Priceless things according to Ange

 

Me, still chasing a heavy snatch with good form at 44yo - 120#s

 

I recently had a birthday, I did absolutely nothing for the day but reflect. It was glorious and mundane and in hindsight I wish I‘d spent the day seeking out some sort of adventure.

 

But….another year in the books! This year was….dare I say it…quiet. Ray and I decided to become entrepreneurs in 2015, each year since it has been action packed chaos and the learning was endless. I was at a point where I would wake up and ask “what will I learn today or wonder how I will my ass get handed to me today?” And the day never disappointed! Until recently….it has been quiet. Don’t get me wrong we’ve had the usual twists and turns, honestly they were kind of repeats and it wasn’t that history was repeating itself because we hadn’t learned the first go round, it was just a part of this job of selling fitness.

 

Our first few years here felt a lot like spinning tires in mud. We had the gas pedal of life pressed to the floor and saw a few victories, a lot of failure, a lot of doubt, a lot of setbacks, a lot of ruthless, cut-throat experiences and a lot of what we do best….work. It was a whirlwind of chaos, we didn’t think too much about it, we just handled it. We had faith in ourselves, our vision and our work ethic.

 

I share my experiences because even if you don’t own a business, they are relevant to life. You see I am currently a tad bored because dancing with the chaos of what I wanted….a successful gym, paid off. Most people are in love with the victory, but not the fight. And this is the most simple and basic component of life: struggle determines success.

 

My experiences running a business can be relatable to personal goals in sometimes we hang on to a goal too long, or we let go too soon. How do you know? When the process no longer serves you or your health. Regardless of how far away a goal seems, or how slow (or even impossible) forward progress feels... if the process of pursuing it makes you better, if it enhances your life, instills discipline or gives you instruction you know you need, then the goal is worthwhile.

 

If you're meeting that goal, exceeding it even, but the process is meaningless, destructive, or pushes you in a direction that doesn't serve you, then it is a bad goal.

 

Quitting shouldn't be about how close the goal is, or how immediate or visible success is- it should be about how much value is in the path it is forcing you to walk.

 

And this is what I've come back to over the years. The quality of the process. And asking myself to measure the importance- not of the goal- but of one more step on the path towards it.

 

If you’re new to me you might not know I quit a high-paying executive level job when I was 40. Just quit. I was making $120K a year, benefits, retirement, the whole deal. I hated every day of my life. The struggle was very real, the success was a thin veil. At one time the job served me well, I don’t think I ever “loved” the job or had a passion for it, but at one time I was very good at the job, I was experienced and had good insight and made sound decisions regarding what was entrusted to me. When I decided to take on the task of running my own gym in 2015 my executive level job started to no longer serve a purpose for me except the paycheck was a huge financial security net. I am extremely thankful we had that income because owning our own business didn’t earn us any take home money for several years.

 

I walked away from my high-paying job without one single regret, or doubt, and to this day I do not miss it. I walked away from this job not feeling entitled for something better, but wanting something extremely different and not scared of the work or the process it would take to get there. I will continue to choose things I need to do, things that make me better, things that I need- those have tended to lead me to milestones that have had real value in my life.

 

When I was 20 I found myself doing some really hard shit. Mentally hard. Physically hard. And exhausting. The most work…to that point in my young life…my young, sheltered, little ass had ever done.

 

I was dirty, sweaty, my feet hurt, I couldn’t wear my contacts, my scalp was itchy from having my hair pulled back and not getting to wash the sweat and sand off my scalp. The days were hot, and the nights were cold enough to shiver.

 

My canteen smelled like chewing tobacco, and every MRE I had was chili mac (I despise this disgusting creation).

 

All I wanted to do was quit. Go home. Look cute. Sleep in. Take a hot shower. Eat a peanut butter sandwich. Watch nonsense TV and never…and I mean never smell CLP again.

 

“No one cares, Ange”….the wise, yet simple words of my Pap Brown. I was complaining to him on a pay phone in the middle of nowhere, on a collect call he had accepted. “Ya gotta be harder then woodpecker lips if you’re gonna make it in life, kid.”

 

Ugh….this guy and his stupid sayings. I just wanted him to say come home, quit, it won’t matter, you’re just a girl, do girl stuff. But he’s trying to make me feel…responsible. Ugh….this guy…I should’ve called my mom.

 

But I knew why I called him. And I knew that whatever he said was the best advice. You see my mom is a mom….she tries to fix stuff, shelter me, baby me. And my dad says stuff like…gee I don’t know what to tell ya, that’s a tough decision. But my pap…now that asshole would give it to you straight. He never sugar coated a turd and pass it as candy; he’d give it to you straight and that, that was why I called him that day.

 

I was blessed to serve 8 years in the Marine Corps on Active Duty and serve another 11 years as a Civilian Marine. I had some great experiences, some great leaders; I also had more horrible experiences and horrible leaders. The great leaders I can remember broad strokes, simple things. The horrible leaders, I can tell you detailed stories to include the date and weather.

 

A reflective list of practices learned over the last accumulated 44 years of my life

 

I shall title it...Priceless things according to Ange

 

You don’t have to beg extraordinary people to be...they just are...the rest of them...you deal with, they eventually rotate out.

 

Problems are part of life, not life, but they are not to be avoided.

 

Greatness doesn’t go on sale, there are no short cuts to greatness. Greatness costs what it costs....Only one way to earn an EGA.

 

Commitment doesn’t have anything to do with your feelings. Life spins on, with or without you. You’re only special to your mom.

