Understanding Compression and Expansion in Movement

kind of opening the container to figure out which side is your express side, which side is your compress side, or which side wants to twist up and twist and which one wants to hold. So the way you figure that out is get something with a tight lid on it. The lid needs to be tight because you will kind of trick yourself otherwise. Put a hand on the lid and a hand on the jar or the base of the object and then open it. notice what your hands do. Okay then tighten it up again tight tight and switch hands and again notice what your hands do. Both will grip the object but one will want to twist. Once it's loosened it might be that that the hand that's on the lid will finish it but there if when it's tight there's a side that will twist whether it's the base or the lid and a side that will hold it okay so that's how we figure out our compress and our expansion side. So our compressed side is the side that wants to twist. If with your hands you're kind of like oh I can't figure it out I'll kind of slow down here and show you. So I've got my left hand on the base my right hand on the top it's done up really snug. Both will grip but it is my left hand that gets it started and loosens it and then I might finish with my right. When I do it up tight again and switch again they both will grip but it will be my left hand that wants to twist whatever it is that's in it to get it going. Okay, if you're having a hard time kind of feeling that, again if you tighten it up and put it underneath your armpit, it's easier if you're on skin, and then try to open it. you'll only be able to open it with your twisting like your twisting hand will get it going your armpit will squeeze but if you put it under your twisting side you'll feel how that you're beside like you will try to twist put a counter twist in the object to get the lid off you won't just hold it okay So those of you on the call, are you able to get some clarity over which is your twisting side and which is your side only really grips and then twists once it's loose? Yeah okay good. And Debbie? Okay perfect so the twisting the side that wants to twist the object that is your compress side the side that wants to just grip that's our expansion side okay it is that and that is just in terms of which half of the body is which dance partner both halves are still showing up just like they showed up to open this up whichever hand we went but they both did something slightly different based on whether the hand was on the lid and on the jar so that's all that we'll factor in in our exercises today we're going to do something a little bit different in that instead of kind of going from Exercise to exercise. We will stay with the same exercise for the full amount of sets before we move to the next exercise. This kind of trains the energy systems a little bit differently than going through all the exercises and then having a rest. So... There we go. So that's that. Okay, so we are gonna warm up. The only other thing I want to say today is as best you can, we are focusing on our ability to drop down, our ability to compress because gravity, gravity isn't that big a force, right? I can like this. This isn't hard. I can move against gravity. So consider that in a deadlift, say. The standing up part is actually the easy part. But the hard part is getting down and under that weight. And then we just come up. But we've flipped everything so that we think what's hard is the standing up part. The standing up part is not hard. Our ability to get low and go, that's where we need to focus. Okay, that's what will keep us fast. That's what will keep us agile. Being able to be up here isn't what will keep us fast and agile. Think about it, when we went to stand up, the only reason we stood up is so that we could see to hunt, but this person that's up here, they then become the hunted. So once I get up here and look, I also then, I need to be able to get low and not fight myself to be here. I want to be able to get here and it's, I can be here. It's not hard, my muscles aren't screaming at me. And so that becomes about the rotations of our foot and our ankle, or our foot and our shin and our rear foot that let that happen. So we're not fighting ourselves. Okay, so to warm up, we're going to work the foot and the shin. And so get a yoga block, or if you're using bricks, you're going to get a brick. And... We're going to get the transverse arch on it and we want to have our foot, this is where we can focus either on the first MTP joint or one through three or the outer edge and the notch of five and four. So we want to create a roll either down or up with The first MTP joint or four or five. Your foot will do something but you want to kind of pay attention for a motion this way of either four or five or one two three and then also a pitch of the shin. Also then a pitch of the shin. Once the shin pitches it'll set you down on that other foot. You might start to feel how that action has it naturally raise you up. You don't have to raise yourself up when those work together. There's a little lift that happens. There's a little lift that happens. to put you through onto the other side. Now come to the end of the block. So we're working with just four or five and we should bring it on our compressed leg. I'm on my compressed leg. So some of what I say, if you're on your expansion leg, it won't, it won't make sense. So actually work four or five, the notch of five down into the brick. and pitch the tibia and then work the heel under. Pitch it down and forward but they got to go in that order four five shin heel under and if you weren't feeling that kind of lift I described a little bit a minute ago that should start to feel that and the lift might be more of a sense of like floating for a second before your next leg. comes down. Okay then shift the block so that now we're kind of focusing more on one through three. So four four and five are off that surface, definitely five is, four might be a little bit on. And just feel how the roll it out for some of us not having something underneath five. Let's five roll under better and gets us a better kind of connection to that rolling of the foot and the pitching of the shin. So our ankle sets up. Okay, this next, the next few, as you pinch the shin, also put a little yaw in the shin. So if I... had a piece of tape down the front of the shin, it would move a few millimeters. in or out like off center that tape it's probably going to go in because we're unilateral in our legs and you could think of the back one doing that same kind of action and feel how that changes how you go over that block does that give you a sense of a bit of float or lift Okay so you're just kind of gathering data for yourself so that when we go to the exercises you'll come back to the sequencing of things that gets you the things you want. That helps the exercise feel fluid, coordinated, easy, and like you're not fighting yourself. Okay so we're going to go through the same thing on the other side. Start just with the transverse arch. Okay now this is our expansion side so it's going to set up a little bit differently when we get onto it. We still are going to want to roll but you might find that it's more of a roll up of the notch of four or five and then a pitch of the shin. Some of us might find the roll down still actually really works on this side. So feel for yourself whether it's a roll up or whether it's a roll down of four or five. And then let's come to... Four or five on the block. And don't be shy. Like, get your heels not on it, but get a lot of the lateral border of your foot on the brick. Not just like the pinky toe. Not just like the base of the pinky toe. Okay? So get that lateral border. Now that you're kind of on that lateral border, it might shift that sense of, does four or five need to roll up? or does four or five need to roll down? And consider how it puts you down on the other side. Right? Does the action have you kind of get dropped? Does the action kind of gently put you down? Again, one isn't better than the other, but those