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4. The Sit-up 3/15/2003
I refer to this as the world’s worst exercise. To do sit-ups as a repetition for
supposedly strengthening the stomach muscles is an illusion, I feel.
A tight abdominal wall is an illusion of strength. Where is it written that we are born with weak stomach muscles? A muscle that has length and flexibility generally also has a natural strength and more endurance. I feel that this is also true for other muscles of the body but, lets just examine this group for now.
When you do the sit up in an attempt to tighten the stomach wall you are in
effect creating less distance between two points, the sternum and the pubic bone
i.e. the rib cage and the hip girdle. Tightening this muscle group, in turn creates less space for the
internal organs and the systems of the body must function in a congested space.
Generally people will take up this activity to compensate for a structural misalignment that has the intestines of the body pushed forward which makes the stomach wall protrude out. When people develop a protruding belly the advise usually is to do sit ups and this will force the stomach in. The structure (skeleton) needs the attention not the stomach wall.
When working to align the body you are working to correct the structure of the body. Breathing is used to open and elongate spaces and have muscles interrelated in an efficient way as perhaps the evolutionary design of our body was intended. The structure of our body may become hindered by many conditioning factors, which then have muscles being used in a less efficient way.
If we are engaged in physical labor then the muscles adapt to the activity and our muscles become strong to serve us in making the activity easier over time. If we have an activity to also keep the muscles lengthened and flexible, like Yoga, then we can maintain a happy medium.
From what I have said above I hope to provoke some thought about the notion of strength and what we can accomplish with the body with out putting it through work outs that build "Abs of Steel" but, don’t serve our greatest physical good.
Comments
Harmon,
I have already benefited greatly from your notion of forgetting that I have a "waist." It seems that the key thing is to relax, and breathe deeply, and trust that, to the extent my middle-section doesn't look the way I want it to, I will find that it "reformats" itself as I breathe better, get into better alignment, and allow myself to be who I actually am.
I'm also finding the work that I've been doing on my SpiritRiser (mini-rebounder) very, very useful in this regard. I naturally breathe deeply and fully when I'm using it (it's easier to stay on for 45 minutes when I'm relaxed and breathing fully), and I have seen some good progress on my mid-section.
Nonetheless, are you saying that there is no value, in your opinion, from sit-ups, crunches, and other exercises designed to work the mid-section of the body?
Posted by: Jordan on March 17, 2003
Hi Jordan
I am glad you were able to detect the subtle hold people have on the waistline. As you work on the SpiritRiser I’m sure this idea of having the abdominal wall with more length reflects the ideal that people are looking for. A natural look in a waistline is brought about by the lift of the rib cage away from the hips so the space that exists there is maintained. The plates of Albinus (see Art Students Anatomy by E.J. Farris) are elegant examples of the skeleton with all its dignity. They show this space very clearly. They also show the spaces that exist between each rib.
It seems that as we grow up these spaces reduce from not understanding alignment, breath and the severest factor, negative conditioning. When children are negated the chest collapses and the inner shrinks from being in the world. This is sad and will shape the body until the individual learns to reverse this condition. The good news is that the body’s nature is to be open and it will respond rapidly to accurate information.
Am I saying there is no value to doing sit-ups, etc? Well in my opinion, the general public is fed pictures of wash board stomachs for males and for the ladies a skinny torso, creating images of an ideal that is questionable. So yes, I am saying for most people this is not helpful. They tend to shrink the internal spaces of the body, which creates congestion. Over the long haul, 30 and 40 years this congestion, I feel from my experience, creates most of the physical problems people have. There in lies the principle of creating space.
I have had numerous impromptu sessions with women both young and middle aged that were complaining about menstrual cramps. By laying them down with a pillow under the small of the back and having them breathe to expand the stomach area open, to create more internal space the congestion is addressed. The results within five to fifteen minutes in 100% of these situations are a release from the pain. Some women will follow through with this over time and report fewer problems or no problems. I wonder how many women have menstrual cramps from holding a waistline unconsciously.
If you are going to be a boxer, well then you might better do some thing to tighten the stomach, (as a youngster I did box, and was real proud of being able to take a blow to the stomach by neighborhood friends, especially if there were some girls around!) I retired from the sport within a year when one night the only person to spar with was a pro fighter of 3 years who out weighed me by 15 pounds. He took it real easy on me; just directing all is punches to the stomach and none to my head. The second round I couldn’t really continue and went to the bathroom to throw up lunch. The thought occurred to me; “I had trained real hard for these devastating feelings”! To my Moms and Dads relieve my path into adult hood had taken a turn!
If a person feels they need to do crunches or sit-ups for a sport then they will feel that they are doing the right thing and maybe find that it helped there performance. I feel that by playing the sport and building up muscles by putting in extra time at the activity that duplicates the sport is useful. Walter Payton would run the stairs of the stadium to build up his legs, which involves the whole body as opposed to pushing weights with his legs while lying dormant. This is a vast field and many trainers have developed ideas that work for them, so there might be a lot of room for integrating ideas.
Tom Kite who was famous for finishing in the top five of most tournaments. He started to do weight training and shortly thereafter he started to fall from grace. I had a feeling this might happen when I heard the announcement that he started to lift weights. This may also be true for Robert Duvall who took up weight training and fell in the standings.
Again, I could go on, however you indicate that your endurance is gaining as a result of working with some relaxed ideas of expansion with breath. I do believe the body would perform better in a more relaxed state where the muscles are engaged with an activity that requires strength and at the same time are recouping fast from not being made hard and tense.
The medium of the Spirit Riser has got to be an excellent tool for learning about the breath and other principles we have discussed. I would say that the element of shock is also in the mix. Tarthang Tulku said of the 100,000 prostration’s students were given to do, that they were also called shocks by other Tibetans. I can attest to that. The repetition of the prostrations breaks many habit patterns of the body and develops focus. I have also observed others handling this practice in harsh ways to the detriment of the body. Oh well the price that is paid to get to heaven!
Perhaps we can discuss other insights as they come along and your “Spirit Rises” again and again as we stand around and comment.
Thanks for stopping in.
Posted by: Harmon on March 22, 2003
~~~~
Hello,
your article was very
interesting. For the last 10 years my stomach muscles 'keep popping out'.
i only know of one chiropractor who can fix them straight away by pushing them
back in. This fixes my nausea, pain etc created by my stomach muscles being out.
Apparently they twist instead of sitting flat.
i have been searching for something natural and cheap to fix my problem.
I will try breathing and sitting up straighter, hoping this will be of help. If
you have any other ideas or information about stomach muscles i would love to
hear them?
Yours Sincerely
Tammy
Tammy was sent some links on working with her stomach and breathing.
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