A quick question: what do you think happens when you strengthen on top of tension?

It seems many of last week’s conversations revolved around,

“Every time I try to move I tense right up,”

or

“I just started to work out / move more, and now I feel tight all over”

or

“I’d love to go for a long walk / run / ski but my hip locks right out every time I do.”

What the heck, right?

Movement was supposed to be part of the solution to feeling tin-men(ish) and creaky.

I’d definitely feel cranky about this kind of situation. How bout you, ?

In fact, my feeling cranky about this “what the heck with all this tension” situation is precisely the thing that lead to creation of Core Restore series:

~ Your run of the mill “core training” classes did more hurt than good.

~ I was itching to get out and do more, but every time I did, I ended up having to recover for a month (or even longer!)

~ Back pain and tension were my forever companions, no matter what kind of twisted pretzel I could stretch myself into in a yoga practice.

It wasn’t until I started to untangle the wicked mess of inefficient movement patterns (yes, yes, yoga teachers are full of those as well) that I got better.

And tension? 

Tension is way the nervous system splinters the body when stabilization patterns are not up to speed… So once I got better at true stability, tension began to fall away – naturally so…

Since then I befriended my tension: whenever I go for a long walk, a backpacking trip, or a ski tour, tension lets me know when I am starting to slip out of proper form and into a twisty compensation pattern. Time to stop, reset, regroup, and then continue to push forward.

Core Restore Class does exactly that: it is designed to help you untangle your wicked mess of inefficient movement patterns, so you can stop, reset, regroup and then continue to push forward.

Each set of Core Restore classes is supplemented by an on-line course designed to help you navigate successfully through questions and core-restoring obstacles such as:

~ I hurt! How do I move forward safely?

~ I can’t quite get this breathing right – what’s up with that?

~ I have hip flexors like steel cables and they woulnd’t let up – what can I do?

 So what about the tension question at the top?

 , if you strengthen on top of tension or tightness, you’ll gain a false sense of stability!

 Yes, you will have gained strength, but without resolving your underlying tension and poor movement choices, you will keep feeling creaky, and it might not be long until you hurt yourself….

 Besides, who wants to move more when the movement is joy-less?

 See you on the mat!