Mick's Big Breath At Home

[Nathan]

8 hours ago, Mick said:

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.

Page 62: 18. Floor folded leg calf (soleus) 

[Mick]

Thank you

And I just (re)found this one which is good for my current condition, I think -

 

[Mick]

Feeling decent DOMS today from the squash ghosting drill I did yesterday. Reminded me that piriformis is one I can focus on, together with the hamstrings. In the squash world we call it squash-butt. If you ever see a professional squash player (particularly male players), it's likely they have pronounced glutes and an ass that sticks out somewhat

I also came across a Facebook video of Olivia discussing how stretching the piriformis can help with the Elephant Walk. Fortunately, I have been playing around with the Diamond Pose in the last couple of days. It's one I can do anywhere, anytime (as opposed to Adv. Piriformis where I need to get cushions, mat and some sort of sheet to protect the cushions). I'll keep the Adv. Piriformis for my heavy C-R sessions.

Feeling stronger in the Elephant Walk and more consistently feeling more 'even-ness' on the left side.

This morning in between lessons I did some light limbering with the Lunge Hamstring stretch using my cloth, as well as a modified piriformis stretch resting on the sofa.

After work I did light limbering/stretching with:
- Lunge Hamstring with cloth
- Floating piriformis
- Balcony calf stretch; left, right, left
- Wall middel and upper back backward bend
- 3 minutes of Elephant Walk
- Downward dog
- Squat, knees together, while pulling myself towards balcony rail
- Squat, knees out, while pulling myself towards balcony rail
- Frog pose (realised I had been neglecting the forward movement of the pose until yesterday)
- 3 minutes of Elephant Walk
- Tailor Pose; I felt what seemed like a little hip rotation while in the stretch which made me think of the pancake. I'll see if I have a similar feeling over the next few days and, if so, maybe check in with the pancake to see what it looks like compared with the first post of this thread. It might be exactly the same so I'm in no rush to dispel any possible illusions/delusions

In the evening I did 2 x 2-minutes of the Elephant Walk, the Diamond Pose a couple of times playing with both the straight and bent back postures, tried the ankle soleus stretch from the above video, then finished with 10 minutes of Siu Nim Tao.

[Mick]

Below is my C-R session from Monday. I had a big lunch a few hours beforehand so was still feeling that. Plus I had already decided it was going to be a, shall we say, measured session. It was 3 days ago. I'm currently in a rest phase, particularly for my left hamstring & hips, which is my main focus for the foreseeable future. Fortunately I have the next 3 days completely free (no work!) so I will rest up and do another C-R session on Sunday (which will be 6 days since the C-R session below).

Elephant Walk; 2 minutes
0:00

Lunge Hamstring
2:21 Left
5:35 Right
8:19 Left

Hip-Flexor to Straight-leg Hamstring
11:19 Left HF to right ham
17:55 Right HF to left ham

Elephant Walk; 2 minutes
24:09

Frog Pose
26:26

Tailor Pose
31:22 1^st time
36:50 2^nd time

Hip-Flexor to Straight-leg Hamstring #2
42:08 Right HF to left ham
48:52 Left HF to right ham

Lunge Hamstring - Left
55:31

Elephant Walk; 3 minutes
59:23

Left Scalene
1:03:02

Hanging Side Bend
1:05:59 Right side
1:09:36 Left side

[Mick]

Left hamstring was feeling a bit tight today. Definitely need some rest. I still did 10 minutes of the Elephant Walk however was going quite easy with it. Below is my weekly video update of Project Elephant Walk.

Ah, I found my copy of Stretching & Flexibility
I looked over the Daily 5 section. The seated piriformis stretch (p. 35) was actually doable. In the past, on the left side, all I would ever feel was a tight hip-flexor which seemed to obstruct any chance of feeling the stretch in the glutes or piriformis. After my 30-day lunge challenge where I felt that hip-flexor tightness dissipate plus the chest-to-thigh principle I've been focusing on while stretching for the past month, there is space for me now to feel it.

