1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,320 Hey, I'm Hyper Mobile and if you're listening to this, I'm 2 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:07,720 guessing that you might be too. Hi, my name is Alex, I'm your 3 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:10,680 Hyper mobile host. And today we are talking all 4 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:13,160 about my favorite topic. We're talking about 5 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:17,040 hypermobility and fitness. This is a topic that's near and 6 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,920 dear to my heart. If you know me personally or you 7 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:23,280 follow any of my social media accounts, you might see what I 8 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,080 get up to at the gym and you might see what a big part of my 9 00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:30,040 journey, fitness really has been and finding ways to not only 10 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:33,520 safely exercise, but to happily exercise. 11 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,320 So for today's episode, what I thought we'd do is we are going 12 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:38,960 to pretend like there's a little time machine. 13 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:43,400 And I'm going to think of all the the rules and all the the 14 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:46,320 guidance and like the wisdom and professional expertise that I 15 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:48,280 have now. And I'm going to think of what I 16 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:52,240 wish I'd known a decade or two decades ago or three decades 17 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:57,640 ago, back when I was struggling to exercise safely and happily 18 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,840 in a hypermobile body. But before we do that, I want to 19 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:06,280 give a shout out to the HQ crew, the members of the Hyperbole 20 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:08,440 Private Membership Community Discord. 21 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:14,440 Last week we had an amazing live with a fabulous guest speaker. 22 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:18,440 So basically every week we do a live on Sundays with yours 23 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:20,040 truly. Once a month we have on an 24 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:22,840 incredible guest and we occasionally do special events 25 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:24,200 and it's just the community's been growing. 26 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:26,440 It's awesome. I think of it like my second 27 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:29,040 high profile brain. If it's something that you want 28 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:31,040 more info about, please do check out the show notes. 29 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:35,680 But without further ado, let's get into today's episode Rule 30 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:40,920 #1, and there are 6 rules total. By the way, do what makes you 31 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:44,800 happy. I really get frustrated when I 32 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:48,840 hear about people having all of these exercise plans that they 33 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,080 hate. Even the most boring exercises 34 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:55,840 can be made to be fun, so I think do what makes you happy. 35 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:59,400 I know it sounds like it's not important, but it is. 36 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:03,200 So if there's one thing I've learned from all my years of 37 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:07,840 experience now working with the hypermobile community is that 38 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:10,880 hypermobile people tend to have strong feelings on things. 39 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:13,680 Maybe it's the neuro divergent, maybe it's the fact that I just 40 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:16,120 give my patients a safe space where they can have strong 41 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:19,280 feelings about things. But hypermobile people tend to 42 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:22,480 either, you know, like this type of exercise or not like this or 43 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:26,120 love this for whatever reason. And I think so often, you know, 44 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:28,920 we're trying to focus on what's the best exercise and that's 45 00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:31,960 important that clinical rigor, you know, this looking at like 46 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:34,760 the evidence thinking what's the, the safest and best way we 47 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:37,360 can help this person exercise. That is important, absolutely. 48 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:41,200 But patients are people first and foremost, and they have 49 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:44,320 thoughts and feelings and ideas about what they do and when. 50 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,800 I think back to my fitness journey, so I was a swimmer, I 51 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:52,040 raced a butterfly and freestyle and that was my thing. 52 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:54,160 I swam with the London Aquatic Club growing up for about a 53 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:56,840 decade in Canada. So if you're if you're listening 54 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:59,200 to this and you're on that club, please do let me know. 55 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:02,880 That would be so cool. But anyways, I fell in love with 56 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:06,080 swimming. My mom saw me in the water and I 57 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:08,680 just it it was my happy place from a young age. 58 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:11,160 I'd be swimming in like the most freezing cold water. 59 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:15,440 There was this story of when we went to a cottage on a holiday 60 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:18,480 and nobody was in the water but I was there splashing and my mom 61 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:20,080 was like, this girl needs to swim. 62 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:25,600 So I I got into swimming and it like it did so much good for me. 63 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:28,960 You know, I was a child who was always a little bit heavier. 64 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,560 I wanted to find ways, you know, of course, that I could safely, 65 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:36,480 like use all this energy I had and a lot of other sports. 66 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:38,720 Like I I tried them, but I kind of didn't really like them. 67 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:41,240 So swimming was something I just fell in love with. 68 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:46,120 For me, it's always been a quiet and happy place. 69 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:49,080 It's a place where the the water is like a different world, like 70 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:52,880 you can just go in the water and it's like it's peaceful. 71 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,720 For me, it's peaceful. Every shavasana I've ever done. 72 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:59,480 If you don't know what shavasana is in like a yoga practice, it's 73 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,280 when you kind of just lie at, like, on your mat at the end and 74 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:04,640 kind of take a minute just to appreciate where you are. 75 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:06,640 Obviously it's not doing it justice, but it's like a mini 76 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:09,080 meditation, OK? Anyways, with the shavasana, I 77 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,400 would always imagine just lying on the bottom of a swimming pool 78 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:15,280 or on the bottom of, you know, underwater in a sandy beach on a 79 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:18,200 sunny day. Because for me, I think I just 80 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:21,000 always felt that wonderful in the water. 81 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:26,720 So in a way, I'm kind of grateful at the time that, you 82 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:30,600 know, we didn't have quite as much information coming in 83 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:32,720 because I worry that my mom might have been told like, Oh 84 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,040 well, swimming's not good and she should do something else. 85 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:37,600 And for me, like, it was really important. 86 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:41,600 It was an important part of my journey that I swam and it 87 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:43,560 helped me, although it did harm me. 88 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:45,440 Of course, I ended up getting injuries long term. 89 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:47,880 I had to stop swimming because of my injuries and I think it 90 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:49,400 actually led to quite a few issues. 91 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:54,080 It's something which I think had a net positive effect on my life 92 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:56,520 and it's something that I'm so grateful I was able to do. 93 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:01,200 That being said, of course, no exercise is perfect. 