are different collisions. Okay, so now let's move to one through three. And mainly it's just you want most of the lateral border of the edge off of the block at this point. And again work and maybe start to add in a yaw in of the shin bone. Once it pitches, yaw it in. Again, start to notice which one of these directions just naturally has your toes get out of the way for you. And again, then those will be your kind of instructions that you'll use when we're on this side of the body with the deadlifts and things. Okay? Okay there's one other thing I want us to try on both sides. So you've got an instruction of some sort of a roll of the foot, of the midfoot. Whether that's four or five rolling up, rolling down, whether that's one rolling down or rolling up. There's some sort of a roll that happens in the midfoot. We've got a pitch of the shin that needs to then couple with that because that has the ankle joint then set up and be able to be like a joystick. Okay, so the ankle joint then becomes to be like a joystick and the joystick doesn't just move like this. The joystick moves like this. can move like this. In the case of like a ballet dancer, those circles that the ankle does will be tiny. Right, as they move through that foot and ankle, the circle that happens at the ankle will be tiny. But in a speed walker or a trail runner, the circle that happens at that ankle will be bigger. So as the foot rolls the tibia so again on the exercise you get to decide the sequencing of things and do you want that circle to be tight? A high jumper when you watch the Olympics they also have a tight circle that then pops them up. Okay, so our ankle isn't just it's there's a Every time we go over that foot. There's a Kind of corkscrew action that is happening between the shin the foot the heel Does that make sense? Can you kind of feel that as you're moving around your space? Yes, no, maybe so Yeah, okay. Yeah, good. And even if you're kind of like, I don't know if I feel it, like just picture it in your mind. And again, as you're moving, do a few reps with the intention of keeping that circle tight and small. And do a couple of reps with the intention of making that bigger and see what the output is and then do a few more using the input tight or larger circle that gets you the output that you're liking. Does that make sense? Yeah. Okay. Fabulous. Okay. Fabulous. Fabulous. So, so people can be rolling fourth, fifth. It could be rolling the first. We could be pitching down and under the heel and we will be pitching and adding a yaw of the shin. Okay, the roll of the foot always precedes the pitch of the shin. So what we wouldn't see is my foot, my foot being very like pancakey and slapping down and then my shin going. Just try that. Like slap the ball your foot down and pitch your shin and you feel how your ankle just kind of gives way. Yeah, so we don't want that because what that is is an extended collision. And an extended collision means our, an extended collision, we just don't want it. It causes more vibration and toxicity in the system. I would want that if I jump off a building, but my brain is going to take care of that for me to keep me safe. But I'm not going to try to do that to myself because... Like when I tried to learn how to run I was like oh I need to relax, I need to relax, I need to relax, I need to relax. And I was thinking I need to put more force into the ground and so I was every step would be like that collapse at the ankle and so just all felt hard and then I never got any kind of like traction with it because it never got to the point where it felt springy or like I got something out of the step I set up and so then I stopped doing it. Right? So we want to set ourselves up so that we keep doing it, but we also don't want to push through and keep doing something that just is wearing us down in a way that's wearing us down. Okay. So exercises are, we're going to use a Okay. block. Now you could use a dumbbell or a kettlebell but you can also just use body weight. But the way this is going to work out is you're standing on your uh I want to do this. You're going to have your expansion side back. Your compressed side is going to be on the block. Your expansion side is going to be back. Now here's the thing. So you're going to do something to roll the foot, pitch the shin. I want to get down and under this weight. So I want to get down and under this weight. Then I'm going to work the heel under and that'll take the step. So the expansion side is back. The compressed side is on the block. I want to get under this and then I'm going to work the heel and I'll take that step. So another way to think of it is like this side is our get under the object, this side then stands us up by taking the step through. So I'm going to roll the foot, pitch the shin, get under the weight and the other foot takes the step. Beautiful. We're going to do eight on this side and then we'll set up slightly differently on the other side. Work the heel under so that you get the step of your expansion leg for free. Work the heel under, work the heel under of that foot, that compressed foot so that we get the step with the other leg for free. Good, how are we doing on that side? Find a rhythm. Did you feel like you got the freebie? Yeah yeah nice Karen that's it. Okay so even if you didn't that's fine did you feel like you could get down and under the the weight? And if it's on you it's simply that this arm being the twisting arm because it wants to twist it's not going to want a strict press. It's going to want to go up by you getting down. It's going to want you to get down under it. It's not going to want you to be here and press it up. So that's another way you could think of it. The arm goes up because you get down under it. Or the weight in your hand or on your shoulder goes up. because you get under it. It's like it's our jerk side. Yeah yeah yeah yeah. Okay so on the other side if you put that weight on your other side you'll feel how very easily it is happy to strict press it up. Yeah you feel how it's like it's it's fine to strict press it up but this other side it is happier if you get under it to press it up your your compressed side so that's some of the differences you'll start to to feel it wants you to get under it which is going to require a roll of the foot to the shin if you watch uh like olympic power lifters you'll you'll see their compressed side and their expansion side you'll see the side that really works to get them to lead them under the weight. It's not that it's doing all the work and then the side that works to get the weight back up and leads. Okay so on the other side on the other side the block will be underneath our back foot it'll be underneath our compressed foot. It'll be underneath that compressed foot actually though this is going to be in the hand and Debbie because you've uh kind of seen it you could I would do that Spider-Man kind of grip on this side with the dumbbell when it's in your hand. Yeah so all we're gonna do is again weight comes into this back leg. and you're going to put that down, put that down, stay low, let the shin fall once you're low and that brings your other leg through, let the shin fall that brings your other leg through, yeah. It's almost like you're dropping the weight and catching it before you've got to get under it and catch it before it hits the ground. And then just let that shin pitch. That's going to put you on your other leg. Do about eight. This looks good. Yeah don't be afraid to really let yourself hinge over that front leg. Yes and then pitch the nice Karen. Yes that's it Debbie. Good okay. Any questions on that side? Again if there's any twinginess with the knee Play with not just the pitch but let there be an inward yaw of the shin but not just the front leg. Some of us need to focus on the front and the back shin yawing and that has things work out in the hips that sets the knee up better. Make sense? So yeah, so what yeah, yeah, yeah, so what what I would do in that case is we're still here. I'm Gonna go here and then I want this shin to go set up so that the set there is Set. