Mick's Big Breath At Home

[Mick]

I did the 10 minutes of the Elephant Walk quite pleasurably throughout the day;
2x2-minutes,
1x3-minutes,
1x2-minutes,
1x1-minute.
I also spent 15-20 minutes in the morning lightly moving between bent-leg hamstring & hip-flexor stretch on both sides.

Felt a little sore today after yesterday's C-R session, but not too much and all in the right places. Tomorrow will probably be a little more sore, I guess. Overall, I think it was a good first effort. I will add a piriformis C-R sequence to next Saturday's session and see how that goes.

[Edit: I forgot to mention that I slept a lot today. It was like my central nervous system (or something) was drained of energy.]

Aside from that, I came across a thread started by Tris where he links to an isometric protocol - 

I remember coming across that a few years ago. Just didn't stick with it. I'm in a more suitable/focused frame of mind at the moment and with the current lockdown situation, seems like a good opprotunity. My SS has always felt strong - not that flexible, but I can hold myself in the position without support no problems (unlike FS). So I will give it a go and see how the tri-weekly sessions meld with my weekly hamstring C-R session.

Edited April 12, 2020 by Mick
Forgot to mention.

[Nathan]

2 hours ago, Mick said:

So I will give it a go and see how the tri-weekly sessions meld with my weekly hamstring C-R session.

Careful not to get greedy  Van Zandt is intense. I wouldn't recommend doing it alongside C-R sessions with overlap, which your hamstring session will almost surely have. If you really want to give the ISO protocol a fair try, I'd suggest avoiding serious C-R for the lower body and just doing some extra limbering if you feel the urge. If you feel like you need some more and want to keep the C-R work, then add another weekly C-R session and maybe some additional stretches. If you're set on doing both, swap one of the ISO sessions for C-R. But no matter which option you choose, I'd recommend adding to your routine gradually - more gradually than you would prefer, most likely 

[Mick]

So you're saying Gordon Gekko was wrong?!

I've taken on board what you are saying and will probably just add an adductor C-R sequence to my weekly intense session. So this Saturday I will do some prep stretches then focus on C-R for:

- Hamstring (bent-leg and straight-leg stretches)
- Piriformis
- Adductors (probably frog stretch and SS position)

Or if I really feel like I'm fatiguing after the piriformis sequence I can just not do the adductor sequence.

With that said, just to make sure I'm accurately expressying myself, I was thinking because it's a different muscle group it might be okay. However, I think you understood what I meant because you mentioned overlap... something I may have overlooked, or mentally pushed to the side with my fingers in my ears! Lalalalalala

I will continue with the C-R session (possibly adding a 2nd session weekly or doing the session every 5 days, rather than 7) for 6 months then reassess.

If I decide to then change it up and try Van Zandt's approach it would be better to do it 100% without mixing with other approaches. Thanks for the direct & sobering thoughts. That's why I'm posting here - to document my journey and to make sure I stay on a relatively un-careless path. Impatience is something I've heard/read Kit talk about and I'm prone to it like everyone (maybe even more so).

Today I had a splitting migrane and very sleepy/lethargic. Might have gotten a mild hold of the C-word. I did 2 x 2-minutes of the Elephant Walk but my head upside down made the migrane incredibly worse. So for the last 6 minutes of my daily 10 minutes of Elephant Walk, I did 3 minutes of the bent-leg hamstring stretch on each side, trying to replicate the motion of the Elephant walk. I must say, the feeling in my left hamstring is expanding.

Early in the day, I also spent a little while doing my balcony-fence calf stretch and a standard hip-flexor stretch.

[Mick]

Actually after writing my last post and sitting up for 30 minutes or so, the migraine subsided somewhat. So I did 2 x 3-minutes of the Elephant Walk. That's the 10 minutes total for the day!

[Mick]

- Stomach isometric & limbering exercises in between online lessons in the morning.
- Then in the early afternoon: a few minutes of my balcony calf stretch; 2 minutes of the Elephant Walk; hip-flexor/bent-leg hamstring/floating piriformis limbering for about 30 minutes; 3 minutes of the Elephant Walk.
- An ab workout following a pro squash player's routine (which I can't seem to attach here) followed by hip-flexor stretch on both sides.
- 3 minutes of the Elephant Walk.
- After a delicious feast of fish, my step-daughter was doing some gymnastics in the living room so I joined in and she sat on my upper-leg while I did a right-leg hip-flexor stretch. She's only about 27kg but it was a deeper stretch than normal. Then my wife sat on me while doing the frog stretch (an effortlessly deep stretch!).
- 2 minutes of the Elephant Walk.

