the self-therapy was ~2h and fairly intense but had nothing to do with my hamstrings. Only noticed after when I went on a jog and realized I was twice as bendy as I’ve ever been
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wild stuff! i have no idea what the exact relationship is but there's all sorts of stuff that either tenses or relaxes my hips and legs
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My AT coach said she doesn’t understand why men so universally have trouble with hamstring and leg stuff, she said it doesn’t seem to make sense anatomically and that it seems more cultural or habitual
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Like men go to some basic yoga class where all the women are like oh cool let’s do a bit of downward dog and the men (me) are like holy jesus this is the most painful horror I’ve ever experienced
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I can imagine a men’s group session focusing on just this specific experience
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it’s true — men’s hamstrings are not “shorter;” the phenomenon has always seemed to me like it must be occurring on a nervous-system level
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and it’s like as a man I’m used to just being slightly stronger for no good reason and then I get invited into this female arena of gracious movement where suddenly, in a posture of literal humiliation, I am revealed as a clumsy panting weakling
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my anatomy teacher has often said that concentric contraction is inborn but eccentric contraction is learned
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huh 🤔 can you say more about this? v mysterious to me
for instance, we learn to pick things up well before we learn to put them down
using the biceps as an example, picking up smtg involves concentric contraction (muscle fibers sliding short) and setting it down gently involves eccentric contraction (muscle fibers sliding long)
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imagine a baby throwing something after picking it up bc they haven’t had enough practice modulating their shortening bicep contraction with lengthening ones — it takes more time and practice
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