How To Eliminate The “Breakdown Mindset”, The “No Stretch” Hamstring Stretch, And The #1 Nutritional Stress To Avoid

"No Stretch" Hamstring StretchDoes AGE really cause pain and stiffness?

Do you really need to stretch your hamstrings?

Is blood sugar stress keeping you from feeling your best?

All this and much more is answered in today’s episode of Core Wellness TV!   ENJOY and be sure to let me know how you’re doing and what you’re thinking about all this by leaving a comment below!

Comments

  1. I started doing these about 6 weeks ago. What a huge difference they make! They really help my mobility like you say. They also have done wonders for my right/left asymmetries.

    I started out using a stretch band on a pull up bar looped under my shoulders to stabilize me and make the movement easier.

    But I don’t need it now.

    I give this move two thumbs up.

    This is the move all older people should be doing!

    • Amen, Gary! 2 thumbs up indeed! Hip opening is HUGE so we can keep “pushing ourselves along” rather that “pulling” ourselves along.

      Think “Sprinter” vs. “Nursing Home Shuffle with a walker”…pushing vs. pulling is a CRUCIAL concept.

      Keep PUSHING!

      drh

  2. Had a major breakthrough with the lunge today. I realized I was focusing too much on pushing my hips forward to feel the stretch, and ended up disengaging my core. Now I’m really focusing on pushing the ball of the back foot into the ground. It keeps me connected and i feel a better stretch. Thanks Steve. Also, I’m really beginning to feel what it’s like to push from behind while walking.

    For those of us with looser connective tissue, as we start to fully extend our hips, do you know of a way to prevent anterior hip capsule issues? Sometimes when I’m walking a lot and pushing from behind, I start to feel pain there.

    Cheers

    • Remember, Andrew, that walking does not require a glute squeeze. The push comes from the intention of pushing away from the 3 pillars of the feet while imagining pushing away from the back support zone as in baby back.

  3. Thanks for this one and for all your posts. The information you provide helps me stay motivated. I hadn’t been doing this lunge because my core was not strong enough but it is easier for me now. This is the best exercise for opening up the hips and I’ve tried them all. My problem was and still is lower cross posture syndrome. My core is much stronger but the hip flexors are still tight and the left quad is pulling at my knee cap so it hurts. This lunge seems to help. Also I stretch out my quads regularly. I keep adding more repetitions of the clam which I do to strengthen the glutes but it takes so long to do the repetitions that I’m considering using an exercise band for resistance. That way I should be able to get by with 10 or 15 reps. What do you think?

  4. Call me crazy, but my ambition is to be able to dance again. I am 60 years old and I had to interrupt a promising ballet dancer career at age 22 (!) because of severe sciatic pain. I started doing gymnastic (competition) and ballet at age 5 and I truly abused my body. Since I stopped dancing, after a bad fall, II tried several times to dance again, but I would quickly hit that wall of excruciating pain and would give up again… I kept moving, though, with lots of limitations and a lot of discouragement and negative thoughts, because of that pain that I could not understand and get rid of. It became obsessionel and I belived it would only get worse, but would never heal. Now, little by little I realize all the errors I made, all the mistreatments I gave my body, all the “forcing the wrong way”. Now, because I have reached a moment in my life where I am so afraid of ending up in a wheel chair,i am slowly trying to rehabilitate, the “intelligent way”. There are too many therapists and trainers-teachers out there, who don’t know and don’t care if you hurt yourself (there are some great ones, too) but ultimately, you get to become your own teacher and therapist, you’ve got to listen to and observe your own instrument and be gentle and patient Break bad habits, rebuilt good muscle memory. Now that I no longer have the pressure of career demands and ambitions, I only focus on the thought of the future pleasures of a flexible, dancing body, Call me a fool but I dream of being able to dance until I die. Now, I don’t force anything, i go slowly, listen to my body with the patience of a grandmother listening to a child. It will probably take a long time and I don’t believe I will be able to wear my point shoes ever again, but I will not stop trying. Whatever I get will be great. I love your videos and your great spirit and energy! Greatt help! Thanks!

    • Try Argentina tango. Im 72 and went back today. All these stretches are great. Have spinal stenosis so have to stretch.

    • I’ll never call anyone crazy for having a bold audacious goal, Michele 🙂

      Peeling back to “zero” and mastering the ability to feel your front and back support zones like a 4.5 month old infant will give you your true center. The biggest problem I’ve seen with dancers in the past (my wife, Rebecca is trained modern) is that mobility / flexibility is prized over stability and motor control.

      Yes, keep listening to your body, celebrate your successes and be kind to yourself.

      drh

    • These stretches are wonderful. I danced ballet from age 5 – 25 then took a 13 year break. As a CPA I sit all day and then transform to a ballerina by night because that is what I love to do. A couple of years ago I injured my hip during an adult ballet camp and have fought pain ever since and really thought I would have to give it up this year. Earlier this year I started physical therapy with a therapy group that specializes in treating dancers. The stretches here are the exact ones they have me doing to correct a posture imbalance with my right pelvis rotating. At 51 I’m doing pointe work and taking ballet 4 nights a week. Yes there are some days I wonder why I do this but when it’s in your body you have to let the movement out and it really offsets work and life stresses. So absolutely go back to ballet! I also subscribed to the posturedoc YouTube site and work through Dr Steve’s exercises. They have been a tremendous help to me in supplementing my PT program as well as making me a stronger dancer. I’ll be auditioning with a community dance group for the Nutcracker in a couple of months so I’m hoping to perform again. Even if I don’t make it to perform, just knowing I can do what I love, (ballet!!) as well as normal daily activities without pain is a tremendous blessing and one I hope to continue with for many years to come.

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