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I have a few exercises that I use with my students, that I call the “impossible exercises”, Well, they’re not exactly impossible, but its difficult to do them much, or we can do much less than we imagine we ought to be able to do. One is the transversus abdominis activator – lie on the back, arms crossed over chest, knees to chest, and then raise the sacrum a little bit off the floor. Surprisingly difficult. I get my students to learn the movement if they cant do it, by flinging the legs up a little bit and then getting the deep abdominals to come in at the end to give the legs and sacrum a little kick along the way. I hope this gives them the feeling of what activating the TA is like, so they can concentrate on that and enhance it. Why is it so difficult? This exercise is much easier if the legs are raised vertically instead (lying on one’s back). I think this shows why – when the knees are to the chest, the pelvis is tilted up towards the head at the front, so the TA is already shortened, so its difficult to make it contract more. Not sure if this is correct though. Maybe in that position other muscles can come in. Other impossible exercises are done on the front. One is a glut activator – lie on the front, one knee bent up to chest, other leg out straight behind. Then lift the straight leg off the floor, using the glutes – without bending the knee. I can do this on my flexible side, but only sometimes on my other side, and in neither case can I go far, or hold it for a long time. Many of my students can’t do it at all. To make it easier for them, I then get them to raise their hips up on a block, and then they can do it. Why is it so difficult? When standing, and not working against gravity, we can take our leg back at the hip much further than we can when on our front. I am not sure why, but it may be that with the knee bent to the chest, the pelvis (as in the previous case) is tilted up towards the head at the front, so the hip joint of the leg going back at the starting position, is already extended beyond its normal neutral position. So naturally it is more difficult to take it further. Again, I am not sure if this explains it fully. Another difficult one is the arch body hold. I and many of my students can passively (with our arms) push up quite high into a cobra. However we find it difficult to raise the upper body in the arch body hold more than a short distance, and difficult to hold it for a long time (though we are working on that). Why is the active range so very much less than the passive range? I think it might be just lack of strength (even on these people who are already stronger than the average). However it is a common gymnastic/contortion exercise to arch the upper body high just with back power, so the muscles are there – just not strong enough in us. Whether normal people need them that strong is another matter. Still, its frustrating that we are so bad. Same with the legs in the arch body hold. The active range is far less than the passive range (and unlike the earlier cases, the pelvis is in neutral, so there is no pre-contraction at the starting position which might explain the poor lift). Again, maybe lack of strength. If anyone has any views on this I’d appreciate hearing them, and whether they think my analysis is correct, because it is frustrating that we are so bad. If anyone cant understand the starting positions, I can post photos if needed. Thanks, Jim.

Hi everyone, I am currently experiencing fairly significant discomfort and muscle tightness in my mid thoracic spine and shoulder, rotator cuff and QL on the left side (lats/traps) which I am working on with the help of various ST stretches especially forward and backward bends, the neck series, spinal rotation and QL stretches. I also have a set of anti-gravity boots and bar and gymnastic bars coming and am working on creating a better fit "baby whale" (barrel to back bend over) as I find it really hard to hit the right spot. Today I discovered that if I clench my glutes really hard then the pain relieves immediately. As soon as I relax it comes back. Like turning on and off a button. Amazing! Further observation revealed that clenching my bum makes my pelvis tip up, reduces the curve in my lumbar spine and makes my shoulders drop back and down a little and my upper back muscles relax. Even more amazing! Fortunately I stand with my back to the wall in a corner at work and I have a fully adjustable standing desk so I can do this without looking too odd. Now I am wondering if perhaps as well as stretching my back I should focus on strengthening my bum (and loosening hip flexors?) If I clench my glutes too much, will I strain or over tighten other areas? Is it possible to strengthen/activate my glutes enough that I can achieve this posture naturally without such intense effort (which I can't keep up constantly - either I get tired or distracted). Finally, I am rather curious, can anyone shed any light on why this is happening? I understand glute strength/activation and pelvis position impact posture and when used correctly reduce back strain, but I thought this would occur over time. I'm surprised by the on/off (like a switch!) effect this is having on my pain. By the way, a Physio, chiropractor, osteopath and GP have all advised the back pain is from muscle tension (described as "like rope" and "like reinforcing rods") caused by typing/desk work and my rotator cuff being strained as my shoulders roll forward a bit like "wings." I don't have a specific injury, more like constant throb and tightness. I also have a patch around dinner plate sized on my thoracic spine, left side, where the skin feels "frozen" or numb to touch (like how hands feel on a very cold day without gloves and fingertips lose sensation). Thank you! Sorry my profile is "faceless" for now, pics on my phone are all too large to upload. I look forward to making my way through all of the excellent info on the threads (I have begun, but there is much to read and experiment with) and getting to know you all better, virtually. Ngaire

We made up this stretch on the fly for a student who for medical reasons didnt want to put her head down. I aimed to stretch the posterior chain in the way the downward dog does (though only on one side at a time). The front of the foot is raised on blocks to give a calf stretch and brought a long way forward to give a bit of a hamstring stretch as well. The hip on that side is pressed back strongly. What was surprising is how different it was from the downward dog. Most of us felt it strongly along what might have been the line of the glutes, one student felt it stongly on the inner thigh. I guess it is going to pick out different muscles depending on pre-existing tightnesses and patterns of use, as well as subtle rotations during the stretch. However, because it targeted a different pattern of muscles from a downward dog (and incredibly valuable stretch in my opinion), it might be a useful stretch in peoples' armoury (even if they can do the downward dog). Out of interest, has any one tried this stretch, is it a standard one, and what are your opinions of it? Jim.