Conditioning

[gripper]

IN earlier threads a few here(Hi Aslan!) made reference to getting back into condition.Thought I'd drop a few lines out htere to see how it goes.
I was doing the gym reat thing thru the winter;not so much heavy lifting ;but resisted cardio and various body weight circuits and combos trynig to keep it together. Its hard when you work nights;harder when you want to get back into TMA ,practical H2H or whatever but lack the time /cash.
Now that the weather is finally improving;I thought I'd try to run outdoors this past week....OWWWW!..:eek:I got it done,but man ;some things never heal back to 100%
Aslan;my feet soaked up a lot of damage over the years ,from breaks;heavy usage as both a soldier and someone who ran a lot in his own time(up to 2005 I was a regular half-marathon competitor in Ma and NH).
The VA suggested either re-breaking my feet(:eek:)or usinng orthotics in my work shoes balanced by (pun intended)exercising caution.
You have extensive experience inTMA from discplines that are very focused on footwork when training.You must have encountered folks trying to re-hab their feet.Any ideas RE foot specific exercises ?I have not trained barefoot in a dog's age;but would like to get back into it as a balance to the other stuff.
I don't know if I will ever run a race again,but I find gyms too "jailhouse when its this nice out.

[Aslan]

After my foot healed, I found it very painful to do simple things like raise up on the ball of my foot - so I made a point of doing just that, hundreds of times to work the muscles and tendons.

I also had to rehab my knee - walking in the stupid boot caused all kinds of fun stuff in my knee.

Resistance work with a large elastic band helped there.

Swimming, now that summer is not too far off is pretty good for the feet - do a variety of strokes. Also, you can do kicks and stuff in the water that will cause your ankle and foot to flex against the water resistance. That can help build strength and flexibility.

Feet are a tough one to deal with - way too many little bones, muscles and tendons.

While in the dojo, I work out barefoot, at home I workout in shoes.

Guess what I will probably be wearing in a situation where I need to defend myself?

You could probably develop some decent moves wearing shoes / boots that had ankle support or orthotics in them.

Probably focus on thrusting type kicks - heel or ball of foot and avoid anything requiring the blade of the foot (like crescents).

A good thrust to the inside of a knee will definitely mess up someone's day.

But dang, I'd talk to a sports medicine doctor to see what they suggest.

I'd hate to suggest something that caused you more damage than good...

[gripper]

Thanks Aslan. Sorry for the delayed response;I have been busy &pre-occupied.
You are right RE the edges of the feet as striking surfaces;I always much preferred the heel and the ball(glute and hip driven;anchor point the opposite foot&hamstring).
I was able to do a couple of 40-60 minute outdoor runs the last 2 days;varied grade and terrain. I still prefer up hill work(less pounding),but I try to consciously focus on weight shifts and foot placement. I have to think about pointing my feet /toes froward these days;almost like my fight days when I would literally use my big toe to throw the thumb(index a punch).
Today I stayed in the gym;an hour of resisted cardio on the cross-trainer,4 sets of 50 finger push-ups,situps bridges and table-makers.
Nice thing about that stuff is it feels SO GOOD TO STOP:nuts:

[gripper]

Aslan, you are definitely right about the whole footgear/ankle support thing...I seem to do good with shoes that have the internal equvalent of a Muay Thai foot wrap...not always an easy thing to find. So far, altertnating my work shoes with the (VA made ) orthotic insert,and varying my training(hill run yesterday, indoor cardio today) seems to help. Now if only I could get enough sleep and eat right again. I am a skinny ,wiry sort,but I definitely function better with cleaner burning fuel.Oh well, if my major vice seems to be goldfish crackers torwards the end of my (night) shift,it could be worse.