Gain Muscle and Increase Your Chest by One Inch in a Week

Gain Muscle and Increase Your Chest by One Inch in a Week

Today I am going to explain to you how to quickly and easily add an inch of muscle to your chest and increase your bench press.                                                                                                                                  
All you need to do is follow this simple push up routine for a week and you will see incredible gains. I did this routine a few weeks ago and I saw a noticeable increase in strength as well as muscle mass.
Before I started my chest measured 39 inches and I could bench 255 twice. After I finished, my chest had increased to 40 inches and I was able to bench 255 five times. This is an incredible increase in strength.

So here is the routine:
Day 1 is a work day, which is when you will build the muscle. On work days after you wake up you will do as many push ups as you can. This is your max set. Every 2 hours you will do another set of push ups. Each set will be half as many push ups as the last set. If a set should be less than 5 push ups, then do 5 instead of half. Stop once you have done 5 sets.                                                                      
Day 2 is a recovery day, which is when your body recovers so you are able to do another work day. Do 50% as many push ups as you max set from the day before when you wake up, then do the same number of push ups 2 hours later and you are done for the day.                                                                          
From here on out you will alternate between work days and recovery days. Each work day you will reset your max set when you wake up. Be sure to eat more than normal on work days, and get plenty of protein. On day 1 my max set was 65. By day 7 my max set was 100. This routine can work for anyone, whether you haven't worked out in years or you go to the gym several times a week. I have been going to the gym several times a week for over 3 years and this routine added an inch to my chest and added more than 20 pounds to my bench. Give it a try, what do you have to lose? A week?
While was doing this routine I still hit the gym and worked shoulders,
back and biceps but I avoided  working my chest and triceps.

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Chest Workouts, What Are the Best Ones to Do?

There are a few particular chest workouts that are really going to be great for you but you just don't yet know which ones they are. There are also some terrific chest workouts which you can try and that you can do if you are a female, however, most women don't tend to want an overly muscular and worked out chest. It is generally more for the men, who want to work out their pectoral muscles and who want to benefit from really good chest workout ideas.
Ideas
One of the great chest workouts to try, and is going to be a great starter for you, is the cable crossovers exercise which is performed as follows:
1. Hold the pulleys in each hand, after setting the resistance for the pulleys and positioning the pulleys above your head.
2. Step forward of an imaginary line between the two pulleys while having a slight lean forward in your posture from the waist up and pulling your two arms together in front of you. This is the starting position.

3. Slowly let your arms travel back in an arc until you feel a slight stretch in your chest, maintain a slight bend in the elbow to stop bicep stress and breathe in as you perform this movement. Note your shoulders should be moving but your body and arms should remain in the same positions.
4. Using the same arc motion return your arms to the starting position. Remembering to breathe out at the same time and to keep your body and arms in the same positions while moving the shoulders.
5. Continue until the desired reps are reached.
Another great chest workout exercise to try is the incline dumbbell press, my favorite one, which is very similar to the bench press exercise. The exercise is simple as follows:
1. Set-up by sitting down on the bench supporting the two dumbbells on your thighs, then once settled on the bench lift your dumbbells up to shoulder width apart in front of your chest. Finally twist your hands so your palms face away from you as if you are holding a bar between the two.
2. Keeping control of your dumbbells constantly push them up with your chest as you breathe out.
3. Once you reach the top hold and then lower your dumbbells back down to your chest.
4. Repeat the movement for the required repetitions.
A final exercise which I think is great is the press up. It is simple, effective, works more than just the chest, can be varied to increase or decrease difficulty and is easily done anywhere and without weights. It is performed as follows:
1. Lie flat on the floor and place your hands just above shoulder width apart, and holding yourself on them with straight arms.
2. Lower yourself down while inhaling until your chest almost touches the floor.
3. Hold and then return to the top while exhaling.
4. Repeat for the required repetitions.
These three exercises will be a great start to your chest workouts.
A little bonus advice an exercise rhythm that works great for me and others who I have researched is to do the following. The motion you breathe out on, i.e. the strenuous part, should take 1 second, then you hold at the top for 1 second, then the motion you breathe in on, i.e. the relaxation part, should take 2 seconds. This should help you to get the max out of your reps and you will certainly feel it.

