A Gracefull Place

Remember the three keys to the Proven Formula for Success in T-Tapp?  

1. Proper Form  

2. Isometric Contraction  

3. Consistency  

We’re going to look at #1 today.  

Now let me say right away–form is progressive! There really is no such thing as perfect form (well, maybe for Teresa herself!  )  

Focusing on form is good.  Obsessing about form is not!  

Form is important to protect your joints and back, to encourage the “unkinking” of the neurokinetic “hose” and getting the messages more efficiently from brain to body.  It is also important for inch loss as well as lymphatic pumping.  Now, just moving around will get you some of those benefits, but attention to your form while doing T-Tapp will maximize success in ALL those areas.  

Teresa developed T-Tapp to help cancer patients, especially to help with lymphatic drainage.   Those who used T-Tapp during chemotherapy and radiation were better able to tolerate it and the side effects were often reduced.  That is pretty amazing in and of itself!  

Add to that that you can tone and tighten and lose inches in the process–well, it is truly a mind-body WELLNESS workout!  

Okay, so what about this form?!  

First and foremost–toes forward.   

“Oh come ON!”  You say? You thought I was going to start off with THE tip of the week to make those inches just melt into oblivion?!  

Well, I am!  I’m starting with the foundation and that is the T-Tapp stance!   I studied Primary Back Stretch yesterday, and I have 2 pages of notes just on that move!  That doesn’t include what I underlined in Fit and Fabulous and the other notes I received from my mentor!  

If you take the time to set up properly, you will be surprised at how much that affects every move.  It might even be to your benefit to pause the dvd between each move and get set up properly again before going on.   And mirrors are a good idea, too–I use my picture window glass! 

Really the first step would be how far apart your feet should be.  Teresa shows a tip by putting the heel of one foot in the instep of the other, then pivoting on the ball joint to get the other foot out.  You want to be right under your hip ball joint–not where you think your hips are in space!  Those of us with extra on the hips often think of “outside all this extra flesh”.  That is not where your hip ball joints are!  

The new tip Teresa is promoting now is to take a “mitten hand”–think of your hand in a mitten with the thumb stretched out.  Not 150% stretched out, just stretch it out!  Now place that between the insteps of your feet.  It will probably be a tad narrower than the foot-to-the-instep method (unless you have small feet), and that’s okay.  But if for flexibility reasons the shorter stance is hard right now, go back to foot-to-instep-and-pivot-out.   

The idea is that you should not be too wide.  The narrower stance protects your back and helps you get more ab activation when you push out your knees.  

Keep the toes forward–they may even feel “pigeon-toed”, but that’s okay.  Most of us walk like ducks with one or both feet straying out!   Whenever I watch people walk I have a hard time keeping myself from going up to give them a “tip of the day”!    

Okay, toes are forward, you have them at the right width apart–now bend your knees.  For an idea of bending your knees, put your toes up against a baseboard in your home and bend your knees until they touch the wall.  Uh-huh!  THAT far!   To be honest, I have a hard time keeping them bent that far all the time, but I am getting better!  Again, you start with your point of flexibility, but most of us err on the side of not bending enough!  However, if you happen to be one of those who are very flexible, you must be careful to not bend to where your knees are past your toes.  That will injure your knees!  

Bending the knee helps engage the whole thigh muscle vs. just half of it.  It also makes it much easier to tuck your buns and curl your core better.   

That’s the next step.  Put one hand on your back at the lower lumbar area.  Now put your other hand in front at the belly button area.  Using your hands to “assist”, push the abs back  and your back flat (of course use your muscles, too!).  “No kidney bean” shape!  You are pulling your abs up and back or “belly button to spine”.   

If that is hard for you to visualize, think of what you have to do to flatten your back against a wall or floor.  Go try it (you will probably have to bring your feet out a bit to make room for the buns!).  Pull the abs up and in while also using your glutes (bun muscles) to tuck under gently.  Flatten your back as much as possible to eliminate all airspace between your lower back and the wall (or floor).   Uh-huh!  THAT much!   

