The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › Injuries, Restrictions, Ailments, Pose Modifications › Hips › Sore Hips
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Hi Gabrielle
Loving reading your book and emails which are a big help for me in my Bikram practice. Most recently, your advice on correct breathing and hand position in the situp changed my practice for the better.
At age 55, I have been moderately active all my life but have a lot of stiffness. I am finding my hips get sore a day after yoga, as I push poses like triangle quite hard. It is like delayed onset muscle soreness from lifting weights at the gym. I expect this is good for my hip health, but would be interested in your thoughts on soreness resulting from yoga practice, and on how deep it is advisable to push postures when this seems to cause soreness.
Namaste, RobertHi Robert
Thanks for posting. As is my way…I need to ask questions. So, I really need some detail on what it means to “push poses like triangle quite hard.”
I understand you’re motivated to do the best you can, what I need is specific detail. Get the ball rolling and I will ask questions until I get what you’re doing (technically).
If you can break down what you’re doing for different poses and make those lists pose-specific, that will be greatly appreciated.
I can’t be sure if what you’re doing is good for your hip health just yet. I am going to have to ascertain at certain points how what you’re doing is translating to create the right conditions in your body.
Also please tell me exactly where you’re feeling that muscle soreness.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Thanks!
What I find amazing about Bikram Yoga after practicing regularly for over a year here in Canberra is how the various poses stretch and strengthen and balance the body in such combined and intense ways, showing me I have muscles and ligaments and tendons and bones I never really knew about!I have just lately been getting sore on top of both hip bones while standing. I’m sorry I did not mean muscle soreness, but rather bone soreness. I only mentioned delayed onset muscle soreness because of the delayed onset, that I don’t feel sore during yoga but it starts a day later, and then sometimes I feel sore hips in bed at night. Overall my sense is that Bikram Yoga is superb for injury prevention, but I am interested to discuss that more, in light of my age (55) and physical condition (good cardio, BMI 25, but not very flexible).
In the Warrior Sequence, the nature of the triangle pose #10, with the bent leg like an L and pushing the hips forward, is a great example of a whole body posture that creates an intense hip stretch, feeling like the bone itself is stretching. Similarly with #11 standing separate leg head to knee I find that bringing the opposing hip forward to square when my head is on my knee creates a powerful hip stretch. #15 wind removing pose also is designed for intense hip stretches. I am physically fairly strong so I can really feel it in my hip as my knee moves toward the shoulder under pressure from my biceps.
My overall sense is that maintaining the Bikram classes three times a week will be very protective for my body. I am getting back into jogging, after only cycling for years since getting a sore Achilles tendon from running. The balancing poses have been great for the strength of my arches. I find that #9 separate leg intense stretch has been fantastic for overcoming the lack of flexibility in my legs. Now I can get my hands under my feet, and I really feel it in the glutes. Even so, I got a mild sore calf from running a bit too hard, and also got a hamstring twinge that went away within a week, which just shows how careful I need to be to avoid injury.
The other thing I have been doing is short meditations in the lotus position at the end of each class. It is the tops of my feet that are stiffest there, like in #21 fixed firm, but again lotus with both feet crossed on the inner thighs creates a good hip stretch.
I know that is all a bit long, but I do appreciate Gabrielle your scientific approach to yoga, so if you have any general thoughts, especially on how deep someone like me should push each position, and whether pushing too hard creates risk of injury, please say.Many thanks
RobertHi Robert
I was in Sydney! I should have just continued on to Canberra and caught up! 😀
You are definitely motivated in staying fit and healthy. I am going to “pick apart” your words and ask questions now. Some things will need more investigation. I also need to compare what you’re doing with the techniques in the Hot Yoga MasterClass book. It will be a handy reference to find out specifics of your practice.
Triangle pose. You mention “pushing the hips forward”: This is a classic strict Bikram dialog utterance and is not helpful to the pose. This pose needs firm lower body position which you set up when you step out to the side and bend the leg. You start with hips facing the mirror and once they are set in position, you keep them there. Think instead of hips opening to the side, or hips parallel to the mirror/front. When you tilt the arms and bring upper body into position the legs do not change. The command to now push hips forward often has people rolling the outstretched leg. With this movement the twist in the spine is unwound. Now, for you, you’ll want to make sure the weighting of your feet is optimal in order to distribute the weight effectively through all your joints. For example, check in to your feet next time and see how much of your toes take the weight. (They shouldn’t! But many people shift weight out of their heels which could lift of the floor if they put their minds to it! Some even put so much weight in that foot the other leg takes barely no weight at all. Instead think of driving weight through bent leg heel (where that leg is in delicate balance with the various traction lines you’re creating). An issue I would also like you to pay attention to is how far you’re pushing your knee back with your arm. These are all potential things that could affect your hips. Last thing for now, where exactly on your arm does it touch at the knee in the tilt? Has your aim been to get fingertips between the toes, or create another measurable leg/arm relationship you can relay?
