Re-setting the body: The "Yang" to the "Yin"

Ever gone to the gym to just decompress? By decompress, I mean go to the gym with the intentions to not do anything but breathe, foam roll and do some easy body movements. I’ll admit, I do this. I might be one of the crazy few people to pay a gym membership just to plop my body down and melt into learning my body. The popular term within the fitness industry is to call it a re-set. I’m going to call it the “Yang”.

Yin and Yang is the Chinese philosophy
where opposing forces compliment one
another. Therefore, if you cause a disruption
to the body, you need to bring balance to it
by introducing gentle methods to regain
it's most efficient and harmonious state. 

If you are like me, training takes it’s toll on your body not just during but sometimes after the session. Ever stop to think about what happens when a training session inhibits normal functionality and posture? This is the “Yin”, or the darkness. Was this the result of training or poor breathing/posture, that’s like asking what came first, the chicken or the egg. Whatever the reason, it’s there and these discomforts and muscle imbalances are the body’s way of signaling to you something isn’t right. And if something isn’t right, does it make sense to force a pattern? More importantly, does it make sense to load this pattern? I don’t believe so. Let’s try and complete the circle by introducing the “Yang”, or lightness back into your life. Let’s get some “Yang” back up in here!

To me, getting back to the “Yang” and re-setting is anything that helps to bring the body to a more efficient and comfortable pattern. Now, comes the tricky part, once you have re-set the body, you have to try and keep it. Sometimes this means you have to consciously work at it until it becomes a new habit. Unfortunately, with the stressful demands we place on the body, posture will probably always be affected. Here are some simple (more importantly, free) ways to help re-set the body and improve your quality of life and training experience.

Lying prone on the ground: This is a great place to start because the load of your body weight standing has an impact on the muscles, ligaments, joints, etc., and creates a lot of stress in different places. This change in body position can shift the load of your body weight and can lead to compensatory movement patterns. To decrease the stress, de-load the weight on your body simply by lying on your stomach.

Breathing and posture go together like meat and potatoes. And
I like me some meat and potatoes!

Crocodile Breathing/Posture: I’m lumping these two things together. I wrote a blog earlier about diaphragmatic breathing (also known as belly breathing) and it’s powerful effects to help dial the body back to it’s initial state of efficiency. Once you have it, try and work on this form of breathing the rest of your day. Notice if this helps to improve your posture. Please read this blog and watch the video on posture by my good friend, Physiotherapist, James Braithwaite:

http://www.yorkvillephysiotherapy.com/video-blog/pub:14/The-Perfect-Posture-Guide. When’s the best time to do this, first thing in the morning before the stress of your body sets in, whenever you feel stressed or before training. You can do this for as long as you want. Keep in mind, you want to use this changed breath for whatever else you have planned for your session. I believe learning to regain your breath and coordinating it with foam rolling, less aggressive mobility/stability drills is the ideal time to practice it before trying to activate it to more challenging patterns.

Gentle Hip Rocking in the prone position: Rocking the hips back and forth help to gently massage the hips and lower part of your spine. This is one of my personal favorites because it adds a little movement as I work on my breathing.

Gentle Hip Rocking in the supine position: This gives the same benefits as the above but using the floor to massage directly on the back.

Myofascial work: Again, please refer to a previous blog for more specific explanations. If something is tight from the training session, try rolling out those areas. This will help improve soft/deep tissue quality and improve blood circulation. I want to reiterate that nothing will replace the skilled hands of a massage therapist but being able to take care of yourself between appointments is important.

There's 24 hours in the day. Make yourself
 a priority and find some time. Don't set off
  Jay's BS Meter!

Active Recovery:  My recommendation is after working through some of the above recovery drills, try re-grooving some of your movement patterns such as: walking, hip-hinging, squatting, pushing, pulling or rotating. This is not meant to be a training session. It can be as easy as 1-2 sets of 5 repetitions ranging from Cat/Camel, Downward Dog, Cobra, Mid-Back Rotations, Bridges, etc. It can be as simple as taking your new re-set body and walking on the treadmill for 10-15 minutes. Again, try concentrating on your breath and posture. Maybe you’re a little advanced and you can practice bodyweight or lightweight goblet squats, Turkish Get-Ups, etc., with an emphasis on grooving the respective pattern.

Sauna: After the prep work you put in, feel free to get a little sweat. This is a great “YOU” time to relax! Again, don’t forget about your DB and posture.

