10/25/2017 1 Comment week 6- halfway Welcome back to my blog! This is a super exciting week for me because I am very close to getting my needle. This is week six which means it is the halfway point so I am going to work very hard these next six weeks. These past six weeks have flown by and I haven't realized how fast time flies until now. When I first started this project i was thinking to myself that I am just going to take it show the whole time but now I have realized that I can't. Getting a needle is much harder than people think. It involves very hard stretches that you have to do weekly and getting more and more flexible as the weeks progress. I am in the final stages of getting my needle and I am very excited. I need to keep doing my stretches daily so that I become more and more flexible.
On Thursday of this week I went to my cheer gym and my coach helped me with my stretches. I haven't been to my cheer gym in a while so it was good for me to get back into the routine. When I got to the gym I first worked on tumbling just to get me warmed up and ready. Then after I got my muscles loose we started working on the flexibility aspect of it. I did a lot of scorpions to help me stretch for my needle and I did a lot of splits. I wasn't used to all of this stretching at the gym because they work you much harder. But this was a good experience for me to go because it made me a lot more flexible. Now I am going to start going to the gym every Thursday because it improved my ability to do a scorpion and I did more stretches there. One thing I am very proud of that I accomplished this week is something called a scale. A scale is lifting your leg a little bit higher than a scorpion and not quite touching your head yet. This gets me much more closer to my needle so I am very excited about this. When I did the scale I felt some sharp pain in my leg. To help with this I did some splits and some scorpions and tried it again.The second time I did it I didn't feel any pain at all and it made it easier to do the scale. The following weeks I just want to work on getting my leg a little higher every week. See you next week bloggers!
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10/18/2017 3 Comments week 5- taking it slow This week was a very simple week for me. Since I got my scorpion last week, I decided to take a week off and do all stretching to help me get my goal of getting a needle. When I got my scorpion last week I felt immense pain in my back and also my leg. After that I decided to do something about it and stretch. I searched up a lot of stretching techniques to do and I found quite a few that I was interested in. A stretch that really helps me is a back bend. Most people know what this is but spefically cheerleaders and gymnasts because it helps your back stretch very well. First you lay on the floor and then lift your back up so only your hands and feet are on the floor. This stretch is also called a "bridge" because you physically look like a bridge when your doing it. The back bend stretch is now going to be my main stretch for when I am about to do my needle or any other stretches.
I worked really hard on stretching this week because this is going to be my only easy week and the rest are going to take some work. I have heard of stories of people getting seriously hurt or pulling something when they try to do a needle. It is not any easy task to do and it will take a while. I am almost halfway from getting my needle so this means after week five it's getting serious. I was very serious about my stretching this week because I wanna make sure I don't hurt myself. If I hurt myself then that means I won't be able to accomplish my goal of getting a needle and it will make me very upset. This week in my view was a very successful week! I got a lot of my stretching done so that I am fully prepared to do my needle. For next week I am going to make sure my leg goes a little higher than my scorpion and I am going to do this technique every week. Coming up on week six after this I have decided to step it up a notch. I will be stretching extra next week to make sure that I get my needle. This will require me to be very determined and want to actually stretch. I will see you bloggers on week six! 10/11/2017 0 Comments week 4- scorpion Hello bloggers! This was a very exciting week for me because I finally accomplished my goal of getting a scorpion. I have been struggling to get one and this week I got it. I didn't hurt my back or my leg in the process and it also made me more flexible. To get my scorpion this week I had to do an immense amount of stretching. The reason I couldn't get my scorpion the previous weeks was because I wasn't doing enough stretching or preparing my body for a scorpion. So this week I buckled down and finally got the scorpion. Now since I have accomplished my goal of getting the scorpion the next few weeks are going to be very difficult. Week five I am going to take that week for just simply stretching for my needle. Stretching is the biggest part of my project and it will be the difference between either getting my needle or not.
This week whenever I actually got my needle I found it hard to balance on just one foot. I fell over a couple times once I got my scorpion and it frustrated me. I am going to concentrate on my balance a lot now and especially next week. Another challenge was that it was very difficult for my father to get a picture of me doing the scorpion because I do not have the best balance. There are a lot of challenges when it comes to being flexible. You have to eat right because that helps with the stretching of your body, you have too be careful not to hurt yourself and stretch daily. I have only sort of hurt myself once while trying to do the scorpion. When I was trying to do my scorpion this week, I stretched my leg a little farther than I should have and I felt a very painful sensation near my groin area. I have now been very careful about stretching too far and making sure to stretch before I try to do my needle or my scorpion. Well now is the time that I am on the verge of getting my needle after next week. My main stretch that I am going to do is putting my right leg against a doorframe and doing a needle that way. But before I try to do this stretch I am going to have to do some more simple stretches so I don't pull anything. I am just going to sit down and touch my toes and hold them, do some splits and just mainly simple stretches to get my body used to doing a needle. Some overextended splits would also benefit me greatly so I can get my needle but there is a chance that I may pull something. Doing overextended stretches can be a difficult thing to do but can benefit you greatly. Till next time bloggers! 10/4/2017 1 Comment week 3- the needle Hello bloggers! This is week three for my blog and I am very excited. Last week I almost accomplished my goal of getting a scorpion. But I ran into a bit of a problem. When I tried to actually do the scorpion I couldn't reach my leg to my head because I didn't stretch out enough. It was very difficult for me to stretch because I simply didn't have any motive too. But this week I am going to tell myself to stretch and simply get up and do that. This week I am going to get my scorpion so that I can come closer to getting my needle. If you get the simple techniques down first then it makes it more easier to get your needle. I have found that when you eat healthier that it makes stretching easier. Your ability to stretch is much more easier and it doesn't pull as much muscle.
When I did my stretches for last week I found that it hurt my back more than my legs. It caused immense pressure on my back and caused it to burn. I did not expect this to happen because when I was doing my split stretches, I was expecting my legs to pull bit instead my lower back had a lot of pain. To stretch my back I am going to do the cat stretch which is putting your knees on the floor and then leaning up and stretching your back. I have also learned that yoga will help with stretching and getting more flexible. I have a yoga mat at home so for my stretches this week I am going to do a lot of yoga. For some more steps in this process of getting a needle I am going to eat healthier, do stretches on Saturday now instead of skipping that day and also coordinate with my cheer-leading coach and stretch. Last week was not a very successful week because I really wanted to accomplish my goal of getting a scorpion but I didn't. I was disappointed in myself that I didn't get that goal last week but this week I am going to make sure I do. I will see you guys next week! |