100 Days of Lunges Challenge: Report Day 13

I've been working on my 100 Day Challenge and now is the time for an update.

Okay, prepare to be bored by details.

My left hip is closed. So, I'm a little pigeon toed on the left. When I try to do a left lunge, my toe pick goes right into the ice.

After 13 days, I have enough external rotation on the left leg, to not dig that toepick into the ice! It's still not a great lunge on the left, but it's improving. In another couple of weeks I may be able hold that position as I rise from the ice.

The right leg, I could always do a lunge, and I'm working on getting deeper. No progress on that. But I  have hopes.

So what am I using? Jill Miller's Hip Helpers....possibly the best exercise video ever made.  Contents:
Yoga breathing section, 68 minutes of detailed instruction on how to do the yoga positions correctly and make modifications if needed, 58 minute yoga session, and a copy of the entire thing on MP3 for putting on your computer or phone. Plus, closed captioning!

I don't do the entire yoga practice, I do the first 8, then I do a few more select exercises from the rest as I improve and gain strength  I add new ones. Each exercise is videoed as a stand alone exercise so it's easy to just skip to the ones you want. I usually set the video to mute, turn on the closed captioning and listen to music.

To test my improvement off-ice, I prop my 'skating foot' on the yoga block (to give me the height of the blade) and do the lunge. This is much, much easier than on ice, but it still shows my improvement. Also, I'm now doing it on ice (though it's not great).

If you use this technique, make sure to lay the free foot
on its inner side to get a true skating lunge
Also, use figure skating arm position

 In addition to the Hip Helpers, I'm also doing XBX daily, and lift weights a couple of times a week. I've had some weary evenings. But hot damn, do my hips feel good!