Tag: strength training

Can My Body Be Strong and Flexible at the Same Time? Yes!

One of the most common misconceptions about training is that you cannot train to be strong and flexible at the same time. This isn’t true. Just watch any luminaries of circus, gymnastics, or yoga and they will demonstrate a gorgeous combination of strength and flexibility, which is necessary in any of those disciplines.

Two woman back to back in standing fron splits

The standing front split is an example of a common pose in contortion and yoga that requires strength and flexibility.

 

The training method that makes this combination possible is active stretching.

Active stretching means using your own muscles to move your body into your end range of motion. It feels more like a strength-building exercise than a traditional stretch sensation.

To learn more, check out “What’s the Difference Between Active and Passive Stretching?”.

In a passive stretch, gravity or some other outside force causes the joint to move into a stretch, so no effort is needed. This is very good for lengthening muscle, and done repeatedly over time (recommended to do at least three stretch sessions a week for best results) muscles will accommodate greater and greater ranges.

However the issue with passive stretching alone is that it doesn’t teach your body how to support that new range of motion. An over-emphasis on passive stretching often means that the body is able to achieve positions where no muscles are able to work to support the joint. This can lead to a situation where you achieve flexibility at the cost of your strength.

Of course, the converse is also possible. Muscles build only and exactly how you use them, so if you are lifting weights and doing strength-training exercises in a small range, over time your body will start to be limited to that range and either wont move beyond that range, or will feel unstable and prone to injury when it does. The more strength you build in a limited range, the harder it will be to move outside of this range, thus sacrificing flexibility for strength.

Active flexibility strengthens a muscle through its full range of motion, with a particular emphasis on its shortest position. Muscles can only do two things: shorten or relax. They cannot actively lengthen themselves. That means that the most vulnerable position for a muscle is when it is at its shortest length, helpless.

When we stretch passively, an outside force squishes muscles into shortened positions, and the muscle becomes powerless and possibly very resentful. In an active stretch we only move the joint as far as that muscle is able to contract on its own. Over time, with repetition, the muscles becomes more competent at shortening and the range increases.

Flexibility earned by active methods will almost always be less than passive flexibility. However, active flexibility will be more comfortable, safer, more sustainable over time, stronger, and require less warm up. Active stretching builds strength, awareness, and control of the joint and is a powerful tool to prevent injury, degenerative disease, and chronic pain.

Being strong and flexible isn’t just important for contortionists and gymnasts. It is a component of healthy movement for all of us, keeping our bodies responsive, supple, and able to enjoy the world. The good news is that this type of stretching is available to all bodies at any age or fitness level. It is safe, effective, and can be done with minimal fuss, equipment, and warm-up.

Active stretching can take many forms and levels of challenge and can be applied to any skeletal muscle or joint in the body. It is one of the primary components of our work here at Fit & Bendy. For a super gentle full-body workout using a large number of active stretches, check out this free workout. Other full-length workouts are available through our Video Club or you can get live instruction through our courses and classes.

Happy Bendings!

 

 

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Stuck on Learning a Difficult Move or Pose? Here are 3 Strategies to Achieve Your Goal

 

Whenever learning a new physical discipline you’ll have the experience of trying out a new aspirational move and thinking… this seems utterly impossible.

One way to approach this new challenge is to keep trying the beast move over and over again, hoping that eventually it gets easier. This may work! But it is also miserably frustrating and has a high potential for burnout or injury.

As an alternative attack, try modifying your exercises to make them easier so that you can manage them and control them. A strategic approach with the right combination of achievable exercises, gradually increasing in difficulty over time, can win you that monster move without the misery, just a little smarts and patience.

How do you make your difficult move easier? Here are three strategies, just add creativity!

To make it easier to understand I’m going to use the example of the standing front split. I wanted to pick a move that I’m not good at and don’t practice very often and you can watch the video  at the end to see what the struggle bus looks like!

1. Break it into pieces

Every pose, ever move is a combination of elements. What are those different elements and how can you practice them separately? Break your monster move down into 3-5 exercises that are challenging but doable and practice those.