 

You can’t have a pain free life. Self-help is predicated on peddling addictions to silly rules and mantras: get up earlier; now get up even earlier; get up so early there is no point in going to bed; don’t talk negative to yourself; fast in the morning; now fast in the afternoon; now fast in the evening; now fast for 18 hours; now fast for 7 days; don’t eat gluten; don’t eat nightshades; eat sticks of butter. They never address the underlying issue: you’re being lazy about your goals and don’t want to do the work to be successful.

 

Most of life is about cleaning. From your feet to your rifle to your rack.

 

People want to start their own business. But they don’t want to take risks, piss people of, fail, devote insane hours to something that won’t make any money for years.

 

Leadership is about respecting your team and working for them. What you do trumps anything you say.

 

Time is of the essence...shut up, move and work.

 

Being in charge means failure is your fault and success is for your team to claim.

 

Respect is earned by your actions, and there are consequences for any actions, even good intent.

 

And the best for last...vet your circle. If they run when there is a storm instead of standing arm and arm with you...let them run. If you aren’t sure if they should be in your circle...add some adversity and see where the day takes ya.

Comprehensive Eating According to Ange

I wish I could find the most comprehensive way to present the only question people want the answer to – what is the best way to eat? The very short answer to this question is, what you can eat consistently.

Consistency trumps intensity, which is an extremely simple concept. A concept that should be applied to everything in life, not just diet. But intensity is a great story for social media (run an ultra, write a book in 90 days, lose 100#s in 6 weeks) and consistency is boring (lose 100#s in 3 years, write a book in 3 years, etc). Consistency is a dirty word in the world of plethora we live in.

Most people, at least those who care about what they put into their body and aren’t drinking mountain dew like it’s a race to get their feet chopped off, know the basics of eating well.

Most people who eat fairly well will ask – why do I still have “all this fat”, why do my joints hurt, why do I have bloating, why can’t I sleep, why don’t I have more energy….you get the gist.

The answers can range from fairly simple, to uber complicated. For instance, “why do I have all this fat” could be coming from a woman who is 5’5” and weighs 140#s – she is a nice healthy weight, but perhaps she would be happier with the appearance of her body if she had more muscle, her problem isn’t “all this fat” but a body composition issue; or it could be semi-complicated like she has a disordered perception of the size she should be. We obsess over the number on the scale, and weight is total mass: bones, skin, organs, blood volume, muscle and fat. Fat is….well, fat. Losing weight can include losing bone density, muscle, and organ function, no bueno.

Other times the answers to these questions are much more complicated, and need some medical intervention. Like a man who is doing everything right, or at least most things right like working out, keeping alcohol to a minimum, attempting to get sleep but still struggling to lose his gut and even developing a solid c cup perhaps his testosterone levels are low, and all the sunshine, broccoli and barbells in the world won’t help him without some medical intervention. Maybe we have a woman who has low thyroid function and no matter how much cardio and starvation she applies she’s still adding fat and needs medical intervention. Or maybe you have a slight food allergy to milk and even the butter that was used to cook the eggs you ate for breakfast are causing bloating.

What to eat can be a tricky question that involves a lot more then the actual food.

I get asked what I eat, and I hate answering this question for a number of reasons. One because I know if I share what I eat someone will try to mirror my choices and it may not, for a variety of reasons, fit their lifestyle or even nutritional needs. These reasons can include, but are not limited to: they don’t like the taste of the foods I eat, they don’t have access to the foods I eat, their schedule doesn’t allow them to eat foods at the same times I eat, and of course – their needs just might be different then mine. I am a 130# woman – I am a rather smaller human, I know people smaller – and whew if ya smaller then me my heart goes out to ya, shit is hard as a smaller human - you might need to plain eat MORE then I do.

But if I am going to be a good steward for health, fitness, wellness and sound nutrition then I need to help bang the drum of WHAT nutrition actually is. Most of the time people hear “sports nutrition” and they think of lean athletes on magazines, or professional athletes, or some complicated nutrient-timing, weighing and measuring every morsel of food and cutting edge supplements. But every human is made to move, therefore every human is an athlete who should be eating well. BUT! Every human isn’t a high school kid, or an elite 20 something, or a professional athlete, or a guy with a construction job that is laborious, or a mom with a full-time job and two kids. Every human IS different, so every human is going to have different needs.

Keep it simple and work on the basics is HARD-IO. It is easy to get into a dietary dogma – if you have an ailment that includes pain, or have some fat to lose and eating in a specific way, especially a convoluted and complicated way we tend to wrap ourselves around this method/behavior like a boa constrictor going in for the kill. Human brains love puzzles, and diets have been presented over and over again on social media as a secret puzzle. Someone selling the secret rituals, inaccessible fruits and herbs from far off islands, and magic powders that cost as much as a car payment from the pretty smiling woman who shows pictures of herself fat and unhappy, and now she is vibrant and chasing around her kids and dogs in they yard.

You feel a sense of euphoria, like you figured out the Holy Grail. But adhering to the Holy Grail is near impossible, it is expensive, hard to adhere to in social situations and generally…plain doesn’t work….intensity.

Basic can be consistent. You can eat a basic meal almost anywhere, but finding a gluten-free, legume-free, vegan meal anywhere will leave you eating at home alone or left out of most social situations.

People are naturally polarized; nutrition isn’t the only thing that brings out a creed of faith in humans. I “almost” have a masters is in Global History, and a minor in Ancient Middle East; I have read hundreds of books on conflict and it all starts with: this guy looks more like me then that guy, so that guy must be evil. That’s just what humans do, rack, stack and group each other – it is biology.

