I've been having some pain in my left shoulder - it gets pretty intense about halfway into my jumps and has almost caused me to knock off early a few times. Strangely, it hasn't bothered me as much while doing actual shoulder exercises. Except - I was watching myself do front shoulder raises yesterday and noticed that I was pulling up on my left shoulder while raising my arm, maybe to compensate for the fact that it's been hurting or is weaker than my right? Anyway - the pain was particularly bad this morning, so I went to see the chiropractor this afternoon.
He concurred that my left shoulder is much tighter than my right and could tell that I've been pulling it up and forward too much. He encouraged me to keep watching my form - which, duh. He also worked my shoulder/spine/chest/neck and it does feel a bit looser now. Hopefully I can tell a difference while jumping in the morning.
If I had one criticism of the PCP, it would be this: I dearly wish I could have done at least ONE workout with someone - Patrick ideally, or someone, anyone who could check my form and work out any kinks. Someone who could also push me to the outer limits, the way that Naoko or others who have worked face-to-face with Patrick have been pushed. Patrick, you should really think about cloning yourself so that there are at least a few of you spread out over the globe. :) Anyone who's ever been in a great class or private session with a knowledgeable teacher understands - there is no substitute for hands-on assistance. That is the only thing missing for me. Instead, I STILL - 75 days in - study those tiny pictures on our workout sheets, making sure, to the best of my ability, that my form emulates the illustrations. I guess I'm just a form-junkie, always looking for that next assist!
I was thinking teleporters. So that each group could have a few classes all together with Patrick and then get beam in for in-person support sessions when needed.
ReplyDeleteSometimes my workouts end up taking so long because I just can't get an exercise to work right, so I spend a lot of time staring at the little pictures and flailing around.
But, the nice thing about doing it by yourself is the EMPOWERMENT and learning how to tweak the exercises to get the best burn for your body.
ReplyDeleteThese really aren't that hard. Use a mirror and pay attention to the quality of the pain. When you hit that good, clean pain you know you've found your sweet spot for that exercise!
Maybe I'll make a video of this stuff. Just not enough hours in the day.
Yes yes, can we start with creeps please. I'm so confused. What are they?!?!
ReplyDeleteYou know the first time I did them I thought that 4 steps was one movement, from following the picture, so I ended up quadrupling my sets. Lucky it was back in the beginning, if I tried that now with 40 steps, I don't think I'd be able to walk afterwards.
With shoulder and arm exercises, I'm just always very careful to keep the neck relaxed and core engaged. I find then that you can't "cheat" as much with the movements. Prob obvious stuff, but it helps me a lot.
I'm with you. I've been thinking of asking Luke to check my pistol squats to see if they look right from the side. Form junkie: perfect description. Hope the shoulder feels better soon.
ReplyDeletePatrick, I'm gonna push back on that just a smidge. I would argue that the empowerment/tweaking piece comes only after one feels totally comfortable and confident that they're doing the exercises correctly. Also, being able to discern a certain type of pain or sensation is a subtle, learned skill - which, yes, at this point we should be able to do. But for those who start this program never having done this type of exercise before, or who may not have a tuned-in sense of body awareness, these exercises may be like learning a new physical language. You can't learn to speak Russian in a vacuum - you need to hear a native speaker pronounce and explain how to create new sounds.
ReplyDeleteClearly, there is still some confusion among us. Pistol squats, creep, even lunge - with all the moving body parts, it's hard to know if I've got everything going in the right direction. Upper body in general seems more clear-cut. However, with sets upon sets, it's very easy to lose good form and start to overcompensate, as you've pointed out in emails. This is where an in-person (or VIDEO) session would be the most helpful, I think. Teaching good form, first and foremost, and then pointing out ways in which people start to lose that form as they work harder and harder. And always with the explanation of how the targeted muscle group is working to perform the action.
I know it's not possible to clone yourself, or even teleport, unfortunately. But a few videos of some of the more confusing exercises would totally enhance this program. I'm just sayin'!
*stepping off soapbox now*
Dan the Husband Lurker here... this is exactly what Facetime on the iphone is for. Facetime really takes video chat to the next level. Another option is to do a skype video call. Skype may work best since I'm not sure of the international capabilities of Facetime. The third is obviously just a video patrick posts of each exercise although this wont be interactive. My vote goes to Skype. You would need a webcam or if you have a mac you should be ok to go... http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/features/allfeatures/video-call/
ReplyDeleteI swear my husband is not being paid to promote these things on my blog! He's just an avid marketing/tech wonk...with some very good ideas. I hadn't thought of setting up some kind of video chat w/ Patrick, but wouldn't that be coolio?
ReplyDeleteoooh, skype video or gchat video would be fantastic. that way we could see how it's done AND get critique of our form.
ReplyDeletei found a photo of a girl in a yoga/clothing catalog doing what I think a pistol squat should look like. after that, the light bulb went on. all these weeks and i didnt understand what was wrong with my form or why it felt weird.
yep - i'd LOVE to see a video of how to do pistol squats. are you guys still using a hand on a chair for balance? i am. not sure if we're supposed to give that up at some point??
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ReplyDeleteI'm a long way from pistol squats (thank God) but check this out.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.turbulencetraining.com/pistol-squat.shtml
I love the internets....