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4 Best Bodybuilding Supplements To Support Your Nutrition

Starting on weight training, but don't know how to? Note these 2 "hard and fast" rules for muscle building to begin with:
Don't weight train more than 4 times a week, and not more than 75 minutes per session. Otherwise, you're categorically "overtraining" and overexerting your muscles. Thus, your packs of flesh wear and tear more rapidly and cannot recover between your workouts.

Eat sufficient proteins- ideally 20 gms per meal or at least 1gm of protein for every pound of your body weight everyday- both on your training and rest days.
Following these nitty- gritties of bodybuilding are the boosters- supplements. You're bodybuilding, and you can't take your "feel good-look awesome" agenda haphazardly. Take the best bodybuilding supplements. No worries about stretching your budget and breaking your pocket, though, because even the best bodybuilding supplements can be bought at amazing discounts. What should you look for in muscle building supplements?

Whey protein supplements before and after your workouts- because it is a fast digesting protein source, whey protein provides ample amino acids for enhanced physiological processes during your workouts. Thus, you have stronger trainings and faster muscle- building. Take whey protein supplements to augment your whole food diet. Pre workout and post workout whey protein shakes do the trick. The exact measure is ¼ gm of protein per pound of your body weight. So if you're a 200 pounder, you can take 50 gms of whey protein before your training, and another 50 gms after.

Fast- digesting carbs for post- workout supplement- don't overemphasize proteins at the expense of carbs because carbs fuel muscle growth, consequently supporting recovery. Take carb supplements congruent to your protein intake. 100gms of carbs should be split evenly before and after workouts if you're a 200 pounder, for example. Support your whole food carb intake from whole grain breads and pastas and slow digesting carbs yam and oatmeal with carb supplements.

Creatin for stronger workouts- have your nutrition in good shape, and that's when creatine can work its magic. That's why protein and carbs come first. As an amino acid compound, creatine increases ATP production making you lift heavier weights and complete more reps. The effects are more noticeable on your initial intake. Taking creatine after workouts promotes better delivery of nutrients to your muscles, mainly because muscles become more permeable after exercise. The recommended dose is a total of 10 gms of creatine per day, or specifically 3- 5 gms before and after workouts.

Vitamin C for faster muscle growth and recovery- as an antioxidant, vitamin C neutralizes the damage caused my free- radicals in your body. These highly- reactive molecules reproduce when you workout. Vitamin C also enhances energy, potentially beneficial for hard- trainers and sedentaries. For starters, take 500- 1,000 mgs of vitamin C once or twice a day, gradually increasing your intake by 500 mgs each day in the succeeding weeks until you reach 2000 to 4000 mg dosage of vitamin C per day, in 2- 4 doses of 500- 1000 per intake

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Best Foods for Bodybuilding

There are two major reasons why obesity is on the rise. People are not moving their bodies (exercising) and the consumption of processed, high fat foods is skyrocketing. Bad food choices are a key factor that seriously increases your weight and creates a multitude of health problems. Beer and chips do not create muscle!
You need not to go Mars however to find something special to bulk up and build your muscles. You can find the most powerful muscle building foods in your local supermarket.
Identifying Bad and Good Foods
The simple logic to finding good food is - looking for food that is high is value such as protein, the right amount of carbohydrates and good fats, vitamins and minerals.
Bad foods are generally foods that are ready to serve in 5 minutes like - burgers, pizzas, hotdogs, various forms of pre-cooked and processed meats, battered fish and chips, potato chips, ice cream, cold drinks and sweet dishes that contains high volume of sugar. Alcoholic beverages like beer and wine also add a huge amount of unnecessary calories to your body.

