Move with May

Tibialis anterior (shin) activation is often used for:
• improving dorsiflexion (ankle mobility)
• foot and arch control
• flat feet / excessive pronation
• shin splints
• helping the body maintain ankle mobility during daily movement
In the original standing tibialis anterior activation demo, the exercise is performed facing the wall.
But when I tried it, I noticed I wanted to hinge my hips back instead of staying upright and getting true ankle dorsiflexion.
I’ve seen wall tib raises used in other programs before, but the Brookbush cueing about toe position and inversion completely changed how the exercise felt.
For me, this variation made it easier to stay aligned.
Brookbush explains that curling the toes may help reduce compensation from overactive long toe extensors and increase tibialis anterior activation.
I noticed a big difference when curling the toes versus not curling them.
Another thing Brookbush points out about this variation compared to the resistance band version:
The effectiveness depends heavily on effort.
If you casually lift the feet up and down without really trying to reach end-range dorsiflexion, you probably won’t get much from it.
But if you actively try to lift as high as possible and hold the position with control, the exercise feels completely different because you’re working against the resistance of your own calf complex.
Sometimes small adjustments — and more intentional effort — completely change how an exercise feels and what muscles you actually use.

No, you’re not supposed to be sore after every workout.

A little soreness when you start something new? Normal.
But if it’s happening every single session, it usually means something’s off.

Most of the time it comes down to:
– doing too much, too soon
– training inconsistently (so your body never adapts)
– or pushing to failure every workout

And something people don’t talk about enough:
👉 recovery matters just as much as training

If you’re always sore, it can also be a sign you’re:
– not eating enough (especially protein)
– not sleeping well or enough
– or just not giving your body what it needs to recover

The goal isn’t to feel wrecked after every session.
The goal is to get better over time.

When you’re consistent, soreness usually decreases after a few sessions — even if the workout stays the same. That’s your body adapting.

If you want less soreness and better results:
– train consistently (2–3x/week is enough)
– leave a couple reps in the tank
– focus on quality, not just exhaustion
– and take your recovery seriously

You don’t need to destroy your body to make progress.

Pregnancy and postpartum demand a lot physically — and not always in perfectly “balanced” positions.

You’re holding a baby on one side, carrying bags with the other, pushing strollers, lifting car seats, rotating, stabilizing, adjusting.

That’s why I love asymmetrical carries during pregnancy training.

Not because they look fancy.
Because they prepare people for real life.

And honestly? This applies to dads/partners too.

Pregnancy training isn’t about shrinking yourself. It’s about building capacity for what’s ahead.

I’ve been taking courses through the Brookbush Institute — an evidence-based education platform for personal trainers and corrective exercise specialists created by a physical therapist.
As someone with flat feet myself, learning more about lower leg dysfunction, ankle mobility, and foot control has completely changed how I think about movement and corrective exercise.
Brookbush demonstrates this exercise using a treatment table setup, but I wanted to show how it can also be adapted at home using a door anchor and mini band.
A lot of people work on ankle mobility with:
• calf stretching
• foam rolling
• ankle mobilizations
…but forget to strengthen the muscle that maintains that motion.
The tibialis anterior (shin muscle) is the primary ankle dorsiflexor (lifting the foot toward the shin) — and helps control how the foot lowers during walking, running, jumping, and stairs.
Every time your heel hits the ground, the tibialis anterior helps decelerate plantar flexion (lowering the foot toward the floor) so the foot doesn’t just “slap” into the ground.
This muscle is commonly associated with:
• dorsiflexion (knee moving forward over the foot without the heel lifting)
• arch/foot control
• shock absorption during gait
• flat feet / excessive pronation
• shin splints
And in many people, it tends to become relatively long and under-active.
That’s why improving ankle mobility isn’t only about releasing tight calves or mobilizing the ankle joint — your body also needs strength and control to actually use that new range of motion during daily movement.

Brookbush Institute

I've been wanting to post this for a while. I'm on a different island this weekend so I thought, while I have a minute - it would be a good time to post about a previous trip and what I learned.

I used to think everything was a sign.
Now I think they’re tests—of how badly we want something, how we handle pressure, and who we choose to be in those moments.

This trip made that really clear to me.

The first time we tried to come here, I didn’t even make it. We rented a motorbike for the hour drive… and less than halfway in, it started pouring. Then the bike broke down. We were stuck in the rain, waiting forever for help. My husband stayed, got the bike fixed and continued to his destination for his trail race. I got overwhelmed, started crying, and eventually left. I gave up on the trip completely.

Fast forward to this time. Second attempt. Same place.
We planned things differently - no bike this time 😅.

It did rain again when we arrived at the hotel.

When I went out to check tour info— it poured.
When my husband went—no rain.

Old me would’ve taken that as a sign or got frustrated.

But this time… I didn’t react the same way.

No frustration, no spiraling, no giving up. Just patience.

And that’s when it clicked:
maybe it was never about the signs.
Maybe it was always about the reaction.

Same situation. Different version of me.

This ankle mobilization can help more than just your ankles.

Limited ankle dorsiflexion (the knee moving forward over the foot) can affect how the body moves during walking, stairs, lunges, squats, and other lower body exercises.

When motion is limited at the ankle, the body often compensates somewhere else.

Try this band ankle mobilization:

• Band sits low on front of ankle
• Keep foot flat
• Drive knee forward
• Gentle rocks at end range
• 15–30 seconds, then reassess

Learned this from the Brookbush Institute, an education resource for personal trainers and corrective exercise specialists created by a physical therapist.