-
Posts
696 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
80
Jim Pickles's Achievements

Very Esteemed Member (5/7)
381
Reputation
-
Jim Pickles started following Serratus posterior inferior - a neglected muscle , Hamstring strain and APT , Pushing up into a bridge (yoga wheel) and 1 other
-
Hamstring strain and APT
Jim Pickles replied to DeclanJ's topic in All topics relating to 'Stretch Therapy'
May I add, one thing that is common in our culture is called "anterior dominance" - that is, too much activation of the muscles on the front of the body (tightness, etc, due to overuse, emotional tension and poor posture) and not enough activation of the muscles on the back of the body. The correction is to rebalance it - increase the exercises that use the muscles on the back of the body (glutes, hamstrings, back muscles - including the small stabiliser muscles of the spine, etc). I hope you agree Kit. Please let me know if you dont. I was put on to this when two of my students had reported pulled hamstrings from doing very simple things, and got me reading up why it might have happened. After that, my classes always included exercises for activating the posterior muscular chains of the body. Jim. -
@SiW - re distribution of weight - I cant say. The centre of gravity of the body is around the pelvis, so most of the weight will be on the parts of the body nearest the pelvis, which I presume are the feet. On the other hand, you will feel the arms and shoulders working hard at stage 2->3, because they are the weakest link. Yes, at that stage you should be focussing on the arms and shoulders. One thing I suggest, is resting on the head after the initial lift with the arms, which will give you enough energy to lift with the arms to the next stage.
-
@Kit_L Actually, for me, I find that makes it more difficult. And the diagram explains why - the shoulders have to go further to raise the body above the dotted line if the feet are higher. On the other hand, I find it much easier if the upper body is raised (e.g. if it is done on sloping ground with the head higher than the feet). I presume then that it needs less strength in the shoulders. Maybe which is easier, depends on one's personal pattern of strength - you (and probably many of your students) are likely to be much stronger in the upper body than I am. About the "in-moving" - I guess you mean the feet closer in under the body. I get them as close to the hips as they will go, anyway. Do you have a picture of your best starting position?
-
People often find it difficult to get going on this, unless they already have quite a lot of flexibility and strength. When I try to teach it to my students, I have been finding it difficult to explain exactly what to do, except there is a rapid 1-2-3 of lifting hips, lifting shoulders, and pushing up. But a bit more thought and looking at videos suggests the solution. We know we are are very strong when straightening our arms and legs (straightening the knees and elbows). We are much less strong when pushing the arms and legs behind the body, at least when doing it by more than a small amount. For my explanation, see the attached diagram. The starting position (1) is with knees and elbows bent up. I hope you can understand my crudely-drawn stick figure. The knees are supported a (fairly) fixed distance from the floor by the lower leg, and the hands are supported by the floor. The dotted line connects these two points of support. 2. The next stage is to lift the hips. This is fairly easy. They may go just above the dotted line. 3. The next stage is to lift the shoulders by using the arms. This is much more difficult, because we are weak doing this. BUT to go to the next stage, the shoulders and hips must be lifted to above the dotted line. This is the stage at which people often get stuck through lack of strength and flexibility. 4. When the body is bowed above the dotted line, which connects the two points of support, then it can relatively easily be bowed up further by straightening the arms and legs (a strong action). I suggest it is best to push with the arms first, because the legs are much stronger than the arms, and if the legs are pushed first, the arms will collapse. 5. Now the body is strongly bowed upwards, and a the backbend can be further increased by straightening both arms and legs, which is relatively easy. Jim.
-
In relation to straddle splits - "How do you pick which type to train for?" I go for the one that feels best for me - which for me means feet flat on the floor for support, feet pointing outwards as much as possible, knees rotated forward but upwards as much as possible (i.e. about 45 degrees upwards), and pelvis tilted forward a bit. It is said to vary between individuals, but I get the impression that a turnout rotation of 45 degrees (of the thigh bone on the pelvis) or so is enough to release the mobility of the hip bones (stopping the greater trochanter hitting the socket of the hip joint). Another factor is minimising the sideways force on the knees, as any stretching of the ligaments at the side of the knee can destabilise the knee joint - one of the most vulnerable joints in the body. The more the knees point up, the less the sideways force on the knees will be. But I think in the end, it depends on your own pattern of flexibility and strength.