Best Foods for Bodybuilding

Before we move forward, we need to know, what kind of food builds your muscles? Well, the answer is those that are protein rich. Only a protein rich diet can build your muscles by supplying the necessary amino acids to complete the protein chain for successful muscle building. Basically, our body requires a number of proteins to build muscles, so it is essential that you consume different proteins in order to complete the protein chain.
Here is a brief list of those foods that can help you to bulk up:
Eggs
This is an affordable and very useful protein source for body builders. The main benefit of egg protein is that it absorbs very quickly and gives you amazing results. But keep in mind that you should only have the egg white not the egg yolk, as egg yolks contain large amounts of cholesterol. Usually, one egg contains 50kcal with 84% of protein, 0% fat and only 8% of carbohydrates. It is cheap and a very good staple food for bodybuilders.
Turkey and Chicken
Both are excellent sources of lean meat. Red meat is good for muscle building but it has some drawbacks. You can't consume red meat in large volume, because it creates digestive problems and other issues - whereas chicken and turkey don't cause those problems. Usually, a chicken or turkey breast contains 9 grams of protein (approx) and they are a very good source of vitamin B and phosphorous.
Fish
Fish is another great source of protein and it contains nearly 0% carbohydrates. It should be a regular part of your diet. Fish not only contains protein, they also contain several other important fatty acids like omega -3. Omega-3 and other essential fatty acids keep your heart healthy, is great for your skin and for maintaining brain function (and intelligence). It also very good for your eyes. If you are trying to reduce your weight, then you can't eliminate fish from your diet as fish oil is very good for reducing fat. Fish is easier to digest than beef or pork. Just don't have it battered!
Other foods
Other high protein food include nuts, legumes and beans, cheese, red meat, yogurt, and spinach, which all work very well for muscle building. You must also hydrate your body with plain water at regular intervals to avoid dehydration. For serious body builders, check out the range of protein powders to give you a real muscle building edge. Coupled with a fruit and berry shake, these can improve your efforts ten fold.

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Friday Q&A: Psoriasis and Yoga

Q: I'm personally concerned by psoriasis if you can write something about this it would be really great.

A: Psoriasis, probably due to so many TV ads about over-the-counter treatments over the years, is a word most of us have heard before. “The heartbreak of psoriasis” still rings in my ears when I think about those ads! But what is psoriasis, really, and how could yoga practices influence its course?

Psoriasis is primarily a skin condition that has a very distinct pattern, which involves thickened patches, called plaques, which often, but not exclusively, appear over the boney areas around the joints. You may have even seen someone with this affecting their elbows, as this is likely the area of the body that would be exposed to your view, especially in short-sleeve shirt seasons. According to the Mayo Clinic:

“Psoriasis is a common skin condition that changes the life cycle of skin cells. Psoriasis causes cells to build up rapidly on the surface of the skin. The extra skin cells form thick, silvery scales and itchy, dry, red patches that are sometimes painful.”

Some would consider the patches unsightly, perhaps, but is likely the itching and pain that are going to be of more importance in leading to treatment of the condition for those who have it. It is a chronic condition without a cure at this time. Treatments your doctor may offer are directed at addressing the plaques and stopping the skin cells from growing so quickly. Even over the counter steroid creams and exposure of the skin to natural sunlight may help.

In addition to plaques on the joints, patches of psoriasis can also occur on the neck, in the scalp, in the folds of flesh, such as under the breasts, and on the fingernails. This varies from person to person. You are usually encouraged to seek medical attention if the patches move beyond the nuisance stage and are causing you discomfort or pain, are making your routine tasks difficult are causing you concern about your appearance, or more rarely, are leading to joint problems of an arthritic quality.

Although not fully understood, psoriasis is at least partly an autoimmune disease, where your immune system mistakes your cells for outside invaders. In this case, your specialized white blood cells known as T cells attack your healthy skin cells by mistake and start the inflammatory ball rolling. Yoga has been shown to have a beneficial effect on supporting a healthier immune system, so this may be one way in which yoga could be of benefit to psoriasis sufferers.

It also turns out that certain “triggers” may be present that lead to flares in these people. These include acute infections, such as strep throat, injury to the skin, such as a scrape, cut, bug bite or severe sunburn, stress, cold weather, smoking, heavy alcohol drinking, and some medications (check with your doctor on what these are!). Yoga has been demonstrated to reduce stress levels, as we have often written about here at YFHA, and the mindfulness skills of yoga could lead to improved self awareness that could improve your chances of identifying a trigger sooner and addressing it before it worsens you skin condition. Yoga practices can also support changing unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as smoking, and could help alcoholism and/or heavy alcohol use.

Some of these triggers also turn out to be risk factors for developing psoriasis in the first place, such as unaddressed stress and smoking. In addition, a family history of one parent or both parents having psoriasis is the biggest risk factor for developing it yourself. Obesity is another risk factor, as is serious infection like HIV, or people with recurring infections, such as ongoing strep throat. Yoga, again, can be helpful in addressing stress, smoking and can be helpful in some instances if you desire to lose weight.