94 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:06,160 So I mean it is certainly not the perfect hypermobility sport 95 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:08,800 that it's hyped up to be. We'll talk more about that in a 96 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:12,200 minute, but I want to get back to the rule, which is do what 97 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:15,880 makes you happy. I have had patients come see me. 98 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:19,360 There are patients who have wanted to do sports like 99 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:23,680 CrossFit or they've wanted to go rollerblading or they've wanted 100 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:25,960 to attend. There was one patient in 101 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:30,400 particular who wanted to attend a sports day themed bachelor 102 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,200 party. And you know there there are 103 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:36,400 risks to everything in life. If you're hyper mobile and 104 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:39,040 you're listening to this, you will know that sometimes doing 105 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:42,840 nothing at all has risks. My worst injuries have come from 106 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:47,080 walking or sleeping. So when it comes again, going 107 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:49,080 back to that assessment of physical activity in the 108 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:51,280 hypermobile patient, or if you're someone listening to this 109 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:53,880 and you're thinking about yourself like I'm hypermobile, 110 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:56,360 what sport should I do or what physical exercise should I try 111 00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:58,440 and do? I think it's important to sit 112 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:01,040 down and ask yourself, what do I love? 113 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,200 What do I kind of enjoy or have an interest in and want? 114 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:05,960 Want to try to see how I feel about it? 115 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,120 Or if you hate all physical activity, you don't get on with 116 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:11,200 sports. It's not your thing. 117 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:13,960 That's OK. I want you to ask yourself the 118 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:15,800 question. I ask my patients who have those 119 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:18,720 feelings about physical activity which are valid and acceptable. 120 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:21,000 You know, I'm not here to be. Like, yeah, it's the best. 121 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:22,040 Like you should love sports. You don't. 122 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:23,920 You don't have to love everything or you don't have to 123 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:25,280 love anything. I should say. 124 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:30,400 But what I want you to ask yourself is what do I hate the 125 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,680 least? So rule #1, do what you love. 126 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:37,040 Or at the very least, do what you hate the least. 127 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:40,040 And that leads us straight into rule #2, which is. 128 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:44,760 But don't overdo it. So if there are any swimmers out 129 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:47,840 there listening, you might be familiar with the high volume of 130 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:50,040 training in most competitive swimming programs. 131 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:53,400 You know, I started out swimming, was very happy, got a 132 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:55,840 bit faster, you know, got promoted to a higher level in 133 00:06:55,840 --> 00:06:58,920 the club, did more and more and more practices because this is 134 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:02,000 just normal for the sport. Like it's a sport where it there 135 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:04,440 is a very high volume of training sessions. 136 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:07,920 I think at the end of my decade of swimming competitively, we 137 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:11,120 were doing approximately 24 hours of training a week. 138 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:14,360 We would routinely have double days, which are two hours in the 139 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:15,960 morning and two hours in the evening. 140 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:19,640 And this is just again, I I didn't know any better. 141 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:21,760 I just thought, you know, like this, this will help me get 142 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:22,960 faster. This is good for me. 143 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:24,880 Swimming is good for me. Exercise is good for me, 144 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:27,160 therefore more swimming. Exercise is good for me because 145 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:29,760 it's good for you. And I think it ultimately was 146 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:31,720 not good for you. I think it caused me a lot of 147 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:35,080 problems. There's something called 148 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:37,320 overtraining syndrome. I don't know if you've heard of 149 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:40,400 it before and I will link some research papers on this. 150 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:42,680 In the show notes you can go check out my website 151 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:45,280 hypermobilityhq.com. That's where I put the detailed 152 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:49,280 show notes, because often on the on the app different apps where 153 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:52,560 I post the podcast, YouTube and Spotify in particular. 154 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:54,520 There's not enough space to put all the research papers. 155 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:59,160 So go to hypermobilityhq.com if you want to see the full show 156 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:03,600 notes. But with overtraining syndrome, 157 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:06,040 again, it's there's kind of a vague definition. 158 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:08,200 There are different things. There's overreaching is what 159 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:09,560 they call it. I I don't think it's called 160 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:11,520 overreaching syndrome. Some sports scientists will just 161 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:14,520 refer to it as overreaching. There's overtraining syndrome. 162 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:18,920 But here's the gist of it. OK, so with sports and and with 163 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:21,960 physical exercise, and this applies to everyone, I think 164 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:24,280 people sometimes come across these technical ideas and think, 165 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:25,680 oh this, this is only for athletes. 166 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:28,040 No muscle is muscle. Is muscle OK? 167 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:33,799 But you have to overload tissues progressively and overload 168 00:08:33,799 --> 00:08:36,720 systems progressively. So do a tiny bit more than what 169 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:39,799 the body's capable of doing at present in order to stimulate 170 00:08:39,799 --> 00:08:43,679 adaptive changes. I've talked about the body as a 171 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:45,880 bioeconomy before. I'm not going to go through the 172 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:49,280 full analogy right now, but basically your body tries to run 173 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:51,760 efficiently. It's not going to invest in a 174 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:55,040 ton of muscle for you if there's no reason for it to do so. 175 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,920 And the reason that you give it to do so is by progressively 176 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:01,320 overloading it through strength training for example, right? 177 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:06,800 Anyways, overtraining syndrome is a multi system condition 178 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:10,000 where we have an athlete who's been training for years and and 179 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:12,880 swimming is one of the classic sports where this happens and 180 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:15,400 other high volume sports like rowing and cycling appear as 181 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:18,720 well and the athlete starts to get unwell. 182 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:21,800 They start to feel fatigued all the time. 183 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:23,600 They start to have changes in their mood. 184 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:28,040 They start to have changes in their eating behavior and 185 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:31,800 approach to nutrition. They start to have immune system 186 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:33,960 changes. Maybe they're getting some upper 187 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:38,560 respiratory tract infections. They start to have changes in 188 00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:41,400 their hormonal profile. If we do different hormonal 189 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:43,800 tests, we can see some changes there. 