Example: Standing front split could be broken down into standing on one leg with excellent balance, deep hamstring flexibility, and an opening of the standing leg hip (there are other ways to break it down this is just what worked for me).

Check out the video to see what exercises you could try out to work these components.

2. Change the Relationship with Gravity

Gravity, ever-present, can be either friend or foe. The most challenging moves work against gravity, so how can you change the position around to make gravity a little more helpful? This can allow you to work on form, alignment, strength, and depth with control in a position that feels more manageable and accessible.

Example: Part of what makes standing splits so hard is that gravity is pulling that leg down to the ground. Practicing the standing split while laying on your back enables you to check your hip position, build active flexibility, straighten out the standing leg, and stretch the hamstring with a floatier-feeling leg.

The video shows you what it looks like when you flip that standing split on its back.

3. Slow it Down

This is quite possibly the least fun part of this breakdown process, but it is extremely helpful in perfecting your transitions in and out of a position. Too often we focus on the end product, just long enough to snap a photo, but you don’t really have a pose until you can get in and out of it with grace and control.

Slowly moving in and out of the position, even if you are 10 miles away from your end goal position, builds strength, awareness, and control. It’s also good for flexing those patience and humility muscles, which are no one’s favorite muscles to train.

Example: Transition to standing split could be just lifting the leg up in front, holding it for a breath, and lowering it back down without buckling in the standing leg or losing your straight spine. Does it look good? No! Does it feel good? Heck no! Does it make you stronger and more balanced? Yes! Watch the video to see the humility.

Make Up Your Own!

What are your goals? What is your dream pose or move? Break it down, flip it up, slow it down, and—most importantly—give it time. Impatience invariably causes us to skip important steps in our training that will catch up to us eventually and we are in this for the long term, right?

Happy Bendings!
Kristina

 

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What to do When Stretching Doesn’t Help

Sometimes Tight Muscles Need Strength Instead

 

Muscles are tight for a reason. They are not tight because they hate you and want you to fail, or because they want you to be in pain. Your body is your devoted partner in this life and everything it does, it does because it believes that it’s helping you.

So why do muscles get tight, since it is so clearly unpleasant and painful? Why do some muscles seem to be impervious to stretching? Even if they relax for a few blissful moments, not long after they are right back to feeling like steel cables.

Muscles get tight because they are nervous, fearful, or downright terrified. They believe that if they relax, something really bad will happen in your body or your life. They feel responsible for your integrity, guarding you against injury or death.

The thing is, the nervous system as it relates to our muscle reflexes is very old. Lizard brain old. It responds to any perceived stressor as a threat. Threaten that muscle often enough and its like a kid on a playground afraid of bullies, it’s always tense. It may not really trust you to make the best decisions, especially if you have done mean things to it in the past (over-training, injury, exhaustion, excessive stress, dehydration, accidents, you get the picture). So even though you are begging it, yelling at it, demanding that it relax, it’s not going to listen.

This is especially true when you are going into a deep passive stretch. Passive stretches are perceived by the body as scary positions, so if a muscle is already a little freaked out, stretching will just confirm its worst fears. You may be able to force it to relax for a little while by pushing it hard enough, but that tension and hyper-vigilance will come back with a vengeance once you let up.

So what’s to be done? How do we reassure these muscles that they are safe and loved and it’s ok to relax?

Strengthening.

We often think of strength and flexibility as being in opposition, but in fact they are utterly intertwined.

If a muscle is chronically scared, the best way to reassure it is to build its support system, and its capacity. Building its support system means strengthening the muscles around that muscle, the synergists (muscles that do similar things) and antagonists (muscles that are opposite). Building capacity means strengthening that tight muscle itself.

So often when I suggest this (especially to gym addicts), I hear people say, “but I’m already so strong.”

To which I reassuringly reply, “Yes, you are. And just because you are overall buff does not mean that you can’t have some muscles in your body that aren’t keeping up.”