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I know. So it might be that you just work with the down here and then bring this foot, stand up, reset it. Get comfortable with trusting this falling in place before we add the next step. And it might be that you're up here, the hand on a counter, and the point is this foot comes off and then catch yourself on the chair seat. But there has to be a coming down, a lowering down. Does that make sense? Does that help and give you kind of a place to work it? Okay so go back to the first side if you haven't already. We're going to do eight. We're just going to do three rounds going back side to side. We'll get our heart rate up. So on this compressed side that foot is back. We're getting under it. And when you catch yourself, it'll be your hamstrings that you'll feel. You could if you wanted at the bottom of this on the compressed side, pause down there, squeeze your glutes, squeeze your hamstrings and then Let them go work the heel under. See what you get out of it. There'll be a change in kind of the quality of what comes next. It's just creating a stronger input that will create a stronger output. Okay, other side. Did that make that more workable, Debbie? Yeah, okay, perfect. Yeah, those guys. Oh, I got this wrong. I was like, why does that feel weird? Block is underneath the compressed stuff. It's like my knee tweaked on that one. It's like, oh, there's no space for me to come through. There we go. Okay grab a drink of water before we go back for our last round on each side. Any questions? That's okay, work the rolling of the foot, four or five up and down, work the pitch of the tibia. And for you, I would work the pitch of the tibia, then with inward yaw of both your shins. You might even... Couple what is happening at the shins with that yaw with a yaw of the forearms. Again both in and what that will do is it kind of it brings people in so you can squeeze through the tunnel. Lots of us I think are stuck in this pattern where we're we're just like this. So then even if I take a leg back or forward I'm still just like this resisting moving anywhere. Yeah, and it might be that you actually are going to need like a sensory input under the foot or an insole or something under the foot that helps initiate that role to have it work out. But it's like you're going to kind of have to play. Yeah, you're gonna, you're gonna kind of have to, to uh, to play. Right, yeah. Oh like the wrong foot was on the block? That's what I did when I started. Yeah yeah yeah. Yeah no it needs to be your back one as the the shin pitches though if you yaw them both in and you can even kind of add the forearms that will that will make space and create the next thing. Okay so back to that first side last round. So our compressed side, that front foot is on the block, okay? It's like a snatch movement or a jerk movement where I gotta get under it to get this guy up, then I keep pitching the shin, the other leg, or work the heel under and the other leg comes through for me. If you're working the foot and shin right, you shouldn't feel your quad trying to stop you or like they're burning or working against you. Yeah so um so again with this one it might be on this guy that you uh need to have chair backs or something here or something that lets you again drop and work the foot and work the shin but it uh Oh, so I'm not on that side right now. I'm on my compressed side. So I'm going to switch after this next one to that other side. So you're already on that other side. You're already on your expansion side. Okay, so it's always going to be the compressed side that's got a block on it. Right? Whether that foot is in the rear or whether that foot's in the front. We'll have a block under it Okay, so from here then it becomes Rock pitch the shin. That's what brings that back leg forward You can If the dumbbell like scares you to drop, maybe get a some sort of cooking utensil or a rolling pin and literally drop it, like loosen your grip on it, catch it before it hits the ground. It's not going to go faster than you. You have more mass than whatever is in your hand even if it's 20 pounds. you have more mass you will get down faster. Don't try to have the feet straight also like that automatically will put a bit of a Rotation, one-dimensional rotation into the system. So notice if you're kind of trying to be on train tracks. Stop that. Okay, good. How'd that feel? So that guy's done. Awesome. People got their heart rate up. Feel like you got some coordinate. Yeah. Nice. Nice, nice, nice. So again, also evidence it doesn't, you're not, you don't have to do a perfect to get benefit. Right? Some is better than, some and done is better than perfect. Okay, so next exercise, push-ups. So with our push-ups, block is under our compressed hand. So whether you're like on a coffee table, at the wall, down on the floor, on your toes or on your knees, your compressed hand is on the block, your expansion hand is on the floor. Or I would suggest... Getting on your feet. So don't be here. Get under your feet. If getting the balls of the feet. Under you is tricky because of your shin length, femur length, etc. etc. You could roll your yoga mat, you could use a couple of yoga blocks, and they come underneath the knees, or the shins rather, so that you can work the feet under you, okay? And that's just a push-up. You're just going down. and up and remember we could inhale at the top hold the inhale and exhale at the top inhale hold the inhale down up exhale at the top we're doing eight and then we'll take a break six to eight Good. Okay. Just want to check in with you guys as we take our 90 second break here before we do it again. Any questions on that? We're good? So you probably can feel how the arms work together but it's like on the way down that compressed side kind of does it like a bit more and it leads set another way doesn't do more but it leads the movement and then your other arm leads on the way up but they're both working together but the block lets everybody be clear on who's leading when. If you wanted to work another rotation, you could work the pitch of the shins and that as you go down pitch the down or the compression towards the ground. Okay like we were doing in the last exercise. On the way up pitch the expansion shin back towards the ceiling. So you could add that in on this side if you want and just feel what it gets you in the in the push-up. Okay, here we go again. Again, you can inhale at the top, retain the breath, lower down, exhale at the top, or breathe how you want to. You know what's really cool is forever I struggled with head position in push-up and as soon as I started letting the asymmetries work out my head just takes like the head position resolves itself. It's like I'm checking I'm like oh yeah my head's right there it's not it's not leading as I do the push-up. Yeah it's kind of cool. So then what happens ultimately is like more of my arm stuff is coming to bear because then my neck stuff doesn't have to help because I'm not letting these two dance partners you know dance the way they need to dance. So we'll do one more set of push-ups. This last set if you want go from a more loaded position on the way down. So that might be if you're at the wall you go to a single leg balance and then both legs to come off. Okay be on your down or your compressed leg. As you go down, if you're on an elevated surface but maybe you're on your knees, you're gonna go from your toes okay as we go down and then drop the knees to come back up. So six to eight here, here we go. Whew! Great work everybody. Okay last exercise. You're gonna get the chain, a chain if you have it. If you don't, no biggie. Um Debbie R, this also might help to do this when you revisit the first exercise we did because this might give your input this the input down into the feet that is useful for you useful and usable. So the chain we want to have two tails not one so we'll do it up also we could have put this on for our push-ups. Again I would invite you to like revisit this whole workout possibly and utilize the chain