Resistance-Based Flexibility Training
Resistance-Based Flexibility Training combines elements of Hatha Yoga, Traditional Chinese Medicine, resistance training, and Shamanic Healing. Using a series of resistance-based exercises, Infinity works the muscles along the meridian lines. The exercises increase strength and flexibility while activating the energy in these meridians to bring greater balance to the physical and energetic bodies.
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. Resistance-Based Flexibility Training 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 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 resistance-based flexibility. The exercises improve mobility, 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 by 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.
Our bodies can only do so much on instinct, and for the rest, we have our minds. By engaging your mind in an exercise, you can protect yourself from overstretching and injury. Over time, Janet has continued to adapt this approach through her experience with clients and her ongoing study of the body, movement, and the meridians.
Resistance-Based Flexibility Training 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.
The initial evaluation session is 1.5 hour-long at which time you will be evaluated for strength, flexibility, and balance.
During your first session, you’ll be introduced to Infinity’s resistance-based flexibility exercises and experience a combination of guided exercises and deep tissue muscle mashing. When appropriate, Janet may also give you exercises to practice at home.
Follow Up: Each private session is tailored to what your body needs that day and may include resistance-based flexibility exercises, assisted movement, muscle mashing, and exercises for home practice. Janet uses what she learned during your initial evaluation, along with your feedback and how your body is responding, to determine what to work on during each session.
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, don’t come hungry, and drink plenty of water. Please arrive 15 minutes early to fill out health evaluation paperwork.
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-stretches for resistance-based flexibility training at home! Follow us there for updates!