! This is my go-to ski run when the Ski Area is open; White Lightning. It's narrow, holds the best snow, and is black diamond steep. Today however, it's ilg that sets the First Tracks on this beautiful slice of white heaven! Running down through deep powder like this forces tremendous neural demands upon the fast twitch musculature so as to not fall face first and turn yourself into an avalanche. Such high-speed strength endurance and agility is completely unique to Sport SnowShoeing; utterly fatiguing considering the 2,300' descent ahead of me! |
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Not quite the top of the world, however, definitely the top of Arizona! Looking south toward Sedona, feeling pity for all my cycling bros that feel the need to leave high carbon footprints to train there during winter instead of doing HP Yoga and Sport Snowshoeing!!! oh well...their loss...and, sadly, Mother Earth's and Father Sky's loss as well. Athletes, especially sport specfic ones, can be awfully insensitive and selfish. That is why i Love Wholistic FitnessŪ so much; it teaches the Middle Path of Balance, Compassion, and Skillful Means (power). |
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To order your own
copy of Coach Ilg's FLIGHT WITHOUT WINGS; Sport Snowshoeing Basics,
his HIGH PERFORMANCE YOGA DVDS, or his other products visit the Pro Shop
at Coach's website:
"The Mt.
Everest of Personal Training since 1982"
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to order
Coach Ilg's "Introduction To SnowShoeing" DVD,
click here:
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