Yoga Sucks

Are there training wheels for yoga? 

Or maybe a remedial program? 

30 minutes of iPad yoga in my living room on the "beginner" difficulty has illustrated that I can move/stretch/balance at about 15% to 25% of what the movements expect.  I feel like Kevin from the Office competing on Dancing with the Stars.

With such a huge discrepancy - it's no wonder I keep injuring and breaking things on myself. I need to do this more often.  And I hate it. But I have to do it. 

There is a lot to be learned from why we do the things we do. The human mind will always gravitate toward doing something comfortable vs. doing something challenging. By nature, we defer to what we know and can do well. That is why you see so many treadmills in a standard gym. Almost EVERYONE knows how to walk! if I get on a treadmill, I know I can do it... and I might even turn it into a jog, or a run. But if I need to back off a bit - its ok, because I can always walk. 

But I hate treadmills. 

I've always enjoyed any sort of weightlifting because by body seemed naturally inclined toward it. Large Polish Man Lifts Heavy Things and Grunts. I tended to do well, excel, and see positive progress. But it also created severe imbalances in my body. For many years, I trained with the standard isolation of muscle groups that you see most people do Leg Day, Back/Bi, Chest Tri...  Then I moved to more "functional" training which was a huge improvement - training massive muscle groups and working several areas of my body at once, but I was still heavily focused on strength training. 

The counterbalance to this that a lot of people would offer is "you need more "cardio." I freaking hate that word cardio. It makes me think of 1980's Aerobics Videos that were on before cartoons. Cardio for most is essentially repetitive movement - but it is once again, isolating and specific. And in case you noticed, most people don't really get anything out of it - except perhaps to catch up on Designing Women, or Kate and Alley, or whatever the hell is on TV. But that is a different topic for a later post... 

I didn't realize just how out of balance I was until I had a mobility evaluation with the physical therapist that eventually got me to completely rehab my back. He ran me through a series of movements and drills that were seemingly simple, but were very telling in how my body moved and functioned. Simple movements like standing on one elevated leg had me falling over on my ass. A test of my hip flexors showed that they were as taught as piano wires and were in constant shifting competition with each other. As we continued on through the evaluation - it became readily apparent that I didn't hurt my back because I lifted too much. I hurt my back because I sat in a chair all day, typed with shitty posture, and did strength training with the muscles I LIKED to use - and avoided the movements I didn't like. All of this was a big old pile of steaming body imbalance. 

SO what does this have to do with my $3 iPad Yoga program? If I'm going to be a holistically well human being, I have to identify where I am most weak, and address those areas. PT Chris told me I had no business doing weighted squats if I couldn't execute a series of squats with perfect form using only my body weight. I want in the worst way to just show up at the gym and rip through a bunch of very familiar Kettlebell sequences... but as I continue to raise that side of the teeter totter, my mobility and flexibility will continue to degrade and become more imbalanced. So I have to push down on the other side of mobility and flexibility. 

Attempting Yoga was intimidating for me because its the last thing I ever saw myself doing. But by going through 1/2 hour of movement, I was able to instantly identify several areas of my body that need help, and begin to focus my practice on them. I am horrible at breathing, and I'm beginning to learn to breath through the motions, and stay calm as I sweat and stretch and move. I try not to be too hard on myself, but when you see someone touch the ground with their hands, and mine are at my knees - well no wonder why I feel like crap so much! So I guess Yoga doesn't suck. I just suck at it. And I need to get better at it. I'm sure there is an Indian man somewhere saying "Lifting Weights Sucks." 

And I have no doubt this will help me in my kettlebell practice, as well as in life in general. 

I've got more to write on this... in fact, this will be a common theme in this blog. Finding ways to unbreak what I've broken. 

My main message is this. Find whats uncomfortable to you, and do it. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to come out of a pattern, but when you can conquer it, you own it. 

Thanks. -Tom

References: 

Physical Therapist Chris Nentarz  Buffalo Spine & Sport; Endurasports

iPad Yoga Studio for $2.99: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yoga-studio/id567767430?mt=8