on the waist like this because it'll change the input into the system so you'll get a different output. Okay. Yeah and the push-ups actually this either on the hips or the other way I've done this with push-ups that's quite nice or been helpful for me to is whatever phase of the push-up feels hard. So say it's usually for most of us is the pushing up on the bottom so what you do is put this guy on and put it across. So now I get input into that side that it's hard for me to feel and press out of the bottom and it just like clarifies things and it can click into it. So this would be another input thing you could do. Okay so This guy's here, I'm gonna move the block. We don't need any weights for this. So what we're gonna do is a curtsy squat. I'm gonna start, let's start on our compressed side okay. So we want to again get the roll of the foot, the pitch of the shin as that Other leg comes across and you'll feel how your ankle kind of sets up. So this is just, this could be where somebody stays. Okay, just getting that sense of the ankle kind of setting. If I want to go further then I'm going to work the circle of the ankle. tight or big all the way around to bring me down and through that right. I'm going to work the circle of that ankle to be what has me take the step and actually Debbie R this might actually be easier for you because the brain is already like it's got more rotations and so it won't resist the forward the same way. Yeah, so it's find that find that curtsy work. The calcaneus sometimes can be the easiest thing to cue into to get the sense of a tight circle at the ankle or a bigger circle at the ankle or the tibia or a combination of the two. but our body likes these complete rotations. So I go from collision on the one side, complete rotation sets me on to the next leg. Okay this might feel springier for you too. And then on the other side the curtsy will be a little bit different than it was on that side. Again there might be more of a sense of Like the heel in, the heel pressing in on this side and then work that complete rotation. And again, some of us that rotation will be clockwise, some of us it'll be counterclockwise. So if you haven't kind of gone and seen, ah, can I can my ankle, but first you want to get it to set, can I create that either way? And feel for the one that feels like it makes the most space and you get the freebie of the other leg out of it, which for me is counterclockwise. Okay switch to the other side. This is more of a kind of an endurance based motion without the extra resistance or weight. Yeah and this side's clockwise. Again with this, this would be another good place that you could once you compress all the way, squeeze the glute, squeeze the hamstring, then work that circle, the output will change. When you get to the bottom, then work that circle. But again then the body starts to know so like when I'm hiking then I can I know the different inputs so when I'm like I gotta jump from here to there I'm gonna put a squeeze on it it gets me a little more pop. Once you've done eight on that side come back to that express side. Yeah. Okay, last time to that first first side. Yep, clockwise on this side. Welcome to the But this is teaching us how to how to manage the collisions. Okay, last one, last side. Okay, let that go. Any questions on that last one? Good? Yeah. Did you feel that it was getting easier for you to stay low, be agile, kind of be quick, but not feel like you're fighting yourself? It's... Ah, well, that's, um... Is it your compressed side that's in the back on this side that you're on? Okay so you might need to put you might need to have it on a block. You might need to have your back your compressed foot on the block when you go on this side this way. It really is remarkable the ways we stop ourselves. Yeah, does that change it? Yes, maybe. Play with it and work the shins. Work the yaw of the shin. Okay, well we've got this on. Come on down. Let's do one round of side planks. So we're going to keep the chain on the hips. Have a yoga block set up in front of you. I'm coming down to my expansion side first. Okay, first thing we want to do is lift the rib cage or press the forearm into the ground so the rib cage, we're not kind of hammocked down here. So like shrug the shoulders. away from the ear and the forearm elbow into the floor. Then your top hands gonna come onto the block. You're gonna think of yawning that shin and also pitching the shin. That's what is going to lift your hips up. Okay this hand can stay on this block, this top leg could lift. We want to feel the legs involved and the lateral hip involved and then we'll lower down. Again, think of a yaw down towards the floor, okay, we're away from this other leg and a pitch of the shin thigh to have the hips come up and then come back down. Do two more like that. Okay, and then flip to the other side. Again. Activate through the arm, the armpit so that your ribcage isn't hammocked down towards the floor. And then work the bottom, shin, thigh, laterally pitch it into the ground. That's what lifts the hips. This top leg could stay on the bottom leg or you can lift it up and then we lower down. Top hand on the block at whatever height. works for you. Work the action of the bottom leg, bottom shin, bottom thigh. That's what's lifting our hips up and then coming down. Okay, we're going to take off our fancy belt. Ah! Wrong way! Uh oh. Okay. There we go. Kind of. Link leg into a carabiner instead of popping out of the carabiner. Okay come on down onto your back. We're going to bring our compressed ankle over our expanded knee okay and then work the fourth fifth up to bring those legs up to you. You can either kind of take the knee and the outer foot of that compressed side. You can reach through to the thigh of that expanded side. You can not hold the legs at all and just work the fourth, fifth up of that expanded side to bring the legs towards you. And you could also move your chest up towards the legs. Okay, so find where it feels useful and usable for you and your tissues. Take a couple of breaths. Okay, and then we'll un-pretzel the legs. Switch it so the expanded ankle is going to come over the compressed side knee. Again, work four and five of that compressed side. You can hang on to the legs if you want or not. You can lift the chest head up or not. Again, find kind of a place in this Presley shape that feels useful and usable for you. Take a couple of breaths. Okay, release those legs. Feet are on the floor. You're going to work four or five. of your expanded side and one, two, three of your compressed side. And they're both, both, both are going to roll up to take your knees to one side. Okay. And then they're both going to roll down to take your knees to the other side. So just working the outer edge of the expanded side and the inner edge of our compressed. side foot to take the knees side to side. The next time they go to a side pause there, maybe you want to wiggle and waggle your torso and reach back and get a foot. Maybe you want to reach down and hug a knee to your chest. Again, kind of find a place in this shape that you brought yourself into that feels useful and usable for you that you can work against the ground and against yourself to kind of bring some air movement, some tensile input into the tissues and then come back through center. Again work the outer edge of the foot and the edge of the foot. Come to the other side and again on this side now take a second to find what feels usable and useful. Move your body a little bit more. to again find where it feels like you want to have that tension across the tissues on this side of the body. For a couple of breaths. Okay and then come back through center. Bring the knees into the chest, like the chin to the chest. Just kind of rock side to side a little bit. and then make your way right onto your side onto your hands and knees maybe to half kneeling maybe a little low squat just roll yourself up roll those shoulders a couple of times both directions backwards and forwards Inhale those arms up. Reach, reach, reach. Wrap those arms around.