190 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:48,000 In some instances they start to have changes in levels of of 191 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:51,320 amino acids like glutamate and glutamine which affect protein 192 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:52,960 synthesis. And again, you can check out the 193 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:54,520 research at my website if you'd like. 194 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:58,480 But they have all these changes happen that have to do with kind 195 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:04,000 of the the hormonal state of the body as well as protein 196 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:06,160 synthesis which of course effects connective tissue. 197 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:09,680 And what's interesting when you read about overtraining syndrome 198 00:10:09,680 --> 00:10:13,720 is it sounds weirdly like heds and HSD. 199 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:16,280 So hyperbole stemolis syndrome and hyperbole spectrum disorder. 200 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:18,520 I'm not saying they're the same thing because they're not. 201 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:21,480 But we're seeing two things where we have a a multi system 202 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:23,200 involvement. The person feels unwell. 203 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:26,320 The markers seem to vary depending on the individual 204 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:29,480 person. So there have been in recent 205 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:32,800 years attempts to do systematic reviews and so on of 206 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:36,080 overtraining syndrome to see OK, like how can we diagnose this, 207 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:38,280 how can we pick it up more in athletes? 208 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:41,600 And it seems like there's a a big heterogeneity, there's a big 209 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:45,720 variability in the ways in which overtraining syndrome will 210 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:48,520 manifest in an individual athlete. 211 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:52,400 And I've I've talked before about kind of you know why I 212 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,400 think hyper mobile people should be treated like athletes. 213 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:58,120 You know, not in terms of like training programs, but why I 214 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:00,880 think we need to take some of those principles from sports 215 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:04,400 medicine and from this approach with athletes where we're 216 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:07,440 fighting for those 1% improvements and apply them to 217 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:10,280 people with chronic health issues and disability. 218 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:12,080 I because you just get better results. 219 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:14,840 So when you pay more attention and do things in greater detail. 220 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:19,000 But I also think it's interesting to just see again 221 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:22,000 what happens when you do too much. 222 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:25,200 So these are athletes who are doing too much in a training 223 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:29,080 program. Is it perhaps similar to the 224 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:33,520 hypermobile person who does too much unknowingly just because 225 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:37,120 they're alive? Is this similar to the young 226 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:40,840 hyper mobile person who you know isn't an athlete but they're 227 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:42,800 living their life and they eventually just kind of have a 228 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:45,680 decline in their symptoms, you know in their teens or their 20s 229 00:11:45,680 --> 00:11:48,760 or whatever Is is there a comparison there have have they 230 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:53,640 accidentally over trained just through the physical challenges 231 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:56,160 or requirements of existing? I think it's a really 232 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:00,440 interesting question. Anyways, if I could go back in 233 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:04,120 my time machine and talk to myself, I would say to little 234 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:07,920 like 12 year old Alex. I know you love swimming and I 235 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:11,280 know you want to be that A+ member of your team. 236 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:13,560 Just like you're that like student you know who likes to do 237 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:17,880 all her homework and whatever. But don't go to every practice. 238 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:21,760 Like I I wish that I had gone to half the practices I went to. 239 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:26,120 I would have swam faster. And if we go back again to 240 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:30,520 athletes and hypermobile people with chronic health issues, 241 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:36,000 there are issues with recovery. So overtraining syndrome, people 242 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:39,200 theorize that it happens because the athlete's body who's 243 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:41,480 affected it gets to a point where they're no longer able to 244 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:45,160 recover their their recovery has slowed because of certain 245 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:48,440 physiological changes that have happened, and they are now not 246 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:50,920 able to recover in the same way that they were previously. 247 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:55,200 And the same thing goes for people with heds and HSD because 248 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:57,840 their bodies just run less efficiently. 249 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:01,080 They build, they do protein synthesis and build connective 250 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:03,720 tissue more slowly. Things don't happen in quite the 251 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:07,040 same way as they do in someone's body who has, quote UN quote, 252 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:10,320 normal connective tissue or as I like to say, collagen, typical 253 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:14,960 connective tissue. So we see a problem there just 254 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:21,760 in terms of recovery management. So if I was going back, I would 255 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:24,960 just be telling myself, like tell your coach that you need to 256 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:26,920 be different. If if I was, you know, the 257 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:30,080 parent of a child who was on the swim team and I knew they were 258 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:34,080 hyper mobile, I would just say like my child loves swimming. 259 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:37,880 I want them to swim, but they need to be going to 50% of the 260 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:40,280 practices of the rest of the team or 75% or whatever. 261 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:42,640 There there is no research on what percentage is correct. 262 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:44,920 OK, so don't quote me on that, but I would. 263 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:48,320 I would want the coach to understand that this decision 264 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:51,960 was being made by me as a parent because I wanted to make sure 265 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:54,720 that my child was having adequate time to recover between 266 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:57,240 sessions. And I really do wish I could go 267 00:13:57,240 --> 00:13:59,520 back in time and see if that would have resulted in me 268 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:01,840 swimming faster. Because I loved it and I was 269 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:05,720 always disappointed that I put in so much work and I just, I 270 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:08,440 was like spinning wheels, like I couldn't make any progress. 271 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:10,880 I just, I wasn't getting that same. 272 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:14,080 I was putting the same input as other members on my team, but I 273 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:16,920 wasn't getting the same output. And it did eventually start to 274 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,440 feel like my coaches were frustrated with me and they 275 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:23,320 thought that I was just maybe like not trying as hard when in 276 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:25,920 reality my connector tissue was hyper mobile. 