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Hi Aiya, sounds like you're already on the right track. Just a few thoughts... With all of my beginner students I tend to focus heavily on the contraction part of the contract-relax sequence to first develop awareness of what is being stretched. The relaxation and flexibility aspects come later. Also I want the clearest possible signal between the brain and what's being stretched, so I try to remove anything that may be a distracting or overwhelming sensation. You may find unilateral stretches better for this purpose than bilateral ones as this will instantly halve the

Is it a good idea to deadlift while suffering from back pain? Let's find out! Deadlift: 1x3x135kg + 1x4x122,5kg Performance suffered a bit, of course, but overall I can't complain. I felt sensations in my right lumbar during the movement and some soreness afterward, but nothing major. Pull-ups: 3x6 Chest dips: 3x7 Triceps dips: 2x5

I am pleased that it didn't seem to do you any harm. For me, the answer is the usual "it depends". I have suffered varying degrees of acute lower back pain for decades. But I generally find that it is most stable, when I am deadlifting heavy on an at least semi-regular basis. My back seems to enjoy the occasional challenge. Nothing else keeps it happy in the same way. If it is stiff, because I slept poorly (all the damn time), or spent too long carrying the 5yo, or worked all day in the garden; deadlifting is my best friend. If it is experiencing an acute bout of debilit

I wonder about using small repetitive stretches (not intended to increase range) going into and out of the comfortable maximum position, to develop the awareness of what a stretch feels like. (I also strongly agree with Nathan's comments; particularly sensations from areas like the wrists - and I would include ankles and fingers, but not use the neck)*. As pointed out, I also guess that one problem with having a tight insensitive body, is that it is so easy to go to the final position that everything locks up immediately, and this becomes the normal sensation, so is not experienced. In my (

The wall and floor pec and bicep stretches are fantastic, you'll find those in the master shoulder flexibility program along with the ring single arm reach. They won't give the same result but they are solo and you get to compare left-right differences which is an additional benefit. If you don't have access to that program yet, get it. Otherwise, you can check out one of Emmet's video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ7tgOHj9vM

Hi TonyW, a very general recommendation is that gentle stretching, limbering, mobilisation, movement etc. can be done daily while deeper stretching into new ranges of motion (using the contract-relax method) can be done once or twice per week. All depends on how your body recovers from those deeper sessions. For rounded shoulders or hunched forward posture I'd definitely add this partner pec minor stretch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mPbEggRY_k And for internal rotation of the shoulders (subscapularis), you could also try this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syBMUZmyJlA