It has also been observed that people with ongoing psoriasis can lead to other quality of life issues that put you at greater risk for low self-esteem, depression, or social isolation. The successes one might experience in a regular yoga class might lead to improved self-esteem, and regular attendance of a public class could help combat social isolation. And depression has been studied and found to improve with yoga, so even more reasons for adopting a regular practice!

Finally, there is a complication of psoriasis known as psoriatic arthritis, in which the psoriasis can cause joint damage and loss of function in some joints, as with other forms of arthritis. This can be debilitating in more extreme cases. We have written about how yoga can be beneficial for arthritis in these past posts, so to learn more about yoga for arthritis, check out Yoga for Osteoarthritis and our posts on arthritis of specific joints, such as hands or spine (see How to Search).

The biggest caution for someone with active psoriasis who is just starting to do yoga would be making sure the poses you practice do not aggravate your skin symptoms. For example, if you had painful patches on your elbows, practicing forearm balance, which involves pressure and tension on the skin around the elbows, might not be a good idea—at least not while the area is painful or raw. This may seem like a common sense recommendation, but it seems worth stating just in case.

All in all, yoga seems like a good addition to the western medical treatments that someone with psoriasis is already receiving. I know of a few of my students who have psoriasis and they seem to be enjoying regular practice. And I would love to hear from any of our readers who have psoriasis. Has yoga had noticeable positive effects on the course of your psoriasis?

—Baxter

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Yoga Nidra, Satyananda Saraswati, and Sexual Abuse

by Nina 

The Blow to the Heart by Rene Magritte*

“The notion of leading people into a vulnerable, trance-like state by using a technique that was invented by an alleged rapist who then validated it by correlation with obscure medieval sources is intolerable to me. The power and utility of the methods emerging from Satyananda’s legacy rest on an implicit appreciation of the man’s integrity, which is now under serious attack.” —Matthew Remski

If you have been reading our blog for any period of time, you surely will have noticed many references to yoga nidra, a highly structured form of guided Savasana. As recently as Tuesday, December 17, in our interview with her, Cheryl Fenner Brown recommended the practice for people with cancer. And while I don’t practice yoga nidra or teach it (though I’ve tried it, I have never liked it), Baxter does teach it and has recorded a short version of it for our readers (see Audio Tracks).

Do you know anything about the history of this practice? While many believe that yoga nidra is an ancient practice, there is no evidence to support this claim. In fact, I addressed this issue in our post Friday Q&A: What is Yoga Nidra?  In this post, I said that yoga nidra was developed by Swami Satyananda Saraswati in the twentieth century (based on the teachings of his guru). He wrote:

“I came across many important but little known practices, which interested me greatly. After practicing them myself, I decided to construct a new system called yoga nidra which would incorporate the essence of these practices without having complicated ritualistic drawbacks.”

Swami Satyananda Saraswati describes the yoga nidra practice in great detail in his book Yoga Nidra. The form of practice taught by Swami Satyananda includes eight stages: Internalisation, Sankalpa, Rotation of Consciousness, Breath Awareness, Manifestation of Opposites, Creative Visualization, Sankalpa and Externalisation. Contemporary teachers, such as our very own Baxter Bell, often create their own versions of yoga nidra.

If you’ve read the title of this post and the opening quote, you’re probably putting two and two together right now. Yes, sadly, there is now credible evidence that Satyananda as well as several of his disciples were involved in sexually abusing students and even children at the Bihar School of Yoga Ashram. Here’s how Richard Miller, Ph.D. and long-time teacher of a form of yoga nidra that he calls iRest put it:

"I’m am truly saddened to bear witness to the alleged facts that continue to be revealed, which are alleged to have taken place at the Australia Bihar School of Yoga (BSY) Ashram (now Mangrove Mountain Retreat) in the 70's and 80's, and which now point to the possibility that these have continued into the 90’s and perhaps even to this present day, that involved Swami Akhandananda, and appear to have involved Swami Satyananda, and appear to implicate Satyananda’s protégé, Swami Niranjananda, as well, which also imply that others within BYS may have know, as well." —Richard Miller

We’ll have more from Richard Miller later on. In the meantime for those who want more complete information on the investigation being conducted and the accusations against Satyanananda and his protégés, see Boycott Satyananda’s Literature and Methods Until Reparations are Made for Sexual Abuse.

