You Want Me to Do What?
What do you do when the cues your instructor or coach is giving you don’t get you there? This has been happening to me quite a bit lately in flexibility classes. Now sometimes, the cue itself just doesn’t make sense. In this case, using another type of cue usually works. But what happens when the cue that’s given is just unattainable to the student (aka me)?
Recently, I’ve found myself struggling with two specific cues for positioning that my body just can’t get into:
Clasp you hands behind your back and press your palms together.
Feet together, ankles together, knees together.
They both sound easy right? They are quite easy to understand, and my body just can’t do them.
Let’s look at the first one. We’ve all tried this, right? Well, I can clasp my hands easily enough, but there is no way that I can press my palms together. In fact, my hands go numb after a few seconds of clasping them together without trying to force my palms together! Why does that happen? Tight pecs and thick musculature in my upper body.
Now let’s look at the second one. I think a lot of people can do this one easily; I am not one of them. You see, when my legs are completely straight, my knees just do no touch. There is pretty big a gap between them. And when I attempt to get my feet, ankles and knees to touch at the same time, my hips go backwards, and I have to turn my legs inward a lot!
When an instructor tells me to do these things, and I don’t (or can’t) they tend to think that I’m either not trying hard enough or that I don’t understand what they are saying. I find this very frustrating.
I’ve seen it happen to others in classes that I’ve taken too. One guy in particular lacks ankle mobility and struggles in any position that requires deep flexion or extension at the ankle joint (think point and flex). It takes all of my will to stop myself from chiming in to say “Maybe give him some mobility drills for his ankles instead of repeating the same cue over and over again”. I never say a word. If it’s not my class, I stay quiet. Period.
So what’s a student to do? Well, you could start by voicing your concerns to your instructor. Maybe they have a variation that might be easier for your body to move through. Or, you could find a variation that works for you, and if your instructor questions you on it, say politely that this one feels better in your body right now.
Ultimately, we would like all instructors to understand the diverse body types they see in movement classes. We know that that is not the case, however. Once you find and instructor or coach that understands your body, stick with them. And if you need help finding someone, feel free to reach out to me and I’ll recommend a few good peeps to you!
As always, feel free to contact me via email at fran@bodybyfrantraining.com, or hit me up on IG @bodybyfran or Facebook @bodybyfrantraining!