277 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:29,920 I wasn't able to get the same changes in terms of physiologic 278 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:33,200 adaptations from training as other members on my team, and 279 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:36,840 that's probably why I didn't go as fast as I wanted to, even 280 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:38,800 though I tried my absolute hardest. 281 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:46,560 So don't overdo it, Rule #3. Try to avoid making your world 282 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:52,080 smaller. So going back to swimming I my 283 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:56,160 my low point was basically like crying in my goggles from pain 284 00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:59,480 in my shoulders and I would I would just grind my teeth and 285 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:01,160 get through like 4 hours a day of that. 286 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:04,800 Like that is messed up. But anyways I because of my 287 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:07,960 shoulder pain I ended up seeing various physiotherapists and 288 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:10,720 different healthcare professionals and I was 289 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:12,880 diagnosed with I think like rotator cuff syndrome or 290 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:15,440 whatever right? It was, it was not the best 291 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:20,160 healthcare management, but everything was, you know, it 292 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:21,920 was, it wasn't a good physio experience, to be entirely 293 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:23,680 honest. So basically I was going there, 294 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:26,880 There's a very there's a viral video of me on on TikTok. 295 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:29,240 I think it might be on Instagram too, where I talk about my 296 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:32,040 shoulder feeling homeless because I was sitting there and 297 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:33,920 the physio is like, what's wrong with your shoulder? 298 00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:36,400 And I said, you know, it's it's not painful. 299 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:37,880 Like right now they're like does it hurt? 300 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:40,080 And I said no. But it feels homeless. 301 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:41,920 It doesn't feel like it's where it should be. 302 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:45,120 And that was of course me trying to say in a very roundabout way 303 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,480 that it felt unstable or that it had felt like it was subluxing. 304 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:51,520 And then of course they did ask like have you dislocated it? 305 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:54,360 And I said no, because I have never still to this day 306 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:57,520 dislocated my shoulder, any other joint really. 307 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:03,560 So anyways, with that the problem became that the physio 308 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:06,640 was then giving me treatment which was not effective and 309 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,280 giving me exercises which made my symptoms worse. 310 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:13,280 And it got to the point where I was like talking to the physio 311 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:16,400 and asking what I should do. And the only thing which would 312 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:19,520 ever elicit my symptoms or bring them on was really raising my 313 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:24,360 arm above 90° repeatedly at like a in a freestyle stroke or a 314 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:28,080 butterfly stroke. So the physio told me she said 315 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:31,080 just stop raising your arm overhead now. 316 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,760 She probably meant like stop doing a high volume of raising 317 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:38,520 your arm overhead, but trying to be a a good patient, you know, 318 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,440 Again, I was the kind of person who always wanted to like do the 319 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:43,640 best job at at everything I was trying to do, right? 320 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:45,840 So I was like, I'm going to be the very best little patient. 321 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:48,240 I just stopped tracing my arm overhead. 322 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:50,720 I avoided it. I stopped lifting weights 323 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:52,320 overhead. I was doing somebody pump 324 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:56,160 classes at the time at the Sherwood Forest body pump in 325 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:57,760 London or what's it called Sherwood Forest. 326 00:16:57,760 --> 00:17:00,920 Good Life with Body Fun Classes in London ON SO. 327 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:03,760 I was doing my little overhead presses, you know, prior to that 328 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:06,040 in these different movements and I just stopped doing them 329 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:09,560 entirely and it helped. It did help a bit because when 330 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,440 you take away the movement which aggravates the symptoms, of 331 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:13,839 course you're going to experience a bit of an 332 00:17:13,839 --> 00:17:17,400 improvement. But this improvement was 333 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:21,839 followed by a steep decline. So there are some photos. 334 00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:24,000 Again, I've done videos on TikTok and I I might throw some 335 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:29,680 in a blog post on the website, but I quickly lost all of the 336 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:32,200 muscle mass I had her on my shoulder, like you could start 337 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:35,440 to see almost the Bony drop off in in the joint itself. 338 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:40,640 I lost all of my my deltoids and probably my my rotator cuff. 339 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:44,480 There was just no muscle there because the adage use it or lose 340 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:47,360 it really is true when it comes to your musculoskeletal system. 341 00:17:48,120 --> 00:17:51,600 And with that loss of muscle mass came an increase in 342 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:55,320 instability, an increase in pain, and these were the dark 343 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:58,320 times. My worst years of symptoms were 344 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:04,840 age 18 to maybe 20-3 around there, maybe maybe 17, but 345 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:07,880 around like late teens, early 20s, like those were the worst 346 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:10,040 years for me in terms of symptoms. 347 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:15,120 And it what triggered it really was me listening to that physio. 348 00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:18,800 I I wish more than anything that I had been supported in getting 349 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:21,240 a second opinion. We really couldn't. 350 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:23,360 We were paying for it privately. I don't. 351 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:26,440 It wasn't accessible to me. But I I wish that I had been 352 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:29,000 supported in getting a second opinion or I wish that someone 353 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:32,240 had just come up to me and said before you like, you know, take 354 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:35,200 this advice to stop raising your arm overhead and just stop doing 355 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:37,800 things that irritate your shoulder, Let's see if we've 356 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:39,560 missed something. Let's see if there's something 357 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:43,040 that can be done. Because this seemingly small 358 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:45,640 decision of like, oh, I'm just just not going to lift weights 359 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:48,040 overhead or, you know, I'm going to try and avoid raising my arms 360 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:51,840 overhead had serious, serious consequences. 361 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:55,240 And if I wasn't as lucky as I have been, if I didn't have the 362 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:58,200 right things happen at the right time and accidentally fall into 363 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,600 the right career, I wouldn't be where I am today. 364 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:03,160 I wouldn't be able to use my arms. 365 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:06,640 I wouldn't like. It scares me to think of what 366 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:10,760 would have happened if I had not been able to rebuild that muscle 367 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:12,560 mass that I lost. And it was not easy. 368 00:19:13,360 --> 00:19:17,200 It took years of doing all the right things perfectly all the 369 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:21,360 time and this is what makes all this stuff so hard is you don't 370 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:25,360 get a day off to not be perfect. You know you have to manage all 371 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:27,960 these things constantly and it's it is not easy. 372 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:31,520 But if I could go back in a time machine I'll be screaming in my 373 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:33,600 ear. Do not let this person make your 374 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:35,600 world smaller. Fight for your ability to 375 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:40,080 continue to do movements and and try and find alternative ways in 376 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:42,200 terms of making the world's smaller analogy. 