hamstrings

Since the pandemic we are delighted to have resumed teacher training and welcomed 12 new teachers to the Gokhale Method community in Europe and the U.S. We are also steadily growing our roots in the Southern Hemisphere. Below, Australia-based Teacher Tegan Kahn shares the story of how and why she decided to train.

One New Year’s Day many years ago, I made a resolution to “have better posture.” This was back before I had kids; when I had time and energy to devote to grand plans! But, like most New Year’s Resolutions, it fizzled out pretty quickly. For several days, I reminded myself every hour to sit up straight and pull my shoulders back. But because I didn’t know how to be tall and regal without holding myself stiffly, my efforts just made me more uncomfortable and tired than remaining in my perpetual slouch.

Me on New Year’s Day twenty years ago at age 16. Slouching was my default. I felt it was impossible to maintain “good” posture for more than a few minutes at a time. 

Me slouching at 22. Another beautiful dress spoilt by poor posture!

I used to experience all kinds of pain and dysfunction in my body: lower back pain, upper back strain, jaw tightness, shin splints, IT band tenderness, tight hamstrings, lactic acid buildup, and dodgy knees, to name a few. Even gentle massage on some parts of my body, such as the backs of my upper arms and lower legs, caused me to leap off the table. 

Despite attempting to stand up straight for this “before” photo, by the time I took the Gokhale Foundations Course in 2016 I was starting to develop a dowager’s hump (at the ripe old age of 28). I wonder what my posture would be like now had I continued on this trajectory.

One day when I was having my twice-weekly massage for typing-related forearm tendonitis (a repetitive strain injury covered by workers’ compensation), my massage therapist told me I had little crunchy crystals of lymphatic fluid along the lower left border of my rib cage. I had known for a long time that my lymphatic system was sluggish, but so slow-flowing that the fluid had crystallised was a bit of a wake-up call! 

That discovery led me to tumble down the YouTube rabbit hole of lymph and fascia research, where I stumbled upon Esther Gokhale’s TEDxStanford talk. It is hard to overstate how great an impact that six-minute video has had on my life. The slide Esther presented showing a J-shaped spine next to an S-shaped spine blew my mind. I had studied anatomy at university during my biology degrees but it had never occurred to me that my textbooks might have been based on incorrect assumptions. 

The illustration that immediately convinced me of the sound logic behind the Gokhale Method. If you’d like to learn more about it, consider reading our blog  What Shape Is Your Spine?

The logic of Esther’s presentation was so arresting I felt a bit dumbfounded (and a touch indignant) that I had never heard this information before. I set about reading and watching anything Gokhale Method-related that I could get my hands on. I was extremely fortunate that the original, and only Gokhale Method Teacher in Australia at that time, Michelle Ball, was offering a Gokhale Foundations Course in my home city of Canberra a mere three months after I watched the TEDx talk. I felt like the stars were aligning. 

I was already convinced by the theory and evidence basis of the Gokhale Method, but I was yet to see first-hand the ramifications of implementing it. My mum, who had been left with daily pain following a serious car accident before I was born, attended the Foundations Course with me. When she turned to me at the end of the first lesson and said, “this is the longest I've sat without pain in 30 years,” I was doubly sure that this was something I wanted to be involved with in a big way. In fact, Michelle may recall that even on that first day of the Course I was already asking her what the steps were for becoming a qualified Gokhale Method Teacher.

At that time, I was also struggling to find motivation to return to my job as a science writer for a university following my maternity leave—while my work had a worthwhile indirect impact, I was having trouble justifying being away from my little son to do work that wasn’t directly and palpably making a difference to people. Perhaps it was the sleep deprivation, or the deep well of support from my mum, that led to me booking the three of us (myself, mum, and my by-then-14-month-old) on flights to San Francisco to begin the week-long intensive training with Esther, the start of the qualifying process. Looking back, it seems kind of a crazy undertaking, but I’m glad I did it, as I’ve rarely been more sure of wanting to do something.

I feel extremely grateful to have gained the know-how to help preserve my kids’ naturally healthy posture. Although, with their J-spines still mostly intact, they are more often good posture role models for me than the other way around! 

Training with Esther was bliss. I was so fortunate to be in company with the beyond lovely Kathleen O’Donohue and Tiffany Mann, my fellow trainees. Every day we explored a wide variety of subjects relating to teaching the method and then practised our new skills on a willing Foundations Course cohort. I just loved the depth and nuance that’s involved in rolling someone’s shoulders to just the right position for them (and of course seeing the change in their facial expression when they realised it was now easy and comfortable to maintain healthy shoulder architecture!). Esther’s knowledge and expertise were awe-inspiring, and it was a jam-packed journey. One day we toured the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, analysing the posture of the sculptures; the next day she ordered in some Chinese food for our lunch (and when she ordered over the phone in fluent Chinese, I thought: “of course Esther speaks Chinese—what can’t she do?”)