Except for the the lying rotation, p. 30, I will continue with the Daily 5 plus 2. Actually I was already doing a lot of them already so that's pleasing.

Apart from that, I just rested today. More rest tomorrow, I feel.

 

[Mick]

My left leg & hip have needed rest yesterday and today. I didn't do the Elephant Walk at all. So that's 2 days missed which means an additional 6 days onto the original 300 days of Project Elephant Walk. I'm happy with my decision. Being able to do extra Elephant Walk's is now a reward for me actually!

What I did do was the Daily 5, including the L1 E3 lying rotation, p. 30/31. I posted previously that I wasn't going to do it. The reason was that I could never feel the stretch when I tried it. However, I decided to give it another go. So I slowly read over the instructions. On my left leg, the cue (and permission!) to let it move to the side of the body helped to dissipate the tightness in my hip-flexor. This tightness is what I've been feeling the last 2 days, as well as the glutes. This stretch is actually ideal for me right now.
On the left side, I did some gentle C-R to increase awareness of the glute(?) muscle.

Even though I've felt a tight left glute & hip-flexor in the last 2 days, the restrictive pinching of the hip-flexor dissipated enough for me to also feel the L1 E5 seated hip, pg. 35. It is quite delightful to feel a stretch that seems exactly what my body needs. Also, that I can actually feel the stretch (which I never was able to in the past, on my left side). Now that I am it is very simple & rewarding.

My left hamstring is just feeling different... it's like it has been dormant or even atrophied. Now that I've been trying to do the Elephant Walk with a slightly better pelvic position it's like I have actually been using the hamstring. It doesn't feel hurt or fatigued, or even tender... not sure what the word is. Anyway, if I need another day of rest tomorrow then I will take it and do my heavier C-R session on Monday, which will be 7 days from the previous one.

Apart from that I brushed over Stretching & Flexibility and put in some markers of stretches I'm already doing or will try to incorporate into my program. I like the seated bent-leg rotation on p. 182.

[Mick]

Yesterday I took it easy again. Focused on the Daily 5 in the morning. Then did 5 x 2-minutes of the Elephant Walk throughout the day. I postponed my C-R session until today.

For the C-R session today, I started quite late due to some family issues which kept me busy so energy was a bit sedated. I decided just to start without any planned order of what I'd do (unlike the other sessions I have posted). Ended up focusing on the lunge hamstring stretch, and Ex. #3 (pg. 30) & #5 (pg. 35) from the Daily 5. Plus some Elephant Walks. I was quite conservative with the force I was applying. By the 3rd time I did the lunge hamstring on the left side when I was relaxing into the stretch after the contractions, with each complete letting go of the belly & exhalation, the front foot naturally slid forward a tad more.

I'll upload the video in a couple of days.

[Kit_L]

On 12/25/2018 at 7:35 PM, Mick said:

I’m guessing the answer might be to stretch both sides then stretch the tighter side again

Now: there's an idea! Hahahaahaha!

[Kit_L]

I just watched your video, @Mick: you are straightening both legs together. Better to try to straighten only one leg, and as soon as you feel the pull, let it go soft and try to straighten the other one. This will induce a rotation, and that's where the swaying movement that gives the pose its name comes from. And you definitely can do the EW daily—just vary the intensity according to how the body feels. Search for this exercise on our YT channel; there are two version there, from memory.

[Mick]

14 hours ago, Kit_L said:

I just watched your video, @Mick: you are straightening both legs together. Better to try to straighten only one leg, and as soon as you feel the pull, let it go soft and try to straighten the other one. This will induce a rotation, and that's where the swaying movement that gives the pose its name comes from. And you definitely can do the EW daily—just vary the intensity according to how the body feels. Search for this exercise on our YT channel; there are two version there, from memory.

@Kit: Thanks for the correction. That was my original understanding of the exercise.

