This all started with a panic-attack when a buddy said “I’m having trouble on on the scaffolding trying to twist for my work. So I went to yoga and tried some twists.”
She is an engineer running the scaffolding in nuclear power plants. With heavy tools. High risk, high skill, high functional strength levels… and heavy duty lumbar torsion. And a herniated disc. A high risk recipe for injury from static stretching. Especially the lumbar. And especially yoga.
You will not see yogis doing this on Instagram. This takes skill, balance, core strength and, well, guts.
So why the panic attack? As a Master Trainer, STPro attests: Yoga twists are not biomechanicaly designed or taught in a manner to effectively remedy the stiffness coming from hard-core athletic work! Yoga is not designed to be rehabilitative, it is not designed to be thorough and effective, it is not designed to be safe, it is not designed for sports rehabilitation, it is not designed for injury rehabilitation, it is not designed to support load bearing work, it is not designed to support effective movement and it is not core power in a biomechanical sense. Nothing personal Ghandi. STPro is just seeing too many Yoga injuries coming in the door.
Philosophical meditation on chakras and AC joint destroying overuse of tricep push-ups (chatturanga) are not “core” training. Forcing deep hip stretches with lumbar torsion in trikanassana (whatever they call it) only does spine damage. Using labels to describe static posing does not make it relevant for effective movement: Yogis see a “warrior” pose. STPro sees an easy target. True warriors need to move, generate effective dynamic power through the kinetic chain and have the strength and mobility to get low.
STPro “Salute” to Yogi-Bearra
In theory, there is no difference between practice and theory. In practice, there is. – Yogi Berra
Yogi Bearra does not care about your Chakras. Neither does STPro. Your chakras are your own business. Above is Mr. Yogi Bearra demonstrating the Official STPro Salute to Yoga. His Ancient Bear Wisdom: Stop Hurting Athletes!
While Yogi Berra was profound – Yoga – he did not do. Yogi Berra played for the NY Yankees, one of the greatest catchers ever to play baseball – iconic for his “yogiisms”. He was a funny guy. And a great athlete. Baseball players are masters of rotational sports and dynamic flexibility. They scramble, get low, run fast, smack things with a stick and have a great sense of teamwork and loyalty. Now that’s more like a “warrior”.
What super movers need to consider for flexibility & mobility. First, Yoga is static by nature. Second, you will probably get hurt. Third, it is not designed for rehabilitation of injury. Fourth, it is not designed for true flexibility. Their sets of moves are “Poses” that look lovely on Instagram. They look even cooler with a tatoo and Lululemon, on the beach, with a tan. But here comes that pesky thing called reality: Yoga is a common source of injury in PT Clinics and at Studio T in Denver.
While science doesn’t completely understand stretching, experts tend to agree there are two distinct types of muscle lengths: static and dynamic. Dynamic stretching trains muscle memory and updates neural pathways constantly to produce action in a range of motion available. Static stretching, is useful for and appropriate when the goal is training neural pathways for resting, relaxed muscle states, or resting length. But yoga is designed to teach a specific set of forms that are by no means complete for total body integrated flexibility. An athlete and super mover should be stretching the entire kinetic chain safely using appropriate athletic based stretching practices.
Even worse, strong, super movers tend to force static twists. Of course! Strong people like to move, do things, push-it, go hard or go home! But this forcing risks: compromising ligaments and tendons, furthering any existing disc injuries or micro-tears, and reinforcing bad muscle compensation patterns leading to further injury.
The heart of the problem: yoga instructors are not certified in working with special populations and do not have the proper background in biomechanics to safely train rotation or total body health. “Special populations” is the terminology used to apply to rehabilitation for spinal injuries, other types of sports rehabilitation and chronic conditions. (Examples: spinal stenosis, osteoporosis, chronic pain, arthritis, post-surgery recovery, herniated discs, bone fractures, knee injuries, shoulder injuries, ankle and foot injuries, muscle imbalances, muscle weakness that causes injury, hip replacements, lumbar dysfunction etc.) Memorizing an anatomy chart and memorizing a set of static “poses” is insufficient on every level. Only a professional certification in injury rehabilitation is appropriate for treating spinal injuries, post-surgery recovery and athletic injuries. Only training and expertise in rotary biomechanics is appropriate for safe and healthy restoration and management of the human kinetic chain in dynamic movement.
Read their marketing literature with a skeptical eye – their wording now includes “experience research based”. This is a euphamism for making things up. It has been added to their marketing schpeel in response to Western criticism. STPro ain’t buying it. This “experienced based research” is a fancy way of saying they avoid science.
One of the most common sources of injury for PT and in practice at Studio T: Yoga. In active people, Yoga causes injury. Yoga is not designed to be effective for safe and healthy restoration and management of the human kinetic chain in dynamic movement, but sports rehabilitation certifications are. While there is so much more to learn and understand in Western sports medicine, in practice, modern sports rehab that includes effective core training, restoration of spinal mechanics and balancing the body’s systems creates healing. How did Kobe Bryant play a successful career for so many years in the highest injury risk sport? Discipline, work ethic and Pilates. STPro teaches the “Kobe” pilates routine for high-risk athletes as a dynamic kinetic chain flexbility and injury preventer. It has science in it. No Yoga. Move like Cheetah. Cheetahs don’t pose: they watch and wait in an active, athletic, poised state of readiness… they are the hunter – not the prey.
