Shaky Beginner

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

So I just started taking a weekly fitness yoga class in november last year. I managed okay despite being shaky and sweaty and bad at balancing, felt really good afterwards even when I couldn’t do everything.

But the past couple of sessions have become harder, and aren’t feeling good any more. The routine is not any harder because she serves all abilities and I always choose the easiest variation of the pose she does.

What’s happening is that my knees and elbows are shaking, sometimes to the point of buckling and making me unable to hold poses for as long as I could in the beginning!

I seem to be developing flexibility, but losing strength.

Any advice on what’s happening, or supplementary excersises I could do to build strength in my arms and legs?

#2

Hello llovell,

Can you please add some info on the practice you are doing, how long you are doing it, how often, and whether you are a fit 40 year-old or a sedentary 20 year-old gamer?

gordon

#3

I am unable to tell you much about what it is that we do; the teacher doesn’t really talk about it, but just dives straight in. The class is just called fitness yoga and so it’s entirely holding poses and doing stretches. I’m afraid I don’t have the vocabulary to expand on that yet.

I go once a week to the class which is an hour long and I do a session at home once a week, repeating what we did in class but generally only for half an hour or so.

I’ve been doing this for two months only.

I’m a mid-20s artist and I’m in reasonably good health but not very active. That’s why I decided to start yoga.

I should probably start by doing it more often, I expect!

#4

With me you are dealing with a coach in recovery. I’ve been down the road of training athletes and crafting strength programs for basketball squads. I’ve grown into yoga in such a way that others might term me a “purist”. So bear that in mind.

My gut instinct on this is two-fold. The first is that you might find more pertinent feedback on a fitness forum as that would align a more closely with the class you’re attending. I will only be able to respond within a Yoga context and by your description there isn’t much Yoga in that yoga.

Second is that the focus here is very physical, even more so than a Yoga class that is very physical. It may be helpful to begin a dialogue with the teacher since that is the person you have chosen to teach you, either consciously or subconsciously.

When the practice is Yoga and the conversation is asana (the postures that make up a small percentage of that practice) then there is a requisite alignment, requisite actions, and requisite sequence in order for the process of self-discovery to be facilitated (or available).

Generally, muscle tremors are agitating to the nervous system and not at all a desired effect of an asana practice (read: yoga). Asana is not designed to kick someone’s butt, It is not designed as a “work out” but rather a work IN. It is not designed as exercise. And yet…we look around and that is how the sword is being wielded.

If you are looking for strength I suggest a functional strength coach who has a background in science and a certification from one of the more prominent or primary certifying bodies in that field.

It is also possible that you are working muscles to the point of fatigue (as designed by the class curriculum) and that you will move through this stage as your muscles build in response to the work.

#5

Well you make a good point; it is not very heavy on “yoga”.

I’m not looking for strength as an end result though, only that necessary to perform the postures that I’ve tried to do in class.

I will try and talk to the instructor about it but since I am here…

Is there not a phase in yoga the way you practise it where one is wobbly while trying to get into an asana? Naturally muscle tremors are not desireable but what would be the suggested course of action when they do occur?

I am not yet set in my ways when it comes to how I learn and understand yoga so I am very much open to learning about how other people would approach my problem.

#6

I suspect that your ‘fitness’ yoga class is too physical for you to begin with. This is the problem with these sorts of classes. Yoga is personal and people need to develop at their own pace and not dive into it and treat it like an aerobics class. You should begin with basic hatha yoga to learn to breathe properly… that’s where you’ll learn to focus and that’s where you’ll find your strength and balance.

#7

Thanks, that’s a possiblity I can look into.

I did try such a class once but the instructor for that one… she made me want to go to sleep, and didn’t do very much in the allotted hour. Out of slightly too slow-paced and slightly too fast-paced I chose the latter because at the end of one I felt drowsy and at the end of the other I felt energized.

Something me and my freind who I go with have talked about is alternating between the two classes, perhaps we can revisit that idea.

#8

[QUOTE=llovell;70257]…

Is there not a phase in yoga the way you practice it where one is wobbly while trying to get into an asana? Naturally muscle tremors are not desirable but what would be the suggested course of action when they do occur?..[/QUOTE]

So many phases there are that we do not have the time to discuss them all.

“Wobbly” implies balance. If a beginning student is having balance issues, that is one conversation but it is not the same conversation as muscle tremors in efforting.

When the muscles tremor it is nice to be able to reduce the required effort (read: back off, modify, lessen, adjust). However for some beginners in some postures even these things will not completely abate tremors.

So A course of action might be something like this:
a) explore and discover actions in the pose to deal with, reduce, abate, or ameliorate the shaking.
b) modify the particular posture(s) using props if necessary/available
c) If most of the poses cause said tremors then “c” is to find a slightly different class
d) alter the sequence or curriculum - which could refer to “c” above.

I can certainly understand choosing a class that does not put you to sleep. Perhaps there’s a middle ground to be found?

#9

Doing Pilates and Yoga together seems to work both for strength (Pilates) and flexibility (yoga). Alternate your days and you might be surprised at your progress.

Janis Macleod
www.surroundingmeditation.com
www.surroundingmeditationblog.com

#10

Maybe dont go so “deep” into each asana. I found muscles shake etc when i try to go too far into asanas that my body is not ready for

#11

This is the problem with these sorts of classes. Yoga is personal and people need to develop at their own pace and not dive into it and treat it like an aerobics class. that’s where you’ll learn to focus and that’s where you’ll find your strength and balance.