In this class we’re going to talk about how to train in areas of weakness, limitation, or past injury.

No equipment needed.

When you’re training in these areas - it’s a good idea to work in slightly smaller ranges of motion and to keep your intensity levels low in the beginning. The quality of tissue in these areas might not be very strong, so the amount of stress/force/load these tissues can absorb might not be very high right now. So keep those intensity levels low in the beginning, especially during PAILs/RAILs, and then gradually build up over time.

During classes when you hear me cue things like ‘greatest and safest effort’ - this is relative to the individual and their capacity in a certain area. So if you know you’re training in area where the tissue quality might not be very strong, you want to keep your overall intensity levels really low. How low is dependent on the individual, but the lower the better at first. For some people that could mean 30% max effort, for other people 20%, for other people even as low as 5-10%. So the internal tension, how much force you create into ranges of motion, and your overall effort can be incredibly light. It’s totally okay if it doesn’t feel like you’re getting a ‘great workout’ at first, because the goal is to very lightly stimulate these tissues without overdoing it and an aggravating an area of weakness.

The goal is to start lightly in these areas, adhere to progressive overload, and slowly build up. Always listen to your body and go at your own pace, and never work in any painful ranges of motion. Discomfort can be normal, but we never want that feeling to move towards a sharp pain, pinch, or twinge. It’s totally okay and a good idea to also work in smaller ranges of motion at first as well. Don’t try to push your end-ranges of motion as hard during certain movements in the beginning, and when setting up into PAILs/RAILs - it’s okay if you don’t go into a range where you feel a deep stretch, you can work in more comfortable ranges of motion at first and slowly build up to those deeper ranges later on. Also when you’re setting up into PAILs/RAILs bases, feel free try to utilize any modifications you need to regress the bases and sit into them more comfortably if needed.

For example, in Class 1 for the hips when we’re setting up into the Bearsit position, it’s totally okay to sit on 2-3 yoga blocks or even as step stool/chair, or to rest your back against a wall, and to play around with your hip/knee/ankle angle to get into a comfortable position. So give yourself freedom to play around with bases so you can sit into them more comfortably, even if you’re not doing it exactly like how we’re doing it in class.

I hope this helps!