Myself (second from left), Esther (second from right), and my fellow teacher trainees Tiffany Mann (right), and Kathleen O’Donohue after practising our hip-hinging while picking kale in Esther’s garden.

When I returned to Canberra with my head full of knowledge, I leapt straight into my case studies (my husband was the first and patiently continues to be my guinea pig all these years later), and was proud to become a fully-fledged Gokhale Method Teacher once my peers and Esther had reviewed the videos of my teaching and given their valuable advice and support. My enjoyment of teaching hasn’t lost its lustre. I love interacting with people from all walks of life, adapting my teaching style and my hands-on help to their particular bodies and personalities. I love seeing them smiling in their “after” pictures (hardly anyone smiles in the “before” pics!), and am always on a high when someone tells me how the techniques have improved their lives, in little and big ways. Although I have passed through the initial uncertainty of my early teaching experiences (it can be hard to believe what you’re doing will produce astounding results when all the health information around you is based on an entirely different paradigm of healthy human spinal shapes), I still sometimes feel the need to “pinch myself” when a student makes a particularly marked transformation in their posture and pain levels. 

I feel very privileged to be able to pass on this life-changing wisdom, and Michelle and I are excited to get this work to as many people who need us as we can. Some of our wonderful students have expressed interest in becoming Gokhale Method Teachers, too, and Esther is planning to come all the way to Australia to train them if there is enough interest. We wait to welcome them with open arms to work collaboratively on our mission to make back pain rare around the globe.

If you or someone you know are interested in hearing more about Gokhale Method teacher training with Esther Gokhale in Australia, please reach out to [email protected]. 

Best next action steps 

If you are new to the Gokhale Method, get started by booking a consultation, online, or in person with one of our teachers to find out how the Gokhale Method can help you.

You can sign up below to join any one of our upcoming FREE Online Workshops. . .

Using the word “eccentric” might sound like I’m about to write about muscles behaving in weird ways that are different from usual muscle behavior! 

Virginia Fox and Buster Keaton prop each other up in The Electric House (1922).
These muscle actions are ek-sen-trik! Wikimedia

But what I’m referring to, eccentric muscle contraction, is often pronounced ee-sen-trik, not ek-sen-trik.

How muscles contract

Eccentric muscle contraction is the reverse of the concentric contraction that we typically associate with muscle training. For example, the dumbbell curl that makes the bicep prominent as you lift the weight towards your shoulder is a concentric contraction. The muscle contracts and shortens. But lowering the dumbbell back down again, which requires the muscle to lengthen, also takes muscular control, and that is called an eccentric contraction. So the muscle is being asked to both stretch and resist at the same time. 

Lifting a weight such as a dumbbell works the biceps femoris concentrically, while lowering it works it eccentrically. Pexels

Although there is still much to be discovered about how our muscles and tendinous tissues work at a cellular level, eccentric contractions have well understood characteristics that make them of particular interest to medics, athletes, physical therapists, and researchers. And they play an important role in healthy posture.

Walking upstairs and downstairs 

Dr Michael Mosley, a well-known broadcaster on health and wellness in the UK, presents a radio series for the BBC called Just One Thing. Each 14-minute show explores just one thing that you can do to improve your health. (We would like to see him do a show on healthy posture! Consider suggesting this here.) Back in April he looked at the benefits of eccentric exercise and movement. 

One of Mosley’s favorite studies had people walk either up or down the stairs of a 10-story building twice a week, using the elevator in the other direction. Both groups saw improvements in many health outcomes—but those walking down the stairs—doing more eccentric rather than concentric muscle work—did better. They were fitter, having a lower resting heart rate despite doing less cardiovascular exercise, had lower insulin sensitivity and lower blood fat levels, better bone density, superior balance, and twice the improvement in muscle strength. Seems like those step-climbing machines at the gym could be rigged the other way around!