Straightening both legs together and holding the stretch for a moment was something new I had been incorporating in the past week or so. I read on a post or heard on a video (really can't remember which unfortunately) that the idea is to straighten each leg separately then sometimes try both together, and also sometimes to hold the stretch momentarily. This surprised me as my understanding had been what you described in your comment.

I guess I went too far and/or that's just not what my body needs at the moment because since I changed things up a week or so ago I had noticed my hamstrings (particularly the less flexible left side) feeling a little tighter. So I had already started to lower the intensity.

However, following your suggestions just now, the joy of the movement has returned after exaggerating trying to stretch only one leg. I don't feel the stretch localized on my inner hamstring. It's more even again. I think the increased rest I have been giving my body in the last week has also contributed. Thanks again!

[Mick]

Yesterday I spent a good period on the Daily 5. Then a HIIT 'hip-opening' workout from a friend who used to play squash as a pro. I was on the verge of vomiting for the second half of it. It was great!  Then 10 minutes of the EW in the evening.

In between online lessons this morning I spent quite a bit of time on Ex. #3 (pg. 30) & #5 (pg. 35) especially. With slight contractions of the glutes on the left side, the tightness of the hip-flexor lets go slightly and I'm able to feel the stretch more directly/deeply. Also, played around with the EW straightening only one leg at a time, as described in the previous post.

Haven't done the video from Monday's C-R session yet because of other videos I'm working through, and also learning with new software.

[Mick]

Ah, I forgot to mention. Yesterday I spent about 3 hours in the garden, digging a hole, hoeing up & moving dirt, and cutting some wood. The whole time I was bending over I was feeling a controlled stretch in my hamstrings more, as opposed to my lower back starting to ache or just feeling discomfort (which is what normally has happened in the past when I have done similar activities). It made it more enjoyable at least!

[Mick]

Last couple of days I've been doing the same: Daily 5, lunge hamstring stretch, balcony calf stretch, EW. Plus yesterday I did quite a lot of isometric core contractions.

The re-focus on just trying to straighten one leg at a time with the EW has been great, subjectively anyway. I'm feeling a line of tension on the left side of my body, connecting from the outside left calf, outer hamstring, glutes, erector spinae (I think), traps, and the side of the neck. In feeling that tension, I'm better able to stretch & relax the areas.

Here is my latest video (which I shot last night) documenting the EW 300-day challenge:

I also tried something very simple which I've always avoided: While sitting cross-legged (just normal, not lotus or half-lotus), changing which foot is closer to the body. I have always placed the right foot closer. This morning, as soon as I placed the left foot closer, I felt the same muscles activate in my left hip, glutes & groin that are starting to consciously engage in the stretches I'm doing. I'm gonna explore occasionally changing the lying meditation I'm doing to this adjusted cross-legged position.

Finally got the C-R session video from last Monday uploaded. Internet in Turkey is killing me. I'll post it shortly. That session was 5 days ago. Tomorrow I will do the next C-R session.

[Mick]

As mentioned in the previous post, the C-R session below is from last Monday (5 days ago). Tomorrow I will do the next C-R session.

Seated Hip
0:00 Left
1:39 Right
2:14 Left

Lunge Hamstring
4:10 Left
7:25 Right
10:16 Left

EW #1
13:02

Diamond Pose
15:19

Rest that turned to neck & upper-back stretch
18:15

Lying Rotation
19:21 Left

Seated Hip
25:29 Left

Child's Pose
28:25

EW #2
29:38

Lunge Hamstring
32:03 Left
36:24 Right
39:36 Left

EW #3
43:57

Lying Rotation
46:30 Left

Hip-flexor to straight-leg hamstring
51:43 Right HF to Left H
56:15 Left HF to Rigth H

EW #4
1:01:24

[Kit_L]

You have a cat and a dog: two thumbs up.

On 5/10/2020 at 7:56 AM, Mick said:

While sitting cross-legged (just normal, not lotus or half-lotus), changing which foot is closer to the body. I have always placed the right foot closer.

