question of flexibility

[john.sifferman]

Hi everyone,

I'd like to hear your thoughts on how I can increase the flexibility of my posterior chain muscles.

I have tried a lot of different ways to increase my flexibility in these areas with little success. I am particularly tight in my hamstrings and lower back muscles, but the tightness runs rampant all throughout my posterior chain. My flexibility is so poor that I cannot fully enjoy the mobility that my joints crave.

For instance, when I bend backwards, like in the Intu-Flow® progression for the lower back - I have very little muscle tightness that resists this movement. My hips are extended, as are my ribcage and my sternum, and my head hangs comfortably backwards (although the vein in my neck may have you believe otherwise :)). I have attached a picture - number 1 - to demonstrate this.

Now, when I do the opposite motion, flexing at the hips, and bending my torso forwards and down towards my knees, I feel incredible muscle tightness in my lower back and hamstrings - picture 2. A lot of my time is spent sitting down, which is certainly contributing, and I do my best to move around every 30 minutes or so, occasionally "resetting" my spine throughout the day.

Picture 3 is of me flexing at the hips only - without "reaching" with my shoulders and arms, and by bending my back.

My question is this, what does CST propose is the answer to limited flexibility. I understand that flexibility comes as a by-product of mobility - yet my flexibility is so poor in certain areas that I cannot fully mobilize them. Does that many any sense at all???

Also, are there any ways I can work on these specific areas?

Please, let me know if you have any further questions for me!

Thank you so much for any feedback!

-John

[Coach Wilson]

John-

What are your performance goals. By that I mean, what will you do with the increased range of motion and/or whay do you feel like you need it (is it for a specific sport or activity)?

Your range does not look that bad is why I ask. With no other info, all I can say is EXHALE through the un-comfortable range and smile....it will improve.


Always,

Joseph

[Scott Sonnon]

John,

Please see Coach Wilson's questions. In one hour of private session with a CST Coach, this could be resolved for you. It's a common issue for athletes that CST addresses best.

[john.sifferman]

Joseph,

Thanks for the quick response! Thanks for chiming in too Coach Sonnon! I am looking to get back into martial arts - ninjutsu specifically, beginning in October. I haven’t participated in any organized MA since I was 13 years old.

I posted mostly because I have a lot of tension in my posterior chain and it is noticeable throughout the day, even when just standing or sitting. I can feel achiness in my lower back as I type right now. I’ve always thought that flexibility was the issue, since there is a lot of muscle tension – but it may not be the case.

I’ve had tightness in my lower back and hamstrings for years. It has continued even while practicing WW and Intu-Flow® consistently for over a year now. Granted, as Coach Sonnon indicated, I have not seen a CST instructor in all my time of exploring CST, and I’m sure this has attributed to my slower progress.

Flexibility is not the only issue I have with my lower back either - another main issue is my inability to transfer force well from my lower body to upper body. This is my main movement goal. I seem to just buckle at the spine when trying to apply force to an opponent, be it striking, pushing, or pulling. I'm not sure if this is a question of strength or not. In some ways, I feel like I'm plagued with the movement skills of a bodybuilder, trying to use my muscle groups to produce force and move my opponent instead of using my whole body to efficiently move him. My nervous system doesn’t know how to truly transfer energy from my lower to upper body without losing a lot of that energy in my spine. It just “leaks out.”

Here’s the best example I can give of what I think is the cause to my problem.. I can press a 32 kg kettlebell overhead while standing, yet when I sotts press (an overhead press from a full, deep squatting position), I cannot even lift a 16 kg KB. I think this is due to poor flexibility and thus improper alignment in the bottom squat position – I go butt to grass in my squats. When I squat with weight at shoulder level or higher, I feel like a folding knife hinged at my lower back, where most of my force is lost. In a way, I “good morning” the weight up more than I squat it. This has been true regardless of the tool I use to squat with.

I started getting off track this past December with a deadlifting injury. Deadlifting was largely a part of my fitness routine, and I would do some form of the lift about once a week. One day, I pulled a muscle in my lower back really badly, it was sharp pain 8 out of 10 on a pain scale. I’m sure this injury was accrued over a long period of time, since I was not doing max-effort deadlifts that day. Since then, I cannot deadlift even half of what I was lifting before without pain. It is very unlikely that I will deadlift like I used to ever again, regardless of whether I gain the ability to or not. There’s too much risk involved for me to justify it with my goals.

My doctor has cleared me to exercise since then. I have seen a physical therapist for this as well as a Z-health certified instructor, with little help so far. My daily Intu-Flow® practice seems to abate the pain, but only briefly.

So, I think that my lack of flexibility is contributing to my overall lack of power production and possibly strength in basic MA movements. My deadlifting injury only made matters worse.

That is probably as fully as I can describe my condition. Thanks for any help.

-John

[Scott Sonnon]

John,

I'm not an MD, so this is merely a guess based upon your text and photos. However, it sounds to me that the painful sitting and "flexion intolerance" is potentially a bulging lumbar disc. That this resulted from deadlifting is a common experience. It also is common to lose "neural drive" or "nerve force" due to the herniation.

Although your physician cleared you for exercise, I strongly encourage you to find an alternative, such as another physical therapist, applied kinesiologist, or chiropractor. (Stay away from Z-health for your own good; it's been changed since when I created and abandoned it.) If you're being cleared and are still facing these issues, then it's not healed yet. A good health care pro will be able to specifically identify it and help you heal it once and for all. It's ridiculous that you haven't been adequately helped, and frankly it's been irritating me at how often I am getting these sad stories of good people living in unnecessary pain.

A final note on pain... just because the pain abolishes doesn't mean that you're finished healing. Actually, you may not have even begun healing yet. Pain is the last to appear and the first to go. It's the body's desperate signal that something is wrong. It's a good sign, because pain only appears when you can do something about it.

If an exercise can help you remove the pain, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're helping the situation. You've just removed the "inconvenience" of the bodily message. For instance, if you have a herniated cervical disc, pulling the head down and forward may temporarily alleviate the neck pain, but ultimately, it actually squirts out the disc more.

You can find a good health care pro, I promise. Call up a few in the book and consult with them about the issue on the phone asking them if they're familiar with potential root issues of such symptoms, and if they've had success helping people fully recover from these type of issues.

[john.sifferman]

Thanks Coach Sonnon! I'll be meeting with a different PT this Thursday. Perhaps I'll report back here with my findings.

I certainly hope it's not a bulging disk, but at this point, much is possible. Again, thank you Coach Wilson and Coach Sonnon for your thoughts. I am always happy with the help I receive from this community.

-John

[john.sifferman]

I met with a new physical therapist - and the good news is that I don't have a bulging lumbar disk.

Turns out that when I tilt laterally to the right with my spine, I have an obvious angle in my lower spine - instead of the normal curve, I have an "L" shape. When tilting left, the curve is normal. This is causing torque on my spine in many athletic movements.

After various deep muscle tissue releases, this curve improved dramatically - among other things. My PT described it as more of a mechanical issue that may be pressuring my disk into sliding. It's nothing that cannot be healed with effort and time.

I've got a stretch scheme to follow after my daily Intu-Flow and some foam roller work to do throughout the day. Looking good so far!

The help and support I receive here is much appreciated. Thank you!

-John

[Chuck Kechter]

Good news!