Alrite, so I know in skateboarding a lot of people ain’t too focused on how good they feel off the board. I mean you got cats who can party the whole night then puke it up in the morning then straight destroy shit the whole day. However for some of us that method of life just doesn’t work. Personally for me I can’t even fucks with alcohol or inhale any type of air thats filled with smoke, it just messes with my mind and I don’t skate as well. And since I live by the fact that we can die any day, I like to feel good as much as possible. I also like to have energy to do shit outside of skateboarding, like hop on my bicycle and ride it as far as fucken possible without feeling like I’m gonna die 30 minutes into the shit. So this is the first of a series of articles to hopefully inspire you to feel better mentally and physically through treating your body right.
When I lived in San Francisco I was working a super physical job 10 hours a day, 4 days a week, getting paid $75 a week and living off of food stamps. I was an intern with the National Parks Service. Yea, the first week I was like, what the fuck am I doing here? I’m a skateboarder. But I stuck with it and in the end ended up getting in a lot better shape than I used to be. It helped with my skating by hiking far as fuck, hauling rocks up hills, and it just kinda kicked my ass for a little bit. Right down the street from where I lived they had free yoga classes, and through the advice of some pretty girls who lived next door I started hitting them up every week. The classes were 2 or 3 hours long but time disappeared and afterwords you got a natural high when you walked outdoors.
I tend to stretch as much as possible anywhere and everywhere. Stretching helps with your ollies and flexibility. So utilize at your own desire. There was an article in one of the skate mags a few years ago asking pros “What would do you wish you had done different through your career?” and in the words of Rick McCrank…
“Stretched more”
Usually the first thing I do is just try and reach for the sky, or in this case the ceiling. Then I try and touch my toes.
Afterwords I’ll rise back up and stech my calfs, both sides. This helps with balance by the way. Then I’ll go to the ground and sit on my knees and lean back. Don’t rush this stretch. It took me a while to be able to get completely flat.
Then I’ll go into the allah sun prayer position which feels super good. Then I raise up back into an almost like ready to sprint position.
I go back to certain stretches a lot. Do each stretch until you feel good and loose. I also stretch my arms just to balance out my whole body.
Stretch both arms then I go back to the ground to the butterfly stretch. Just try and lean into your legs.
This stretch gets my lower back really in tune.
There are so many more stretches you can do. Being limber and loose will prevent injuries and increase your confidence on a board.
Next time in health… diet. What foods to eat to give you more energy, and what foods to avoid.
Peace.