-
In relation to the lunge, as a preparation for the front splits, I strongly suggest that you clench up the glutes as much as possible (feel with your fingers, to check that all the muscles around the back of the buttock - inner as well as outer sides - are clenched as tightly as possible). This will help relax and open up the front of the hip. And hold it for a long time - at least 2 minutes, and then build up to longer. This will not only open up your front hip, but will strengthen and tone your glutes, a commonly underused muscle. I was taught this exercise by a practicing contortionist, and it transformed me - it changed my forward splits from something that I could only do occasionally and with a long warm up, to something that I could do as often as I liked, and with only a very very minimal preparation. I can now go into them cold if I want, but dont usually. It also helps if you raise your arms overhead and lean away from the hip you are stretching, as this will give an extra stretch to the psoas component (which runs from the front of the thigh bone onto the spine). Jim.
-
Can I add my views on partner stretching? I’ve been using and teaching the ST system for a couple of decades now. In some places I find partner stretching useful, in others not. As Kit says, “because all of our modern partner exercises, without exception, the stretchee (person being stretched) 100% controls of the depth of the stretch.” Yes, entirely, but it is not always possible to be confident that this happens. One reason for using partner stretching, is that it is fun. It makes social contact, and also allows the person applying the stretch (the stretcher) to feel through tactile feedback what is going on in the stretchee’s body – and this is very educational, because the stretchee (the person being stretched) may be getting so many sensations at once, that they find it difficult to sort out exactly what is going on. The excercises that I find NOT useful for partner stretches can I think be summarised as being the simple stretch of a single muscle or associated group of muscles. For instance, hamstring stretches. The stretchee on their own can apply as much force as needed (and indeed, easily too much) in these stretches. I find partner stretching counterproductive in these types of stretches. One issue is that the stretchee may worry about too much force being applied, no matter how good the partner feedback is. The exercises where I find partner stretching USEFUL, seem to be those that involve complex joints, many muscles, and probably have a large fascia component. A great example is the hip flexor stretch – a complex joint, many muscles, a large fascia component. Also backbends (ALWAYS supported, so stop the spine crunching). This stretches the whole of the front of the body in a way that you cannot do on your own. And many more. When we do these types of stretches in class, the members always enjoy them. Jim.
-
A recent news report alerted me to this issue. I am a firm believer in the value of supplemental magnesium as an anti-inflammatory - combined with the fact that it is difficult to overdose on (except for a few people with a genetic difference) because the extra is not absorbed and is just excreted. However, magnesium supplements often contain vitamin B6, which apparently enhances magnesium absorption and effects. The trouble is, that too much B6 can cause nerve damage (peripheral neuropathy) - and the B6 levels needed are not that high - maybe 50-150 mg/day. My magnesium supplements contain 60 mg/tablet of vitamin B6, so with 2-3 tablets/day one could be in danger. The recommended intake of B6 is 1.5- 2 mg/day, and the diet of most of us has sufficient anyway. The European Food Safety Authority set an upper limit of 12 mg/day for adults. So why do they do this to us? Why dont they let us decide for ourselves what we eat, instead of including ingredients that they only show in the very small print? So magnesium (in the supplements that we buy) isnt so safe after all. Jim. See https://www.tga.gov.au/news/safety-alerts/health-supplements-containing-vitamin-b6-can-cause-peripheral-neuropathy
-
Not at all. It gives me the chance to correct a common misconception.
-
Psychosomatic? Definitely not. Fibromyalgia is not properly understood, but there are changes in biochemical signalling in the brain - for instance, continuing inflammatory signals from the microglia (support cells) in the brain, and many other changes. It may result - in some cases at least - from a past virus infection such as Epstein-Barr virus (which gives mononucleosis/glandular fever) that remains in the body, and for unknown reasons is not cleared by the immune system, and keeps flaring up.