Obviously this news is extremely disturbing. First of all, it’s another case of yoga “gurus” abusing their power and of their disciples covering up their criminal behavior, which is horrifying enough on its own. But for us, although we are in no way associated with Satyananda’s lineage, we have in the past promoted Satyananda’s book and his work in general, which while not contributing financially to him personally (he is dead), does contribute financially to the organization he founded and that currently has members who are under suspicion for their own criminal behavior or for covering up the crimes of others. And we do not want to continue to support this organization in any way.

Although I’m not sure exactly we are going to do about this yet (we might, for example, stop using the term “yoga nidra” for what is really just a structured form of guided relaxation), to start I thought it was important to get this news out because so many of our readers practice and even teach this technique, and they need to be empowered to make their own decisions about it.

Then, because I don’t practice or teach this technique myself, I discussed the situation with Baxter, who does. While a lot of people are using the “don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater metaphor” to promote separating the value of the yoga nidra techniques he developed from the personal conduct of the man himself, there is especial concern about yoga nidra as opposed to say, Sun Salutations, because of the inclusion in the practice of “suggestions” to people who are in a kind of “trace” or “hypnagogic,” state. Here is how Baxter responded to me when I asked him about his teaching of the technique:

“I follow what I believe has become a standard format, where in addition to guided relaxation, they are asked to set a sankalpa (intention), near the start of the practice and are asked to recall it again near the end of the practice. The guided visualizations include imagining sensations, such as hot/cold, heavy/light, imagining they are looking out at the darkness of deep space and noticing what images arise from their own imagination, scanning the body in great detail, quickly visualizing things that I list off, such as a sunset, a front door, a monk meditating, waves on the ocean, a flower and such, and then some sort of guided imagery of going into a friendly forest or walk on the beach, coming to a place of contemplation, and usually reflecting on health, vitality, healing, emotional well-being, or some other sort of beneficial idea, and coming back to body and breath awareness before recalling intention and finishing.

The idea of “suggestive” language would likely appear in the portion of yoga nidra I described above as the forest or beach experience. So, yes, you are “suggesting” things to the person, but all of the yoga nidras I do have this benevolent, self-empowering tenor to them. Could someone else use manipulative language? Obviously.”

For now, Baxter and I are still thinking about this, and what we might do with regard to the yoga nidra practice on our blog. Obviously, I’m going to stop recommending the book by Satyananada and will revise the post I wrote about his work. Baxter needs to make his own decisions about how he teaches the technique and maybe what he calls it.

In the meantime, there is, of course, a lesson for all of us here, whether or not we practice or teach yoga nidra. Do any of you remember my post Abuse of Power in the Yoga World about Kausthub Desikachar? In that post I quoted R. Sriram (and linked to a letter in which he advised people to boycott the Krishnamacharya Healing & Yoga Foundation) as follows:

Yoga is not about culling out spirits or surrendering one’s individual will power to a teacher who assumes the role of a yoga-sorcerer. No teacher in the world has a right to demand authority over others. The goal of yoga is Kaivalya, independency and not wrong devotion. —R. Sriram

Yes, once again, “wrong devotion” is exactly what made it possible for Satyananda and his disciples to abuse their power over others and what caused other followers to cover up crimes that they knew about. And this is something we all need to keep in mind when we are looking for a yoga teacher, participate in any yoga “lineage,” or turn to any outside authority to guide us. In his statement below, Richard Miller says:

"The current situation unfolding at BSY challenges us, yet again, to make sure we are looking into our own hearts for what is truth, not outside to outer authorities. To the degree we depend upon outside authorities is the degree to which situations like this will occur and disorient us. Buddha rightly pointed out during his lifetime, and again on his deathbed, that we each need to be a light unto ourselves. It is a fact that we are all interconnected, not-separate. It is a fact that we need one another as we walk through this mystery called life. It is also a fact that all of us do go astray at times. We should condemn the actions of Swami Akhandananda and Swami Satyananda and any others who are and will be implicated in engaging in sexual abuse. We should do all that is within our power to stop those who are engaging in such acting out behaviors."