 

[Mick]

Body was feeling strong DOMS today from the ab workout I did yesterday.
Definitely wanted to stretch out the hip-flexors.
I did so while staring at the garden. Don't know how long for but considerable minutes each side.
Then got into a relaxed side-split position (I say side-split but my groin is still probably 40cm off the ground) while resting on the balcony fence. Felt good to do after last nights impromptu weighted frog stretch.

Apart from that:

- Elephant Walk; 2 x 3-minutes then later on 1 x 4-minute. Total, 10 minutes.
- Balcony fence calf stretch on left, right, then left side again, each for a couple of minutes.
- Isometric core contractions.
- 10 minutes of Siu Nim Tao form (that's Wing Chun).

Oh yes, also practiced our Turkey national children's day dance with my wife and step-daughter!

[Mick]

- Isometric core contractions.
- A couple of minutes of balcony calf-stretch, left, right, then left side again.
- Used the garden steps for an elevated piriformis stretch on each side.
- 5 x 2-minutes of the Elephant Walk.
- 10 minutes of Siu Nim Tao form.
- Started up my lying meditation after a loooong break; 1 hour today.

Here is my weekly progress video of the Elephant Walk while cooking a big batch of mash potato (sorry for the not-so-great camera positioning):

 

[Nathan]

Okay, you get your bonus points for having Coffee Shop Conversations playing in the background 

[Mick]

3 minutes ago, Nathan said:

Okay, you get your bonus points for having Coffee Shop Conversations playing in the background 

 I swear it was curious timing. I was making mash before watching a movie with my wife so I had to film beforehand. In the kitchen right then was my last chance. I just happened to be re-watching Kit and Dave!  

[Mick]

In the morning;
- Isometric core contractions
- Light bent-leg hamstring & hip-flexor stretches between online lessons
- 2 x 2-minutes of the Elephant Walk

In the afternoon;
- A 2-hour C-R session (including 2 minutes of the Elephant Walk). I'll write some details tomorrow after the video has uploaded (it's late here).

In the evening;
- 2 x 2-minutes of the Elephant Walk
- 10 minutes of Siu Nim Tao
- 1 hour lying meditation

[Mick]

This is not my log for today. It's still 3pm.

This is the notes & video I shot of my C-R session yesterday (all up a handful of minutes over 2 hours):

*Prep exercises:
- Balcony fence calf-stretch, left, right, then left again
- 2 x 50 Hindu Squats
- Downward dog for a couple of minutes (usually I just feel my calves in this position but today I felt the hamstrings like I do when doing the Elephant Walk)
- Light frog stretch for a couple of minutes
- 2 minutes of the Elephant Walk

-----

For the actually C-R part, I was going for around 5 second contractions, usually with 2 variations, then a relax of the belly, a breath in and deeper into the stretch, and doing that cycle 3 times, finally holding for a minute or two (I didn't time anything). I added text for the lunge & straight leg hamstring stretches to at least be clear about what I was trying to do (because that’s my main focus/weakest link for the moment) but didn’t bother text for the others;  frog stretch, side-split, piriformis, hip-flexor.

Lunge hamstring;
0:00 Left leg
4:22 Right leg
8:10 Left leg again

Straight-leg hamstring stretch;
12:12 Right leg
17:06 Left leg

Lunge hamstring again;
23:12 Right leg
27:35 Bonding with cat
27:58 Left leg

Frog stretch;
32:26 1^st time
37:10 2^nd time - with my wife sitting on me at the end for a couple of minutes (I eventually did get out of the position… very slowly!)

Side-split;
42:18 1 cycle

Piriformis;
46:42 Left leg
51:39 Right leg
57:09 Left again – toward the end of this one I was pressing my bent leg outward with my hands which seemed to create space for my TFL to release, allowing me to feel the piriformis stretch much deeper.

