It's about time to learn how to contort, isn't it?
Ever wondered how those incredible postures you've seen on TV or at the circus can do their fantastic poses and how they feel? Ever wanted to be able to do it yourself? Here's the chance. It might take time, blood, sweat and tears, but you will get there with the exercises you'll find here if you just give it some time every day. I know how wonderful it is to be able to move the body without any limitations and want to show you how to do it.
To tell the truth contorting isn't as difficult as it seems. It's a natural way of living. A backbend (or even
back fold) that might look impossible to you will in time feel like any natural move and be very enjoyable to do. Just observe any member of the animal kingdom. Every animal exercises every day and they instinctively know that the secret of a long and healthy life is a flexible spine. Any part of the body that is not continually used will eventually cease to function. Why not many aren't stretching or even contorting is almost a mystery. Anyone, including you, can become good in contorting if you only take your time and believe that you will get there one day, because it's much about believing and giving it time. For some of you it will take no time at all, but some of you will have to struggle a little bit, maybe because you've lost some of your flexibility because of age or gender. Something that is recommended is to stretch daily for around a month before you start doing these exercises. Yoga is recommend warmly since it will give you the basic flexibility and strenght needed to do the exercises without struggling too much. Also yoga is very similar to contortion. If you follow the program you'll begin with around one hour and increase the time as you improve.
There are many benefits with contorting. Some of the most important are:
- That you probably will be one of those that won't suffer of osteo
arthritis when you get old.
- that when you get old you'll most likely look much younger than most people in your age.
- that medical surveys show that contortionists not only has a great resistance to every day complaints, pain and disease, but their general health is excellent and they live considerably longer than folks in any other professions.
- that if you suffer from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which is a familial disorder of the connective tissue, you will most likely get results much quicker than a healthy person, but at the same time feel less of the symptoms. How people are built also decides how far it's possible to go or how much. Many times it only means that it will take longer to learn to do some things while others come easily. Most important is to practice daily.
- That your strength will improve
- That your range of movement will improve dramatically
- that this is the most natural and inexpensive way of exercising that exists. It won't cost you a penny. All you need is yourself, some space and your furniture.
Who can contort?
Anyone that is serious, willing to put enough time and has patience. Some say that any over the age of 25 years shouldn't start contorting. Others refuse to train men, because they aren't as good as women. Let's kill those myths. I once got convinced when I met a man that was around 55 years old and could do many of the poses and exercises you find on my pages. He started with yoga 10-15 years earlier and the only difference between him and i.e. a 20 year old woman that has started in her childhood is that it takes him much longer time to be
successfull.
What types of contortionists are there?
Either a contortionist is are a "front bender" or a "back
bender" and all the facets of the act are built on these movements and the ability to hyperextend or
hyper flex the spine. The front bender is many times the "funny man" as he can take up ludicrous positions and perform amusing feats like placing the feet around the neck while standing on one hand. This doesn't mean that men can't be good
back benders. There are men that can do better backbends than any woman and to know whether you're one of them the only way to find out is to do the exercises and in time see. In contrast to the
front bender the back bender or "posturer" has a more serious act. It's often a woman, but as I said it doesn't have to be like that. The
back bender performs specialty acts or incorporates the abilities into a graceful dance routine.
To get back to the question the answer is, as you can see, anyone. What makes the difference is that to be good you have to practice daily and the more the better. One day of inactivity will result in a marked stiffening of the joints. However this is something that happens in any type of activity. Practicing is the key to being good.
So why not begin? You don't know what you've been missing.
How much do you need to practice?
A typical contortionist practices daily for around three hours or even more. Don't get scared of this. The three hours can be one hour in the morning, one during the day and one in the evening before going to bed. It can also mean that you do the different exercises spread out during the day. The alternative with spreading out the practicing will help you to keep supple.
However, it's important to do the exercises daily, even if you only do one hour each day (and around one hour is what you should begin with).
Loosing one day of exercising means that it can take up to one week to reach the same level of flexibility. The same is if you miss out a weeks exercises. It can take a month to reach the same level. So if you can't set aside some time each day to exercise don't start contortion training (and miss the best experience of your life).
No matter who you are if you only do what's told in the instructions you will be able to do most or everything shown and you'll be hooked in no time. Already after one week you will see results and be amazed. The most interesting thing you'll find out quick is that your brain won't understand what's happening. If you close your eyes and do a backbend or split or which position you want to do you'll be amazed and pleased over that you can do it so well and maybe how deep it is the second you open your eyes. That gives an extreme rush. Only this feeling is something making it worth to try. With this program it's estimated that it takes around 3 months, depending on how supple/stiff you are, to place your feet on either side of your head, from a prone position, but of course the younger you are when you start, the easier it will be.
Some about food
Someone once said that eating is believing and it maybe sounds silly, but it's the truth. There are as many recommendations on what to eat as ways to train. Some say become a vegetarian, but I don't agree.
You can continue to eat meat, but not as much as before and never with fat. That means continue eating what you ate before, but in normal proportions. Listen to your body and most important of all eat healthy. If your body asks for fruits, eat fruits and so on. You'll also soon find out that you'll quite
automatically change your habits.
Something I recommend is to eat fruits, hazelnuts and a cup of tea for breakfast. For lunch 2-3 eggs and some fruits and to dinner always something cooked like meat or fish, root-crops/- fruits and some fruits. You can use all kinds of spices, but try to avoid salt as much as possible (this will be difficult in the beginning, but
after some time you won't want salt to any kind of food, because it will taste awful). Except for that eat berries, sea food
and honey. Also try not to eat for 1-2 hours before you exercise. Doing a backbend or a
front bend with a full stomach isn't to be recommended. Also try not to drink alcohol and absolutely never smoke. If you start to train and drink
alcohol (even if not a big amount) or smoke just one cigarette you will feel that your training will feel more difficult and you'll maybe not have the same range of movement the next day.
