Pain in the lower calf when doing ZZ

[Toni]

I like to train static postures, but normally when i train them I feel pain in the lower calf, soleous or achilles tendon of my right leg (my left leg is perfectly well). This is a hindrance in my practice, and I have had this problem for many months.

Any idea or sugestion on how to overcome this?

[Fa Xin]

When starting off standing each day, I always rock myself (very small movement) back onto my heel, then forward onto my toes, ever so slightly until I find the middle point in balance.  Also, make sure your weight is evenly distributed throughout your body and that your not favoring that right leg in some way.

Edited April 20, 2019 by Fa Xin

[lifeforce]

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Edited April 25, 2019 by lifeforce

[Toni]

Thanks for your responses. I stretch often my calves. It is possible that I am favouriting right leg

[Toni]

It also happens to me when i do zz for a while that my legs begin shaking. I guess it is due to them being weak, and i suppose the only solution is to keep standing and endure!

[Toni]

I stretch my legs and do squats to strenghten them but they keep trembling like crazy. Any advice on this?

[Fa Xin]

4 hours ago, Toni said:

I stretch my legs and do squats to strenghten them but they keep trembling like crazy. Any advice on this?

 

when you stand, make sure your weight is distributed evenly from the top to the bottom. all of your weight shouldnt be placed on your quads/thighs... it should be stacked and supported by spine, hips, knees and feet... so that no one place is stressed more than another.

 

but yes your legs will shake... i've done tai chi for almost 20 years since my mid teens... and my legs definitely would shake with any type of training for years (more or less)

[silent thunder]

Helped me to imagine my body dangling from a line attached at the bai hui point, top of the skull.  I once worked for months with a dancer on posture while studying acting.  I wanted to get rid of my personal physicalities so that I could more effectively seem to embody the posture of a character.  To do that I had to have someone show me my unconscious physical habits and train them out.

 

Imagining my body hanging from a hook at the top of the head was effective in helping me with sung.  It drew my head up with chin slightly down, taking the slump out of my body without added tension that would arise when I tried to 'hold myself up' which adds a bunch of musculuture involvement that should be best left to sort itself out when the bones are aligned.

 

A dancer once gave me potent advice when she was teaching and helping me in that study.  I recall it vividly still decades later, she said:  "your bones keep you upright, not your muscles.  you don't need your muscles to stand, only to move.  your bones fit together naturally, stack upon each other naturally, let them.  there will be no tension eventually with alignment, the bones will fit together as designed and you won't use your muscles to stand, only to move... that's what the bones are for, support.  it will become effortless... your muscles keep your bones in place, your bones support you."

 

There was some discomfort as my muscles had to accomodate correct alignment, but this passed rather quickly with daily practice.  The body is so fluid.  Looking back I can see she was teaching me ZZ without mentioning it as such, probably assuming I'd dismiss it, this being Minnesota back in the late 80's lol.  How grateful I am for her simple attention and instruction.

 

Eyes to the horizon.  Chin is slightly down.

Natural curve, but not a curved spine.

 

The skeleton stacks up under this point naturally, dangling in perfect alignment.

Feet under shoulders, never locking knees or elbows.

 

Mainly for me it came down to:

Don't push to extremes, but work into your discomfort zone.

Discomfort is ok, pain is not.  The old adage "no pain no gain"?   I threw that out years ago.

Discomfort is progress, pain is damage.  In my experience.

 

It will pass with time.  Your body will adjust and you'll encounter new thresholds.

Seems like a sign of progress from where I'm sitting and reading.

I'd say you're on the scent.  keep at it mate and congrats.

Edited April 22, 2019 by silent thunder
add sentence for clarity

[silent thunder]

I can't stress enough the effectiveness and importance to me of light stretching and shaking.

Shaking seems nigh on magical at this point in my life.

 

Before and after any forms.  And as with my above deseription during the forms work, never stretching into pain, only discomfort.

 

Cheers!

[Toni]

Thanks four your help. This afternoon I have trained again ZZ. After 10 or 15 min again my legs started to shake. But as i was keeping standing other parts of my body started to shake too: first upper legs, then lower legs, tummy, chest, hands, arms, pelvis, shoulders, etc. Maybe it was spontaneous movement? I was like possessed!

[Aetherous]

I found that getting craniosacral therapy (Upledger type) helped the shaking be much less. If you have the means, try it out and practice a couple of hours afterward. At least for me, there was a world of difference, and standing was a piece of cake.

Also, if I practice standing, I've noticed that if I just relax more...as well as have alignment where my weight is traveling through my knees, rather than bending my knees (and having my bodyweight get stuck in the quads)...those two aspects help to decrease the shaking. The relaxation has to be complete: mental as well as physical. It helps to some extent; I think this is why craniosacral therapy was so effective IME.

I do think shaking is related to spontaneous movement, and even if it's just happening in the legs as a result of isometrics (or the simple act of standing), it's causing subtle movements to happen throughout the entire body. I don't think spontaneous movements are something to be encouraged or sought after, because they can easily cause aberrations in qi flow. It's better if qi flowing is smooth and normal.

 

Oh and...I think many people have pelvis and sacrum misalignments, due to how their muscles have positioned themselves from lifestyle and various injuries, which cause one side of the body to be shortened or lengthened compared to the other, which can cause issues when doing a practice that utilizes both sides of the body equally. It's my personal view that zhan zhuang (standing) doesn't improve this postural abnormality, but further entrains it into our nervous system...so I think it's good to get this corrected, if we're serious practitioners. Muscle Energy Technique by PT Tom Ockler (someone who is able to practice that style of MET) is the way to go to fix this issue. Chiropractic is not the way to go for this.

Edited April 22, 2019 by Aetherous

[Toni]

I think it is spontaneous movements. After a while doing ZZ, let's say 20 min, all my body shakes like possessed by a mad devil