Follow these simple ways to help nurture a healthier body. One of the worst excuses I hear is, “I didn’t have time”. I agree, time is a precious commodity but there’s no excuse for not finding 15 minutes spread out over the course of the day to work on your “Yang”, (breathing/posture and light movements). Best of luck in your training!

Tebowing=Practice, Patience and Perseverance

I’ve got a confession, “Tebowing” was never my thing. And, ugh, Tim Tebow appears to be back in the NFL and back in our lives. It’s been a few seasons since he was last on an NFL roster to start a season and as of this month; he has a contract with the Philadelphia Eagles.

A few years back, while playing for the Denver Broncos, Tebow was a polarizing figure.  He was a successful winning quarterback despite his own personal play. The dude’s play was so bad he actually set records in futility. That’s the kind of fame even a Kardashian wouldn’t be proud of. But instead of being overly critical of his play, people overlooked it and started copying his kneeling prayer. This phenomenon became known as “Tebowing.”

Good grief, Tim Tebow

After that magical season, Tebow struggled to stick with an NFL team because the NFL is a passing league. And no team wants to hitch its wagon to a quarterback that isn’t an accurate passer, (that’d be like hiring a salesman that can’t sell). His attempts at throwing reminded me of the old Peanuts cartoon of Lucy pulling away the football from poor Charlie Brown. Epic Failure!

However, I respect and admire Tebow’s never give up attitude and willingness to be coached. Too few people value the concept of practicing anything for the sake of trying to change something to improve. We as a society just want to do, because it's not sexy to actually work in order to change something. But it's the behind the scenes stuff that breed improvement. I read a few weeks ago an article about Tebow and his current throwing coach attributed his failure to throw accurately was because former coaches never corrected his mechanics. They claimed they fixed it but under duress, Tebow would fall back in to his old habits. Supposedly, his current coach has fixed this problem. How? Practice. By his estimation, Tebow has practiced the same throwing mechanics 10,000 times. 10,000!

Ok, so you’re probably asking, “what’s your point?” The purpose of my Tebow example is simple; it’s about improvement and always working toward getting better. To me, there is no “perfect” anything. There’s no perfect squat, deadlift, swing, throw, etc., there’s only improvement. Are you working toward improving your skills? That’s Tebow’s legacy and greatest influence, to never give up or be satisfied. This is what “Tebowing” should mean.

"You must unlearn what
you have learned."

Would you take something you aren’t good at and practice to change it 10,000 times? Just because you are able to do something, doesn’t mean it’s right or safe. If your back squat is busted, why do you keep doing it? More importantly, why are you adding more weight? When you think about it, it’s semantics. Like Tebow throwing  under duress, your body will fall back into old or dangerous habits to “just” do it. Poor training techniques will eventually catch up with your body. Work to improve your back squat using other techniques. Sometimes not doing something is the best way to improve it.

I love when people succeed in their goals. Unfortunately, I don’t think enough people do it. There can be a number of reasons why someone doesn’t achieve their goal but it usually starts off with failing to practice and trying to improve. Be honest about your abilities and program to master them. Tim Tebow did and look where he is now, he’s in a position to realize his dream to be back in the NFL. Best of luck in your training!

Improve Performance with Breathing

Ever taken a deep breath to relax from a stressful situation? Did it help? Let’s take this moment to relax. As you are relaxing, take a few breaths and go to your happy place (where’s your happy place? Mine’s pretty much on par with Happy Gilmore’s. For those of you unfamiliar with Happy Gilmore, it was the 90s version of Caddyshack. Oh, and Caddyshack, is…wait a sec, just Netflix it! But Happy Gilmore was a golf comedy starring Adam Sandler, back when he was actually funny). Back to the topic at hand, do you feel better after taking those deep breaths? More importantly, did you notice anything? If you didn’t, indulge me and try it again. Try and pay more attention to what your body is doing. What moved? Assuming you don’t have any medical conditions affecting your breathing, if your shoulders elevated like you were performing a shoulder shrug, congratulations, you are a chest breather. More importantly, you are inefficient at breathing.

So you are an inefficient breather. Sounds funny to say. Probably sounds even more preposterous to be told. I bet you are ready to counter by hurling an insult back my way like, “you son of a motherless goat!” (3 Amigos, again, Netflix it). Don’t be alarmed because this is a common trait in today’s less active rat race called life. We compromise our breathing pattern from deep diaphragmatic breaths to shallower chest breaths. As a result, we ask less efficient muscles to help in breathing which in turn will lead to poor posture.