Significance and contributions is always the human dilemma, it’s why humans have anxiety. We are hard wired to worry about personal significance and contributions. Anxiety issues are higher then ever because of the openness and readily available amount of information the Internet has brought to us.

Evolution is not destiny, it is a choice, so is de-evolution. I worked for the DoD for years as an Anti-terrorism Officer; one of the questions we worked on every single day was “Why do we humans, remarkably social animals with extremely large brains, spend so much energy on one thing--deliberately and systematically killing other members of our species?” Biology is the answer. It emerges in several disruptive ways. We need to acknowledge this if we want to save the world, our world, we cannot let biology govern our decisions --biology is not destiny.

This is why our diets are so hard in 2022 – biology tells us to relax, be chonky…don’t waste too much energy and store energy (lounge and snack). The problem with this biological trait is in 2022 we have the Dunkin Donut bacon and egg donut sandwich available 18 hours a day, Burger King’s pizza sized burger, The Big Gulp which is 44 ounces of soda with a free refill and any creation the mind can create at Sheetz available 24 hours a day. These high calorie foods set off all sorts of bells and whistles in our mind saying I’m here to PAAAR TAY! They make us feel good….temporarily. And they change our taste buds. Remember when you started feeding your infant – you only fed them the veggies because as soon as they got a taste of the fruits the veggies were spit out in refusal…biology. Again, biology is the answer, awareness is the fix.

We are not daft and dumb creatures who think these high calorie treats and constantly lounging are good for us. We must also have to not be so daft and realize these extreme food choices are “intensity” the same way only eating broccoli and tofu is “intensity”. There is a hundred choices and levels in between. Intensity is the “Good Story” for Instagram….nothing more sensational then a 115# gal in leggings and a crop top eating a triple ice cream cone claiming #macros or an obese guy shoveling the pizza size burger into his gullet while slurping down the Big Gulp for time. Both of these scenarios create controversy and “war” – which on social media turns into significance and contribution – we can all recognize these are the wrong kinds of contribution and significance, but it doesn’t make it any less true that this is what captures our attention.

I don’t ever suggest strict diets for anyone (outside of the fighters who come to me for help who need to make weight), it is hard for me not to fall into a routine of going off on a diatribe of macronutrients, seed oils, micronutrients and circadian rhythms when talking food to people who inquire. It never fails to surprise me how an 18 year old kid who lives off of BK, Sheetz, cereal, pop-tarts and Bucked Ups has an Adonis like figure. How is this possible? A combination of youth, a lot of activity, and good genes. Unfortunately, that does run out and a poor diet will catch up you, and most athletes understand they need to eat for performance. This is a typical diet for kids these days and giving them a complicated diet that prevents them from eating any of the aforementioned foods creates non-compliance…a null and void, don’t waste the ink scenario.

I have worked with hundreds of people on dietary choices to help them reach fitness goals over the years. Most of them are sadly unsuccessful, you see it is easy to sit down with me for an hour, or do one of my group challenges and logically hear the consistency and awareness theory, yet when this isn’t your constantly daily feed and life gets in the way and stress takes over. Well a snickers will solve all your problems of the day…yet the problems keep stacking up. And the mocha frappacino at 3pm gives you the boost of energy and sugar to make it through a dinnerless busy evening of one event after another and you find yourself in the “coffee” drive thru Monday-Friday and on Saturday to “relax”. Well these are your consistent habits and your health and body will reflect them. The biological intense side of you cries to “give up meat and sugar and run a marathon”…..which will leave you exhausted, hungry and broken in a few weeks. The real answer here is instead of the snickers…take a walk to shake off the stress. Instead of the mocha frap, grab a protein shake or learn to say no to too many evening activities so you can have dinner and get to bed at a reasonable time. Not intense, and not sensational….so people believe this won’t work.

OK, so here it is….after all that I know you still want to know….Ang what do you eat?

Here are some of the most frequent questions I get asked about my food choices. Let’s be clear before you read any further….I’m not a hater on any “diet” in the land of obesity I applaud anyone paying attention to what they put into their body; I am however opposed to making food a religion. You see your beliefs are the least interesting thing about you. Your identity shouldn’t be so tied up in your food choices you have to live in a straw. Your food choices will change through the years, don’t burn bridges with people over gluten or coconut oil….mmmkay, trust me on this one.

I am opposed to humans being so obsessed with food choices they forget the most important thing about food….food gives you energy to do the life thang. You’re not supposed to spend all your days calculating what to eat and how to burn it off….refer back to “food is not a religion”.

Do you eat organic and/or seasonal vegetables and fruits?

Ideally these are the best choices; pragmatically making these choices might not happen for most. Organic might be too expensive for your budget or you might not have access to seasonal fruits and veggies. In the Ross household we eat all the veggies and fruits – frozen, fresh, organic, non-organic. I’m just not convinced organic and seasonal fruits and veggies matters more then your nutritional needs.

Do you count calories and macros?

I have never tracked calories and I do no not track my macros much anymore. I have an established food base I stick to and I have saved to memory quite a few food’s macros.

I stick to basics on the daily - 150 grams of protein per day (for my 130# body) and the rest is filled in with veggies (prioritized) whole grains, and healthy fats.

If I gain weight I asses how many treats I’m having…usually too many. If I lose weight it’s usually from a few extra runs I added in. Both instances are off the normal course, once corrected (if needed to be corrected) my weight will balance out.