Richard Miller's Statement in Full

"In the coming days, if you're not already privy to the news coming out of Australia with regards to the Bihar School of Yoga, I'd like to post here my response to what is now unfolding in ever disturbing details (see Boycott Satyananda’s Literature and Methods Until Reparations are Made for Sexual Abuse). 

With respect to this news, several weeks ago IRI pulled out of teaching a retreat at Mangrove Mountain Retreat Center in Sydney, and moved my April 2015 retreat to another venue in Sydney.

Here is my response in this moment to the facts that are becoming more and more clear of the sexual abuse carried out by disciples of, and by testimony given of those who were abused, by Swami Satyananda.

I’m am truly saddened to bear witness to the alleged facts that continue to be revealed, which are alleged to have taken place at the Australia Bihar School of Yoga (BSY) Ashram (now Mangrove Mountain Retreat) in the 70's and 80's, and which now point to the possibility that these have continued into the 90’s and perhaps even to this present day, that involved Swami Akhandananda, and appear to have involved Swami Satyananda, and appear to implicate Satyananda’s protégé, Swami Niranjananda, as well, which also imply that others within BYS may have know, as well.

We must use this moment as an opportunity to support those who have been injured, offer our deepest heartfelt help to those in need, but keep up our own self-inquiry into what truth truly is. We are each human, fallible, as we search for, find, and live truth. We are each always doing the best we can. This is not an excuse, but the truth of what is. We must have compassion, but also recognize what actions we each need to take in situations like this, that stop perpetrators from continuing on, while helping those who have been abused, heal. 

Every teacher is a fallible human being. We must be careful not to throw the teachings away with the teacher, the baby, with the bathwater. The sacred teachings that underlie meditation, which in this are derived from the yoga tradition, are derived from thousands of years of people who have come before us, who have struggled and searched to understand the deep truth that lie behind who we are and this mystery called “life”. 

The current situation unfolding at BSY challenges us, yet again, to make sure we are looking into our own hearts for what is truth, not outside to outer authorities. To the degree we depend upon outside authorities is the degree to which situations like this will occur and disorient us. Buddha rightly pointed out during his lifetime, and again on his deathbed, that we each need to be a light unto ourselves. It is a fact that we are all interconnected, not-separate. It is a fact that we need one another as we walk through this mystery called life. It is also a fact that all of us do go astray at times. We should condemn the actions of Swami Akhandananda and Swami Satyananda and any others who are and will be implicated in engaging in sexual abuse. We should do all that is within our power to stop those who are engaging in such acting out behaviors.

I feel deeply in my heart and soul for those who have been injured. I will be doing all that is in my power to help them heal. I also know in the depths of my heart, the realization of non-separation that comes from these precious teachings of meditation and self-inquiry. The teachings cannot be tarnished, no matter the actions of those who go off course. May we have compassion for those who have acted in untruth. May we have love in our hearts for those who need healing. May we develop right understanding as we navigate these awful, present circumstances.

I live in service to others, and to these precious teachings that have given me so much. May we support each other in community. May we help those in need, heal. My we keep diving deeply within ourselves to understand what truth is.

Richard Miller
President, Integrative Restoration Institute
Co-Founder, International Association of Yoga Therapists

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News on Balance, Falling, and Yoga

by Baxter

In preparation for my Yoga U Online webinar Yoga for Core Integrity and Balance that started last Tuesday and finishes this Thursday, December 18, 2014, I was reading two papers that shed some interesting light on why we should to be concerned about balance and how to improve it. The first was a 2008 study Shifting the focus in fracture prevention from osteoporosis to falls that appeared in the British Medical Journal, and the second was a 2008 paper Integrated Balance Training by the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). Since balance is one of our four essential skills of Yoga for Healthy Aging, I was excited to read about these takes on how to best improve balance. And as I was hiking around New Zealand last week and doing some yoga outdoors, some of these ideas started to make more sense to me.

Before I get to some of the unique recommendations for balance training from the NASM article, I want to share some other fascinating assertions the first group of researchers bring up for why balance training is so important as we age. The authors of the study on falling note this blockbuster fact:

“Numerous studies show that among older people falling, not osteoporosis, is the strongest risk factor for fracture.”

They also make a very interesting and important point:

“When a person falls, the type and severity of the fall (including fall height, energy, and direction) largely determine whether a fracture occurs.”