Standing Sep Leg Intense Stretch. You said “Now I can get my hands under my feet, and I really feel it in the glutes.” What were you doing with your hands before you got them under your feet? Where exactly are you placing your hands and in what direction are the fingers pointing?
Standing Sep Leg Head to Knee. Yes that hip stretch is a good one! Can you tell me if you are able to completely square your hips to the ceiling when you are in this pose? Do you always bring hands to prayer in one or both sets?
I’ll wait for your answers to these questions before I start drawing conclusions.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi Robert I was in Sydney! I should have just continued on to Canberra and caught up! 😀
Hi Gabrielle, yes that would have been fantastic to see you! I may be able to get to Noosa in January, will be driving to see friends in Grafton and the Gold Coast. The Bikram Yoga studio in Mitchell is doing really well. I try to get to three classes every week but sometimes only manage two. It is an amazing feeling in the middle of a class like you are climbing a mountain, with the summit in sight, and the endorphins kicking in. I love it. And then you get the beautiful mountaintop experience at the end.
You are definitely motivated in staying fit and healthy. I am going to “pick apart” your words and ask questions now. Some things will need more investigation. I also need to compare what you’re doing with the techniques in the Hot Yoga MasterClass book. It will be a handy reference to find out specifics of your practice.
Yes, I take the attitude that any work now on health and fitness is an investment that will be more than repaid in increased future capacity. I hope to stay healthy until I turn one hundred, hopefully getting better at yoga all the time. I agree the Hot Yoga MasterClass book is a great reference. I have found so many points of detail that have helped me in my practice, both in postures and philosophy. My hips are still giving me some discomfort, but I take the view that hot yoga is protective against deterioration as long as I keep good form.
Triangle pose. You mention “pushing the hips forward”: This is a classic strict Bikram dialog utterance and is not helpful to the pose.
So interesting that the dialog is just the starting point, and needs to be checked in this type of position.
This pose needs firm lower body position which you set up when you step out to the side and bend the leg. You start with hips facing the mirror and once they are set in position, you keep them there. Think instead of hips opening to the side, or hips parallel to the mirror/front. When you tilt the arms and bring upper body into position the legs do not change. The command to now push hips forward often has people rolling the outstretched leg. With this movement the twist in the spine is unwound. Now, for you, you’ll want to make sure the weighting of your feet is optimal in order to distribute the weight effectively through all your joints. For example, check in to your feet next time and see how much of your toes take the weight. (They shouldn’t! But many people shift weight out of their heels which could lift of the floor if they put their minds to it! Some even put so much weight in that foot the other leg takes barely no weight at all. Instead think of driving weight through bent leg heel (where that leg is in delicate balance with the various traction lines you’re creating). An issue I would also like you to pay attention to is how far you’re pushing your knee back with your arm. These are all potential things that could affect your hips. Last thing for now, where exactly on your arm does it touch at the knee in the tilt? Has your aim been to get fingertips between the toes, or create another measurable leg/arm relationship you can relay?
That is all excellent advice. I will focus today at class on driving weight through bent leg heel and taking weight off toes. I tend to let my bent knee drift forward before tilting the arms. I put my elbow against my knee so the fingers are just touching between the toes, in order to enable stretching the shoulders apart. This posture is like learning to drive a manual car, so many things to remember all at once, gradually making them happen together without thinking.
Standing Sep Leg Intense Stretch. You said “Now I can get my hands under my feet, and I really feel it in the glutes.” What were you doing with your hands before you got them under your feet? Where exactly are you placing your hands and in what direction are the fingers pointing?
This is one of my favourite postures, but it gave me a twinge in the left hamstring, now recovered, so I am cautious about it. I start after bending with hand on ankles and gradually move them down to the outside of the feet near the toes, as I have found getting hands under heels too much of a stretch with knees locked. I then find that I can only get my hands under the feet, with four fingers pointing in and thumbs separate, by briefly bending my knees, then again locking the knees and working on forehead towards floor.
Standing Sep Leg Head to Knee. Yes that hip stretch is a good one! Can you tell me if you are able to completely square your hips to the ceiling when you are in this pose? Do you always bring hands to prayer in one or both sets?
I actually find it hard to tell if the squaring is complete. It feels complete but I can’t see my position well enough to be certain, and suspect that with my level of flexibility I am a lot less square than I imagine. My main focus is squaring hips to the wall, and I have never thought about keeping the hips level with each other, which is what I assume you mean by squaring to the ceiling. I do keep my hands in prayer in both sets, but find it varies how far I can get them past my toes, and find that keeping the palms tight together is a big effort. My left leg is always much more flexible than my right leg. The main thing I wonder about here, and I have discussed this with my teachers, is at what point to lock the knee. I cannot lock the knee with the head touching, but I find that after pushing the knee down with the forehead as far as possible, choking my throat with head looking at stomach for compression, that the stretch then intensifies by locking the knee, enabling deeper back bend.
I’ll wait for your answers to these questions before I start drawing conclusions. Namaste Gabrielle 🙂
Many thanks Gabrielle, I do really appreciate your advice and help, and your book is really helping me to lift my hot yoga practice to another level. Namaste, Robert
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