Also noteworthy, I weighed and measured food meticulously for years for physique goals. I can eyeball 4 ounces, 2 tbsp and a 1/4 c like a champ. I do not recommend for a novice to unabashedly guess what 2 Tbsp of peanut butter looks like…cause I can guarantee….sadly….you’re wrong.

These are skills from years and years of practice. They now let me control what my body looks and feels like without much angst, planning or hassle.

Do I fast?

No, not anymore. I did intermittent fasting (IF) circa 2012 for about a year. I chose fasting because of the flexibility it gave me with packing food when I commuted to work and had a long schedule. It was much easier to take one meal and a few snacks then 2 meals and snacks. I also read there was a large cellular benefit to IF, and seeming how at the time I wanted to live forever I gave ‘er a go.

I would stop eating about 6pm and not eat again until noon the next day. I was hungry and would curb my hunger with coffee. With a dreadful job that left me relentlessly bored drinking coffee became entertainment and I found myself drinking copious amounts of coffee.

Fasting became a game and I would “see how disciplined” I could be by extending my fasts…with more coffee.

As you can imagine coffee is not a food group and after a few months I found myself extremely fatigued and surprisingly, with all my calorie control, my body was squishy.

If you workout hard your body needs fuel, if you don’t provide the fuel your body will feast on its own muscle and organ tissue, preserving fat as it believes it is in a famine, leaving you…squishy.

Extended fasting and excessive caffeine consumption will have your body dumping high levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, signaling belly fat storage.

Clearly I was not good at intermittent fasting, and just because I wasn’t good at it doesn’t mean it won’t work for you.

I do know…for a fact, that fasting is less beneficial for women, especially menopausal women. Why? Hormones.

I also know that basic fasting: not eating after 6pm and then eating again when you first wake up - is very beneficial and is in-line with your circadian rhythms.

The same benefits associated with fasting like autophagy is actually better regulated with exercise then fasting.

Do you eat artificial sweeteners?

No, I don’t like their taste. I am not opposed to them one way or the other, I just do not enjoy them myself.

Do you eat red meat?

Yes, but I treat red meat as a fat, and not as a protein source, the same as I do with nuts. Red meat contains a lot of dietary fat, and I will easily go over my fat macro if I eat a lot of red meat. But I enjoy a good burger.

Do you drink alcohol?

Yes, but very limited. I enjoy drinking alcohol…I love the chemical sigh it gives you. I have a very active mind, nothing like two drinks to chill the fuck out. However, I am aware I won’t sleep good and I probably won’t feel the best the next day so I save my alcohol for once a week and keep it limited to my two drinks.

What supplements do you use?

Hydrate and Recover by Wilderness Athlete for minerals, and BCAAs and protein powder. I think there is a lot of benefit to Beta Alanine for endurance activities and creatine to prevent muscle fatigue and help with recovery but I don’t take them regularly.

Are you low carb?

No, I eat roughly 200-250 grams of carbohydrates a day. When I trim back on carbs I do have a leaner appearance, which I like better, however I am more tired and fatigued throughout the day. I don’t like ONLY having energy for my workout and then having to slog through the rest of the day, counting down the hours until bedtime. I’d rather have some extra fluff and energy to be an energetic, present wife, mom and business owner, then be a lean sloth.

There it be – the comprehensive diet plan according to Ange.

What you know about them shoes and feets and shoes and feets and feets and feets and feets?

 
The foot and toe biomechanical role is, in my opinion, under valued and invisible in the most common cases of pain, and injuries. Let me preface this post with I am not a podiatrist, an orthopedic, or a physical therapist. I’m just a lil ole personal trainer whose been doing and seeing some good, the bad and the super ugly for a lil bit.

The feet are the foundation to our wonderful body, they are the roots to our proverbial tree. Having big toe mobility (being able to independently move) is essential for proper toe off in walking, running and stabilization.

If you take your shoes and socks off what do you see? Are your toes lined up together like chicken cutlets in a tub? Is the big toe is veering in towards the second toe? Can you wiggle your toes independently (one at a time, much like you can with your fingers)? Can you spread your toes far and wide from each other? If you can do the ladder two you’re in good shape. If your toes resemble the first two – you have some work to do for them feets!

 

The Meyer’s Line is a straight axis line that on a functional foot goes from the center through the big toe joint and through the center of the top of the big toe. When the big toe is angled toward the second toe its role in providing support, controlling pronation (the arch) and facilitating forward propulsion is greatly reduced and at risk for bunions.

The big toe is soooo important to human movement…it is what makes up bipedal!

The big toe steers the body, stabilizes you while standing, or bases you when you lift, and project you forward when walking and/or running. When the big toe is out of commission (atrophied or a bunion) a slew of problems can be created – and a lot of problems, although originated in the toes and feets, show up elsewhere (hammies, hips, knees, ankles). The body is one big kinetic chain, which means no body part functions in isolation.

 
Not all toes are created equal, at least not in terms of foot stabilization and forward propulsion. The big toes are the only toes that have their own set of control muscles and tendon insertions.

 
When we walk or run the toes begin to dorsiflex (tilt upward) this action turns the foot arch into a rigid lever and also creates possible energy, as the plantar fascia is being stretched. As the toes push off the ground they release the energy from the plantar fascia pushing you forward. We spread our toes wide making our feet a wider based surface, just like when you do push-ups and you spread your hands wide for a big base and larger control of stability, when we do stabilization movements (squat, deadlift, etc).

 
Too narrow of a shoe negatively affect the toe’s ability to be used for this movement. The whole point of us being Bipedal is our big toe! And these shoes cramp and put the toe to sleep and out of commission!