Okay then tighten it up again tight tight and switch hands and again notice what your hands do. Both will grip the object but one will want to twist. Once it's loosened it might be that that the hand that's on the lid will finish it but there if when it's tight there's a side that will twist whether it's the base or the lid and a side that will hold it okay so that's how we figure out our compress and our expansion side.

So our compressed side is the side that wants to twist. If with your hands you're kind of like oh I can't figure it out I'll kind of slow down here and show you. So I've got my left hand on the base my right hand on the top it's done up really snug.

Both will grip but it is my left hand that gets it started and loosens it and then I might finish with my right. When I do it up tight again and switch again they both will grip but it will be my left hand that wants to twist whatever it is that's in it to get it going. Okay, if you're having a hard time kind of feeling that, again if you tighten it up and put it underneath your armpit, it's easier if you're on skin, and then try to open it. you'll only be able to open it with your twisting like your twisting hand will get it going your armpit will squeeze but if you put it under your twisting side you'll feel how that you're beside like you will try to twist put a counter twist in the object to get the lid off you won't just hold it okay So those of you on the call, are you able to get some clarity over which is your twisting side and which is your side only really grips and then twists once it's loose?

Yeah okay good. And Debbie? Okay perfect so the twisting the side that wants to twist the object that is your compress side the side that wants to just grip that's our expansion side okay it is that and that is just in terms of which half of the body is which dance partner both halves are still showing up just like they showed up to open this up whichever hand we went but they both did something slightly different based on whether the hand was on the lid and on the jar so that's all that we'll factor in in our exercises today we're going to do something a little bit different in that instead of kind of going from Exercise to exercise.

We will stay with the same exercise for the full amount of sets before we move to the next exercise. This kind of trains the energy systems a little bit differently than going through all the exercises and then having a rest. So... There we go. So that's that.

Okay, so we are gonna warm up. The only other thing I want to say today is as best you can, we are focusing on our ability to drop down, our ability to compress because gravity, gravity isn't that big a force, right? I can like this.

This isn't hard. I can move against gravity. So consider that in a deadlift, say.

The standing up part is actually the easy part. But the hard part is getting down and under that weight. And then we just come up. But we've flipped everything so that we think what's hard is the standing up part.

The standing up part is not hard. Our ability to get low and go, that's where we need to focus. Okay, that's what will keep us fast. That's what will keep us agile.

Being able to be up here isn't what will keep us fast and agile. Think about it, when we went to stand up, the only reason we stood up is so that we could see to hunt, but this person that's up here, they then become the hunted. So once I get up here and look, I also then, I need to be able to get low and not fight myself to be here. I want to be able to get here and it's, I can be here.

It's not hard, my muscles aren't screaming at me. And so that becomes about the rotations of our foot and our ankle, or our foot and our shin and our rear foot that let that happen. So we're not fighting ourselves.

Okay, so to warm up, we're going to work the foot and the shin. And so get a yoga block, or if you're using bricks, you're going to get a brick. And...

We're going to get the transverse arch on it and we want to have our foot, this is where we can focus either on the first MTP joint or one through three or the outer edge and the notch of five and four. So we want to create a roll either down or up with The first MTP joint or four or five. Your foot will do something but you want to kind of pay attention for a motion this way of either four or five or one two three and then also a pitch of the shin.

Also then a pitch of the shin. Once the shin pitches it'll set you down on that other foot. You might start to feel how that action has it naturally raise you up.

You don't have to raise yourself up when those work together. There's a little lift that happens. There's a little lift that happens.

to put you through onto the other side. Now come to the end of the block. So we're working with just four or five and we should bring it on our compressed leg.

I'm on my compressed leg. So some of what I say, if you're on your expansion leg, it won't, it won't make sense. So actually work four or five, the notch of five down into the brick.

and pitch the tibia and then work the heel under. Pitch it down and forward but they got to go in that order four five shin heel under and if you weren't feeling that kind of lift I described a little bit a minute ago that should start to feel that and the lift might be more of a sense of like floating for a second before your next leg. comes down. Okay then shift the block so that now we're kind of focusing more on one through three.

So four four and five are off that surface, definitely five is, four might be a little bit on. And just feel how the roll it out for some of us not having something underneath five. Let's five roll under better and gets us a better kind of connection to that rolling of the foot and the pitching of the shin. So our ankle sets up.

Okay, this next, the next few, as you pinch the shin, also put a little yaw in the shin. So if I... had a piece of tape down the front of the shin, it would move a few millimeters. in or out like off center that tape it's probably going to go in because we're unilateral in our legs and you could think of the back one doing that same kind of action and feel how that changes how you go over that block does that give you a sense of a bit of float or lift Okay so you're just kind of gathering data for yourself so that when we go to the exercises you'll come back to the sequencing of things that gets you the things you want. That helps the exercise feel fluid, coordinated, easy, and like you're not fighting yourself.

Okay so we're going to go through the same thing on the other side. Start just with the transverse arch. Okay now this is our expansion side so it's going to set up a little bit differently when we get onto it.

We still are going to want to roll but you might find that it's more of a roll up of the notch of four or five and then a pitch of the shin. Some of us might find the roll down still actually really works on this side. So feel for yourself whether it's a roll up or whether it's a roll down of four or five.

And then let's come to... Four or five on the block. And don't be shy. Like, get your heels not on it, but get a lot of the lateral border of your foot on the brick.

Not just like the pinky toe. Not just like the base of the pinky toe. Okay? So get that lateral border.

Now that you're kind of on that lateral border, it might shift that sense of, does four or five need to roll up? or does four or five need to roll down? And consider how it puts you down on the other side.

Right? Does the action have you kind of get dropped? Does the action kind of gently put you down?

Again, one isn't better than the other, but those are different collisions. Okay, so now let's move to one through three. And mainly it's just you want most of the lateral border of the edge off of the block at this point. And again work and maybe start to add in a yaw in of the shin bone. Once it pitches, yaw it in.

Again, start to notice which one of these directions just naturally has your toes get out of the way for you. And again, then those will be your kind of instructions that you'll use when we're on this side of the body with the deadlifts and things. Okay?

Okay there's one other thing I want us to try on both sides. So you've got an instruction of some sort of a roll of the foot, of the midfoot. Whether that's four or five rolling up, rolling down, whether that's one rolling down or rolling up. There's some sort of a roll that happens in the midfoot. We've got a pitch of the shin that needs to then couple with that because that has the ankle joint then set up and be able to be like a joystick.