-----
*As a sidenote, as I do the Elephant Walk more & more, the release of the left TFL is what allows my knees to come together in a relaxed way which then seems to help with the position of my pelvis. I found a couple of threads talking about the TFL. I don’t know to what extent because I haven’t had a block of time to sit down and have a good read, yet.
-----

Quad/hip-flexor;
1:02:50 Right leg
1:06:30 After the right leg stretch I rocked back into a straight left leg hamstring stretch and did a couple of impromptu contractions. Then as I relaxed into the stretch for a couple of minutes the leg was shaking quite noticeably (if you look close enough you can see my toes shaking, 1:08:20 for example). I remember reading somewhere shaking like this can often mean there is some sort of deep change going on. It felt like it. Either way, I will just keep going.
1:10:48 Left leg

1:16:53 I finished up just enjoying moving between a floating piriformis & bent-leg hamstring stretch because it felt good (Ray Charles helped!)
1:19:16 Left leg forward.

 

Overall, I pushed harder than last week (I didn’t really feel any DOMS after last week so thought I might have gone a bit light). In one of the last hamstring stretches toward the end of the session, I was feeling the stretch quite well. I didn’t want to force things, however I think in the future (after some more similar sessions) that would be a time to stay in the stretch for longer, do another contraction, or just ride it out more. As I said, I was being mindful of still taking things gradually.

-----

That was all written yesterday. Today I am feeling my hamstrings have been worked. I think it's good I didn't push any more than I did.
Before I discovered Kit demonstrating the lunge hamstring stretch, any time I tried to stretch my hamstrings they would be so tender for about 5 days I couldn't even lift them. It was a dead-end. Yesterday was the most I've ever 'pushed' my hamstrings in any kind of C-R session. As I said, I can feel they have been worked however I can still use them, meaning I have done a light lunge hamstring stretch, Elephant Walk, and they don't feel destroyed (...or is there a time when you do push your limits and the next day you feel destroyed?).

My point is that even though my absolute flexibility is low, I am feeling positive & focused about persisting with this. I guess the real test comes when I'm not feeling 'positive' and whether I just keep plodding along!

 

[Mick]

From today:

- Isometric core contractions
- Light hip-flexor and lunge hamstring limbering for about 15 minutes
- Balcony fence calf-stretch for a handful of minutes; left, right, then left again
- Stretched out front of neck for about 10 minutes, finding tight lines & just staying there passively for a while
- 5 x 2-minutes of the Elephant Walk
- 10 minutes of Siu Nim Tao
- Lying meditation for 1 hour

[Mick]

I could feel my inner left hamstring and the whole left hip today.

I still did the daily 10 minutes of the Elephant Walk (3 x 2-minutes + 1 x 4-minutes). I found that when I concentrated solely on trying to keep my chest on my thigh I could stretch it with no fear and actually the slight tenderness of the inner hamstring became unnoticeable. The tricky bit was at the start when I was testing to see how it felt. In the past I would have been fearful because there was even just a little tenderness. But I just moved slowly. In the final 4-minute lot I was planning on doing just 2 minutes. But it was feeling different in a good way so I continued.

While sitting on the couch I was straightening the left leg with toes flexed and imagining pulling my heel into my hip. That seemed to be lightly activating the whole chain of muscles I deeply stretched a couple of days ago. Felt good to be able to play with it without the lingering feeling of having done damage (like I've always experienced in the past after any attempt at a C-R session for hamstrings) even thoough it's probably the most I've ever pushed myself in a session.

I also did the balcony fence calf-stretch, a light hip-flexor stretch and some squatting in the garden.
Isometric core contractions.
10 minutes of Siu Nim Tao.
Lying meditation.

I'm finding that documenting what I'm doing (no matter how small) is helpful. This is good.

[Mick]

The fatigue/slight tenderness in my left hamstring has subsided fully. And my body is feeling the difference in flexibility between left & right hamstring more now. I think I mean I'm more aware of the imbalance, specifically, not that it has increased.

Anyway, it's exciting for me.