-
That clarifies it. As for the emotional and related issues, I cant comment, as I've never eexperienced anything like that myself. It is often said that backbending will evoke feelings like you say you have had, but I've never had that myself so cant comment from my experience. I can only suggest that you may be carrying a lot of tension in your body that you do not know about, in which case of course what you are doing with ST and I presume yoga is that ideal approach. This may come from a genetic difference in for instance your fascia - one of my students has a very tight body which I suggest is fascia-related, even though he has spent decades trying to counter it. Apparently all his family are like that - they are tighter than he is, but through continued ST he has stopped his own body getting tighter over time. One nerve that might be heavily involved is the vagus, since this runs in the area. However it is parasympathetic, so if your movements stimulated it, we might expect a damping down of stress rather than an increase. The diaphragm itself is innervated by the phrenic nerve, which has a sympathetic component, so maybe this has received some unusual stimulation. In which case I guess you have to repeat the exercise until the CNS becomes used to it (maybe). Jim.
-
Just to be certain what you were doing: "The exercise was to inhale with resistance by biting over a ball and then readjusting to completely block the air track afterwards. Now one needs to push with the diaphragm with 100% force," A muscle cant push, and can only pull, so please explain what you mean by "pushing with the diaphragm". Thanks, Jim.
-
The serratus inferior posterior – a muscle that is commonly neglected. For instance, it doesnt get a mention in Stretching and Flexibility. The muscle runs diagonally downwards from the lower ribs to join the T11, T12, L1 and L2 vertebrae (see fig). Its function is described as “drawing the lower ribs backward and downward to assist in rotation and extension of the trunk”. Drawing the lower ribs downwards is the function most often mentioned, and this is commonly used to suggest a role in forced expiration. I’ve had a bit of an interest in this muscle for a long time. It started in the days when I stood up from backbending. I found it I was part way up, if I contracted a muscle in this area, it made standing up from a backbend much easier – it was as though someone had placed a hand in the area to help me up. It was the only muscle that I could identify as a candidate in this area, but is was a bit of a puzzle, because we would expect it to ENCOURAGE back bending (by pulling the ribs back and down) rather than helping to get out of one. However every muscle has two ends, and it we view the upper (rib) ends as fixed (by the tensions in the rib cage) then the action would be to lift the T11-L2 region, maybe transferring the bend from lower in the lumbar region up towards the T-L junction, where different musculature could then help lift the torso further. Not sure if this explanation holds water but maybe someone has better ideas. I was more recently reminded of this muscle when doing a sphinx. It came in strongly and powerfully assisted in bringing the torso more vertical. I am maybe feeling it more now because it is also strongly activated when going into the arch body hold (arms up), in the way demonstrated in Olivia’s Vimeo video by going through intermediate stages first, with arms down, then out to sides. So I’ll emphasise use of this muscle routinely now when doing sphinxes with my students (which we do every week), as its so powerful in its effect. As I would encourage everyone else to do, if you're not aware of using already. Not sure if anyone will read of all this, but if anyone else has any use for this muscle, I’d appreciate hearing it. Jim.
-
- serratus posterior inferior
- backbending
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Folding past 90 degrees
Jim Pickles replied to sturob985's topic in All questions about the ST Starter Course here, please.
As well as everything else, I strongly suggest you do the downward dog, and at first dont attempt to put your heels to the floor. Then alternately lower the heels to the floor in time with the outbreaths. This will help stretch the whole posterior fascial chain, which is one of the major limitations of forward bending at the hips. It can give relatively rapid improvement in the forward fold, and you may be amazed by the results. And as Kit said, it is important to stay relaxed, and this is difficult if your hamstrings are holding your body weight up in a forward fold. So the other exercises listed here give a stretch while allowing the body weight to be taken off the hamstrings. The downward dog exercise uses body weight to stretch, but the fascia arent muscles, so you dont need to relax it in the same way (though you shoud of course relax the hamstrings and calf muscles as much as possible). Jim.