377 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:44,440 The way that I think of it too it, it also affects your 378 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:47,160 happiness. So I love video games, I don't 379 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:51,040 know if any of you do, but I love RPGs or role-playing games 380 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:52,960 for those of you who aren't familiar with the terminology. 381 00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:57,840 And in these games you have a character like The Witcher 3 or 382 00:19:57,840 --> 00:19:59,120 Legend of Zelda. These are all kind of good 383 00:19:59,120 --> 00:20:03,640 examples in some ways, and your character can interact with the 384 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:07,320 world around them, right? So in The Witcher 3, the main 385 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:12,000 character is Geralt of Rivia and he can like walk or jump or use 386 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:14,040 a sword or Crouch right? There are all these different 387 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:16,440 movements and physical things he can do in his world. 388 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:22,640 Now the game becomes less fun the fewer movements you have and 389 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:25,960 the game becomes more fun. The more options you have right 390 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:27,880 The the more you can interact with the world around you. 391 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:30,160 I think just the more free you feel. 392 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:33,160 It's it's wonderful to be able to do what you want with your 393 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:35,720 body and it's a privilege. I think that many people who 394 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:40,000 have don't really appreciate enough anyways. 395 00:20:40,360 --> 00:20:43,960 When you take something away from a a patient and there have 396 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:46,360 been cases there have been clinical situations where I have 397 00:20:46,360 --> 00:20:49,000 told a patient like, hey, I think we need to you know 398 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:51,600 reconsider this movement or we need to you know, look at this. 399 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:55,400 It has to be such a serious and thoughtful decision. 400 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,320 It can't be a decision that's made lightly because let's you 401 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:01,680 know that that physios go back to this example that I was. 402 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:04,880 I had the ability to raise my arm overhead basically taken 403 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:06,040 away. I was told, you know, that's not 404 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:08,360 good for you don't do it. And I became nervous to do it 405 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,520 very understandably. What am I going to lose next 406 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:14,760 when my knees start to hurt am I going to be told, Oh well, you 407 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:19,880 shouldn't be, you know, walking or whatever or if my back starts 408 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:21,080 to hurt. Oh, you shouldn't be sitting 409 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:26,080 like you start to open up the door to greater and greater 410 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:28,840 decreases in that patient's ability to interact with the 411 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:31,080 world, which have serious effects. 412 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:35,520 And of course, in this community, disability is common. 413 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:37,880 There is a significant amount there. 414 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:41,520 There are, I'm losing my words, a significant amount of people 415 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:45,640 with HDS and HSD are disabled. I think the statistic just of 416 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:47,880 the general population is something like one in five 417 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:51,560 people are disabled, like disability is so prevalent and 418 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:52,760 we we don't talk about it enough. 419 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:55,760 And I will do an episode one day talking about that word and what 420 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:58,200 it means and my relationship with it, because it's something 421 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:00,840 we, I think as a community need to talk about more. 422 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:06,600 But even for people who are disabled and who cannot interact 423 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:09,080 with the world around them in certain ways, we have to fight 424 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:12,280 to support them in being able to interact with the world around 425 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:15,520 them as much as possible. This is why mobility aids are so 426 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:18,640 important, because instead of having that persons world 427 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:22,440 becomes so small that mobility aid can open up their ability to 428 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:25,400 do things that they weren't able to previously, their world 429 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:28,840 becomes bigger and they have a greater capacity for happiness 430 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:30,960 and for interacting with the world around them. 431 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:35,040 So anyways, that is my talk about do not let your world 432 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:37,040 become smaller. If someone's telling you 433 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:39,840 something which is going to make your world become smaller, get 434 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:43,160 second opinions, get third opinions, you know, try and make 435 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:46,560 sure that it's the right clinical decision because 436 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:49,160 sometimes clinical decisions are incorrect. 437 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:54,600 Rule #4, prepare the child for the path, not the path for the 438 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:56,720 child. Or should I say prepare the body 439 00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:59,000 for the world and not the world for the body. 440 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:03,760 Anyway, the reason I'm saying this is my mom had a plaque 441 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,280 growing up in our living room which said prepare the child for 442 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:07,760 the path, not the path for the child. 443 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:12,440 And this was you know just reflective of her position as a 444 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,280 parent where she wanted to really equip us to exist in the 445 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:17,840 world and everything it threw at us and and I think she did an 446 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:21,160 awesome job. But the reason that I I 447 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:24,640 mentioned this in the context of hypermobility and exercise is 448 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:28,720 because I see sometimes exercise strategies and exercise programs 449 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,000 that patients have had prescribed which don't really 450 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:35,160 seem to relate to their ability to actually do things in the 451 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:38,040 world. Sometimes the exercise selection 452 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:40,920 seems quite arbitrary. The patient's confused about why 453 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:43,720 they've been given it. I'm quite frankly confused about 454 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:45,880 why the patient's been given it, because it makes no sense to me 455 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:48,480 either. And there's a lot of, I think 456 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:51,920 just the the potential for time wasting with poor exercise 457 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:56,920 prescription and like sadness. I think it's all this stuff is 458 00:23:56,920 --> 00:23:59,400 hard. All of the heds, HSD, hyper 459 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:01,400 mobile connective tissue stuff, other connective tissue 460 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:04,840 disorders, it's all really hard. And when you get given an 461 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:08,520 exercise program that feels utterly pointless and doesn't 462 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,000 feel like it's going to have a real world translation for you, 463 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:15,000 that becomes very, very demotivating. 