 

The more narrow the shoe, the less power the foot has inside the shoe because the muscles are doing less work.

OK, so a wider toe box and room for the toes to splay – got it. What about cushioning? Cushioning is going to depend on your sport and your foot’s current condition. If you are walking around on Hoka’s you cannot just take them off and go to a minimalist shoe. This would be like if you worked for years up to a max back squat of 300 pounds, and then took 5 years off and did nothing then one day walked back into the gym and loaded the bar with 300 pounds and attempted a back squat. You’d get hurt. Your muscles would not be able to support the weight – they atrophied and need to be strengthened appropriately. Same with the feetses. If you are walking around in squishy shoes your foot muscles are atrophied and need strengthened, and just like any muscle it takes time. How much time? Well just like all muscle development, everyone is different and varies.

 
If you are running distance you need the cushioning. Cushioning shoes can reduce peak ground contact force. Which minimizing stress absorption on a long run is key to maintaining energy.

 
For heavier athletes the more compressible foam essentially “bottoms out” reducing the cushion significantly and at this point creates an extremely unstable base/land for the foot (ankle twisting and pronation). The foot itself needs to be appropriately strengthened to properly absorb and distribute the load. For heavier runners a stiffer shoe, or a shoe with a lower cushion to help build foot strength and shorter runs is recommended….but I ain’t yo momma….so do as you please.

 
There is no evidence minimalist shoes reduces injury risk. Long-term injury rates are the exact same between minimal runners and maximalist shoe wearers. This is a very specific subject – everyone will follow some basic guidelines, but ultimately the best shoe for them won’t be the best shoe for the guy or gal beside them. Biomechanics and these wet biological bodies we slide around in for roughly 80 years are constantly changing and need constant accommodations. What is good for one, may not be good for all, what is good today, might not be good tomorrow.

 
OK…so what are the basics? What should be the minimum needs we look for in a shoe?

 
First, you need to decide what you want the shoe for? Running trails, running on the road, long distances, shorter distances, lifting weights, walking, etc. Let’s take a look at what you DON’T want in any shoe. We’ve already determined we don’t want a narrow toe box – and again this is going to be narrow to YOU. Everyone’s foot width is different and you will also find the longer you wear a shoe with a wider toe box the more your feet will spread. Spread is good!

 
The next thing you do not want in any shoe is toe spring, the “curved” design is the latest innovation. The toe part of most shoes, especially newer sneakers, bend slightly upward; this is called toe spring. It makes stepping more comfortable and easier. It also weakens the feets and opens you up to common and painful foot related problems. The more toe spring, the less work the foot is doing. If the foot does less work, it has less endurance, just like all muscles.

 
A common issue is plantar fasciitis. When the toes do less work the ligament does more work then it is necessarily designed to do. The plantar fascia was not evolved to do this much work, as a result the fascia becomes angry and irritated, and can take a very long time for the inflammation to cool off. Please note if you develop plantar fasciitis you will have to let the inflammation cool off before you can address what caused it, and some honest feets strengthening work. The best option for footwear when dealing with plantar fasciitis is a stiff, and padded shoe – think of fascia as skin, if you were to burn your thumb pretty bad you would not only want to wrap it with cushioning but also have a stiffer protective cover over it so the thumb wouldn’t absorb pressure if you accidentally hit it off of something. Same with the fascia in your foot – it needs some cushion and stiff protecting until the burning (inflammation) goes away. And just like an actual burn, the more severe the burn is, the longer it takes to heal. The difference with a burn on the skin is you can visibly see if it is healing or being reinjured. You cannot see ligaments.

 
How to fix plantar fasciitis permanently: have a good plan of attack for identifying WHY your plantar fascia got inflamed. Shoes, running/walking gait, weak toes/bunions – and address them head on…or face a repeat of the injury.

 
Toe spring isn’t all bad, there have been some potential benefits. There appears to be a reduction in certain biomarkers of damage and fatigue but its important to also note that the combination of cushion and curve encourages heel striking and an increase in stride length and decreases cadence, which is generally a negative for runners. You don’t want to heel strike, when you heel strike you are landing with your knee outstretched, in the most vulnerable position, absorbing impact, regardless of how cushy and squishy your shoes are, the PCL is getting hyper extended over and over again with force. I’m not saying if you have cushiony shoes with toe spring you will necessarily heel strike. I know a few runners who run with big squishy Hoka’s and their toes are pointed to the sky and they maintain great form- I will also add they are gifted runners and have run well for decades, they themselves are light weighted bodies, and they practice running a lot.

 
Us juicy, wet, biological creatures don’t ALL follow a particular pattern – there are some serious generalization and a lot of adaption when it comes to pain, injury prevention and fixing.

 
A little recap:

 
Squishy, narrow shoes and lifting are not a good combination. A good minimal shoe with a large toe box and a sole without cushion are best. Converses are horrible, Vans are terrible…although they look fleek (are we still using fleek?) they are very narrow and the sole is too rigid with little to movement.

 
A cushioned, big toe box shoe will likely provide the most benefit to distant runners.

 
A wide toe box with minimal squish is better for a larger, heavier runner and these runners should keep the ground and pound on their bodies to a minimum.

 
A wide toe box, minimal to no squish is good for cross training. Nike MetCons are popular, but although they do provide wider toe box they have a significant toe spring which creates an off balance in trying to create a strong foot base (toes splayed and gripping the floor)

 

I wear Xero shoes – and I don’t get paid to tell you that (I wish I did…anyone know how I get sponsors?) Now let me tell you my personal journey with Ange’s feetses – again all antidotal (my personal experience).