Standard (men placing the R foot closest to the body; women L) is a hangover from the Yoga perspective on the siddhasana pose; basically, a gender distinction, itself based on a belief about how energy flows in the body). Ignore it, and change the legs each time you sit. That way, no imbalances, in time.

[Mick]

I've cleared a space at the end of our balcony, a little sanctuary where I can place a good-sized carpet which is really comfortable for stretching. And I can still use the little orange cloth for sliding my foot. It's my own little stretching space for some long-term stretching. I'm very happy with it!

Yesterday morning and this morning I slowly went through the Daily 5 and some neck stretches there.

I did an intense (for me) C-R session yesterday afternoon, following along with Liv's long-held hip flexor stretch, outer hamstring stretch, and long-held piriformis stretch videos, as well as some others on my own. I'll upload the video when I can (depending on internet speed) with notes. In short, I will continue with the follow-along videos for the next handful of C-R sessions. I was pretty spent by the end of the session yesterday, in a good way. In the late evening I tried meditating cross-legged for half an hour then planned on doing 1 hour of lying meditation. Ended up lying there for 2 hours. Might have been a pendulum effect of the intense C-R session. Either way, I'd like to do more of these longer lying meditation sessions while slowly incorporating more cross-legged meditation.

On 5/10/2020 at 1:10 PM, Kit_L said:

Standard (placing the R foot closest to the body is a hangover from the Yoga perspective on the siddhasana pose; basically, a gender distinction, itself based on a belief about how energy flows in the body). Ignore it, and change the legs each time you sit. That way, no imbalances, in time.

I had never heard of that Yoga perspective. For me, I think it was just habit from childhood. But last night I realized I described it back to front! Actually I've been putting my left foot closer to my body. Putting my right foot closer gave the feeling I described. I can only blame the mix-up on late night posting (surely not a reflection of an underlying complacency in my general behaviour!). Either way, I'll change positions each time as you suggested.

On 5/10/2020 at 1:10 PM, Kit_L said:

You have a cat and a dog: two thumbs up.

We have a dog and 2 cats!

[Mick]

So after pondering for the last week & a half and despite protests from my pride/ego I have made a decision to drop the ‘10 minutes of the Elephant Walk 300-day challenge’. Last week in the few days following the strong C-R session, it just felt like my left hamstring needed rest. But I pushed through. I was doing the EW quite conservatively, in terms of intensity, however I was still doing 10 minutes every day.

And again, since Sunday’s (2 days ago) most recent C-R session, I have the same feeling in my left hamstring – that it needs rest for a few days. Let me be clear, I can still stretch it. It’s not feeling injured or ‘out of action’ like it always used to be whenever I tried any C-R stretching. It just needs rest. Actually, as I’ve stated in some previous posts, the fact that I can still use and stretch it after pushing so hard in the C-R sessions is very exciting.

Anyway, part of me wants to persist with the 10 minutes of EW a day because, on a whim, I set the goal for 300 days. But why? The decision was made more as a way of lighting a fire under my ass to finally give my hamstrings the space & conditions to relax and become more flexible. I feel the fire has been lit. And it seems to me that being attached to a set number, like 10 minutes every day might be veering toward the erroneous sets/reps mindset (in my present case, at least). I can and will still do the EW a lot. It’s a fun, valuable & challenging exercise. But since I will be doing regular C-R sessions, I want to give my body space to be able to fully recover for the following session.

Another way of framing it, a sort of reverse engineering if you will, is that I really meant 30-day challenge - I accidentally typed an extra ‘zero’! And since I did about 35 days of the challenge, then it’s mission accomplished!

-------------

This morning I did the Daily 5 then followed along with this mobility session –

 

I did a standard hip flexor stretch in between each online lesson (mainly because of the last exercise in the video). Then had parent-teacher meetings after lessons, so it was a full day. I’m about to lie down for some meditation.

[Kit_L]

There's a thread here somewhere where I talk about how I fixed a long-standing hamstring problem; single-leg Romanian deadlifts did it for me. Try searching on the whole term, or "RDL".