I did 2 x 3-minutes and 2 x 2-minutes of the Elephant Walk. It is actually something I look forward to now rather than just trying to withstand the engagement of my quads. I'm finding that staying in the position for 3+ minutes has a cumulative effect and I start to feel the muscles more deeply and more connected. Probably not much in terms of increased range of motion just yet!

I also tried a TFL stretch that Kit described which I found in Nathan's Nook, I think (sorry, didn't make note of the post # .. will do in future). Here is the description -

-----

TFL: hanging side stretch (you have ladder bars, I believe); feet next to bars, and hand directly sideways, from outside arm. Then (this is the sneaky bit) let the outside hip roll to the front by an inch or so (until you feel the line you want to work) and place the inside arm in a position so you can use its strength to push you in the slightly diagonal line. Once TFL is sufficiently tensioned, press the outside foot forwards and sideways at the same time (the contraction); stop, relax, adjust hands and then use the inside arm and gravity to stretch that baby out. You can play with the proportion that each force contributes to the stretch; if you want more gravity, bend the inside leg at the knee; more lateral, use the inside arm more. You'll feel it once you are on the right line.

-----

And here is me trying it -

Amazing, I know!

Afterward, I re-read the description and I could be using my inside hand (although I was just feeling the passive stretch, not doing any contractions). But in general, it feels like one of those stretches that my body needs at the moment. I will keep going with it.

I also found a little orange square cloth thing I cut up a few years back. It helps my front foot in a lunge hamstring stretch to slide forward. I was playing around with sliding my foot forward & back in a slow dynamic-style stretch, focusing on keeping my chest on my thigh. Chest on the thigh is an amazing directive

Apart from that, just more light limbering today.

[Nathan]

Check out this recent video from Kit and Olivia:

 

[Mick]

Fantastic, thank you!

[Mick]

Had endless online parent-teacher meetings today. Still managed to do 10 minutes of the Elephant Walk. In between lessons I used my little cloth slider to extend & bend my front leg in the lunge hamstring stretch. I can feel my body detaching from long-standing hamstring-fear ever so slightly.

I played around with the stretch in the video above that Olivia shows. Definitely good for around that spot she mentions (as well as lats), on the right side for me (from all my years of playing squash). On the left side I noticed tighter lines lower down around the hips. I'll keep exploring with it.

Apart from that, I also did a 40-minute squash specific workout following a pro, which I do every Tuesday.

Now I'm falling asleep as I write so probably time to go to bed.

[Mick]

Busy again with work today. And a bit of DOMS in the shoulders and lats after the workout yesterday.

For the Elephant Walk, I did 5 minutes in one go, later 2 minutes, then finally 3 minutes. I'm becoming more aware while coming out of the extended position, as I return to my exaggerated starting position. Particularly the left side. I took it slower and had the control to pause when I felt like it and lightly engage the muscle. Only for an instant. Then I could relax more consciously. I think this is one reason I can continue with the movement for longer now. That is, my body is not constantly under tension.

Because I am busy for the next few weeks, I know I won't be able to do as much as I would like. So having this commitment to at least do the Elephant Walk for 10 minutes every day is maintaining a thread to my current primary goal of letting my hamstrings become more flexible

I did some light limbering in the lunge hamstring stretch as well as my balcony fence calf stretch.

Tomorrow is national children's day here in Turkey so no work! And I will do my weekly C-R session.

[Mick]

I did a C-R session today. I'll upload a video & details tomorrow because it's late here.

Before I started I had done 2 x 2-minutes of the Elephant Walk (as well as the balcony fence calf stretch, left, right, left). In the midst of the C-R session I did it a few times at moments when my body just felt like it. Each time I was feeling deeper in the stretch (subjectively, at this stage, this doesn't necessarily mean being able to straighten my legs more, it's that I have more freedom to keep my chest on my thighs as I straighten my leg/s). And the last block of the Elephant Walk I extended both legs together (2:50) and definitely felt less imbalance from left to right. It's still there, of course. But it was exciting not to notice it as prominently.

Here is a video of the final Elephant Walk at the end of the C-R session:

 

Edit: Forgot to mention I played around with the stretch Olivia is demonstrating in the video up the page. Similar feelings as last time.
I also started trying ... not sure what it's called... you stand away from a wall, legs straight, hinging at the hip with a straight spine and place your hands flat on the wall to stretch out the thoracic spine. When I find the picture I saw somewhere on these forums I will re-post it here!