464 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:19,480 So when I work with my patients and again there is a whole 465 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,880 spectrum of patients I will work with, I would say in particular 466 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:25,640 my, the area at which I excel, I would say are kind of the more 467 00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:29,240 sporty, hypermobile people. The people who either are going 468 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:32,800 to the gym and who want support in that or the people who were 469 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:35,400 going to the gym previously have had a decline in their symptoms 470 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:37,840 and want to get back. Like I'd say, that's where I'm 471 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:40,400 strongest in terms of my clinical experience and 472 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:42,800 professional expertise. But I do occasionally work with 473 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:46,320 patients who are not as physically active and cannot 474 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:49,000 safely be as physically active. And that's OK. 475 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:54,640 But for all of my patients, I try to help them develop bodies 476 00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:58,680 that let them live in the world in which we exist, and the world 477 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:03,040 is made of free weights. My phone, this is, this is a a 478 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:06,600 freeway. My water bottle is a freeway. 479 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:09,880 These are all free weights. So again, going back to 480 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:13,240 hypermobility and exercise, when I had my shoulder injuries, I 481 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:15,560 got put in what I call them, resistance band. 482 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:18,800 I was going to say HE double hockey sticks, but that sounds 483 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:20,880 so lame. It's my podcast, Resistance band 484 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,000 hell. I got put into resistance band 485 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,520 hell where I was being told to do all these like external 486 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:27,680 rotation, this exercise, whatever. 487 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:32,840 And it was just so boring and felt so pointless and it didn't 488 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:36,520 seem to give me any results no matter how diligently I did my 489 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:39,400 exercises. So I think it's always so 490 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:42,360 important to think, OK, the patient has these issues. 491 00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:44,640 Your eye is an eye is a hyper mobile person. 492 00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:46,440 Listening to this, I have these issues. 493 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:48,920 What? Why am I even exercising? 494 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:51,000 Like what do I want to do with my body? 495 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:52,480 You know? Do I want to just have less 496 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:54,280 pain? Do I want to be able to maybe go 497 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:56,440 for a walk in the park with my dog? 498 00:25:56,720 --> 00:26:00,360 Do I want to maybe be able to carry my groceries home? 499 00:26:00,360 --> 00:26:03,800 Like what is the actual functional outcome? 500 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:06,840 So this is something I think we do always need to keep in mind. 501 00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:08,840 Do resistance bands have their place? 502 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:11,640 Absolutely. In fact, I think every kind of 503 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:14,160 exercise has its place. I think there's use for machines 504 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:17,640 in different contexts, free weights, body weight exercises, 505 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:20,240 it all has its place. But we always have to be 506 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:23,120 thinking, you know, whether it's with yourself as a hyper well 507 00:26:23,120 --> 00:26:26,000 person or as a healthcare professional, Like what are we 508 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:29,040 trying to achieve here? Because with my patients when 509 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:31,000 they know, hey, we're going to do this, this, this and this 510 00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:35,360 because my goal is to help you be able to walk your dog for 10 511 00:26:35,360 --> 00:26:37,640 minutes once a day. That's my goal or whatever it is 512 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:40,120 to start with, right. And we're talking obviously like 513 00:26:40,120 --> 00:26:41,800 a little like toy poodle here or something. 514 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:43,880 I I don't have dogs, I don't know how much they need to be 515 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:47,120 walked. But it helps the patient get 516 00:26:47,120 --> 00:26:49,000 excited. It helps give them a reason to 517 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,360 do things. And most importantly, it gives a 518 00:26:51,360 --> 00:26:54,240 clear outcome measure. So it's kind of stressful as a 519 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:56,840 healthcare provider to set goals when you're working with 520 00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:00,160 patients because it makes you accountable because if you don't 521 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:02,480 achieve them, the patient's going to be like hey, you told 522 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,800 me like we would get to this point and we haven't and that's 523 00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:08,680 not a good feeling. So I think it's so important 524 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:11,080 again whether you're a patient or healthcare provider to think 525 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:13,800 like what are we actually trying to achieve. 526 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:17,480 And even if it's a long term thing that's totally OK. 527 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:20,560 But have little mini goals away around the you know along the 528 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:24,560 journey, have little have little checkpoints that you might hit 529 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:28,000 OK because that helps to make that patient know that we're 530 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:30,560 doing this for a reason. It's not just so you can be 531 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:33,400 really good at the clamshell exercise or really good at glute 532 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:36,000 bridges like we're doing this for an actual reason. 533 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:42,720 Rule #5 There is no such thing as an inherently good exercise 534 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:47,040 for hypermobility. I cannot tell you how much. 535 00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:51,120 I just shake my head when I'm on my phone looking at social media 536 00:27:51,120 --> 00:27:53,640 and I see people be like this exercise is good for 537 00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:57,200 hypermobility, or Pilates is the best for hypermobility, or yoga 538 00:27:57,200 --> 00:27:59,560 is bad for hypermobility. Like, no, no. 539 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,440 As I like to say, nothing is good, nothing is bad, and 540 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:07,760 everything is complicated. So let's talk through it. 541 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:11,760 Let's let's start with Pilates. So Pilates has some great 542 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:13,560 things. I have many patients who love 543 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:15,800 Pilates. I have enjoyed some Pilates 544 00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:18,200 classes in my time, although it's never been an activity I've 545 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:21,680 done regularly. But there are different kinds of 546 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:23,920 Pilates. There's map based Pilates, 547 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:27,480 there's reformer Pilates, there are Pilates classes. 548 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:30,720 There's one to one Pilates personal training, right? 549 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:33,400 Like there are many different ways Pilates can be done. 550 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:38,120 When it comes to Pilates as an exercise, it's actually 551 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:40,280 something I've had a really hard time with. 552 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:44,440 So the last time I was at like a Pilates kind of brunch event, I 553 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:47,240 went up and I I spoke with the instructor and I was someone who 554 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:49,120 I like. I quite respected their opinion 555 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:51,520 on stuff and I said hey, you know whenever we do like that 556 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:53,720 sit up or crunch position like my neck hurts. 