One incredibly useful skill for fixing a “bad back” is learning how to use the energy of the earth to support your body and any weight you happen to be lifting.
Now, before you start to think I am off my rocker, consider that this crucial idea has been emphasized for thousands of years – right up to the current day, in disciplines ranging from yoga to tai chi to Russian kettlebell lifting.
How do you think physically small qiqong and aikido masters can perform their amazing feats?
And how can top power lifters be so strong, but not be “big”?
I have been fortunate enough to have learned this method from a variety of sources, so I am always practicing and getting better at it. Currently, I am working with kettlebells using this approach, specifically on the Turkish Get Up and the Clean & Press.
For the TGU, the trick is to have a straight line of energy up from the earth, though the supporting limb, through the lower abdominals (aka lower tantien, aka hara ), and all the way up to the hand supporting the weight.
For the Clean & Press, it is a matter of storing the kinetic energy of the Clean to help power the Press (Pavel describes this very well in Enter the Kettlebell ).
In yoga, I learned how to push down with the supporting leg and “push the ground away”, when performing standing poses. And in qigong and tai chi, I learned to visualize “rooting” down into the earth.
A great way to start getting a feel for this skill is practicing the “static stomp”, as described by Pavel in The Naked Warrior. From a standing position, you practice gently pushing one foot at a time into the ground, trying to push the ground away from you. Once you are comfortable with this, you can push harder and with both feet. Eventually, you can feel the energy and alignment traveling up your whole body.
An added benefit of this exercise is that you begin to become sensitive to differences in strength and alignment between your left and right feet/legs/hips, and over time this will help you better stabilize your whole body – which is a crucial element in helping a “bad back” learn how to be strong again!
Now, before you start to think I am off my rocker, consider that this crucial idea has been emphasized for thousands of years – right up to the current day, in disciplines ranging from yoga to tai chi to Russian kettlebell lifting.
How do you think physically small qiqong and aikido masters can perform their amazing feats?
And how can top power lifters be so strong, but not be “big”?
I have been fortunate enough to have learned this method from a variety of sources, so I am always practicing and getting better at it. Currently, I am working with kettlebells using this approach, specifically on the Turkish Get Up and the Clean & Press.
For the TGU, the trick is to have a straight line of energy up from the earth, though the supporting limb, through the lower abdominals (aka lower tantien, aka hara ), and all the way up to the hand supporting the weight.
For the Clean & Press, it is a matter of storing the kinetic energy of the Clean to help power the Press (Pavel describes this very well in Enter the Kettlebell ).
In yoga, I learned how to push down with the supporting leg and “push the ground away”, when performing standing poses. And in qigong and tai chi, I learned to visualize “rooting” down into the earth.
A great way to start getting a feel for this skill is practicing the “static stomp”, as described by Pavel in The Naked Warrior. From a standing position, you practice gently pushing one foot at a time into the ground, trying to push the ground away from you. Once you are comfortable with this, you can push harder and with both feet. Eventually, you can feel the energy and alignment traveling up your whole body.
An added benefit of this exercise is that you begin to become sensitive to differences in strength and alignment between your left and right feet/legs/hips, and over time this will help you better stabilize your whole body – which is a crucial element in helping a “bad back” learn how to be strong again!