Gym work on elliptical trainers and step machines emphasizes concentric muscular contraction and cardiovascular effort. Pixabay

Eccentric muscle contractions dominate as we lower our weight walking down hills and stairs. They have been proven to bring particular health and fitness gains. Wikimedia

Calories you save vs. calories you use

Mosley interviewed Tony Kay, professor of biomechanics at the University of Northampton. Kay explained that the muscle-lengthening phase of exercise is also more efficient than the muscle-contracting phase because eccentric contractions only need approximately one quarter of the energy of a concentric contraction, employing fewer muscle fibers, and generally not lifting against gravity. However, eccentric work burns more calories than a seemingly tougher concentric workout because it creates more microscopic tears in the muscle, and so after exercising the body has to raise its metabolic rate to repair and build back stronger. 

Professor Kay has also conducted studies that demonstrate superior gains in bone density, and range of motion, through eccentric work. These various benefits can be effectively targeted for a wide range of needs, from post-injury rehabilitation, or strength training in the elderly, to developing elite athletic performance. 

Everyday eccentric movement and exercise

Eccentric muscle contraction, just like healthy posture, is most useful once integrated into everyday tasks and movement. For example, to lift the front of the forward foot clear of the floor while walking, tibialis anterior works concentrically, but then eccentrically to lower it. If you are prone to trips and falls, perhaps due to an underused and weak tibialis anterior, it can be woken up and strengthened by our Gokhale Method® toe tap exercise. You can learn toe tap here.

The tibialis anterior muscle runs along the shin bone (tibia), its long tendon attaching under the front of the foot to lift and lower it with fine control. Wikimedia, Wikimedia

Another especially beneficial exercise for most people in our culture is the Gokhale Method shoulder roll. It helps correct the common rounding of the shoulders that occurs with poor posture. This better aligns the joints to prevent impingements and arthritic change, and helps open the chest for healthier breathing. There are various muscular actions involved in shoulder roll, but slowly releasing the trapezius muscle (traps) downward (eccentric contraction) after they have lifted the shoulder (concentric contraction) is key to this maneuver. You can learn shoulder roll here.

The upper and mid portions of the trapezius muscle contract concentrically to lift the shoulder upward in shoulder roll, and eccentrically to lower it into its healthier new position. Wikimedia

Can eccentric work help with my tight hamstrings?

Eccentric work can be used to lengthen muscles just as it can be used to strengthen them. Most people in our culture have tight hamstrings, often despite regular stretching, even done over decades. Far better to learn how to sit, walk, and, most importantly, bend in ways that not only spare your back from damage, but also don’t cause the hamstrings to be overly tight in the first place. In addition, bending, done well, will naturally, eccentrically lengthen your hamstrings. We call this way of bending hip-hinging, and it is one of the more advanced techniques we teach in our Gokhale Method® in-person Foundations and Pop-up courses, and our online Elements course. 

Women doing laundry. Photograph by Balys Buračas, Lithuania, 1923.
In traditional cultures people hip-hinge to bend, sparing spinal discs and nerves, maintaining hip mobility, and preserving good length in their hamstrings. www.epaveldas.lt

Keeping eccentric muscle training comfortable and safe

I asked our Gokhale Fitness expert, Eric Fernandez, if there are any downsides to eccentric muscle training. Eric offered two tips to proof your workout: 

1. Watch out for DOMS! (Delayed Onset Muscular Soreness) Unaccustomed eccentric exercise is known to cause muscle damage, or micro-tears in the muscle, which is followed by delayed inflammation and soreness. To avoid this, work up the intensity of your exercise very gradually.
2. With eccentric exercise you are generally lowering or resisting a weight—whether that’s a  dumbbell or your own body weight, such as when walking downstairs. You run the risk of the weight moving you, rather than you moving the weight. So, pick exercises and weights where you can build up gradually, remain in control, and safely release the weight or steady yourself if necessary.

Eric demonstrates single arm bent over rows. This exercise targets the lats (latissimus dorsi), working them concentrically to lift, and eccentrically to slowly lower the kettlebell. Eric follows this with an eccentric lats stretch using the wall.

Eric demonstrates a kneeling lunge. Usually this is a passive, sinking downward stretch. Here, by driving the kneeling leg forward, he also produces an eccentric contraction, potentially deepening the stretch and strengthening the hip flexor tendons.

Eric often uses eccentric exercise in his Gokhale Fitness classes, Monday–Saturday, 3:00–3:25 pm PT. If you are reading this blog and would like to try exercising the Gokhale way and develop healthy posture at the same time, you are welcome to sign up for your Gokhale Exercise free trial here. We look forward to seeing you there!

If you would like to find out more about how the Gokhale Method can help support you, sign up to join one of our upcoming FREE Online Workshops, including Weightlifting and the Gokhale Method with Eric on Tuesday, August 30, 4:30 pm.