Fight the Patriarchy!

I am always in favor of listening to the body.  Sometimes what is generally true is not true for us, personally.  Sometimes we have to consider the source of the advice and we need to delve into research.

I’ve been doing a lot of yoga reading over the last while (no kidding!).  I found myself continually struck with the advice about what women should and should not do while menstruating.  (People with male bodies or who identify as male or who are upset at the whole idea of menstruating can tune out now.)  Since most of the advice was just that, no explanation offered, I was curious.  I also suspected that it might be historical bias rather than actual science.

I poked around a bit myself, looking for data, but then sicced the family librarian on the problem (turns out that when you send your kid to graduate school, you get to ask him research questions for the rest of his life!!!).  He found this link for me.  The short version:  most of the bias against various poses in yoga is a manifestation of the patriarchy.

Bottom line is, in yoga as in every other kind of exercise, don’t do it if it makes you feel worse.  Common sense does not cease to apply just because we are working out!

Monday Workout: Choose the right squats

This week we continue to work with multi-joint exercises and exercises that emphasize the core and balance.  Making our everyday squats into overhead squats with weights challenges our alignment and requires more effort; doing them as jump squats increases the cardio load and improves our landing mechanics for everyday activities.  Please keep in mind that doing supported squats, as with TRX or with a ball against a wall may be more appropriate for those of us with difficult knees:  we have to work out safely or we end up unable to work out at all.  Three rounds.

overhead squats/jump squats/TRX	30
bench rows	20
round lunges	10
clean and press	30
curls	20
reverse flies	10
high knees	30
kickbacks	20
barbell twists	10

When to Learn from Pain and When Not To

I’m not a fan of pain.  I have a certain amount of appreciation for soreness; it usually means that something has been accomplished.  Pain, on the other hand, tends to imply that something has gone wrong.

That said, there are things to be learned from pain.  When we are in the midst of an activity and something hurts, assuming it is not the kind of intense pain that means Stop Right Now Or Else (see below), we have an opportunity to check out our form.  Maybe the knee pain we are feeling can be avoided if we pay attention to how we place our feet or how we align our hips.  Maybe our lower backs would enjoy what we are doing a lot more if we remember to use our abdominals or adjust the position of our pelvises.

We can also use pain as a marker for when to ease up on something.  Try a slower speed or a lower weight or a longer warm-up or additional stretching before, during, or after.

Sometimes pain means that we skipped a few steps, like drinking enough water or eating appropriately before the workout or taking appropriate safety precautions or using proper equipment.

If we are doing something and we have intense pain, we need to stop.  Pushing through pain can often lead to more serious injury.  It is not failure to stop when we need to stop.  It is important to seek medical advice when appropriate.  The ideas above are about adjusting to minor pain and if the pain persists, it is just good sense to stop until we figure out what is causing the problem.  Be smart, loves.