Biking: Clarify the joints

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In Colorado I have many clients who cycle, often at nationally competitive levels. It is common for cyclists to be very good at cycling and then hurt themselves doing other activities. Why? Because their muscle patterns are not adapting. The hips and low back are still engaged in cycling when the spine needs to pivot, turn, or bend. These lessons help connect the legs into the power of the trunk at the same time, they promote more flexibility in the spine and hips.

Use this lesson to stay mobile in all the joints, allowing the connection to feel fluid and enhance walking and running. It also helps release the low back.

Habits of the feet are profound. With our narrow base of support and high center of gravity, the brain, the vestibular system (balance) and sense of safety is wrapped up in how we use our feet. The second anything goes wrong with the feet, it throws us off in countless ways and can cause compensation patterns throughout the musculoskeletal system, especially in the knees, hips, and low back.

Here are Moshe's remarks from his book, Higher Judo, on Factor 1: Bare feet.

Here you swivel the pelvis to integrate the power of your legs with the trunk. As you become aware how the hips, pelvis, spine, and ribs work together, the legs move with greater ease and efficiency. It can feel as if your legs become “stronger,” but in fact you are accessing more of your whole self in each action.

This lesson uses some large muscles so take frequent rests. (One of my older clients did these lessons in class, then went in for a physical. Her doctor asked, “What have you been doing with your hips?!” because they were so mobile!)

Tip: Much of this lesson has the arms overhead. If this is difficult, put a blanket under your arms to support them. There is no benefit, and significant detriment, to straining in the upper chest or shoulders.

For the whole series, see 106, 107, 108 Hip joints by way of lengthening.

A yummy, slow lesson that invites fluid, smooth patterns throughout the whole trunk. I suggest barely moving because the brain work around the pattern is enough to change the way you move through your torso.

This lesson also has an amazing effect on the neck and shoulders. If you have “hunchie shoulders” from computer work, this is wonderful!

For lessons similar to this, see:
201 Connect the shoulders with lines and arcs
456 Imagine hip and shoulder circles
4 Release the neck and shoulders
44 Loosening up to run
206 Hip and shoulder circles

If you think you have tight hips, try this lesson. You’ll discover that your hips are influenced by so much more than the one joint. This is another of Moshe Feldenkrais’s masterpieces. The slow growing of folding the spine in relation to the legs shows how the low back affects the hips, chest, neck, and arms. The whole self starts to move in ways we have not moved since we were very small. It’s a re-genesis of our natural movement birthright.

This is the lesson where you move the elbow inside the knee and outside the knee in sitting and on the back.

For more like this, see these two from the Esalen workshop:
8 Twirling the right hip
11 Lengthen leg for an integrated hamstring

(SF evening classes #11, Free hip joints)

This is a slow, detailed lesson—seemingly lazy, but really it’s your coordination—studying how you increase the activation of the back to swivel through the spine and ribs. Feel the bones pick up link by link. Again, don’t do anything that causes strain.

Although you do use big muscles, consider using the appropriate amount of work for each movement.

For more like this, see:
78 Low back strength, tilting legs on stomach
80 Arms frame head
317 Tilt legs to come to sit from belly
9 Tilting legs on stomach to locate your center

The counterweight in this lesson comes from noticing the back leg behind and the torso in front of the pivot point, which is the hip. Again, less muscular work and more weight shift will serve you here. The ease of movement when all the limbs are balanced is a joy.

Once the swivel factor emerges through the variations, the movement can feel nearly weightless. I love the intentional use of the eyes to guide the center of gravity over the pelvis and hip.

An amazing lesson for organizing the pelvic floor, hip joints, and the deep muscles in the back and abdomen. It highlights how much excess work we put into moving the legs.

Ideally, the tone of the back does not shorten as we swing the legs. Nor does the jaw clench or the chest stiffen. But, we are all human and the dysfunction across the abdomen in relation to the hip joints is pervasive.

This lesson will change that. It has very slow, small movements that use a lot of attention to notice where you are holding and where you let go.

As you reduce the unnecessary interference, the legs get lighter, the lower abdomen and pelvic floor let go, and the breath spontaneously improves.

Just let the lesson “do you” and the training will happen in its own sneaky, surprising way. The movements don’t have to be perfect, some of them are challenging to coordinate. Just stick with it and see what happens!

For a complement to this lesson and more on the pelvic floor, see 553 Knees hide feet.

AY97

Whenever I say that the ankles are linked to the low back I get some initial funny looks. However, let’s look at it: if you take a step forward and your heel is on the ground, your ankle is flexed, right? And when you push off your toes, it’s extended, right? That’s clear.

Think of the low back: It is in the SAME pattern! When you put the heel down, the low back is flexed, when you push off of the toes, the low back arches. Try this lesson and feel for yourself how the uniform flexion and extension moves through you.

I often give this lesson to clients who are in a constant “arching" pattern in the back. Learning how to integrate the leg joints and the flexion of the back can be so relieving as you sense the flexion of the ankles and the rounding of the back. Plus, all the ankle movements change the tone through the hips and pelvis.