Flexibility and Strength Training
Meridian Flexibility and Strength Training is a combination of Hatha Yoga, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Resistance Training, and Shamanic Healing. The effect on the body is similar to that of Acupuncture. Using a series of resistance training exercises, Infinity will help release blocked meridians and increase qi(energy) flow.
The exercises activate, strengthen, and strength the muscles along the meridian lines. And resistance is key.
By adding resistance, you engage the mind and reestablish the connections between the muscles and the brain. Resistance also significantly decreases your risk of overstretching and injury. Flexibility and Strength is a great option for athletes and highly active individuals who want to optimize their performance or recover from an injury. It also works well for those who work repetitive jobs and may have imbalanced muscles/long-standing injuries that prevent them from working/moving comfortably.
At Infinity, we value balance in all things. That’s another reason we love Flexibility and Strength Training. The exercises both increase flexibility to improve mobility and loosen tight muscles, and build strength to prevent overstretching and injury.
We believe that STRENGTH cannot be achieved without FLEXIBILITY, and vice versa
Through years of experience and work with professional athletes, ballroom dancers, cyclists, and other people from many walks of life, Janet has found an effective system to unlock the motor center of the brain’s communication with the muscles.
These include:
- Doing small sets of exercises on balancing muscle groups that help the motor center in the brain remember how to work again in harmony. (Balancing muscle groups being muscles from the meridians on opposite sides of the body, i.e hamstrings, and quads.)
- Working on exercises in an optimal sequence that starts with the presenting problem and reveals the true cause of the injury or imbalance
- Continuing education in TCM and anatomy helps her create solutions that work via interpreting the connections with our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies
- An open mind to combat the changes that happen in the body every day.
By engaging your mind in an exercise, you can protect yourself from overstretching and injury. Our bodies can only do so much on instinct and for the rest, we have our minds.
Inspiration for Infinity Flexibility came from Resistance Flexibility and Strength Training (RFST), Resistance Stretching, and Meridian Flexibility System (MFS) all created by Bob Cooley. After training with Bob, Janet also trained with Elite trainers Anne Tierney and Steve Sierra who own Innovative Body Solutions. Anne and Steve were Elite trainers for Bob Cooley and have since founded their own company and the Ki-Hara Method.
Flexibility and Strength FAQs
Infinity’s training exercises are distinctive in that they are not “static.” The key is pandiculation or, more simply put, exercising with resistance. The element of resistance in the exercises activates your brain and elicits a safer, deeper, long-lasting effect.
In static exercises, signals are sent from your muscles to the reflex centers. By using resistance in an exercise you send signals that pass through your reflex centers and end in the motor cortex of your brain. Your muscles begin to receive and respond to messages from the motor cortex and start to correct for overworked or underworked dysfunctional muscle patterns.
Think about the computer. When the server cannot connect to a program it can try to circumvent it by activating other systems and programs. But without your IT guy, you may not even notice that the computer is essentially skipping over the error to try and accomplish what you have asked it to do. The same is true for your muscles. If one muscle has become overworked it may be compensating for another group of muscles that have “turned off.” By engaging the brain while working the muscles you can reestablish the lost connection and address the real problem.
You will be working one on one with a trained instructor who will guide you through an evaluation of each and every muscle group in your body.
The initial evaluation session is 1.5 hour-long at which time you will be evaluated for strength, flexibility, and balance. Come to the first session with goals and desires for anything you would like to work on, change or improve. Maybe you would like to increase range of motion, eliminate pain, or you might want to improve performance in your sport (faster running, quicker reflexes, warp-speed recovery time), possibly you would like to be more proactive in injury prevention, there are many reasons to want more flexibility.
Be prepared to work hard, and discover things about yourself and your body that will change you in a positive way. At your first session bring or wear comfortable exercise clothing, empty stomach or light snack before but don’t come hungry, drink plenty of water. Please plan to arrive early to fill out health evaluation paperwork.
During this session, we will discuss your goals and you will receive an introduction to resistance stretching methodology. For one hour of the session, you will experience an assisted stretching, along with muscle mashing massage, and if appropriate you may learn new self stretches for home care.
Follow Up: Assisted Stretching, muscle mashing, self stretch performance and instruction in any or all combinations are performed during a private lesson. The program of balance has been determined at the initial consultation regarding what should be worked on, along with feedback on the current status of each individual client at the outset of each new follow up session.
Results will vary by individual. However, most of our clients see increased strength and flexibility after only one or two sessions.
Yes! We are working on building a YouTube library of all of our favorite self strengths for flexibility and strength training at home! Follow us there for updates!