[Mick]

I woke up without feeling any real DOMS and in between morning lessons I played around with a light hip-flexor stretch (which felt great) and the lunge hamstring using my little cloth to slide my front foot forward & back ever so slightly. It felt similar to the Elephant Walks last night. Then by afternoon DOMS had crept in. All I did for the rest of the day was:

- Balcony fence calf stretch which I felt in quite a strong (good) way; left, right, left. I think I will do some C-R stretches for my calves in the next heavy session.
- Neck limbering finding tight lines and staying there momentarily, moving back & forth.
- 5 x 2-minutes of the Elephant Walk.

Video for the C-R session from yesterday is a big file and Turkey has slow internet this weekend which may or may not be a deliberate move from the government. Either way, it's taking ages to upload so I'll update here tomorrow.

[Mick]

Here is the video/time-marks from the C-R session I did a couple of days ago -

Lunge Hamstring
0:00 Limbering
2:30 Left
5:34 Right
9:55 Left

Impromptu Elephant Walk
14:02

Straight-leg Hamstring
16:40 Right
19:51 Left

Hip-Flexor to Straight-Leg Hamstring
23:03 Right HF
26:47 Left Ham
29:45 Left HF
33:24 Right Ham

Frog Stretch
36:01

Impromptu Elephant Walk #2
41:16

Tailor Pose
44:24

Tailor Pose #2
48:22

Impromptu Elephant Walk #3
54:10

Leaning Back Hip-Flexor thing (must have a proper name…)
57:24

Hip-Flexor to Straight-Leg Hamstring #2
58:00 Right HF
1:02:15 Left Ham
1:05:00 Left HF
1:08:31 Right Ham

Lunge Hamstring
1:11:21 Left

Side Split Position
1:14:57

Impromptu Elephant Walk #4
1:19:32

[Mick]

Today I did 5 x 2-minutes of the Elephant Walk.

I also did quite a lot of limbering throughout the whole day. And I wrote a list of stretches I have chosen to work with for the foreseeable future. This is based on what I've been doing over the last 3/4 weeks and some extra ones I've tried/remembered which I reckon target the tightest spots in my body. Apart from the 10 minutes of the Elephant Walk which I have committed to doing daily for 300 days (up to about day 26 I think), I will be doing these randomly as I feel compelled in an attempt to 'keep the ROM from the previous day'.
They are:

Hamstrings
- Elephant Walk
- Lunge hamstring stretch
- Standard Hip-flexor (sometimes into straight-leg hamstring stretch)

Calves
- Balcony fence calf-stretch (I'll take a photo of this one. It's nothing new just something very convenient to do while observing the garden & seemingly effective)
- Downward-dog
- Singe-leg dog pose (I tried this today; on my right leg I can feel as described/demonstrated, on the left I'm feeling it more in my hamstrings probably because it is still relatively inflexible. However I will keep going with it and try to do the opposite of 'avoiding the stretch I need the most')
- Elevated squat (I'll probably use my yoga mat to raise my heels a couple of inches)

Adductors
- Frog pose
- Tailor pose
- Side-split position

Piriformis
- Diamond pose
- Floating piriformis
- Advanced piriformis

Thoracic Spine/Back
- Hanging side bend
- Palms on wall while hinging at hips with straight legs (still haven't found it again yet)
- Forward neck bend

Neck
- Left scalene stretch
- Front-neck exploration (finding tight lines and hanging out there)

I won't do them all every day. Just what I can or what I feel like. This approach suits my current living/working situation. The thread is the Elephant Walk. Everything else is a bonus.

Aside from the daily limbering, I'm going to aim to do a C-R session every 5 days however sometimes it might change depending on my work schedule. For example, next week the only days I'm not busy all day are Monday and Friday. If I wait till Friday that will be 8 days since my previous C-R session. So, depending on how I'm feeling on Monday of course, I'll aim to do another C-R session (which will be 4 days since my last). But then after Monday I might wait until the following Sunday (6 days later). Just using this as an example to show that the time between each C-R session will be random, which I kinda like.

Edit: Today I also did my regular isometric core contraction routine.

