eady to hit the
streets! Name and profession firmly in mind, you're set to play.
Whoops, watch out for those rocks beneath your feet! Feeling
sorta stiff? Ugh, hurting in the morning? You need to warm up
your body! Faire can be an intense physical workout, and thats
before racing to the ale stand!
- Eat Heartily
- Breakfast the most important meal of the day? Absolutely.
You could be walking several miles in the hot sun over the
course of the day, projecting energy at anyone and
everyone.
- Drink More Water Than You Want To
-
Hot sun + activity == sweat & dehydration. Drink up! A
cup of water an hour, every hour, or even more. Many of us
are accustomed to low-level dehydration; we drink a little
at lunch and maybe a little at dinner. At faire this just
will not do. Vary water with lemonade, eat pickles to
replenish salt levels, drink pickle juice even -- mmmmm!
Watch out for the signs of overheating or sunstroke:
- Don't feel thirsty
- Stop sweating
- Feel dizzy or ill
- Feel irritable or listless
- Warm Yourself Up
-
Be careful with these stretches! Move smoothly, don't
bounce, and if it hurts, STOP! Don't try to make up for a
year of inactivity in a few weekends of faire.
- Face
- Stretch out your facial muscles. Yawn as widely as
you can. Skrunch your face tightly. Expand to the biggest
surprise yawn you can. Skrunch. Expand.
- Neck
- Roll your neck from side to side. Roll your chin down
to your chest. Lift your chin straight up into the air.
Turn your head to look over either shoulder. Roll your
head in a gentle circle.
- Spine
- Starting at your head and tipping each vertebra as
independantly as possible, nod your chin to your chest
and then roll forwards down the spine, arms loose, until
you reach the hips and drop into a toe touch. Hang for a
moment and then reverse the motion, pulling each vertebra
back into place as if they were threaded like beads on a
string.
- Arms
- Windmills
- Wrists
- Forward and back bends.
- Ankles
-
- Ankle Alphabets
- Point your toe and "write" out each letter of the
alphabet in the air with your big toe. This will make
you rotate your ankle in all directions. Do once on
each foot, gradually build up reps.
- Toe lifts
- Rest your heel on the ground. With your heel
still on the floor, lift your toes up towards your
shin. If you have weak ankles, you may not be able to
lift the ball of your foot very much off the floor.
Lift as high as you can, 10 reps. Repeat with other
foot. This exercise also helps prevent shin
splints.
- Laterals
- Point your toe as sharply as you can, rest your
big toe lightly on the floor. You heel should not
touch the floor. _Gently_ rock your heel from the
left to right, extending as far as possible with your
toe still pointed foward. Rock back from right to
left, again extending as far as possible. This is a
*very slow*, gentle movement. Don't bounce, and don't
force it. Do 5 reps on each foot.
- Lifts
- Stand normally, toes pointed slightly out. Slowly
lift up to the balls of your feet, then _slowly_
lower back down. This works both the calf muscles and
the muscles immediately around the ankle. Try 10 reps
to start. If you have a barre or your balance is
good, do this exercise one-footed. You'll see why
it's an ankle exercise.
You can gradually build up reps on all of these
exercises, but it will cause you great pain if you
overwork the toe lifts, laterals, and lifts. The normal
stretching out exercises for the calf and arch will
probably also help. End with those.
- Legs
- Hurdlers stretch. Groin stretch.
- Hips
- Wiggle
References
Many other stretching exercises detailed at yoga.com