Muscles build only and exactly the way that you use them. That means that as we train we default to certain muscles that are already strong and our body finds ways to compensate for muscles that are weaker. It all works out great for a while, then it starts to catch up to you because those sleepy muscles aren’t helping out enough.

In my years of working with bodies, when I have been investigating for the source of tightness, I have found some kind of weakness 100% of the time. I’m totally open to being proven wrong, but it hasn’t happened yet.

In terms of your daily practice, this means constantly searching for your weakest points. Usually we like to go right to where we are strong, because it feels good. But our bodies need balance, and balance comes when we dive into our discomfort and root around for the parts of our body that most need our attention.

Balancing ourselves out brings increased confidence and peace to our muscles—that feeling of cat-like grace, suppleness, strength and flexibility combined.

So next time you are feeling like you and your muscles are locked in mortal combat over a particular stretch, take a step back, thank your tight muscles for their loyal service to your well-being, and start investigating the cause of their stress. Who needs to be stronger and more capable so that they feel safe again? They will reward you with delicious flexibility.

Happy Bendings!

Kristina

 

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The Tensor Fasciae Latae (TFL) Can Cause Hip and Back Pain: Here are Some Ways to Help

WTFL???? What is the Tensor Fasciae Latae (TFL)

The Tensor Fasciae Latae, or TFL to its friends, is a small muscle in the outside front of the hips that works very, very hard. The TFL is a multi-tasker. It does hip flexion, hip abduction, internal rotation, and it even internally rotates the lower leg through its attachment to the IT band.

The TFL is an important hip flexor muscle

 

Moving the leg out to the side in parallel inspires the TFL to work in hip abduction with the gluteal muscles

 

The TFL is also one of the primary muscles working in internal rotation

 

Because the TFL has so many abilities, it is often overworked. It’s just so easy for other muscles to lay back and let the TFL take over. The TFL is also not one of those sexy muscles that we pay a lot of attention to when we go to work out, so it may not be strong enough to do everything we need it to do.

As a result it is not uncommon for the TFL to get sore and/or tight, contributing to problems in the lower back, hips, and knees. The TFL is also one of the common culprits in what is often interpreted to be a tight IT band. Because the IT band is fascia, and doesn’t stretch, it can’t be tight. For more on “tight” IT bands and my rant about the futility of foam rolling check out this blog post (link).

 

How do I Find my TFL?

Sitting on the floor with both knees bent and the feet more than hip width apart, let both knees fall to one side. If your hips are very tight you may want to sit on a block to start. Focus on the leg that is internally rotated (the back leg). Place your thumb on your hip bone then move it around to the outside of your hip about 2 inches, then down about 2 inches. Poke around for a lumpy muscle.

As you are poking, begin to sink your right hip back down towards the floor, rotating towards your back leg. You will be able to feel the TFL contracting and shortening under your thumb. If this is unpleasant, then you probably have a cranky TFL.

Poke around the front outside of your hip feeling for the TFL. You should feel it compress and shorten as you sit your butt down and rotate towards the back leg

 

How do I Release a Tight TFL?

When a muscle is very tight and angry, its usually because it is stressed out. It feels overworked and unappreciated. Sometimes when you start with rolling out or stretching a muscle like this it just gets more stressed out and, while there may be momentary relief, it will just get tighter again when you start to move.

Beginning with a very gentle TFL contraction will help the muscle feel more confident, loved, and appreciated. Here are three very kind TFL exercises to get you started.

 

Strengthening a Weak TFL

TFL Internal Rotation Exercise

Laying on your back, bend both knees with both feet more than hip width apart. The wider the feet the more difficult the exercise. Put your hands on your hip bones to remind you that the hips will not move at all. One leg at a time, gently internally rotate your femur, dropping the knee in towards the floor. Feel that little TFL gently contract at the end range of motion to push your knee down towards the floor. Remember, keep this gentle or you will start to feel other muscles (glutes, inner thighs, back) and you want just the TFL. Do 10-15 soft, sweet pulses in this position on each leg.

