Scott Sonnon
05-29-2004, 07:47 AM
Two days ago I forgot to even include this in my CST Personal Training Log... ironically.
Three days ago I set an unofficial world record by performing 1,002 Mill repetitions with a 25lbs Clubbell. I awoke with shortness of breath which lasted throughout the day. The tightness in my upper chest, arms and neck surprised me, because it wasn't what one would associate with 'tight muscles.' It's not the 'soreness' of workout. It rather displayed all the symptoms of muscles still firing though no movement accompanied it, like the twitching of my cat on my lap as he dreams of chasing big mice.
I worked on diaphragmatic breathing to work around the tightness of my chest, and this allowed me to gain full breaths of air. However, that did not abate the source issue - the tension.
When I began my Warrior Wellness session, I remained quite confident that the issue would resolve rather easily. It always does with Warrior Wellness - each time I've needed it to in 7 years of doing it daily.
However, after my session as I sat to write out my journal entry, I realized my chest remained tight, my shoulders remained stiff and compressed, as my elbows and wrists. Even my fingers remained tight.
Then it dawned on me. I had performed my entire Warrior Wellness and Prime Your Bioenergy practice session and not one time did any arm exercise. :shock: :oops:
Now, this may sound ludicrous to you. I mean, how could you go through the session and not do what you needed to do specifically to abate the day-after affects of an ultra-endurance event? You cannot be as surprised as I was.
I returned to my practice area, and performed all of the exercises, beginning with the Arm Screw. POP, POP, POP! What profound releases I had immediately. Dan laughed out loud at the noise my decompressing joints emissions.
Here's a case study in tension blindness: the condition of residual muscular tension beginning the onset of sensory motor amnesia. The tension in me, as a result of the extreme event I had endured, blinded me from the very movement which would heal me.
Anyone that has ever been absolutely frightened "stiff" or completely "wound-up" with rage knows that all of the tension makes you dim-witted - unable to be sensitive to all of the sensory stimuli. You feel LESS as a result of tension. In martial arts, the easiest opponent was the super muscle bound behemoth who would strain and lurch attempting to crush his foes. He would find himself on the ground wondering why he was looking up. (I have to admit, early on, I was him for awhile.)
To be sensitive to what's happening, you need to relax your muscles. But sometimes that's not enough, because your tension blinds you as to what needs to be relaxed. The only solution to this quagmire is JOURNALING your practice sessions. It's the most effective way of checking and balancing your session so that you are most certain to deepen your daily practice.
It's a lesson that I continually offer to people just beginning in CST, since issues remain locked beneath a surface of tension. And yet, I am reminded again of the most rudimentary of lessons - we are always and forever beginners.
Three days ago I set an unofficial world record by performing 1,002 Mill repetitions with a 25lbs Clubbell. I awoke with shortness of breath which lasted throughout the day. The tightness in my upper chest, arms and neck surprised me, because it wasn't what one would associate with 'tight muscles.' It's not the 'soreness' of workout. It rather displayed all the symptoms of muscles still firing though no movement accompanied it, like the twitching of my cat on my lap as he dreams of chasing big mice.
I worked on diaphragmatic breathing to work around the tightness of my chest, and this allowed me to gain full breaths of air. However, that did not abate the source issue - the tension.
When I began my Warrior Wellness session, I remained quite confident that the issue would resolve rather easily. It always does with Warrior Wellness - each time I've needed it to in 7 years of doing it daily.
However, after my session as I sat to write out my journal entry, I realized my chest remained tight, my shoulders remained stiff and compressed, as my elbows and wrists. Even my fingers remained tight.
Then it dawned on me. I had performed my entire Warrior Wellness and Prime Your Bioenergy practice session and not one time did any arm exercise. :shock: :oops:
Now, this may sound ludicrous to you. I mean, how could you go through the session and not do what you needed to do specifically to abate the day-after affects of an ultra-endurance event? You cannot be as surprised as I was.
I returned to my practice area, and performed all of the exercises, beginning with the Arm Screw. POP, POP, POP! What profound releases I had immediately. Dan laughed out loud at the noise my decompressing joints emissions.
Here's a case study in tension blindness: the condition of residual muscular tension beginning the onset of sensory motor amnesia. The tension in me, as a result of the extreme event I had endured, blinded me from the very movement which would heal me.
Anyone that has ever been absolutely frightened "stiff" or completely "wound-up" with rage knows that all of the tension makes you dim-witted - unable to be sensitive to all of the sensory stimuli. You feel LESS as a result of tension. In martial arts, the easiest opponent was the super muscle bound behemoth who would strain and lurch attempting to crush his foes. He would find himself on the ground wondering why he was looking up. (I have to admit, early on, I was him for awhile.)
To be sensitive to what's happening, you need to relax your muscles. But sometimes that's not enough, because your tension blinds you as to what needs to be relaxed. The only solution to this quagmire is JOURNALING your practice sessions. It's the most effective way of checking and balancing your session so that you are most certain to deepen your daily practice.
It's a lesson that I continually offer to people just beginning in CST, since issues remain locked beneath a surface of tension. And yet, I am reminded again of the most rudimentary of lessons - we are always and forever beginners.