Classical Stretch?

[donnamp]

Originally Posted by luvcritters

Whether or not your body likes the tuck depends on how your spine is made and/or what might be wrong with it. With my spinal problems I need to stay away from spinal extension and on paper, tucking is the best thing for me. I tuck on my own at least 50 times everyday to stay out of pain. But any time I do Classical Stretch I get hurt. There must be something else besides the tuck that irritates my spine.

I have to agree with this - some moves that are theoretically good for the back really can end up hurting it - you really just have to experiment and listen to your body and most importantly - stop and don't force something to work just because you think it "should" work! I have been guilty of that move!!

Laura - it is worth giving Ellen's a try to see if you can do it on a small screen. You may be able to! I really like her site and have subscribed since 2018 - I use her stuff 2-3X per week.

Donna

[fanofladyvols]

Lorelai I wanted to pop in and say welcome back!!

You have gotten some excellent advice! I also wanted to highly recommend the Vacuum Hold for Transverse Abdominis Strength.

Here's an excerpt from Cathe's blog that describes it but there are several videos on YouTube that show it.

.... there’s an even simpler movement for strengthening your deep transverse abdominis muscles. It’s called the abdominal vacuum, and you don’t even need a mat to do it. Plus, you can do it anywhere.

Stand up straight with your arms by your side.
Draw your belly button toward your spine as if bracing for a punch in the gut.
Hold the position for 20 seconds.
Relax and repeat.
Repeat several times throughout the day.

Looking forward to seeing you around.
Cheers for taking time to take care of yourself!

[prettyinpink]

Originally Posted by luvcritters

Whether or not your body likes the tuck depends on how your spine is made and/or what might be wrong with it.

There must be something else besides the tuck that irritates my spine

Both or either. For you it could be the method that is the problem, but maybe for others it is that they are not doing the exercises with the intended form. With video instruction in the end it doesn’t really matter which it is, as the result is the same. I like CS and don’t have problems with it but I do wonder whether I am getting all I am supposed to get out of a few of the exercises.

It’s probably like Pilates or yoga in that an instructor who can visualize and give feedback might make the difference in whether something works in feeling right and getting good results with flexibility, strength and range of motion.

[yogapam]

Originally Posted by prettyinpink

Both or either. For you it could be the method that is the problem, but maybe for others it is that they are not doing the exercises with the intended form. With video instruction in the end it doesn’t really matter which it is, as the result is the same. I like CS and don’t have problems with it but I do wonder whether I am getting all I am supposed to get out of a few of the exercises.

It’s probably like Pilates or yoga in that an instructor who can visualize and give feedback might make the difference in whether something works in feeling right and getting good results with flexibility, strength and range of motion.

I believe that live classes definitely do make a difference.

[JackieB]

Originally Posted by prettyinpink

Both or either. For you it could be the method that is the problem, but maybe for others it is that they are not doing the exercises with the intended form. With video instruction in the end it doesn’t really matter which it is, as the result is the same. I like CS and don’t have problems with it but I do wonder whether I am getting all I am supposed to get out of a few of the exercises.

It’s probably like Pilates or yoga in that an instructor who can visualize and give feedback might make the difference in whether something works in feeling right and getting good results with flexibility, strength and range of motion.

Originally Posted by yogapam

I believe that live classes definitely do make a difference.

Lots of people do home workouts and benefit from them. So many people feel better, get pain relief, increase their range of motion and mobility by just doing the Classical Stretch workouts at home. It's how a lot of instructors got started and decided to do the instructor training. I personally loved CS and those 23 minute workouts.

That said, if you can get to a live class, do it! They are magic, and there is something to seeing things 3D. I went to Miranda's retreat back in 2015 and had the biggest "aha" with side to side lunges and someone simply nudging my arm behind my ear.

I teach on Zoom and in person here in Minnesota. I love having VFers in class...virutal or IRL. If you've not taken my class, I'd be happy to send you an invite or have you attend my studio class.

[bzar]

CS was not love at first sight for me - JackieB and Pam said it best that there is a learning curve with CS.

i traded away all of my Mirandas at first, keeping Sahra's workouts. in fact, i started a thread saying "anyone not like CS?" my back hurt doing Miranda's but not Sahra's.

fast forward a few years - got to listen to Miranda's newest books on audio as mentioned upthread. i acquired season 4, and wow, it clicked. i learned how to teach my body how to reconnect its muscles. no pain in doing Miranda's moves.

fast forward a few months later - i strained my back and added Season 4 to my rotation that week. The Pain Went Away. i was amazed.

the one huge takeaway was how Miranda explained that in a state of pain, you hold the posture and wait - do not force it to comply - but you just wait for the muscles to communicate in finding another path. you're not stretching just sitting there and contracting the muscles needed to strengthen yourself.

[Leonana]

Originally Posted by yogapam

It takes practice, especially if you are used to engaging your glutes. You have to focus on just using your abs. Think of your pelvis as a bucket of water and you want to pour some water out of the back of the bucket.

Thanks! I’ll try it.

[happyladi]

Hey everyone. I read on here every day, but haven’t posted in ages! But I wanted to jump in here. I did post some time back about losing 110 pounds and getting off 11 meds for serious conditions, one being Parkinson’s. For several years I fell A LOT! Really messed up my right shoulder, couldn’t lift it over my head. I did Classical Stretch first on YouTube, did a 14 day trial to Classical Stretch streaming service, and kept that for a couple of months. Using an episode for shoulders, I totally fixed my poor, horribly painful shoulder. Oh, by the way, I’ll be 69 in a few months. My “baby” is 39. I purchased a few seasons from great sellers on eBay. I have the newest Season 14. I desperately want to be able to do Classical Stretch, since it helped my shoulder so much, but it hurts my back really bad. I appreciate the suggestions to help prevent back pain and see if that helps. I have a suggestion that’s going to sound strange but- I have found incredible relief and improvement in my flexibility, strength, and balance using Jane Fonda’s PrimeTime workouts from around 2010. They’re designed for those of us in our “prime” but I think any age can really benefit from them.

[Lorelai]

I just got out of an appointment at the chiropractor and my diastasis is only one and a half inches! I'm pretty sure it was over two fingers a year ago, so yay for improvement. I've been following Lindsay Brin's YouTube exercises for core 1 this week. It gives me hope that I can come back from this. I'm not sure if she was recommended in my post or if I found the recommendation while searching, but I appreciate whoever made the recommendation! She's really good!