And to cause the panic attack (breathe STPro… Inhale Love, Exhale Rant): yoga twist moves can be very dangerous on the spine. Spine rotation mechanics are generated by the core in a complex interaction with the extremities for load bearing work. Along with the risk factors, a strong person grinding away on yoga twists is unlikely to achieve the desired goal – enable better dynamic mobility for functional work and restoration of health.
STPro Has Got You Covered
Physicians and PTs provide Stage 1 (acute) recovery assistance with methods that tend to be one-off exercises. Yes, they generally feel “stupid” – pulling a theraband, pushing a cup across a table or twirling your ankle around in a tiny circle. The ego hates these moves. But, they are essential at Stage 1! Micro-focus on these small areas of the body are necessary to heal up the tissue. The goofy Stage 1 exercises are boring and tedious – but they serve the function of initial recovery. But once that healing is complete, the body has to retrain the kinetic chain to move against gravity.
This is referred to in the PT world as Stage 2. This stage addresses the transition back into total body activity. During Stage 1 (acute injury), the body does what is called Guarding. It is our survival mechanisms kicking in to protect the injury. Our bodies are so intelligent and deeply wired – they will shut down parts of our kinetic chain to shift load bearing to other parts of the body. The body knows it’s injured (it takes humans MRIs and all kinds of expensive stuff to figure out what our own system already knows!). So the body shuts down the processes, similar to closing off the Interstate due to avalanche. The guarding process is subconscious – force of will will not overcome it – in spite of ourselves, our bodies are designed and wired to Survive.
This Stage 2 often fools our cognitive mind into thinking we are stuck. But we are not! Modern PT uses Primal Methods that go deep into the wiring of the human body systems that kicked on when we were learning to walk. These run deeper than any of the patterns we have learned as adults — and go underneath current patterns of guarding and injury protection too — and the body uses the original survival mechanics to rebuild its strategies against gravity. STPro calls this Primal Therapy and a series is launching soon so that people can do this at home to heal themselves.
Ancient Bear Wisdom: Get Low, Get Primal
Primal therapy digs deep into our original design mechanics to refire the kinetic chain mechanics component by component – and then bring them all together like a NASA launch firing sequence. Once the Primal Therapy kicks in, we get right back onto business with movement that drives dynamic flexibility, resilience and defies gravity like a pro!
In Production & Coming Soon!
Trailer for STPro Primal Therapy
Respect & Gratitude to the Parkour community for inspiring this series!
STPro needs to get this out to the world… and her buddy Michelle (remember Michelle? – she is still climbing a couple thousand feet of rigging, with a 20lb toolbelt and a tore up back…)
Primal Therapy with Home Based Versions of STPro’s Fancy Studio Tools
Yo STPro, what have you got that is already out there so we can get working right away?
First we gotta get things opened up and moving…
STPro Pressure Valve
The very first move appropriate in their case and these cases in general, is designed to work as a pressure value – to restore rotation through the rib cage relieving pressure off an overworked lumbar. (Pattern nicknamed in the PT world, “dumping” into the lumbar.)
So cramming it into this post – until the Primal Therapy content gets organized and released.
Please Try This at Home!!
The Powered by Gravity video is educational as well as clear in demonstration of the first two essential Primal Therapy moves for restoring dynamic rotation, aka twisting. Awareness and knowledge of the kinetic chain’s rotational mechanics are essential to obtain lasting results.
Don’t Give UP!!
“I don’t think my spine will ever do that.” – quote from Michelle
Allright now, that sounds like Quitter Talk. We can fix and patch things up with smart moves, patience and some grit. STPro has got your back.
Next Steps for the Primal Therapy
The whole project started with a demonstration video of an advanced restorative pilates move that uses an overhead press and back bridge form to traction the lumbar. My buddy saw it and commented, “I don’t think my spine will ever do that.”
But STPro has recovered a fractured T4/T5 (totalled car), busted left AC joint (crashes in mountain biking and snowboard half pipe) and fractured L5 (snowboard accidents and who knows what in terms of mountain sports crashes) and still mountain bikes in spite of the torn labrum (probably from snowboard crashes, but maybe some mountain biking too). So the STPro takes its own medicine. And it works.
STPro originally created a full youtube playlist designed to quickly share substantive feedback and advice for Howard & Michelle. The Next Step is to organize this information into digestible chunks for inclusion in the STPro archive SPORTS REHAB.
Never, Ever Give Up
Busted up and still going strong. The very last in the playlist shows the end-game for an advanced mover after working to reclaim a healthy lumbar and restored rotational power.
Presented in a conversational style, because that’s how the T rolls.
This project is a priority for STPro. There are so many of us not getting the essential Real Rehab advice that we need – and too many doctors handing out Oxycodone like candy.
Contact STPro, ask questions, play stump the trainer and share personal case stories – especially functional working movements that you are struggling with – examples climbing, deep squats, heavy pulls, balancing with heavy tools/equipment, sports dysfunction and accident/crash recovery.
Let’s make cross-training a safer place for all of us. Start a discussion, ask questions, play stump the chump, request a rehab session or just share a high-five… https://studiotdenver.live/contact/
For serious discussion from professionals with certifications, STPro ***loves and welcomes*** a bona fide professional throw-down tangle. What fun is there in being an Expert if you are going to agree with other experts, ha ha! Please write to initiate a discussion. Get At Me — keep my brain working…
STPro’s Let’s Race Face
Useful for When People Walk In and Explain How They Hurt Themselves in Yoga
STPro 