[Mick]

Daily 5 is becoming a great way to start the day.
With the Lying Rotation I’m discovering I can lessen the slight cramping sensation in my left hip flexor when I pull my knee to chest by extending the angle of the knee just a few degrees. Then as I close that angle again on an exhalation the cramping lessens. The cue to let the knee rest out to the side then pull the knee toward the armpit, I don't find as helpful.
When I roll the knee over for the 2^nd part of the stretch and go deeper I sometimes feel slight tightness in the hip flexor again. With my right hand on my left knee, I push the knee gently into my right palm up toward my head (rather than into my fingers out to the side) which accentuates the stretch on the glute while getting rid of any slight cramping feeling in the hip flexor.

I'm also finding more freedom in the Seated Hip stretch.

I had a work-free day so spent relaxed time with additional light stretching…
- Frog pose
- Tailor pose
- Lunge HF stretch
- Lung hamstring
- Neck stretches, front and to the sides
- Calf stretch
- A few others

More interestingly, I experimented with the unweighted single-leg RDL. I think this was the post you mentioned, Kit –  

On 6/24/2018 at 2:58 AM, Kit_L said:

@Otávio Souza: Welcome to the forums!

Otávio quotes from my original post above. The single-leg Romanian deadlifts exposed the problem area; here's a tutorial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nenu2LI9_dw

I do not take the back leg up; I leave it folded and unweighted under me and only move trunk and head together, pivoting around the support leg's hip. If you modify the exercise this way, the required balance component is increased, and very light weights will be experienced as serious resistance (because the weight is not being counter-balanced by the leg being lifted). I used no weight in the beginning, but used a greater ROM than the guy demoing (keeping my back straight, support leg bent, I went down until my ribs touched my thigh, so well below horizontal).

In the beginning, just two or three sets, no weight, and twice a week. Then weights, slowly, over time (ending with 16Kg KB).

Re. Bulgarian/Romanian DLs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCXUYuzwNrM

The key form point is to stick your butt out, and keep it there—too often the lumbar extension is lost (so the back muscles do more work); with the butt stuck out, you will feel the effects high under the glute, and that's where you want to feel it. If you're not flexible to keep that form and touch the plates to the floor, do not lower as far. To make this work as a rehab. exercise, you need to be ruthless with form. I worked up to 100Kg, for sets of five–eight. This took months. By best-ever BDL was 8 x 140Kg, year ago.

More than sets and reps, though, is how it felt on the day. Sometimes you need to rest more; if that problem hammie is DOMS–sore, rest longer. No less than once a week though. I have found to be a good minimum.

And wow - it’s something I will continue with. I did 3 sets of 5-10 reps to begin with. Then throughout the rest of the day I did 1-2 sets of 5-10 reps. Wasn’t really counting. Just focusing on the feeling. So much to explore with it. Right leg I feel I have control, no noticeable loss of balance/control. Left leg is complete opposite, which is understandable considering my hamstring experience.

The feeling the first dozen times was a similar shaking to this - https://youtu.be/nkDc9QkOA-k?t=182

Soon I gained more stability, to a very tiny degree. I didn't try to go too low but it was something. It made me think of a couple of things.

When I did Tae-Kwon Do in high school, I could always side-kick better with my left leg even though I’m right-side dominant. It was because I was standing on my right leg. When I had to stand on my left leg, the right side-kick was much worse, less control.

Also, in recent past I’ve been experimenting with Emmet Louis’ suggestion to try standing on one leg with eyes closed - https://youtu.be/O6sZEKRq6Mc?t=320 
Standing on right leg is quite controlled for me. Left leg is another story.

The RDL was activating all kinds of muscles on my left side that are weak and/or tight... outer side of the calf muscle (gastrocnemius?), outer hamstring, glutes, TFL. And when I stood up I felt my spine re-aligning itself. In this period, in between weekly C-R sessions, I've been and will continue to search for a balance between doing nothing and doing too much. The idea of just trying to maintain the previous day's ROM. With that, I look forward to spending more time with the RDL.