557 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:56,240 So you're just going to see me like keeping my head down 558 00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:59,960 because it hurts my neck. And as you know as me as like a 559 00:28:59,960 --> 00:29:03,360 a 32 year old professional who works with hypermobile patients 560 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:07,040 and this is all I do, I really value my opinion on what feels 561 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:09,040 right or wrong for my body. And actually, you know what? 562 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:12,040 I don't care what your qualification is or or not. 563 00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:14,600 If you're someone listening to this who lives in a hypermobile 564 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:18,040 body, your opinion about what you feel when you exercise 565 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:20,200 matters. And I basically told the 566 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:23,240 instructor, like it feels to me like the pain of reinjury and 567 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:25,280 not the pain of healthy muscular fatigue. 568 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:29,480 And I was told, Oh no, no, what you're feeling is actually the 569 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:31,520 pain of healthy muscular fatigue and it's the feeling of your 570 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:34,440 neck getting stronger. And I was just like, no, no, no, 571 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:36,920 It's the pain of me getting injured because I always get a 572 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:39,040 headache the next day when I when I do that. 573 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:43,000 And maybe it's the hair. I have a lot of hair, Maybe it's 574 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:45,440 a long neck or maybe it's a big brain. 575 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:47,760 Just kidding. But who who knows what it is. 576 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:51,320 But it's something where, like I've had my technique checked so 577 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:53,760 many times, I'm quite a meticulous person when it comes 578 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:56,560 to this. Everyone says it's perfect and I 579 00:29:56,560 --> 00:30:00,120 still really struggle. So can I do Pilates and can it 580 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:01,240 benefit me? Sure. 581 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:03,720 I like reformer Pilates. I think that's actually, I think 582 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:05,680 there are so many clinical applications for it and I'm 583 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:08,240 super interested in it. And it's something which I hope 584 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:09,680 to like, learn more about one day. 585 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:12,120 And I I enjoy working with patients who do it as a practice 586 00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:13,920 because I think there's so much benefit from it. 587 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:18,960 But am I still going to modify it for my little uniquely 588 00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:21,160 hypermobile body? You betcha. 589 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:25,480 Same with yoga. So I have done more yoga in my 590 00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:27,080 time than Pilates. I have more experience with 591 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:28,840 that. To be clear, I've never done it 592 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:31,600 as like a, you know, a spiritual kind of practice. 593 00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:34,800 I've done it just as basic, you know, kind of yoga practice 594 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,200 classes at like a gym. But anyways, with yoga, the 595 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:42,600 mistake I made was I was holding end range positions for extended 596 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:46,040 periods of time and often having pain the night following a class 597 00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:48,680 or the next day. So if I was to go back and do 598 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:53,440 yoga now, and when I do yoga occasionally I won't hold at an 599 00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:56,520 end position. I will constantly be moving. 600 00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:59,640 I'll kind of be back going into that tension and coming off it 601 00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:03,080 and just a continual flow. And I find that just by doing 602 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:06,520 that, I avoid aggravating my symptoms, still get the benefits 603 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:08,880 of moving, the benefits of all of the different types of 604 00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:11,800 breathing patterns and just the experience, which I love, quite 605 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:15,160 frankly. But yoga is not bad for 606 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:17,200 hypermobility. It's so much more complicated. 607 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:19,840 And again, just like Pilates, there are many different kinds 608 00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:21,680 of yoga. There's restorative yoga, Yin 609 00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:23,320 yoga, Ashtanga yoga. There are. 610 00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:25,040 There are like many different kinds of yoga. 611 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:27,520 There's one to one instruction. There's practice where you do it 612 00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:29,920 just by yourself. There are classes, right. 613 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:34,440 So it is silly to just say, like, this is bad and this is 614 00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:37,080 good. And we're now going to talk 615 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:40,560 about something I haven't talked about before, which is CrossFit. 616 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:43,560 I know you're going to be all like, this person is like, not 617 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:44,880 with it. Like, what is she saying? 618 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:46,160 Hyperbole. CrossFit cannot mix. 619 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:50,920 Let me explain to you. So CrossFit for me, really 620 00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:54,720 basically got me back into doing fitness, which sounds wild, but 621 00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:58,360 it got me exercising again. I came across it through some 622 00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:00,920 work I did in my early career with some very elite athletes. 623 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:03,520 And I thought, like, wow, this is cool. 624 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:07,400 And I really liked the variety of movements that I saw, just 625 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:10,360 because I felt like if I couldn't do something one day, 626 00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:12,320 then I could find something else to do. 627 00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:16,520 And that has served me well. This, this variability, this 628 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:19,320 variety that we see is really, really helpful. 629 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:22,200 Now, are there many problems with CrossFit? 630 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:25,040 Of course, there are problems with swimming, too. 631 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:28,480 The overtraining that's endemic in swimming, quite frankly, is a 632 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:33,160 huge problem. But when I saw a a sport or a a 633 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:36,360 fitness kind of routine that had so much variety, I could focus 634 00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:39,920 on cardiovascular exercise, I could focus on trying to get a 635 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:43,440 pull up, I could focus on moving weights in different ways. 636 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:47,880 I thought, you know what that variety a that looks fun and BI 637 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:51,000 think that I'll always be able to find something that my body 638 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:55,520 can do. And I to this day do CrossFit. 639 00:32:55,720 --> 00:32:57,640 And I don't talk about it publicly because I know people 640 00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:02,720 aren't going to be saying some things, but it works for me 641 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:06,120 because of how I modify what's on the board. 642 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:09,040 And this is something, again, for my patients who do these 643 00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:13,400 types of higher level kind of fitness pursuits, I talk with 644 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:15,800 them heavily about how they have to be their own coach. 645 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:19,520 Like they have to become a specialist in themselves. 646 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:23,000 Because if I was just to go every day and do exactly what's 647 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:24,880 written on the board, I would get so injured. 648 00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:28,960 You know, if I was to listen to even a really knowledgeable 649 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:32,760 coach above myself in, in a class setting, I would get 650 00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:36,400 injured because they can't feel the weirdness that I feel 651 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:38,800 regularly. So I always joke that I'm like 652 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:41,440 that kid on the soccer pitch, like picking flowers in the 653 00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:44,040 corner of the field. I'm doing my own thing. 