This yoga sequence is part of a larger flexibility development project that I am involved in for a health psychology unit in graduate school. This is the first of 3 or 4 different workouts that I will do as part of my daily routine to build in stretching. This workout is one I know how to do and can realistically implement. I am not a yoga instructor and am a novice practitioner at best.
3 Sun Cycles to Warm-Up
After the warm-up more intense focus on these poses (Smeaton, 2009)
Intense Forward Bend – Uttanasana Stand upright and, exhaling, bend forward from the waist keeping the legs taut and body weight equal on both feet. Aim to touch the floor and, if possible, place the palms on the floor. Breathe evenly and try to increase the stretch on each out-breath. Hold for one minute. This intense stretch is wonderful for the hamstrings and spine. Those who find it easy to rest the palms on the floor can increase the stretch still further by placing the hands behind the feet.
Downward Dog – Adhomukha Svanasana
Lie face down with palms by the chest. Exhale, raise the trunk upwards, straighten the arms and move the head towards the floor keeping the heels flat on the ground. Hold for 30–60 seconds.Performed correctly, this yoga stretch is both exhilarating and re-energizing and stretches the chest, spine and leg muscles.
Upward Dog – Urdhvamukha Svanasana
This is a counter yoga pose to the downward dog allowing the spine to be flexed in the opposite direction. Lie on the floor face down with feet flat and palms by the waist. Inhale and raise the head and trunk, pushing back on the flexed legs without lowering the knees to the floor. Hold for 30 seconds.This asana stretches the spine, thigh and calves and is a great cure for back problems caused by too many hours in the saddle.
Locust – Salabhasana
An invigorating but challenging backward bend. Lie face down with arms stretched back and palms upward. Exhale and simultaneously lift the head, chest and legs off the floor. Contract the buttocks and hold the pose for 5–8 breaths if possible. The locust position is excellent for relieving pain in the lumbar region as the spine is stretched backwards.
Cobra – Bhugangasana
Those who find the Locust pose difficult to hold can try the Cobra or Serpent pose instead. Lie on the floor facing downwards with the hands by the pelvis. Inhale, press the palms down and lift the trunk. Whilst the hands make this back bend easier, the aim is to raise the trunk without relying too much on the hands. The effect on the spine is the same as with the Locust pose.
According to Schwarzer’s (2008) Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) I have been working on Action planning for the past five days with my flexibility self-project for graduate school. As part of this I re-enrolled in a weekly Yoga class that I went somewhat regularly to last year but had since dropped. I attended class on Wednesday night and found I really enjoyed getting back into it. This particular class involves a lot of core strength and seems to be addressing the flexibility I need to develop across the back of my legs and top of my quads. It will be interesting to see what progress is made through the class.
Before actually beginning any flexibility development exercise I gathered some baseline measurements using 4 lower body indirect flexibility tests and 4 upper body flexibility tests. The lower body tests consisted of: the sit and reach, the groin, calf and trunk rotation flexibility tests. The upper body tests consisted of a shoulder flexibility test and back scratch tests for both left and right sides.
These results serve to quantify my starting place before implementing a daily maintenance stretching, work-out related stretching and weekly Yoga class. Following a three week program implementation phase I’ll repeat the tests to see how much or how little progress has been made.
This post is part of a larger health change project to build in more flexibility training into my fitness regime. The problem is that I basically hate stretching but am starting to see a real need for it now. Here is step 2 of building intent.
Outcome expectancies assignment details. As part of the process of developing intentions people are believed to benefit from identifying the positive outcomes that will accompany the new behavior in contrast to the negative outcomes that accompany the current behaviors (Schwarzer, 2008). An example of a positive outcome expectancy of increasing my flexibility would be that I would be able to ride my bike with a slightly higher, more efficient saddle position. An example of a negative outcome expectancy of not increasing my flexibility would be narrower cross-training options as I would become increasingly more wary of pick up games of soccer or other sports that I have not specifically trained for.
Assignment. Brainstorm a list of as many positive outcomes of increasing flexibility.
I wanted to go old school analog with this assignment but I couldn’t help doing a quick search just to get the ideas flowing. In the process of doing that I came across a pros and cons template by Amanda Hawkins. It seemed just the right tool to use when doing this assignment so I printed one off, got an old stubby #2 pencil and started to list the advantages and disadvantages I expected to encounter with this soon to be implemented flexibility program. Like maybe many people the negatives were easiest to dive into but were fairly slow in coming once I got past the initial few. The positives in contrast weren’t maybe as easy to approach but were faster coming once I got rolling with them. Here is what this assignment yielded.
Scoring
After completing each side of the list I went through it fairly quickly and wrote down the significance of each pro and con on a scale from 0-10. Rather than tally the scores at the end I felt an average score might give me a score that would accommodate the different numbers in each list. As this tool was really just another way to reflect on my expectancies with regard to the pending program, the scoring was more for fun than anything.
Results
The results of this inventory were useful for me in that I discovered two new motivators in the form of “long term mobility gains” and a “long term reduction of stress”. Rather than think of this as a purely stress management benefit I saw it through this process as a long term advantage to not carrying so much tension with me as I move through the world. That alone seems like reason enough to get rolling with this.
Next Step
Tomorrow I am going to complete the self-efficacy inventory and then set about designing my initial flexibility assessment. I did 85k on the bike yesterday and did my normal amount of stretching during and following the ride. With a day to harden up I should be up to my normal standards by tomorrow when I hope to take my indirect flexibility measurements.
Hawkins, A. (2010). Pros and Cons. Retrieved February 06, 2010 from Ahhh-design: http://ahhh-design.com/pros-and-cons/.
Oh baby, Anderson Custom bikes is going to build me a custom Team in 953 with an Easton EC90SL in brushed steel. http://bit.ly/d2Ixcr1 week ago
@captainC seems like buddypress could be the open source alternative to the now deceased ning. Have you seen any screenshots? in reply to captainC2 weeks ago
Scoring
Recent Comments