Next step, lift ribs.  Just think to lift your breastbone to the ceiling, pulling your ribcage out of your tummy.  This will automatically help shift your shoulders back in alignment with your hips.  

Now rotate hands so the thumbs are pointing to the side or back walls (according to your flexibility) and j-a-z-z those fingers!  Really reach and stretch the fingers apart to help activate muscles and also to help neurokinetic transmission to the ends of those fingers.  

Final step–push knees out.  Don’t roll out your ankles to do this!  You may have trouble keeping your feet flat at first, and that’s okay, just don’t roll ankles out.  As you develop ankle strength, you will be able to push knees out and keep the feet flat.  

An advanced tweak is to press the big ball joint of your foot down to help stabilize the ankle.  Newbies sometimes can’t do this without also shifting weight to the big toe.  You should be able to press big ball joint (BBJ) and still raise and lower your big toe.  If you can’t do this, don’t stress.  You’re not ready for it.   Just watch your ankles don’t roll out.  

Pushing the knees out engages that lower tummy–feel it tighten?  

Just stand there.  I dare you!  Within 60 seconds you should be feeling warm!    

That’s the stance you should be in for most of the T-Tapp exercises!   This puts your knees, hips, spine and shoulders into proper alignment, which gives you benefits just by standing there!  It helps muscular balance and takes stress off your joints, helping them to work together as they were designed to.  With improved muscle balance you can avoid injury.  

You also have more room for your internal organs to function optimally.   

You can practice this stance fairly unobtrusively while standing in line at the bank (long skirts help!) or waiting in line at the grocery store.  You can practice good alignment while driving, too!  Think to curl your core and press lower back into the seat.  Lift ribs.  Hang onto your steering wheel underhanded, rolling shoulders back and activating your lats.    

Actually, by practicing these concepts of form throughout the day, you will be retraining your muscles, and that will enhance your ability to keep form during workouts!    You will actually get benefits from holding  good postural alignment all day long!  

In my studies, I came across this jewel about posture, specifically the seeming epidemic of a forward anterior tilt (pelvic area tilted forward):  

“The stability of this area is governed by many muscles, including the internal/external obliques, the lats, the transversus abdominus, and the deep muscles on the spine called the multifidus. Tightness or instability of any of these can cause shifting of the ribcage, which can then translate to a shift at the pelvis.”  

  

  

“A pelvic tilt will most certainly cause the muscles of the lower limb to compensate. It’s not always easy to tell what caused what, but usually one will find an internally rotated femur accompanying a forward pelvic tilt. Simply put, this is when the knee starts to turn inward during standing, walking, squatting, etc. “  

    

I wrote this on a forum post:  

“In other words, keeping the thoracic cage (chest area) in alignment, ribs lifted, tummy tight and core curled a bit, keeps the pelvis from tilting forward, which keeps the femur rotating more outward, which helps keep the knees from pronating, which….  

“Well, you get the idea, right?!  

  

So when I say you really must lay this foundation, you now see why it is so important!  

Here is a quote on proper form by Dantheman from the forum:  

“Proper Form: It’s a challenge for everyone regardless of size, shape or fitness level. And it’s always a moving target. As you progress with your understanding of the Workout, become familiar and recognize you body and muscle groups, acquire new strength and flexibility, your level of Personal Max increases. This progression changes your execution ability (Personal Max)for each move. “ 

  

  

There are many, many tips on form, in Teresa’s book, (if you buy the book by calling the office, you get a 30% discount on whatever else you purchase right then!), the dvds, and on the forums (especially the Must Read Threads).  In all honesty, most form issues stem back from something in the initial stance not being right.  It’s like practicing piano.  When I teach a young beginner, they are playing with one hand.  They memorize variations of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.   Then they learn it with the left hand.  Finally the day comes when they put both hands together!  But it’s a challenge!  Coordination flees, it seems and the hands that knew what to do separately all of a sudden can’t find the keys!  