Okay, so the ankle joint then becomes to be like a joystick and the joystick doesn't just move like this. The joystick moves like this. can move like this.

In the case of like a ballet dancer, those circles that the ankle does will be tiny. Right, as they move through that foot and ankle, the circle that happens at the ankle will be tiny. But in a speed walker or a trail runner, the circle that happens at that ankle will be bigger.

So as the foot rolls the tibia so again on the exercise you get to decide the sequencing of things and do you want that circle to be tight? A high jumper when you watch the Olympics they also have a tight circle that then pops them up. Okay, so our ankle isn't just it's there's a Every time we go over that foot.

There's a Kind of corkscrew action that is happening between the shin the foot the heel Does that make sense? Can you kind of feel that as you're moving around your space? Yes, no, maybe so Yeah, okay.

Yeah, good. And even if you're kind of like, I don't know if I feel it, like just picture it in your mind. And again, as you're moving, do a few reps with the intention of keeping that circle tight and small. And do a couple of reps with the intention of making that bigger and see what the output is and then do a few more using the input tight or larger circle that gets you the output that you're liking.

Does that make sense? Yeah. Okay.

Fabulous. Okay. Fabulous. Fabulous. So, so people can be rolling fourth, fifth.

It could be rolling the first. We could be pitching down and under the heel and we will be pitching and adding a yaw of the shin. Okay, the roll of the foot always precedes the pitch of the shin.

So what we wouldn't see is my foot, my foot being very like pancakey and slapping down and then my shin going. Just try that. Like slap the ball your foot down and pitch your shin and you feel how your ankle just kind of gives way. Yeah, so we don't want that because what that is is an extended collision. And an extended collision means our, an extended collision, we just don't want it.

It causes more vibration and toxicity in the system. I would want that if I jump off a building, but my brain is going to take care of that for me to keep me safe. But I'm not going to try to do that to myself because...

Like when I tried to learn how to run I was like oh I need to relax, I need to relax, I need to relax, I need to relax. And I was thinking I need to put more force into the ground and so I was every step would be like that collapse at the ankle and so just all felt hard and then I never got any kind of like traction with it because it never got to the point where it felt springy or like I got something out of the step I set up and so then I stopped doing it. Right? So we want to set ourselves up so that we keep doing it, but we also don't want to push through and keep doing something that just is wearing us down in a way that's wearing us down.

Okay. So exercises are, we're going to use a Okay. block.

Now you could use a dumbbell or a kettlebell but you can also just use body weight. But the way this is going to work out is you're standing on your uh I want to do this. You're going to have your expansion side back. Your compressed side is going to be on the block.

Your expansion side is going to be back. Now here's the thing. So you're going to do something to roll the foot, pitch the shin.

I want to get down and under this weight. So I want to get down and under this weight. Then I'm going to work the heel under and that'll take the step. So the expansion side is back. The compressed side is on the block.

I want to get under this and then I'm going to work the heel and I'll take that step. So another way to think of it is like this side is our get under the object, this side then stands us up by taking the step through. So I'm going to roll the foot, pitch the shin, get under the weight and the other foot takes the step.

Beautiful. We're going to do eight on this side and then we'll set up slightly differently on the other side. Work the heel under so that you get the step of your expansion leg for free. Work the heel under, work the heel under of that foot, that compressed foot so that we get the step with the other leg for free.

Good, how are we doing on that side? Find a rhythm. Did you feel like you got the freebie?

Yeah yeah nice Karen that's it. Okay so even if you didn't that's fine did you feel like you could get down and under the the weight? And if it's on you it's simply that this arm being the twisting arm because it wants to twist it's not going to want a strict press.

It's going to want to go up by you getting down. It's going to want you to get down under it. It's not going to want you to be here and press it up.

So that's another way you could think of it. The arm goes up because you get down under it. Or the weight in your hand or on your shoulder goes up.

because you get under it. It's like it's our jerk side. Yeah yeah yeah yeah. Okay so on the other side if you put that weight on your other side you'll feel how very easily it is happy to strict press it up. Yeah you feel how it's like it's it's fine to strict press it up but this other side it is happier if you get under it to press it up your your compressed side so that's some of the differences you'll start to to feel it wants you to get under it which is going to require a roll of the foot to the shin if you watch uh like olympic power lifters you'll you'll see their compressed side and their expansion side you'll see the side that really works to get them to lead them under the weight.

It's not that it's doing all the work and then the side that works to get the weight back up and leads. Okay so on the other side on the other side the block will be underneath our back foot it'll be underneath our compressed foot. It'll be underneath that compressed foot actually though this is going to be in the hand and Debbie because you've uh kind of seen it you could I would do that Spider-Man kind of grip on this side with the dumbbell when it's in your hand. Yeah so all we're gonna do is again weight comes into this back leg. and you're going to put that down, put that down, stay low, let the shin fall once you're low and that brings your other leg through, let the shin fall that brings your other leg through, yeah.

It's almost like you're dropping the weight and catching it before you've got to get under it and catch it before it hits the ground. And then just let that shin pitch. That's going to put you on your other leg.

Do about eight. This looks good. Yeah don't be afraid to really let yourself hinge over that front leg. Yes and then pitch the nice Karen. Yes that's it Debbie.

Good okay. Any questions on that side? Again if there's any twinginess with the knee Play with not just the pitch but let there be an inward yaw of the shin but not just the front leg. Some of us need to focus on the front and the back shin yawing and that has things work out in the hips that sets the knee up better. Make sense?

So yeah, so what yeah, yeah, yeah, so what what I would do in that case is we're still here. I'm Gonna go here and then I want this shin to go set up so that the set there is Set. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I know. So it might be that you just work with the down here and then bring this foot, stand up, reset it.

Get comfortable with trusting this falling in place before we add the next step. And it might be that you're up here, the hand on a counter, and the point is this foot comes off and then catch yourself on the chair seat. But there has to be a coming down, a lowering down.

Does that make sense? Does that help and give you kind of a place to work it? Okay so go back to the first side if you haven't already. We're going to do eight.

We're just going to do three rounds going back side to side. We'll get our heart rate up. So on this compressed side that foot is back.