 
As a kid I was told my feet over pronated and I was sent for orthotics. These arch supports never fit in any shoes correctly and I essentially never was able to use them. The thought of “your feet are wrong” was born and I hung on to this thought most of my existence. My thought process was always my feet are “wrong”, never “I have the wrong shoes”.

 
When I joined the Marine Corps my shoe drama continued with boots. The fancy, narrow shined up and looked amazing Jungle Boots were the only boot I wanted to wear. These narrow boots looked ah-mah-ZING in uniform, all shined up, tight and commanding – but they crushed the top of my foot to such an extreme I’d lose feeling in my foot, which sounds fine…except you also have zero dexterity to actually…ya know walk. So I was mostly reduced to wearing the ugly, clunky, hot BCGs, they were fat and wide…convincing me once again that my feet sucked.

 
Fast forward a few years I am running for distance. I usually just pick up a pair of shoes that are on sale and I can tromp around the store a few times without them nagging or rubbing. Knee pain is born, and I am frequently rolling my ankle, sometimes scott-free and sometimes with a linger of pain. I chalk it up to weak ankles and “getting older knees” and don’t have the budget for the fancy shoes. I tape up my knees and truck on.

 
Unfortunately, I break my foot running from a rolled my ankle. As I heal up the only shoes I can wear comfortably are flip flops, fast forward 3 months and my foot is healed up enough to attempt work shoes (wearing high heels) and narrow sneakers and much to my chagrin these shoes squeeze and burn pressure points into my feet. I have little balance in the heels and am terrified I will roll my ankle again. Now looking back on this jaunt through memory lane I was a daft ass mother fuawker….narrow shoes hurt my feet and my response was not to find a wider, better fitting shoe but to adapt Cinderella’s step-sisters attitude and blame my big wide foot and keep jamming it into tiny ass shoes…..oooooffff. Youth is wasted on the young.

 
Fast forward a decade and I am having all sorts of hamstring issues and lots of nerve pain in my hips. I take video of myself deadlifting and see a shift in my lift. This shift was from tight glute muscles but it wasn’t the glute that was having issues, it was a constant biomechanical corruption from my feet. I massage the glute, do activation exercises, tens, bands, theragun. Nothing fixed the issue, but I did find some relief, but the cat came back the very next day….

 
Then I start trail racing and cannot hang on to my toenails for the life of me (lost all my toe nails at the Rachel Carson in 2017 and again at Trailfest 2021…cute huh?) Of course in this day and age all you have to do is say a word and your social media and google blasts you with ads, so I stumble upon an article about toes and minimal shoes.

 

I have tried minimal shoes in the past. Do you remember the fancy toe shoes, did you have a pair? I had mine around 2009….I ran a Tough Mudder in them, I was like a declawed cat on the side of slippery, muddy mountain. I kept losing my balance and actually gave myself whiplash, because my head kept snapping back so hard each time I unexpectedly fell….oooof ….have I mentioned the youth is wasted on the youth?

 
So I wasn’t particularly interested in heading down the path of minimal shoes, I mean I’ve read Born to Run and my first reaction to that book was…..we aren’t primal creatures anymore. We have evolved significantly, and even if our bodies have not….our environment SIGNIFICANTLY has. We don’t run and walk on grass and the Earth’s soil like we did in our cave days. We live in the land of the Concrete and Asphalt Dragon, our feets are not designed to take a hammering running on these surfaces, Caballo Blanco.

 
But taping my feet, arch supports and more cushioned shoes were not fixing my knee or glute issues. I came to the conclusion that my former self might not know everything about minimal shoes and I should research again. I started digging a little deeper then just “a guy wrote a book about his antidotal experience” and put minimal shoes on and hope for the best, to transitioning smartly to minimal shoes. I identified immobility issues in my big toe and some callouses on the tips of my toes from shoe squishing. I found an invention called toe spreaders, massaged my toes and feet, and actively spread them from each other, I was mindful about using my foot when I stabilize and pay attention to gait when running.

 
I have been wearing my minimal shoes for about 10 months now, however I will not wear them to run long distance on the road (and I’ll be honest those days are mostly over anyways), but I wear them for every activity now. I am happy to report I do not have any pain when I run, and I am able to lift with a better base (no shift from tight muscles over reacting from misuse of biomechanics in the feets).

 
I’ve had such success with these shoes I have to ask myself….why do people buy these squishy, curved shoes? And of course the answer is obvious. Because they are comfortable! And that’s what us humans do….seek comfort. Just like sitting on the couch versus standing. It’s comfy! You have to live somewhere between “comfort will kill you”, and I live in 2022 and find your happy medium for your wet, biological body to slide around. Happy sliding!

I have been obsessed with wearables and their ability to provide a better look at recovery, recovery readiness and energy systems for a little over a year now.

My obsession started with my training for Trail Fest, which was a three- day trail run through Bryce Canyon, Zion, and Horseshoe Bend, each night was spent sleeping in a tent and each day was spent navigating roughly 10-13 miles of elevation, and various terrain. Trail Fest training presented several challenges for me: how to recover in a short period of time, how to push regardless of said recovery, and doing a sport I had never done before.

First and foremost, I had never trail ran, and although I found trail running exhilarating; your brain is constantly engaged making decisions as to where to plant your next foot step as you navigate rocks, mud, and various terrain and how to navigate uphill and downhill; it was EXHAUSTING! Trying to figure out the right shoes, hydration and energy before, during and after the runs and fitting my regular weight training….was challenging.