    This exercise directly targets the TFL by internally rotating the legs.
TFL Flexion Exercise

Still lying on your back move both legs to parallel, just at hip width apart. Pick up both legs to table top (knee at a 90 degree angle), internally rotate the leg slightly keeping the knee still and moving the foot out, then begin to pulse the knee in towards your chest. It is very important not to let the pelvis move. You may notice that the pelvis wants to tuck under as you pulse. Don’t do it. You are in charge. Do 5-10 pulses on each side.

    Combining slight internal rotation with hip flexion really gets that TFL fired up
TFL Abduction Exercise

Lay on your back with your legs together. Your abdominal muscles will be working a bit here to keep your body still so only your legs will be moving. Externally rotate both legs, turning the feet out but keeping the knees straight. Without bending the knees, start to slide the legs apart as far as you can go without twisting the hips or arching your back. You will feel your TFL work as a team with your side butt. Teamwork! Do 10-20 pulses apart in this position. Don’t arch your back, even though that feels very tempting.

External rotation biases the TFL when doing hip abduction (moving the legs away from the center of the body). Don’t worry if you don’t go as far as Natalie when you first start, she’s a pro.

 

How to Stretch your TFL

Its really easy to miss the TFL when you are stretching your hips. Its in a weird spot on the front outside of the hips and its often so tight and grumpy that your body would just rather skip it. Hopefully giving it a little strength will help it feel more relaxed, but the form on your lunge will still have to be impeccable to get into the right spot.

  1. Start in an upright lunge, back knee down and hips perfectly square and slightly tucked under.
  2. Slightly externally rotate the back leg. It doesn’t have to be much for most people to feel it. Just move that back foot across the body a few inches and that should be enough.
  3. Make sure that when you rotate the back leg you don’t rotate the pelvis, those two hip bones are still in one line.
  4. Gently push the hips forward and slightly out to the side, extending the hip of the back leg. If you don’t start to feel a stretch in that TFL keep checking on your form. Hips must be tucked, square, and the back leg externally rotated to get the right stretch.
  5. Lift the arm up over your head and lean sideways away from the back leg, sticking your hip out to the side a little bit. That’s just a bonus bit of juicy goodness to get a little deeper into the stretch.
  6. Be sure to do both sides and if one side feels tighter, do it again. It’s best to hold the stretch about 30 seconds or so but less if it is very painful. You can do some gentle, soft pulses into the stretch if the muscle needs some movement to help it relax. No momentum.

This delicious TFL stretch is a variation on the square lunge. Be sure to keep your hips square!

 

What Else Can I do to Relax my TFL?

As mentioned above, the TFL can become overworked because it is compensating for sleepy muscles in other places. Two of the most common muscle groups that could be slacking off are the illiopsoas, and the gluteal muscles.

Check your Psoas

The illiopsoas is also a hip flexor and an internal rotator so a sleepy psoas can heavily overburden that TFL. To test out your psoas strength do the hip flexion movement listed above but with the leg slightly turned out. This should move the work in the inner hip. If that feels difficult, work to strengthen that psoas.

Are the Gluteus Medius and Gluteus Minimus Working?

The gluteal muscles are right up next to the TFL and also attach to the IT band. If you have a sleepy butt then your TFL has to work very hard as a hip stabilizer, and that might make it resentful. To find your glutes do the leg sliding apart exercise mentioned above but with the legs internally rotated. See if you can find that side-butt work. If that feels week the more side butt strengthening should help support your pelvis without so much contribution from the TFL.

Doing the same leg slides into abduction with the legs internally rotated will bias the glute muscles. If this feels weaker than the TFL exercise you may need to strengthen your side butt!

Remember that our muscles are tight for a reason. They are tight because they are trying their best to hold our bodies together and do the work we ask of them. Treating them with kindness and figuring out how to support them is the best way to get them to relax and stop screaming at us so we can be stronger, more flexible, and have less pain.

 

Happy Bendings!

Kristina

 

 

 

 

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