654 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:48,280 Is it CrossFit? Yeah, it is like I I just did 655 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:50,680 the Open this morning and and that was all great. 656 00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:55,640 But is it most importantly, what's right for me and my body? 657 00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:59,160 Yes. And another thing that I love 658 00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:01,520 about CrossFit, which I think we don't see again in other 659 00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:03,920 physical activities as much as the idea of scaling. 660 00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:09,080 So CrossFit, again, it varies highly, and I have no financial 661 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:11,800 affiliation with CrossFit, just to be clear with that. 662 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:14,880 But what I like is the idea of scaling. 663 00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:18,880 So you can have an exercise, and if it's too hard, you find an 664 00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:21,199 easier version, and if that's too hard, you find an easier 665 00:34:21,199 --> 00:34:22,560 version. And if that's too hard, you find 666 00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:25,840 an easier version. In my head, when I'm developing 667 00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:30,880 exercises for patients as part of their prescribed exercise 668 00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:34,440 protocols, I'm always, you know, I'm trying it firstly with them. 669 00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:36,840 My patients will never get an exercise that they do not try 670 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:39,600 under my supervision because I want to make sure it's the right 671 00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:42,360 exercise for them. But if I can see that it's not 672 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:44,760 quite right, or the patient tells me that they don't feel 673 00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:47,280 comfortable with it, I'll say, you know what, let's try this 674 00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:48,920 instead. And if that's not right, not 675 00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:50,679 right. I say let's try this. 676 00:34:51,159 --> 00:34:55,199 So the idea of scaling I think is so, so useful. 677 00:34:55,639 --> 00:34:59,800 And of course, coming back to the emphasis on free weights, 678 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:04,120 what I've really enjoyed in in my time doing CrossFit at least, 679 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:08,600 is how there are a variety of different types of objects that 680 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:10,800 you can hold and move that have weights. 681 00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:15,440 And again, the greater the variety, the more I think 682 00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:16,960 protected. In some ways you are, because it 683 00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:19,440 does often seem like it's repetitive movements which which 684 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:21,200 result in really problematic injuries. 685 00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:24,440 So there are kettle bells and they often have very light 686 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:28,320 weights. Again, at the at the gym chain 687 00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:30,280 you might not find weights that are as light. 688 00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:33,000 I find in my experience based on some of the crossword boxes or 689 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:36,240 gyms I've been to, that they do have like light weights often. 690 00:35:36,240 --> 00:35:39,080 So you can find really light kettle bells or a light dumbbell 691 00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:42,880 or a light slam ball or whatever, but you're getting to 692 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:46,120 move in different ways as well. It really gives you an 693 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:48,120 appreciation of how you can move. 694 00:35:48,440 --> 00:35:52,720 So when I was trying to rehab my way out of my shoulder injury, I 695 00:35:52,720 --> 00:35:54,720 really struggled with pushing movements. 696 00:35:54,720 --> 00:35:57,680 So any type of pushing, whether it was overhead or in front, 697 00:35:57,800 --> 00:35:59,600 that really irritated my symptoms. 698 00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:03,480 But I found weirdly that pulling was OK. 699 00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:06,840 So I started doing all of these ring rows. 700 00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:08,840 I couldn't even do one pull up at the time. 701 00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:12,360 I was not doing pull ups, but I they had these rings hanging off 702 00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:16,160 of this, the rig, the bar thing and I would basically be almost 703 00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:20,200 upright, standing, pulling myself and over time I would 704 00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:22,320 walk my feet under. So I was having to deal with 705 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:25,120 more and more of my body weight and then eventually I got to the 706 00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:26,760 point where I was able to do a pull up. 707 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:31,120 But again, it's having these different ways of moving and 708 00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:33,880 thinking, you know, if I can't push, can I pull? 709 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:37,200 If I can't pull, can I push? If I can't do this, can I do 710 00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:38,480 that? And if I can't do that, can I do 711 00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:40,920 this? It's having that mental 712 00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:44,960 gymnastics when it comes to exercise that I think is so, so 713 00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:49,160 protective. And rule #6, which we've kind of 714 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:51,880 talked about already, but it's you do you. 715 00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:54,960 There are so many weird, wonderful and wild ways to move 716 00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:57,480 your body. I have had patients who enjoy 717 00:36:57,480 --> 00:36:59,760 pole dancing as a physical activity. 718 00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:04,000 I have had patients who enjoy what do they call it, the silks 719 00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:09,200 or aerial gymnastics stuff. I have had patients who enjoy, I 720 00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:10,920 think I mentioned rollerblading earlier. 721 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:14,520 I've had patients who enjoy Pilates of all kinds. 722 00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:18,640 I've had patients who enjoy like they're there are just infinite, 723 00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:22,760 beautiful and cool sports. And I think that we need to 724 00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:25,520 instead of putting people down and making people feel like, oh, 725 00:37:25,520 --> 00:37:29,200 this is bad for hypermobility or this is good, we need to support 726 00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:32,120 patients and people in finding what's right for them. 727 00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:36,160 Because if I was going through my journey now with social media 728 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:39,640 as it is, I might have seen content out there and just being 729 00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:43,000 like, Oh no, I I can't possibly be benefiting from what I'm 730 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:47,080 doing because it's bad for me. And that might have made me not 731 00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:51,160 go down the path I went down, which has been life changing for 732 00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:54,520 me, quite frankly. So if you're someone who's 733 00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:57,280 listening to this, please trust yourself. 734 00:37:57,640 --> 00:38:00,800 I think I say that in a lot of episodes, but listen to your 735 00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:02,840 body, of course. Listen to your healthcare 736 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:06,120 providers. As long as they're good and you 737 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:08,920 are feeling safe in their clinical management of your 738 00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:15,160 healthcare issues and you know you, do you anyways. 739 00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:18,920 If someone can make a time machine and send this episode to 740 00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:22,280 like 13 year old me, that would be fantastic. 741 00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:26,560 But I hope that for those of you who are listening that you do 742 00:38:26,560 --> 00:38:30,480 find this advice helpful. I hope that you are finding ways 743 00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:34,080 to safely exercise in your uniquely hypermobile body. 744 00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:37,640 And I hope to have you back next time for yet another episode of 745 00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:40,120 the Help I'm Hypermobile podcast. 746 00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:42,240 Take care. See you next time.