I went to a Yoga class yesterday.
Big Dave, who lifts stuff and hits things went to Yoga.
It was a charity fundraising class by one of the yoga instructors my wife goes to at the Torrent Centre just outside of Dungannon.
She is a good instructor.
So why am I telling you this?
Two points really.
First, Mobility.
Yoga is probably the worlds most popular mobility system, and who knows, maybe it’s oldest.
My first introduction to it was way back in my teenage yeats when Jack Parker, my Karate Instructor had been to a few classes and implemented it into our training for parts of the warm up and cool down.
He even arranged for the Yoga teacher to come in and run occasional workshops for us.
As kids I have to say we were extremely fortunate to train under Jack as he was always looking for better ways to train us.
And while Jack knew we had to stretch to get our kicks up, something in him, either knowledge, experience, possibly intuition, he knew simply holding a stretch for time was inefficient.
Jack had us move into and out of stretch positions, often under load. This seemed echoed by Yoga.
Postures were never held more than a few seconds, and a lot of emphasis seemed to be placed on how to enter and exit a position, which required strength and control.
Yesterday's Yoga session was no different. And even though I was in the gym the day before, I do have some DOMS from the class, which is kinda cool.
While Yoga will not develop high levels of strength, it will certainly help coordinate your strength and maybe even demonstrate strength more effectively.
With this history in mind, and the influences I’ve had from Jack and the other coaches I’ve been exposed to since, my own views on mobility are influenced by Yoga. Anyone who’s trained with me, especially in a group setting will remember the Sun Salutation based “Quick Yoga”
Now, you don’t need to be a student of Yoga or Martial Arts to deveop better mobility, but take heed of their teachings.
Find your tight lines and move into and out of it with care.
The actual shpe you make with your body isn’t as important as what you feel in your body.
Which, I suppose, is why so many movement styles and systems have so many positions in common.
Even the Anatomy in Motion methods I employ with injured clients revolves around 6 “stretches” that while based on identifiable phases of the gait cycle, still have a passing resemblance to the classic Yoga poses.
They’re just precise, as they are incredibly regress-able and can be broken down into smaller and more specific parts based on individual assessments.
Now, point 2
Doing something different.
We all get into our thing.
Sometimes our thing becomes the only thing we do.
And this is folly.
This is where training scars arise.
Or where overuse injuries happen.
Cross training is, in my mind essential.
At least some of the year, we must step outside our favourite training methodology and do something different and expose ourselves to different stimuli and discover where the holes in our armour may be.
Taking a Yoga class will show you areas of neglect in your mobility, maybe you don’t rotate a certain way out of habit, maybe you’ll find a tightness that will hint as to why the knees may hurt and so on.
Of course it doesn't have to be Yoga, that’s simply in my head and the inspiration of this email.
You could take any sort of class or challenge or event on. So long as it’s different from your norm.
We gain experience and learn about our bodies by exposure to different stimuli, so make a point of getting out and trying something different from time to time.
If you play a seasonal sport, utilise to off season to “cross train”
If your sport is all year round, look for periods of lull where you can put energy elsewhere for a few sessions.
Your health, and therefore your performance will likely improve and you may learn a few things that will help you in the long term.
And may keep you from booking in with me because you’ve injured yourself …..again!
Regards
Dave Hedges
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