They point out that statistically a person whose dexascan numbers are higher by 1 Standard Deviation increases the chance of a fracture by about two times normal, whereas:

“By contrast, a sideways fall increases the risk of hip fracture three to five times, and when such a fall causes an impact to the greater trochanter of the proximal femur, hip fracture risk is raised about 30 times. These fall induced fracture risks are “strong” associations—comparable to those between smoking and lung cancer.”

To summarize what this study concluded:

• Falling, not osteoporosis, is the strongest single risk factor for fractures in elderly people
• Bone mineral density is a poor predictor of an individual’s fracture risk
• Drug treatment is expensive and will not prevent most fractures in elderly people
• Randomized controlled trials show that falls in older people can be reduced by up to 50% with balance training

Finally, they recommend that the medical community—and family doctors in particular—should shift the focus in fracture prevention by systematically assessing risk of falling and providing appropriate interventions to reduce the risk of falling. For those of us who practice or teach yoga, we can take this as encouragement to be mindful of our relative balance abilities as we practice yoga and look for ways to use our asana practice to maintain and improve our balance.

This is where the second paper by the NASM comes in. It was specifically looking at providing a better understanding of the complexities of what goes into having good balance as well as how to train individuals to improve balance. There were two intriguing ideas presented that I want to share with you today.

The first has to do with a special approach to balance. According to the authors of this paper, “the main goal of balance training is to continually increase your client’s awareness of his or her balance threshold or limits of stability by creating controlled instability.” To give you a better idea of what they mean, they go on to define “balance threshold” as follows:

“Integrated (balance) training should constantly stress an individual’s limits of stability (balance threshold). An individual’s limits of stability are the distance outside of his or her base of support he or she can go without losing control of the center of gravity.”

This idea can apply to static poses as well as dynamic movements in your yoga practice. For yoga practitioners, this means that instead of merely doing our regular routine balance poses and dynamic sequences each day or week, we should consider challenging ourselves or our students by adding in “controlled instability.” Of course, you could try practicing your balance poses outside on uneven ground, as I did in New Zealand. That definitely adds some controlled instability!

But even in the yoga room, you can use your creativity to add some instability into your practice. An example of this might be to move from doing Tree pose (Vrksasana) on the floor to trying it while standing on a wooden block on the lowest height, gradually working towards a longer hold of the pose there. So, the first time I try it, I might shoot for 30 seconds on each side. Once that seems stable and easy, perhaps after several days or a week of practice, I’d advance to 60 seconds. Once I’ve mastered that variable, I might then try the same thing on a slightly softer foam block. From there, I might add in the challenge of holding an additional block between my hands and dynamically moving it not just up and overhead as is sometimes more traditionally done, but taking over to the right side (not side bending, just angling the arms up and to the right), then the left side, then down and to the right and down and to the left while maintaining balance in Tree. As this example demonstrates, a certain amount of creativity will be involved in providing yourself with more challenges over time. Keep in mind that even small changes in the way you do your “normal” poses can add this element of “controlled instability” into your practice.

As for dynamic sequencing, you might change up a Sun Salutation by adding in a pose you don’t normally do while flowing in and out of the usual sequence, such as, from transition from Lunge pose into Standing Splits (Urdhva Prasarita Eka Padasana) for a breath or two before stepping back to Lunge and onto Downward Dog and all the rest. When that new sequence gets easy to do in the flow, add in another pose that challenges your balance a bit more, and so on and so forth. Again, be creative and systematic in how you do this and have some fun with it!

Improving balance not only can reduce your chances of falling and therefore reduces your chance of a fractured bone, but it has also been shown to reduce the chances of other sorts of injuries as well, such as anterior cruciate ligament tears in the knees and ankle sprains. So start playing around with these ideas in your home practice or for the teachers out there, let these ideas add some more variety and creativity to your sequencing of classes. And as always, we love to hear what you discover along the way! Happy, balanced trails!

And for those want more details on these ideas, check out my Yoga U Online webinar. Part 2 is live this Thursday, December 18th, at 5:30PST, 8:30EST.  Even if you missed Part 1 last week, it is now archived and if you sign up for the program (see yogauonline.com), you can listen and watch either one anytime you want. The package also includes a one-hour practice video on Core Integrity and Balance. The perfect holiday gift for yourself!

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