[Mick]

In the morning:
- Daily 5
- A few sets of SL RDL
- Diamond Pose
- Seated Hip on left side
- Lunge HF stretch then slowly easing into lunge hamstring stretch
- Tailor Pose
- Neck stretches to each side plus to the front

I had lessons and parent-teacher interviews all day/evening. Just now I did a neck stretch rolling the chin down which I felt more in my upper back than back of the neck.
About to lie down for an hour (maybe more) of meditation. Last night I did 1 hour.

[Kit_L]

10 hours ago, Mick said:

Just now I did a neck stretch rolling the chin down which I felt more in my upper back than back of the neck.

Very common, @Mick. And you can intensify this if you add a slump to it; initiate this by letting the pelvis tilt back, while the head and upper back go forward. Go slowly the first time, and then add rotations of the shoulder WRT the hips. Magic.

[Mick]

On 5/15/2020 at 9:19 AM, Kit_L said:

Very common, @Mick. And you can intensify this if you add a slump to it; initiate this by letting the pelvis tilt back, while the head and upper back go forward. Go slowly the first time, and then add rotations of the shoulder WRT the hips. Magic.

Yes, I thought as much. Thanks for the clarification and pelvic tilt suggestion. What is WRT?

[Mick]

Finally got last Monday's C-R session uploaded. I've worked out I can use the old Classic uploader on YouTube which allows me to cancel an upload during my online lessons then re-start it later. It picks up from where it left off. Anyway.

The video is sped up 3x:

 

Downward Dog #1
0:00

Frog Pose
0:45

Downward Dog #2
1:43

Hip Flexor limbering
2:02 Right
2:27 Left

Seated Hip prep
2:54 Left
3:22 Right
3:39 Left

Upper Back from a kind of elevated Child's Pose
4:29

Backward Bend from Floor
4:52

Elephant Walk #1
5:26

Squat
6:19

Back of neck stretch lying down
7:02

Back of neck stretch from cross-legged
7:30

Scalene
8:26 Left
9:11 Right

Coffee
9:49

Lunge Hamstring
9:57 Left
11:25 Right
12:40 Left

Liv's Long-Held Hip Flexor stretch (https://vimeo.com/400484071)
13:51 Right
18:55 Left

Random Limbering/Loosening
23:05

Liv's Outer Hamstring stretch (https://vimeo.com/400485235)
23:55 Left
26:43 Right
28:50 Left

Liv's Long-Held Piriformis stretch (https://vimeo.com/400486070)
31:05 Left
34:02 Right

Elephant Walk #2
38:45

----------

Following along with the videos is valuable for me at the moment. It forces/encourages me to stay in the stretch longer. And subtle cues like, "Are actually relaxing for these last handful of breaths? Or are you just holding until you can come out of the stretch?"  Tomorrow I will do the next C-R session (7 days since the previous which I just posted above) and will follow along with each of the 3 videos, outer hamstring, hip flexor, piriformis. I will attempt to stay in the relaxed position at the end of each stretch for more deep breaths.

 

[Mick]

Today I rested completely. I wasn't planning to but I went to bed late the night before and had to get up for 5 hours of parent-teacher meetings. So I was pretty drained for most of the day. I figured the rest would be good in general and particularly for the next C-R session tomorrow.

Yesterday morning:
- Daily 5
- 1 set of SL RDL
- Right side neck stretch
- 1 set of SL RDL
- Left side neck stretch
- 1 set of SL RDL
- Seated Hip, left
- Hip Flexor, left, right
- Frog Pose
- Tailor Pose

Yesterday evening:
- Hanging side bend stretch. Each side I went quite deep including some mild contractions, another reason why I rested today.
- Back of neck stretch following suggestions from Kit. Again felt it more in the upper back.

[Kit_L]

12 hours ago, Mick said:

What is WRT?

With Respect To (sorry about the acronym)!