CBL 26: New Bouncing w/Weights Video

New ChiBouncing Video On Using Handweights Safely & Intensely Below you should be able to see a window containing an embedded 8-minute Flash video called "ChiBouncing with Handweights." If you can't see it or prefer a higher resolution copy, just download the Quicktime version which is 47 megabytes (kind of big, big not too big, especially if you have broadband of any type). The sound quality is better than the last video of the Great Alchemical Sequence (with all the kids screaming in the background), but quite a bit is still hard to hear. (OK, from time to time I mumble, and I need a wireless mic .. duh!) Therefore, I'm going to provide a transcription below. I have also added a brief FAQ at the very end of this entry to further discuss my experience with bouncing with handweights in terms of general effects, safety, etc. ---------------------------- [You can download Flash Player 8 for Macintosh and also for Windows.] ---------------------------- A Transcript "Handweights. It's taken me a long time to build up to 7 pound weights, and I wouldn't go much over 10 no matter who you are. So, what I found was the key thing was to be able to, using all my body, using my core, using my breath, be present, to have a full range of motion with the movement so that even if I "bounce big" I'm not going to go against a joint or a tendon or a ligament. I'm bouncing in the direction with my soft tissue in this one movement. That doesn't mean that I can't move my hands a little bit around, and change the angle. You can go in front of you, to the side of you, you can go way over your head in a big bounce or just a tiny little way. You can pay attention to breathing or not pay attention to breathing. Feel into your shoulders, your neck, resist the urge to tense up or stop breathing. [Laughter.] At a certain point you have to kind of engage your wrists to keep the energy moving through you, and from there down into your fingers, which can produce very powerful grip. Variation is the name of the game, from heart-rate to galaxy formation. Now I'm working through places in my lower back and neck that get tight. Great music. Great music. Fantastic music. Working through some shoulder and arm stuff that I normally never access, and some calf stuff incidentally. Wrists. Here we go towards the end (of 100+ side-out lifts). Notice I'm not really gripping at all now. You want to keep a light grip on it, but the weight itself is held up by your hands. Totally different set of muscles ... well, it's not just muscles, it's your whole body, but you know what I mean. Of course, at a certain point, you want to engage your pinky again. It's like that thing in the Lord of the Rings when Gandalf says, "Here, take a hold of this [your sword, Theoden], and perhaps you will feel a bit of your old strength." Feeling my foot, where I'm a little out of balance, now the breath. The breath takes me into my back, back to the back. If it happened twice in a row, then it would be back to back. There's an adler with a huge tree swing about 60 or 70 feet from me. I have a direct line of site on her. It's very beautiful. Think of where you can go, that you haven't, that you might want to ... go. So again, the point being, to bring this essay back to its foundation, is that I can do this with a lot of force and a lot of energy, all the way up to the extremes of how high I can normally bounce, without ever going against the plane of action that would hurt the soft tissue. At least, that's what it feels like to me. Lastly, biceps. It's more efficient to do them both at once, but if you do them by theselves, you can do a bit of a twist, and feel into the lower back to. I just did that and then got my shoulders. A nice loosening intro. I bring my shouldres down, maybe do a little bit of Pilates-style breathing... Now, get creative. Feel where the blocks are. Do something you've never done before. I've never done that before. That's great. I hope I never do it again!" ---------------------------- A Brief F.A.Q. On Bouncing With Weights Q: Is it safe to bounce with handweights? A: Yes, if you use light weights and don't over-stress any of your soft tissue or joints. It's critical to use the weights in such a way that you *never* go against the plane of motion that any of your soft tissue takes. To date, I've really only found three completely safe bouncing with handweights positions, as demonstrated in the video: taking the weights out to your side; pressing the weights overhead; biceps curls. Q: How much weight should be used? A: Go light, especially at first. That is, use less than you think you can handle, and less than you think you might "need." Because you are amplifying the force of your body through the rebounder, and because the weights are at the end of a "fulcrum and lever" system, a tremendous amount of force can be brought to bear. Start light, and then work your way up. And don't be afraid to go back to using lighter weights from time to time ... I use 7 pounders, but when I go back to the 5 pounders, it feels really good. Q: How many reps should I do? A: A general ChiBouncing princinple is "long runs are good for you." I like to pick a number, like 100, and see if I can do that many reps of each of the three handweights bounces described above. But, if you only want to do 5 or 10 reps, especially as you are getting used to using handweights, then that's just fine. Q: Will using weights strenghten the body and add muscle mass? A: Compared to what? Clearly, using handweights can work the chest, shoulder, back, and arm muscles. But to the extent that the weights are a general "load" on your system, and to the extent that you are really bouncing with your whole body (especially with your core), adding weights puts a beneficial stress on your whole body that can at least yield improved muscle tone if not additional muscle mass. Q: Aren't you just building endurance by repetitively using the same muscles over and over if there are only three or so exercises that you can do? A: If you stay with your breathing through a "long run" (many reps), you will find that you make slight adjustments of your arms, shoulders, wrists, hands, back, pelvis, legs, etc., in such a way that you use a lot more of your body than you might have first thought. In other words, if you do a set of 25 or 50 or 100 overhead presses with handweights, and keep good posture and stay with your breathing, you are structurally and energetically led into using your shoulders (and other body parts) in a variety of different ways. So, muscle fibers, neural patterns, and even soft tissue that normally wouldn't come into play does, in fact, come into play, and may, in fact, become strengthened. Q: What about breath? A: Breath is always key to ChiBouncing, as is posture. If you pay attention to your breath, you will have a richer, more energizing, and more rewarding experience. Q: Are there other kinds of weights or equipment that can be used? A: Sure. You can use strap-on wrist weights, or special weights designed for rebounding called "sandbags." I find that the vinyl-covered dumbbells used here work just fine. But in a pinch, soup cans or rocks will work (but won't work as well, because they're not comfortable to hold onto for multiple reps). Q: Can I get a full upper body workout by using handweights? A: I like to supplement my rebounding with one upper body gym workout a week. Rebounding can't do everything, and no single type of exercise is a panacea. But if you add rebounding – and especially rebounding with handweights – to your exercise regimen, you will likely see significant results. Q: Can you sum it up? What do I really need to know? A: Go light, especially at first. Stay with your breath and your posture. Don't be afraid to experiment with going dozens of reps. Try new positions with your arms and shoulders: see how subtle shifts can bring different aspects of your physicality into play. And, don't forget to ... play. Even when it's hard, rebounding can be a lot of fun.