We're getting under it. And when you catch yourself, it'll be your hamstrings that you'll feel. You could if you wanted at the bottom of this on the compressed side, pause down there, squeeze your glutes, squeeze your hamstrings and then Let them go work the heel under. See what you get out of it.

There'll be a change in kind of the quality of what comes next. It's just creating a stronger input that will create a stronger output. Okay, other side. Did that make that more workable, Debbie? Yeah, okay, perfect.

Yeah, those guys. Oh, I got this wrong. I was like, why does that feel weird? Block is underneath the compressed stuff. It's like my knee tweaked on that one.

It's like, oh, there's no space for me to come through. There we go. Okay grab a drink of water before we go back for our last round on each side.

Any questions? That's okay, work the rolling of the foot, four or five up and down, work the pitch of the tibia. And for you, I would work the pitch of the tibia, then with inward yaw of both your shins. You might even...

Couple what is happening at the shins with that yaw with a yaw of the forearms. Again both in and what that will do is it kind of it brings people in so you can squeeze through the tunnel. Lots of us I think are stuck in this pattern where we're we're just like this.

So then even if I take a leg back or forward I'm still just like this resisting moving anywhere. Yeah, and it might be that you actually are going to need like a sensory input under the foot or an insole or something under the foot that helps initiate that role to have it work out. But it's like you're going to kind of have to play.

Yeah, you're gonna, you're gonna kind of have to, to uh, to play. Right, yeah. Oh like the wrong foot was on the block?

That's what I did when I started. Yeah yeah yeah. Yeah no it needs to be your back one as the the shin pitches though if you yaw them both in and you can even kind of add the forearms that will that will make space and create the next thing. Okay so back to that first side last round.

So our compressed side, that front foot is on the block, okay? It's like a snatch movement or a jerk movement where I gotta get under it to get this guy up, then I keep pitching the shin, the other leg, or work the heel under and the other leg comes through for me. If you're working the foot and shin right, you shouldn't feel your quad trying to stop you or like they're burning or working against you.

Yeah so um so again with this one it might be on this guy that you uh need to have chair backs or something here or something that lets you again drop and work the foot and work the shin but it uh Oh, so I'm not on that side right now. I'm on my compressed side. So I'm going to switch after this next one to that other side.

So you're already on that other side. You're already on your expansion side. Okay, so it's always going to be the compressed side that's got a block on it.

Right? Whether that foot is in the rear or whether that foot's in the front. We'll have a block under it Okay, so from here then it becomes Rock pitch the shin. That's what brings that back leg forward You can If the dumbbell like scares you to drop, maybe get a some sort of cooking utensil or a rolling pin and literally drop it, like loosen your grip on it, catch it before it hits the ground.

It's not going to go faster than you. You have more mass than whatever is in your hand even if it's 20 pounds. you have more mass you will get down faster. Don't try to have the feet straight also like that automatically will put a bit of a Rotation, one-dimensional rotation into the system.

So notice if you're kind of trying to be on train tracks. Stop that. Okay, good. How'd that feel?

So that guy's done. Awesome. People got their heart rate up. Feel like you got some coordinate.

Yeah. Nice. Nice, nice, nice. So again, also evidence it doesn't, you're not, you don't have to do a perfect to get benefit. Right?

Some is better than, some and done is better than perfect. Okay, so next exercise, push-ups. So with our push-ups, block is under our compressed hand.

So whether you're like on a coffee table, at the wall, down on the floor, on your toes or on your knees, your compressed hand is on the block, your expansion hand is on the floor. Or I would suggest... Getting on your feet. So don't be here.

Get under your feet. If getting the balls of the feet. Under you is tricky because of your shin length, femur length, etc. etc. You could roll your yoga mat, you could use a couple of yoga blocks, and they come underneath the knees, or the shins rather, so that you can work the feet under you, okay?

And that's just a push-up. You're just going down. and up and remember we could inhale at the top hold the inhale and exhale at the top inhale hold the inhale down up exhale at the top we're doing eight and then we'll take a break six to eight Good. Okay. Just want to check in with you guys as we take our 90 second break here before we do it again.

Any questions on that? We're good? So you probably can feel how the arms work together but it's like on the way down that compressed side kind of does it like a bit more and it leads set another way doesn't do more but it leads the movement and then your other arm leads on the way up but they're both working together but the block lets everybody be clear on who's leading when. If you wanted to work another rotation, you could work the pitch of the shins and that as you go down pitch the down or the compression towards the ground.

Okay like we were doing in the last exercise. On the way up pitch the expansion shin back towards the ceiling. So you could add that in on this side if you want and just feel what it gets you in the in the push-up.

Okay, here we go again. Again, you can inhale at the top, retain the breath, lower down, exhale at the top, or breathe how you want to. You know what's really cool is forever I struggled with head position in push-up and as soon as I started letting the asymmetries work out my head just takes like the head position resolves itself.

It's like I'm checking I'm like oh yeah my head's right there it's not it's not leading as I do the push-up. Yeah it's kind of cool. So then what happens ultimately is like more of my arm stuff is coming to bear because then my neck stuff doesn't have to help because I'm not letting these two dance partners you know dance the way they need to dance. So we'll do one more set of push-ups.

This last set if you want go from a more loaded position on the way down. So that might be if you're at the wall you go to a single leg balance and then both legs to come off. Okay be on your down or your compressed leg. As you go down, if you're on an elevated surface but maybe you're on your knees, you're gonna go from your toes okay as we go down and then drop the knees to come back up.

So six to eight here, here we go. Whew! Great work everybody.

Okay last exercise. You're gonna get the chain, a chain if you have it. If you don't, no biggie.

Um Debbie R, this also might help to do this when you revisit the first exercise we did because this might give your input this the input down into the feet that is useful for you useful and usable. So the chain we want to have two tails not one so we'll do it up also we could have put this on for our push-ups. Again I would invite you to like revisit this whole workout possibly and utilize the chain on the waist like this because it'll change the input into the system so you'll get a different output.

Okay. Yeah and the push-ups actually this either on the hips or the other way I've done this with push-ups that's quite nice or been helpful for me to is whatever phase of the push-up feels hard. So say it's usually for most of us is the pushing up on the bottom so what you do is put this guy on and put it across.

