[QUOTE=Nichole;21545]David and Corey,
I am so glad to read your posts this morning and to see you’ve made a connect here within just a few posts. InnerAthlete is one member, and well-trained Yoga teacher, who has worked with athletes of all levels of play, even professional American football players. My guess is he’ll be glad to offer you whatever he can to help you on your way. I work solely in the therapeutic application of Yoga, but I have not worked with people of your size, or with your specific training goals.
David, since you are just starting out, I want to share the framework I use when working with professional athletes who are wanting to incorporate Yoga into their lives and their training protocols. I begin by becoming very familiar with their in-place training program and find ways to make what is already there more Yogic in its application. I begin by using breath, bhandhas, mental focus and adjusting your alignment there, in those exercises first, before introducing asana (yoga postures). Assuming you are already maintaining a full schedule of workout designed for your Strongman goals, I also recommend that you only pull in additional exercise, even Yogic asana practice, as needed to your specific goals. As you both know well, injury due to over training is a huge problem for many athlete populations; and nothing is more frustrating then being sidelined from a training injury.
With your Strongman goals, and the demand that you are already asking of your body from that training, I would caution you to use great in going into most classrooms for Yoga practice. The agenda for classroom Yoga is a group-orientated agenda not one that is specific for you; you may get personal adjustment, even sound adjustments in a classroom, but they may not be specific enough for your needs. My recommendation would be to meet with a well-trained Yoga therapist, or teacher who has significant therapeutic training, and create a program that will support your very specific needs and that will change as your training program changes.
Your unique joint range of motion, your strength and flexibility evaluated front to back and left to right, your diet, your intention and goals for your Yoga practice, your personal body awareness, sleeping soundness…so many factors should be in play in creating a beneficial, therapeutic practice.
I am eager to see that IA will offer you and also to hear about what you each discover. Please continue to add to this thread: you are a new population for me too and I am always interested in learning more.
Take care,
Nichole[/QUOTE]
Great post Nichole, thank you very much.
I feel like there is a war going on inside of me right now. Part of me wants to continue the path that I am on, the be considered one of the World’s Strongest Men, but the price you pay for that is very great. I am currently consuming close to 8000 calories a day with close to 550 grams of protein. My large stature and weight is putting a tremendous amount of stress on my joints and I’ve recently started to develop sleep apnea which is bad because I require a tremendous amount of rest due to the rigors of my training schedule.
The other part of me wants balance and flexibilty. No more pain. I feel bad when people always assume I play football or are intimidated by my stature.
I think I will take your advise on getting some one on one instruction. Do you know a good place to find a qualified teacher? Are you available for this, assuming no geographic restraints?
