Bit By Bit Movement Studio

I’m thrilled to share a new resource: a Chain and Board Setup Guide! This guide has everything you need to prepare for our upcoming 2025 classes so you can fully dive into the work and maximize your experience.

Why This Matters:

Using the right equipment lets you explore movements and concepts more meaningfully, especially as we expand into next year’s programming. This setup will enhance our exercises' stability, feedback, and versatility.

Links for Materials:

I’ve included links in the attached PDF to help you source the materials conveniently. Consider adding these items to your holiday wish list!

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need help setting up.

Looking forward to a fantastic 2025 with you!

I was asked about the use of walking and hiking poles. I did an Instagram live sharing my thoughts and tips for effective walking and hiking pole use. If you'd like to watch/listen you can do so. Or read on.

The number one reason I hear that someone uses poles is for balance. The second reason I hear is to take pressure off the knees. Everything I offer here about how to use poles achieves both balance and less pressure on the knees.

The sports definition of balance is the ability to stay upright or in control of body movement. I would add upright or in control of body movement as you move from point A to point B. When you use a pole or poles more points contact the ground. Of course, more points in contact with the ground can feel more stable but if the way you organize those points makes it harder to make space and move into that space the net benefit is negative. Having points contact the ground as you hike means more collisions impacting the tissues and joints. Plus there is more information coming in that the nervous system has to filter through, decide what is imperative and send directives out for each next point of contact which is more fatiguing. At the end of the day, more points to manage drains more of your resources.

Now if the way you coordinate contact of the ground with a pole helps you to make space and move into that space poles become helpful and reduce fatigue. It is commonly assumed that having the opposite arm and leg coordinate is optimal. But is it?

When you step with your right leg and foot and reach your left arm and pole into the space in front of you what comes next?

You now have a pole in the space you need to move your left leg and foot into. Coordinating the opposite leg foot with the opposite arm pole doesn't make space for you to move into.

Instead, pole plant and land the same side foot simultaneously. Not one and then the other but both points contact the ground at the same time. This is less fatiguing for a few reasons. It has the contact of the lower body and upper body work out instead of colliding with one another. It has information go to one hemisphere of the brain (when you step and pole plant with the left side it lights up the right half of the brain and vice versa) instead of ping-ponging between the two hemispheres. Try it.

Another way to improve your efficiency when using poles is to plant the end of the pole next to or slightly behind the fulcrum point of your foot. Planting the pole beside and or behind the fulcrum of the foot places more body mass over top and in front of the foot positioning you to be ready to take your next step. Allowing for quicker and more efficient movement.

Lastly when you use poles going downhill do not put the pole ends out ahead of you as I commonly see. Continue to use the same side pole and foot planting. Or try shortening the poles and holding the middle of the pole in your hand one pole end out in front of you and the other behind you and use each pole to help load the same side stance leg for better anchoring (which I discussed and shared drills for in my last email). Picture the dropping and catching in the air a pole as the same side foot hits the ground. Again, try it. It makes you feel much more secure in your contact with the ground than using poles out in front of you acting as a break to slow you down.

Pole use can enhance hiking efficiency and balance. It can also hinder it and result in greater fatigue. Reach out with your questions about anything I've shared here.

Happy trails,

Dawn xo

PS I am teaching two in-person classes this fall, details are below. Email me to sign up.

PPS I hiked 130 km in August which is wild! A couple of amazing backpacking adventures in August were in Waterton from Goat Haunt to Hole In the Wall and back and the other in Glacier from Logan Pass along the Highline Trail and out Swiftcurrent Pass

I got to take my own advice. Three weeks ago I strained my left lower leg downhill skiing. My photo is the top left one. ⁣My injury was the 3rd in a string of lower limb injuries in our family, over the last few months. These things happen in 3s, right?

Now before you go saying “Dawn, this is why I don’t ski." We play hard and we've been injury free for a few years so it was bound to happen.

Statistically speaking, accidents happen when doing the things we do most often. This is why the insurance company asks if you drive to work. Accidents happen more when people drive more. Duh. 

I spend 100s of hours skiing each season. 

⁣

Accidents & injuries happen. They are a part of life. I assure you there is no way to bulletproof or injury-proof yourself. I’m grateful my body was as 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 as it could be for the spill I took.

Usually, someone seeks my help 1:1 for something just like this - they got hurt doing something they love - skiing, playing ultimate frisbee, mountain biking, trail running, playing hockey. Or they’re mostly healed and they do something that makes it hurt more than the usual flaring symptoms.

Typically these folks have been trying their damndest to fully recover but have a hard time gauging what is too little & too much to completely recover. That’s where I come in.

In the case of my family, all 3 of us, for the most part, did what I've prescribed to 1,000s of students & clients over the years:

1. First few days, get imagining/diagnosis, protect the area, elevate it, rest, compression (if the area tolerates) & avoid unnecessary passive treatments & medical investigations.  Take what you need for discomfort/pain so that you can sleep somewhat comfortably.

2. Day 4-10 - Move your body in all the ways you can that don't aggravate things. I opted to wear wedge shoes over using crutches so I could walk without aggravating things or stressing out my brain. Which was very keyed into & worried about my heel unexpectedly extending to the ground. Do stuff that has your brain not be hyper-vigilant about every movement. Keep doing the stuff from #1.

3. Day 10 - 21 - Edge into loads & positions that don't aggravate the area or cause the brain to be hyper-focused on what & how you are moving. This includes passive treatments that cause pain or where you anticipate pain.

4. Week 4 - 6 - Get the joints involved in the injury or in my case the ones above & below the injury moving more closely to what they were before the injury. This is where I have some awesome skills because I think about how to get the joints to move in ways that aren't obvious to most people. You can see some of what I came up with to get my ankles, knees & hips in this video. You'll notice the number of downward-moving strength movements I did versus the traditional upwards strength movements that generally include ad nauseam double & single-leg calf raises. None of us did a single calf raise (more on why we didn't in the future).

5. Week 6 to 1 - 3 years - This is the remodeling & maturation phase where the injured tissue needs progressive loading on the axis of loading. In plain english: you need to train the area in ways it will be used during the activities you do. This requires out-of-the-box thinking because traditional calf raises, squats & lunges aren't going to load my calf, ankle & foot stuff in the ways they are used when I hike & ski. I'm really good at this too. You'll notice in the video I use inclines & declines to simulate the weird angles  I need for skiing.

It'll be another week or two before I test how things feel skiing. I already know my calf & brain aren't going to be good with hard, icy conditions yet. There needs to be a few dumps of snow before I'm willing to see how things feel skiing.

If you have a new or lingering soft tissue injury that is keeping you from living the life you want, reach out. I’d love to support you in getting back to the activities you love.