grow Legs that Bend but Don't Break.
Building a lower body that is physically prepared for Movement now and for the long term is a major focus at Totum. As generalist movers, we want legs that are super strong, but not stiff. Legs that can bend, but don't break. We want legs like bamboo that grow sturdy but can still sway in the wind.
We want our legs to be a solid and grounded connection to the earth as well as finely tuned shock absorbers that adapt instantly and deftly to changing conditions. We want supple feet and strong ankles that conform to the ground below. Knees that can fully bend with strength and flexibility in the supporting muscles. We want strong and mobile hips with the ability to freely move. And we want balance, lightness, and coordination with the rest of the body.
These things are all possible with the right approach and the right mindset.
Whole Body Solution
The ability to adapt and solve real life movement situations with an array of possible solutions from which to choose from is the definition of a movement generalist. No single part gets overused. All parts are working together. Many options are available for any situation. There is an ability to adapt to overcome injury or imposed limitations. This is the power of diversity in action.
There is immense strength in diversity. This truth is evident from ecological systems, to social communities to within our individual bodies - from our diet, to our microbiome to our movement nutrition. Just as our bodies would not perform optimally forever on a diet of only broccoli (despite it's high nutritional value), nor is there a singular exercise to get healthy shoulders or more flexible and adaptable ankles.
We are natures greatest Movement Generalists (there's an upcoming blog post on this) and as such our body craves a huge diversity of movements regularly to feel good. When you mostly move in certain ways you become limited and stiff in other areas. This is a common issue in professional athletes. Moving in the same way repeatedly is an injury waiting to happen. If your spine only bends in 2 places and you use these 2 bends to solve every movement situation you face, your options are minimal and eventually these 2 joints will give out and you will have back pain or a bulging disc, or worse.
Diversity, Diversity, Diversity.
The Legs
When it comes to our lower body and growing bamboo legs that are strong and adaptable, each part serves a function. When each part is performing as best it can in isolation, then the whole will work better together. This is why at Totum we train individual parts of the body to function as best they can AND we integrate through whole body movements, skills, tasks, play, and improvisation.
The improvisation and play aspects of our practice, where we have the opportunity to experiment and test out possible solutions to a large variety of movement situations is a hugely potent learning ground. Here, working with a partner we can practice and play with our available options, integrate different movements, and discover new possibilities consciously and subconsciously. Play (or tinkering) is the evolutionary solution to discover and rewire movement options in a low stakes environment for future use when the stakes might be a lot higher. Without play our body does not know these options even exist. Just like we can train strength, we can also train fluidity, balance, adaptability, etc.
To build bamboo legs we TRAIN individual parts and skills to build capacity and then PLAY to integrate, test, learn, have fun! and develop our improvisational capabilities and the strength in all the hard to reach nooks and crannies.
The parts
Our bodies are incredible. While modern anatomy books have helpfully placed names on individual parts, in truth there is far more continuity and connection than these individual names might lead us to believe. Muscles TRANSITION to ligaments and tendons and vice versa. Flows of muscle tissue (not individual muscles) work intimately together to move our structure. Connective tissue binds everything together to hold us up. That said, we can appreciate the role each area of our body plays and we can look to improve their function to affect the whole. I'll highlight some areas of the lower body that we focus on in our training and spotlight how improvement in one area is connected to improvements in others. Not with the intention of drawing discrete or absolute causes and effects but rather to illustrate how a generalist approach of integration AND restoring each part of the body to optimal functioning is essential.
Feet
Our feet connect us to the ground, are involved in every aspect of standing and therefore are among the most important part of achieving bamboo legs. At Totum we train barefoot. Overtime this builds arch supports, intrinsic strength and flexibility, and balance. Does your foot ever cramp while doing a handstand? Things are connected !