Your breathing is subconsciously controlled by the respiratory system and is an automatic response. Diaphragmatic breathing is the fastest way to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. Believe it or not, as a baby you were a diaphragmatic breather. However, as you got older and your lifestyle changed to a more sedentary one, your body responded by picking up a less efficient breathing habit. When this shift in breathing occurs, it can make muscles in the neck, shoulders and upper back tense up because they are asked to do more work (so the pain in your neck might not be the result of your spouse or kids…I said might). The sympathetic nervous system is triggered when we feel anxiety or stress, which can be the cause of breathing or the effect of a stressful situation. With deeper breathing, you can manage high levels of stress to low levels in seconds. And it’s probably something you don’t ever think about that might be affecting everything from posture to daily tasks and exercise.

And cue the “Yawwwwwwwwn!” But if you’ve gotten this far and you either yawned from boredom or fatigue, guess what, it may have been caused by the lack of oxygen FROM YOUR BREATH. Research on this is still debatable. Give it a try. What do you have to lose, if it works, you'll feel better and more energetic (and you can send me the checks you were going to give your chiropractor). 

Next question, how many breaths do you take in one minute? Feel free to test this now if you would like. Ok, so if you were in the 20s or higher and don’t have a history of panic attacks, you might have resembled and sounded like a hyperventilating pug trying to catch it’s breath (now before you bash me for my seemingly heartless pug comparison, I’m not only a pug lover but also a pug owner. And add insult to injury, she is also a diaphragmatic breather). A good breathing cadence, exercise excluded, is between 12-15 breaths per minute. That’s right, that’s 12,000-15,000 breaths in a day. That’s a lot of breaths!

Here are some drawbacks to Chest Breathing:

·      Inhale less oxygen and exhale less carbon dioxide: The excessive, shallow breaths will create low levels of carbon dioxide and can lead to panic attacks or feeling anxious.

·      Accessory muscle recruitment: By breathing into your chest, you are making other muscles work harder. Common ailments can be anything from your posture being altered to tension in your shoulders, neck and back.

·      Inefficient exercise capacity: Again, this goes back to muscle recruitment. Your endurance for performance and your recovery will be affected because you will tire yourself out faster and the recovery process is slower.

Here are some benefits to Diaphragmatic Breathing:

·      Strengthens major organs of the body.

·      Improved health factors: Helps lower blood pressure and blood sugar, releases serotonin (which is chemical responsible for maintaining mood balance), increases blood flow, detoxifies the body, relieves pain, improves mental focus and the ability to relax, sleep quality, and more.

·      Breathing behind the shield: By breathing into the diaphragm, it will help stabilize the trunk. If the trunk links the upper body and lower body, the structure is more solid. A chink in the armor leads to something I call, “The Wet Noodle,” leakage in energy where the upper and lower body more independently.

·      Exercises appear more fluid and beautiful: Despite how easy or challenging the training might actually be, it is performed with grace and agility. As a result, the body conserves more energy for performance. Excellent examples are professional dancers, mix martial artists, gymnasts and yoga masters.

That’s right, your breath might be an area that is holding you back! How do you fix it?

Try slowing it down with more meaningful breaths. A cue I use is to think pregnant belly. That’s right, I use this with my male clients too and it involves inhaling deep into your belly so its full as if you were pregnant. Another technique is to practice Crocodile Breathing. This is a more relaxing technique and a great way to re-set the body. Lie down on your stomach with your arms across one another in front of your body so your head can rest on it. Now try breathing into the belly by pushing it into the floor. The result will be movement in the lower back. If you are having trouble with this, take a book or a magazine and place it on the lower back. Channel your breaths to fill the belly to make the book move.

Tying it all together: Try transitioning your new breathing pattern to mimic those techniques into your lifestyle. Now try incorporating them into stretching and light movements like: rocking, rolling and crawling patterns. Good, you’ve worked at establishing a baseline and you are ready to dial in the intensity. What you did was progress in breathing from the most basic level into stretching then light movements and into more intense forms of activity. Was it easy? Probably not. And anytime during exercise you test your anaerobic energy systems, there will be a breaking point where you will change your breathing. The trick here is cadence or once intensity is complete, restore it as quickly as you can.

Ok, class so what did you learn today? Generation X’ers probably got a little nostalgic about the movie references while later generations expanded popular culture knowledge. In both cases, your welcome! More importantly, I hope you took away the importance of diaphragmatic breathing and how to make it part of your lifestyle. By simply working on your breathing, unlock your body’s unbelievable potential for training or sports performance and watch as you improve.

So the next time you find yourself in a stressful situation, take a moment to yourself and take a few deep breaths. But this time, through your diaphragm. Best of luck in your training!