After some practice, it’s a cinch, then comes the next challenge–playing chords with one hand while playing Mary Had a Little Lamb with the other!  Again, the hands feel uncoordinated, with one hand trying to play the other’s part.  It’s a challenge to the brain!   More practice, and that becomes easy, too.  Now comes another test!   Right hand melody, left hand Alberti Bass!  Oh, NO!   

It makes for some fun moments at the piano, as well as some frustrating ones!  

Do you see the correlation?  You can stand perfectly in T-Tapp stance….until it’s time to move!  LOL!  

After awhile you get Primary Back Stretch down. Whew!  

Now she wants you to turn the feet out at shoulder width?  And go up and down WHILE doing arm moves?!!    

Again, attention to form–to her cues–will help you “practice” this move getting your “coordination” together (and making sure your legs don’t do the arms part or vice-versa! LOL!).  Then you’ll learn the next move to the point of perfection where you are right now.  Then the next.  

Then you’ll go to a clinic and find maybe you weren’t bending enough. Or you were doing okay but now your max has changed!  New tweaks, an “a-ha” of how something is supposed to feel.  It’s all a beautiful progression of form.  

And someday, you’ll be able to play a beautiful “Bach Minuet” with your body!   

It takes time, some of us may take more than others.   But patience is the key and consistency (another post in two weeks!).  

Set up the foundation.  If you’re not seeing the inch loss you need, and you don’t have serious health issues or hormones totally out of whack that need addressed, see if you can get a mirrror to use during your workout. One lady on the forums bought an inexpensive mirror she props against the wall and slides under her bed when not in use.   

Or you could use a picture window or sliding glass door you can see yourself in….even a small mirror placed against the wall where you can see your feet and maybe your knees.  Someone who understands the stance could check how deeply your knees are bent.  

Clinics or working with a trainer is great, but a mirror and some attention to form while you’re working out can yield good results, too!  After all, you might be doing great while at the clinic due to all the extra cues and slower pace, but at home you could be unbending the knees more or losing your tuck/curl.  

This is why the trainers often will admonish someone not seeing results to go back to the Instructionals.   MORE has an excellent instructional, in my opinion!   Another good resource is Total Workout Super Slow.  No, it’s not one you’ll want to do every day!   And it only goes through Airplanes.  But it’s still a good one.  I split it over several days to help teach a friend the moves from BWO+ when my Instructionals were loaned out, and she felt it did a good job for preparing her for BWO+!  

Right now there is a “sweet deal” that includes the book, Fit and Fabulous in Fifteen Minutes, Total Workout Super Slow, and LadyBug workout (which is advanced, so you should be familiar with TWO first).   It’s $55 this week only for Valentine’s Day!  

And the book has a 30% coupon to use at a later time, too!  

I wouldn’t necessarily suggest this combo for someone totally new to T-Tapp, but if you have been Tapping for awhile and want to challenge your form a bit, TWO SS is really a phenomenal “clinic in a box”!    And LadyBug is a good one to throw into the mix–if you can survive T-Tapp Twist Double Dips!  

I know no one likes to go back and read the “instruction manual”, but in T-Tapp, it’s to our benefit to do just that.  I am finding new tidbits in my studies of Teresa’s book and just watching the dvds (another good thing to do to help you catch some of the tweaks you might not realize while you’re trying to do the workout–kind of like both hands together at the piano, you know!)  

I’ll leave you with a powerful quote I found by Teresa on the forums, and a link to what I call THE print-out every T-Tapper should have in her notebook!  It’s trainer Michelle Barbuto’s Curl the Core and Shoulder/Hip alignment post, and it’s powerful to practice at any time–not just during a workout! 

“Wow, I’m impressed at how well everyone is maintaining their shoulder to hip linear alignment!

The “sweat down the back of the legs” is the lymphatic indicator revealing your form.”

 ~Teresa Tapp

Here is the link to the thread containing Michelle’s important Curl the Core Tips!  (Her post is #30, at the bottom of the page.)

  

Until next week, Keep on Tappin’! 

Tags: curl the core, proper form, spinal alignment, T-Tapp, t-tapp stance

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 at 7:31 pm and is filed under T Tapp. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.