Big Toe
A lack of flexibility in the big toe has a huge impact on the rest of the body. We use the big toe to absorb forces and create power with every stride in walking, jumping and running. If your big toe is inflexible you need to compensate somewhere - and thousands of times per day at that. A tight big toe will cause the calves to shorten with each stride, leading to tight calves, painful achilles, and altered gait dynamics. A stiff big toe can increase the time the heel is off the ground with each step. This leads to reduced hip extension, which results in tight hip flexors that pull on your lower back. Every time you try to bring your torso upright while walking, running or jumping, there will be stresses now placed on your lower back, leading eventually to back pain and injury. Fix your big toe.
Ankles
Our ankles are like the swivelling levels on the legs of furniture. As you walk they should adjust and adapt to conform to the surface, providing you a stable and reasonably level base of support from which to organise the rest of your structure upon. We use our feet and ankles to balance. When the ankles don't move, the next joint up the chain needs to help out. The knees are next and asking them to work overtime to be the ankles is not fair and contributes to knee pain, degeneration, and injury. Get your feet out of restrictive foot coffins (shoes) and get your ankles strong and flexible AF and ASAP. We work on ankles in one way or another, every day.
Tibialis
This muscle dorsiflexes the foot and is a key decelerator for walking, running and hiking. When tibialis is weak, the knee needs to work harder. This wears out knee cartilage and makes moving uncomfortable. Get strong tibialis, feel good, and protect your knees.
Knees
We want knees that can fully bend with a patella tendon that tracks nicely. Our squats, split squats, and single leg work build up capacity. Our Low Gait Locomotion work builds resilience, adaptability, and conditioning for the knees very nicely. Don't push through knee pain, always modify to train smart.
Quads & Hamstrings
The big ones in terms of size. We want our Quads and Hamstrings to be both flexible, elastic, strong and balanced. We want them both balanced in relation to each other as well as balanced between the left and right sides. Single leg work is critical to this. Imbalances between sides causes stresses that lead to inefficiencies and injuries. These are big muscles and tightness in them will pull both on the knees and the pelvis/lower back causing postural issues and low mobility. We often have tight quads from physical activity, combined with sitting for long periods. Tight quads combined with weak hamstrings is an ACL injury waiting to happen. We focus on the Vastus Medialis Oblique (VMO) muscle via Step ups, Split Squats, Sissy Squats etc.. to support the knee and to build proper squat mechanics to be used in traditional squats through a full range of motion. Search out your imbalances and eliminate them through single leg work. Enjoy the feeling of being balanced, strong and connected in your lower body during locomotion and every sport and activity you enjoy.
Hip Flexors
These things get TIGHT and WEAK. We need them LONG and STRONG. Tight hip flexors, pull on the lower back causing back pain. Proper hip extension is needed for good walking, running and hiking mechanics. Tight hip flexors prevent full spinal extension (back bending) which is an important spinal function that we want to practice and is a fun part of soft acrobatics and locomotion.
Adductors
The adductors are a group of 5 muscles located on the inside part of the legs that act to stabilise the hips and move the legs towards the centre of the body. If adductors are tight they can cause knee, hip, and back pain (surprise, surprise !) If one side is tighter than the other, it can make it hard to keep the pelvis level and disrupt normal walking mechanics.
Hips (Internal and External Rotation)
Hips that internally and externally rotate can move in whichever direction you want or need them to move. Hip rotation is hip freedom. When the hips are mobile and strong we feel strong and free.
don't over or under isolate
If we think of the body as a long list of individual body parts that each need to be stretched and strengthened, it can feel overwhelming and we risk focusing too narrowly and becoming detached from our body. Or we may begin to focus more on aesthetics than function. On the flip side, not seeking out weaknesses or imbalances will lead to limitations in some areas that will have flow on effects that impacts the whole.
We have body parts, but we are not simply a collection of them.
We have an organic, organised body that allows us to explore, and sometimes even solve! life's puzzles - physical, mental, emotional, social and more. Our physical preparation should reflect this. At Totum we use an organised, yet organic approach to restore our joints and muscles and then layer and integrate impressive strength and skills on top with the overall goal of moving exceptionally well.
Growing Bamboo Legs is an important piece of the puzzle.
Come train with us. New Students Read More Here on how to get involved.
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