I bought several pairs of shoes and this is a whole other blog post. Shoes are drama! Hydration - enter Hydrate and Recover by Wilderness Athlete –I slobber all over this product because it is amazing, it tastes great, has minimal sugar and a boat load of minerals, salt and BCAAs.

I struggled with recovery, I wanted to continue to lift weights but my legs, specifically my feet and calves were brutalized each run and when I would do Olympic lifts I didn’t seem to have any explosiveness and well….that’s how you do Oly lifts…with explosiveness.

I started paying more and more attention to the data my Apple Watch, which up to this point my Apple Watch let me know when someone was calling or texting me, and I could play music without having my phone on my person. I started out simply tracking the actual runs (and run is a loose term….there was a lot of walking) I was doing. Looking at the elevation, my pace, my heart rate, although at this point the only thing heart rate meant to me was the higher the better, as it showed I burned more calories during these sessions. Up to this point burning more calories meant a more fruitful training session! Ooooffff, so cringe-worthy.

Enter in a random podcast I hear about Heart Rate Variability (HRV). And a whole new plethora of information was born to me. I was obsessed with my HRV – the higher the better. And with Apple Watch, before the upgrade, you could game your HRV with the Mindfulness App. You’d do a 60 second breathing meditation and it would give you your HRV reading. While you sat there in a near state of slumber your HRV would (most of the time) climb. And this would make me feel accomplished…this would make me feel…perfect. And secretly we are all dying to be perfect and surprisingly we are all actually dying…not today, but that is how this journey ends.

I venture into HRV pandemonium…and I am not joking. If you were in my life from April, 2021 until recent you had to listen to me talk ad nausea about HRV. I am going to give you the real abbreviated version: HRV is the amount of time in between heartbeats, theoretically, higher the number the stronger your resilience. However, us being crazy biological creatures nothing is that simple. Tracking HRV is complicated to start; the best reading being first thing in the morning when you wake up, a 5-minute reading while you lay completely still.

Wearables use Optical Heart Rate Monitoring (OHRM) a method called photoplethysmography (PPG)…yikes on those big words, right?

PPG is a technical term meaning “shines light into your skin and measures the amount of light that is scattered by blood flow”. I am really watering down this process but I might have already lost you, so I’m trying to keep this simple. Theoretically when light enters the body it will scatter in a predictable patter as the blood flow dynamics change, as such with blood pulse rates and blood volume (heart rate and blood pressure). How does it work? No one really cares…so I’ll save you the pain. However, these patterns are based of metrics of population. What does THAT mean? That means all patterns – my pattern a 44 year old woman, at 5’5” weighing 132#s with body fat of 18 percent with relatively good fitness is measured against a 6’4”, 28 year old male with a body weight of 185#s and body fat percent of 12 percent and even better fitness and a 300# man who is 50 years old with a body fat of 50 percent and no fitness capacity. AND surprisingly….HRV is hardest to read in athletes and sick people….go figure.

Wearables use heart rate focused technology that is generally run through several algorithms based on activity types – these are activities with known Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET) scores that are then fine tuned with user input data (height, weight, age, maximum heart rate, etc) other sensor data (temperature, elevation) and derived user data (VO2 Max, respiration rate). Things that impede data: accurate maximum heart rate for activity (we about to get into that), body weight (make sure you keep this up-to-date in your wearable…it matters!), and sensor connections (frequent drop outs, Apple is famous for this).

MET calculations is equated to population norms – not YOUR norms. Heart rate data is extremely prone to external influence, use of stimulants (caffeine, pre-workouts) prescriptions (beta-blockers, weight loss pills, hormone therapies, etc) drugs (alcohol, THC, etc), metnal stress, sleep status can affect your readings.

Soooooooo…..is the data the wearable providing garbage? Well yes, and no. Nothing can ever be simple when it comes to us biological creatures – which is why fitness and exercise science although infantile to medicine science, should be treated exactly the same….carefully and with someone who is educated AND experienced.

I recently switched from my trusty Apple Watch that I had for four years, and was familiar with interface and had a bunch of fancy apps for sleep and HRV and Heart Rate Zones downloaded to a Polar Vantage M2 that has a completely different interface. I immediately started to notice stark contrasts in data.

First was step counting. I roughly do the same activities each day, so I know on a Monday-Wednesday I am taking about 12K steps, on Thursday I become a slug (I don’t coach) and only get about 8K steps. So when I was at 15K steps at 3pm on Monday I raised an eyebrow. Did this mean Apple was stingy with the steps or Polar was abundant? Polar tracks movement, so when I gesticulate and talk (this means I flail my hands around a lot when I talk….I’m an animated mother fawker, I have a great impression of a fruit fly….please don’t hesitate to ask to see it) I’m accumulating steps even though I’m only flailing in place….but movement is movement? I really don’t have a good answer for this.

I next noticed my heart rate didn’t get quite as high on my Polar watch as it did with Apple. Polar is a cardio based fitness watch. It has a Cardio Trimp load based application – and as best I can tell this means in the world of Polar cardio based workouts that are longer then 20 minutes are king, everything else is…well everything else.

The piece of the Polar data that had me filling out a return form, and talking to anyone who would listen to me try and work through the wickets of what I actually needed/wanted in a wearable was the readiness score. Polar was consistently telling me I was in “Maintaining” mode with my training through the week – and this would infuriate me, I train hard, I’m exhausted (like taking a nap mid-day) and can feel I am being too taxing on my energy system and this ballsy bitch on my wrist is like….MAINTAINING…..