So now I get input into that side that it's hard for me to feel and press out of the bottom and it just like clarifies things and it can click into it. So this would be another input thing you could do. Okay so This guy's here, I'm gonna move the block.

We don't need any weights for this. So what we're gonna do is a curtsy squat. I'm gonna start, let's start on our compressed side okay. So we want to again get the roll of the foot, the pitch of the shin as that Other leg comes across and you'll feel how your ankle kind of sets up. So this is just, this could be where somebody stays.

Okay, just getting that sense of the ankle kind of setting. If I want to go further then I'm going to work the circle of the ankle. tight or big all the way around to bring me down and through that right. I'm going to work the circle of that ankle to be what has me take the step and actually Debbie R this might actually be easier for you because the brain is already like it's got more rotations and so it won't resist the forward the same way. Yeah, so it's find that find that curtsy work.

The calcaneus sometimes can be the easiest thing to cue into to get the sense of a tight circle at the ankle or a bigger circle at the ankle or the tibia or a combination of the two. but our body likes these complete rotations. So I go from collision on the one side, complete rotation sets me on to the next leg.

Okay this might feel springier for you too. And then on the other side the curtsy will be a little bit different than it was on that side. Again there might be more of a sense of Like the heel in, the heel pressing in on this side and then work that complete rotation.

And again, some of us that rotation will be clockwise, some of us it'll be counterclockwise. So if you haven't kind of gone and seen, ah, can I can my ankle, but first you want to get it to set, can I create that either way? And feel for the one that feels like it makes the most space and you get the freebie of the other leg out of it, which for me is counterclockwise. Okay switch to the other side. This is more of a kind of an endurance based motion without the extra resistance or weight.

Yeah and this side's clockwise. Again with this, this would be another good place that you could once you compress all the way, squeeze the glute, squeeze the hamstring, then work that circle, the output will change. When you get to the bottom, then work that circle. But again then the body starts to know so like when I'm hiking then I can I know the different inputs so when I'm like I gotta jump from here to there I'm gonna put a squeeze on it it gets me a little more pop. Once you've done eight on that side come back to that express side.

Yeah. Okay, last time to that first first side. Yep, clockwise on this side. Welcome to the But this is teaching us how to how to manage the collisions.

Okay, last one, last side. Okay, let that go. Any questions on that last one? Good? Yeah.

Did you feel that it was getting easier for you to stay low, be agile, kind of be quick, but not feel like you're fighting yourself? It's... Ah, well, that's, um...

Is it your compressed side that's in the back on this side that you're on? Okay so you might need to put you might need to have it on a block. You might need to have your back your compressed foot on the block when you go on this side this way. It really is remarkable the ways we stop ourselves.

Yeah, does that change it? Yes, maybe. Play with it and work the shins.

Work the yaw of the shin. Okay, well we've got this on. Come on down.

Let's do one round of side planks. So we're going to keep the chain on the hips. Have a yoga block set up in front of you.

I'm coming down to my expansion side first. Okay, first thing we want to do is lift the rib cage or press the forearm into the ground so the rib cage, we're not kind of hammocked down here. So like shrug the shoulders. away from the ear and the forearm elbow into the floor. Then your top hands gonna come onto the block.

You're gonna think of yawning that shin and also pitching the shin. That's what is going to lift your hips up. Okay this hand can stay on this block, this top leg could lift.

We want to feel the legs involved and the lateral hip involved and then we'll lower down. Again, think of a yaw down towards the floor, okay, we're away from this other leg and a pitch of the shin thigh to have the hips come up and then come back down. Do two more like that. Okay, and then flip to the other side.

Again. Activate through the arm, the armpit so that your ribcage isn't hammocked down towards the floor. And then work the bottom, shin, thigh, laterally pitch it into the ground. That's what lifts the hips. This top leg could stay on the bottom leg or you can lift it up and then we lower down.

Top hand on the block at whatever height. works for you. Work the action of the bottom leg, bottom shin, bottom thigh. That's what's lifting our hips up and then coming down. Okay, we're going to take off our fancy belt.

Ah! Wrong way! Uh oh.

Okay. There we go. Kind of. Link leg into a carabiner instead of popping out of the carabiner. Okay come on down onto your back.

We're going to bring our compressed ankle over our expanded knee okay and then work the fourth fifth up to bring those legs up to you. You can either kind of take the knee and the outer foot of that compressed side. You can reach through to the thigh of that expanded side.

You can not hold the legs at all and just work the fourth, fifth up of that expanded side to bring the legs towards you. And you could also move your chest up towards the legs. Okay, so find where it feels useful and usable for you and your tissues.

Take a couple of breaths. Okay, and then we'll un-pretzel the legs. Switch it so the expanded ankle is going to come over the compressed side knee.

Again, work four and five of that compressed side. You can hang on to the legs if you want or not. You can lift the chest head up or not.

Again, find kind of a place in this Presley shape that feels useful and usable for you. Take a couple of breaths. Okay, release those legs.

Feet are on the floor. You're going to work four or five. of your expanded side and one, two, three of your compressed side. And they're both, both, both are going to roll up to take your knees to one side.

Okay. And then they're both going to roll down to take your knees to the other side. So just working the outer edge of the expanded side and the inner edge of our compressed.

side foot to take the knees side to side. The next time they go to a side pause there, maybe you want to wiggle and waggle your torso and reach back and get a foot. Maybe you want to reach down and hug a knee to your chest.

Again, kind of find a place in this shape that you brought yourself into that feels useful and usable for you that you can work against the ground and against yourself to kind of bring some air movement, some tensile input into the tissues and then come back through center. Again work the outer edge of the foot and the edge of the foot. Come to the other side and again on this side now take a second to find what feels usable and useful.

Move your body a little bit more. to again find where it feels like you want to have that tension across the tissues on this side of the body. For a couple of breaths.

Okay and then come back through center. Bring the knees into the chest, like the chin to the chest. Just kind of rock side to side a little bit. and then make your way right onto your side onto your hands and knees maybe to half kneeling maybe a little low squat just roll yourself up roll those shoulders a couple of times both directions backwards and forwards Inhale those arms up.

Reach, reach, reach. Wrap those arms around.

Transcript for:Understanding Compression and Expansion in Movement

Transcript for:
Understanding Compression and Expansion in Movement