The result of this will be that you'll loose weight to what was your teenager average weight, the blood
pressure will get lower and the same with the cholesterol. You will feel much better, think much better and it's much easier to practice.
Those eating habits remind much of what different yoga books recommend and contortion is very similar to yoga, but this is also what people ate in the stone age, but also on the island of Kitava where the living conditions are similar to the ones in the stone age. Many times the people there are very strong, flexible and different heart diseases doesn't exist. They never drink or eat alcohol, sugar, milk or cheese.
In the end you decide what to eat and drink and these were only some healthy thoughts and recommendations to help you on the way.
Clothing and environment
There are many different clothes to wear while exercising. Recommended is to wear loose fitting attire. Unitards are very good both for men and women, but a bikini or shorts can be as good as that. Important is that your clothes don't disturb you in the exercises or make it difficult in any way to move.
Also the environment in the room can be important. Try to have cool temperature in the room while exercising. It's obvious since it's both easier to breathe and you don't sweat while doing the exercises.
How to follow the exercises
There are some rules to follow if you want to get good results from the exercises and most important of all, don't want to get hurt.
ALWAYS DO THE WARM UP EXERCISES BEFORE YOU START TO DO SOME (ANY) SERIOUS STRETCHING!
This is very important, no matter whether you can sit on your shoulders, do the best
over splits in the world or are a new beginner. A good warm up can also be to run around a little bit, maybe in stairs and then light stretching to where you can get without feeling that the muscles get tense. This means no real stretching, but during several repeats you go to the the most flexible position where you feel comfortable, but not further! The
warm ups promote circulation, respiration and general loosening of joint bindings.
Without warming up you will most likely get hurt!
Any athlete, dancer, gymnast or contortionist does if they don't warm up. Another thing worth to remember is that many things that you do during the day can be done in a flexible way. Why not bend forward with legs straight when you're going to tie your shoe laces or maybe chat, read books or watch TV while in a split,
over split or backbend, back fold when you get there. You will feel very healthy of this and at the same time you will prevent any loss of flexibility during the day. This will also make you more ready for the more serious exercises. Again I want to recommend some easy stretching exercises (or as I always want to recommend - yoga) before starting doing these exercises. Some basic flexibility won't hurt and it will be much easier to do even the easiest exercise. You will also need to to
strengthen your back, so you can return to an upright position after a backbend. One way is to lie on your back on the top of a gym horse with someone sitting on your lower legs, with your upper body overhanging the edge and bending back down and then up again. Another way is to lie across two soft chairs supported by your shoulders and hips and flex your back. Both these exercises will need someone to assist you initially.
The exercises are built up like a very easy looking program where the level increases with the number of the exercises. First of all it isn't easy. It is supposed to be a challenge. That's the way you get results. You will be able to see the stages easily just thru one thing - some exercises will be too difficult to do (but you'll still be able to see what your goal is from the pictures in the next exercise). Just do one exercise, following it religiously, until it feels comfortable and you can see or feel that you've achieved what is shown on the pictures and have patience.
If the next exercise is too difficult don't do it - yet. When you've succeeded with the exercise you're doing then move along to the next exercise. Continuing like that in time you will be able to do all of them and then it's good to do as many of them as possible.
Remember that if you're impatient and force your body you will only strain something and have to wait until you heal, before you can start again.
Repeats are the key! 10-25 repeats are the best depending on your age, gender, flexibility etc. The number of repeats in this case is a recommendation. If it should be carried out 20 times and you carry it out 40 times, it doesn't mean that you will get twice the flexibility and if you carry it out 60 times you may find that your muscles are stiffening up again. Try to keep the repeats on a level that feels good. You'll find very quickly which amount of repeats is the best for you.
Again never forget about doing all the warm up exercises you can handle and then after warming up the stretching exercises. You'll work the same way with the stretching exercises. The difference from the warm ups is that here you'll try to stretch out as much as you can without getting hurt or uncomfortable. You'll work with the exercises the same way as you do in the warm ups, but always with the difference that you want to achieve the maximum flexibility by stretching out as much as possible. When you have reached the maximum stretch in an exercise count 1-2-3-4-5 and then go back to the resting or initial position and start over doing the next repeat trying to get a little further. In the last repeat try to stay as long as possible in the position. You will find that in time you will be able to stay as longer and longer in more extreme positions and in the end for as long as you want like that without any discomfort.
After doing the stretching exercises it can be good to do the stretches, but only with one repeat, the same way as you did in the warm up. This way you can convince yourself and, most important, your mind what your real flexibility is and this will help you the next time when you stretch out. Those five minutes doing this are as important as the whole exercise. What the brain believes and what's really happening are two different things.
Also it's good to have someone watching you while you exercise, not only to make certain you carry them out correctly, but to ensure your backbends are carried out by the whole spine and not just between two vertebrae. Particular care should be taken in the area of the lower back. Finally when you do backbend exercises always combine them with frontbend exercises.
If you would need any help please feel free to contact me on the email address below.
If you live around Malmö, Sweden and are able to come to me I can also help you by assisting and coaching. For this leave a message
on
+46-31-3608900 or skype chat to marekandersson
Finally do this with an open mind and enjoy yourself.
Now let's start contorting.
 
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