And I should add I train to a program – it is not, nor has it ever been, based off data from the wearable.

After about three days of discussing this and researching it (I literally had to charge my phone 3 times a day I was spending so much time looking anything and everything I could find on this up)…..I’ve come to the conclusion….I don’t give a fuck what my readiness score on my Polar says or what it had said on the Apple. I’ve rocked and rolled around in this body long enough to know what is going on. With the Apple Watch I used the app Training Today; and it would tell me I was a 1 out of 10 and I would train, or not…the data didn’t impact training decisions.

Alright…what do we do to help determine recovery, readiness and use our energy system smartly? Do we throw these wearables in the trash? Save our money and never buy one? What??

I asked myself this question just last night. Did I spend $200 on this Polar watch for nothing? I’ve come up with: no. I like when I go for a run, hike or bike ride knowing how far I have gone, and my pace, so a device with GPS is needed. I like knowing my heart rate during a workout and I like having the visual graph of how my body responded to the stress. But to use the data for recovery and readiness I need to establish my own maximum heart rate.

Wait…Ange, did you just say ESTABLISH YOUR OWN MAXIMUM HEART RATE…..ooooffff..

Yea I know….ooooof is right? Well let’s take a look at WHY….and yea, I’m so sorry…this is my first blog post back at it and this is so technical and boring…..but I know the people who want to know this information will appreciate it. If you aren’t into recovery, readiness or use of your energy system this will be of little interest to you – stay tune, I will make a blog about something you do find interesting!

Why you don’t want to use the standard maximum heart rate formula. The standard maximum heart rate formula is 220 minus your age (IE. Mine would be: 220-44=176) . This is a SIMPLE formula and it was established in the early 80’s…I think 1982, but don’t hold me to that, and it is based off of a population wide meta-analysis – which means people of all sizes, ages, races, fitness capacities, prescription taking, medication using people – the ENTIRE groups median was taken to establish a “good guideline” for maximum heart rate.

68 percent of the people in the median fell within this standard range of 200-age, BUT……plus or minus 10 bpm!!! And the other 32 percent fell completely out of the range.

You don’t have to be a scientist to know that 32 percent inefficiency means…trash data.

Age and fitness status matter. Younger athletes with a greater fitness capacity can have lower maximum heart rates, and older athletes can have a higher maximum heart rate, and both are normal. But if you go with a 20 year old, there maximum heart rate could be 200 bpm, but that same 20 year old could be an endurance athlete and there actual maximum heart rate is 170. You can have a very fit 45 year old and the 220-45=175bpm maximum heart rate, but this athlete can easily see 195bpm without distress. Facts matter.

And a plus or minus 10bpm is a BIG DEAL! If you have ever done zone training you know 10 bpm can easily determine an entirely different zone. Which let’s be honest, if you don’t train in Zone 3 as the program prescribes will you die? No..at least not for non-compliance of the programming (let’s re-establish we are all going to die…the last two years have reminded me I need to remind everyone they are going to die…there is no bulletproofing yourself from death, you CAN ensure the ride is a little less….hospital spent to a large degree..but you’re going to die.)

Let’s be real honest here – we don’t need to know, we like to know. Because again recovery, readiness and using our energy systems wisely MATTERS….a lot.

So we determine our OWN heart rate maximums. But again….we biological creatures can’t be simple. We actually have to determine our maximum heart rate zones for different modalities. Le sigh….I know…I know. I felt the same way…but then I also got excited because….data.

I highly recommend you do your own maximum heart rate test for each modality (running, weight training, cross training, cycling, etc). My heart rate differs drastically when I run to when I lift weights, it is on the higher end, in my typical Zone 4 for running and when I lift weights I stay in Zone 1, even when pushing heavier weight loads.

Keep track of these numbers and you can change them manually in your device. This will help you create accurate reports of your activity, ranging from more accurate calorie numbers, and workload. And you can track calories consumed in a separate app – I still do this and I can tell you the macros of just about any food. It’s just good “math” to add up how much you are consuming – we live in a plethora and it is easy – especially if you train a lot in zone 4 to over eat.

Nowhere (yet) can a wearable measure the load weight training puts on your body. Weight Training does not have a fixed load like running (where every repetition (step) is essentially the same) and heart rate is a poor proxy for output on weight training. Wearables, to date, cannot accumulate Central Nervous System (CNS) fatigue. What is CNS fatigue? It is loosely defined as the brain’s inability to actually send sufficient signals to allow for full (or nearly full) activation of the motor neurons. If the signal for motor neurons is reduced or the motor neurons themselves becomes less responsive this is considered CNS fatigue. In layman’s terms the athlete has an inability or reduced capability to create maximum tension, and a reduced ability to perform explosive/high skill movements. This is why sometimes you can pick weight up effortlessly and sometimes it is glued to the floor.

How do you predict CNS fatigue? Unfortunately, you don’t, it is generally one of those things where you start lifting and everything feels heavy. And your emotional feelings have nothing to do with your CNS. There have been many days I haven’t felt like training – felt fatigued and drained – and was able to push big loads. CNS fatigue is very different to peripheral fatigue.

EEEP….this was so long. I’m going to end this….If you have questions!! Please ask! I’m passionate about helping everyone workout in ways they love, and find stimulating….without killing them faster, or making them a useless person in their real life. Energy systems matter! Exercise enhances life – it isn’t life, unless you are a professional athlete.

Until the next time….keep moving, and eat your veggies.