[Mick]

It was a beautiful sunny Spring day and I spent a delightful couple of hours slowly going through light limbering stretches. I did the following:

- 2 minutes of the Elephant Walk
- Standard hip-flexor into lunge hamstring; right HF/left ham, left HF/right ham, right HF/left ham again
- Diamond pose
- Child's pose
- Half cobra (I think it's called... where you're face down on your belly then rest on your forearms)
- Spinal flexion/extension (from the daily 5) then left to right (looking behind you)
- 2 minutes of the Elephant Walk
- Hand-to-wall (from video in the Form Check section; https://kitlaughlin.com/forums/index.php?/topic/1599-hands-on-wall-pat-me-down-stretch/)
- Elevated squat (heels were on yoga mat about 2cm from the ground)
- Downward dog
- Frog pose
- 2nd time for Hand-to-wall (from video in the Form Check section; https://kitlaughlin.com/forums/index.php?/topic/1599-hands-on-wall-pat-me-down-stretch/)
- Tailor's pose
- Front neck exploration then forward-flexion of the neck
- Hanging side-bend
- Left scalene
- 2 minutes of the Elephant Walk

Then in the evening:
- 2 x 2-minutes of the Elephant Walk
- 10 minutes of Siu Nim Tao
- 1 hour lying meditation

[Mick]

I stumbled across a nice 5-minute mini-mix of non-invasive stretches to start the day -

- Calf stretches on the balcony fence
- Neck stretches exploring around the front of the neck
- Wall middle and upper backward bend

Then in between lessons I explored standard hip-flexor & lunge hamstring stretch. I also did 2 minutes of the Elephant Walk.

After lessons and a meeting, I did a C-R session. I'll upload video & details in next couple of days. However, it included 2 x 2-minutes and 1 x 3-minute of the Elephant Walk. The last set was again very exciting to feel. The left leg had very little discernible difference from the right leg. It was like a little taste of freedom (in terms of muscle symmetry, not amazing ROM!).

I just finished the day with another 2 minutes of the Elephant Walk. It's been about 5 hours since I finished the C-R session and hamstrings still felt fairly symmetrical. I'm curious how it will feel tomorrow. 11 minutes total of the Elephant Walk.

Last night I actually did 1.5 hours of lying meditation. I'm about to do 1 hour now. This is something I expect to increase in volume. While in Hong Kong, I went through a period of doing 2-4 hours straight every day. I'm not going to force it in this period but I am enjoying it again and feeling benefit as a balance to the physical aspect of my daily stretching.

[Mick]

Repeated the morning mini-mix non-invasive stretches from yesterday. Coupled with a couple of cups of coffee, it was a great start to the day!

In between lessons I did a bit of limbering with a few minutes on the hip-flexor into lunge hamstring stretches again. I'm really liking the orange cloth I've been using. And my left hamstring is getting more of a feeling of oneness to it. I feel like I can stretch it without just feeling one specific point on the inner hamstring like I have most of my life. It's allowing me to actually explore it a bit. I can change the weight distribution of my front left foot, for example, and slightly shift the position of my hips around. I'm starting to feel more strength with it too. Doesn't feel like it's on edge all the time while stretching. Anyway, it's encouraging.

In between lessons and parent-teacher interviews I darted out to the basketball court in front of our house and did a 30-minute session of squash ghosting drills. Felt good to do something squash specific again!

After all meetings were done I tried a calf-muscle C-R stretch. I'll have to find the Stretching & Flexibility book of mine to find out the name/number of it; basically just kneeling/crouching down with one shin facing the ground and the other foot flat on the floor so your chest is resting on the thigh. Just did a couple of light contractions. Gonna keep looking for other positions to do C-R with my calves...
After this I used the balcony rail to push with my hands while in a standard hip-flexor stretch. It seemed to help me sink my hip more. Then I rocked back into a straight-leg hamstring stretch on the other leg.

I did 5 x 2-minutes of the Elephant Walk. Doesn't quite feel the same as at the end of the last couple of C-R sessions, however, it has retained some of that symmetrical feeling... more than last time on the first day after the C-R session. Just needs more time & persistence I think.

Last night did 1.5 hours of lying meditation. Will probably just fall asleep tonight.