I went to a Gestalt therapist and said that I want to be able to at least tell my muscles that aren't involved that they don't have to go into spasms too.
I've been diagnosed with what's called vocal tension dysphonia. The muscles around my vocal chords kind of constrict my vocal chords from doing what they should do. It's kinda like being a body builder and you have muscles that are so large that they don't allow you to have flexibility, if that makes sense.
I had every stress-related illness you can get.
When competing a lot and traveling, I have problems with my lower back because I'm always on the plane or sitting. That's something that does bother me from time to time, but I try to stay on top of it.
Fight tautness whenever it occurs; strive for relaxed muscles throughout.
I like my body when it is with your body. It is so quite new a thing. Muscles better and nerves more.
When I was in Japan with my girlfriend Jessica, she would have had acupuncture every day if she could. I can just about stomach going to a chiropractor and I visited a talented one when I was there, but when he tried a needle on me, it was horrible. My muscles tightened and it didn't work at all.
When I get real excited, my muscles go into spasm, so they just shake.
I've trained myself to find time to exercise relaxation of the body. I have these programs - I just listen to the instructions, and they're simple. Sometimes you just hold your hand tight and keep your breath - you hold it, hold it, feel all the tension, and then relax.
Grip pressure - not mechanical flaws - is the biggest factor when you're nervous. You unconsciously grip it tighter, which keeps you from making a smooth swing with a natural release. Keep your grip pressure light, and you'll be surprised how much your mechanics stabilize.
At noon I get to the gym to do my boxing workout. Three hours there. Rest. Once in a while I get a massage, because I need it once in while.
When people are nervous, some people move around. Some people scratch their leg.
With every year of playing, you want to relax one more muscle. Why? Because the more tense you are, the less you can hear.
At times of great stress it is especially necessary to achieve a complete freeing of the muscles
I can hear my heart beating. I can hear my stomach growling. I can hear my teeth grinding and my joints creaking. My body's so noisy, I can't sleep.
Everyone has a special place they store their tension (I'm on shiatsu duty), the same way everyone misspells the same words over and over. Karla stores her tension in her rhomboid muscles, and I remove it. This is making me feel good. That I can do this.
In around 2000, I became aware of a recurring problem of the 'tightness' around my cueing action, which somehow stops me believing that I can play the shot - even shots I could previously play with my eyes shut.
Stretching was a major part of my preparation.
Stress happens. In different ways, we all hold unnecessary tension in our bodies all day long. Shoulders, neck, wrists, hips, hamstrings, back, oh my!
The biggest issue is muscle pliability. That's what I think the biggest secret to me is. What is muscle pliability? Muscle pliability is keeping your muscles long and soft.
There's one thing about weights with action movies: Once your muscles get that tight, it's sometimes hard to stop your movement, especially if you're trying to move with some strength, and with the swords in the film.
I felt tight from the beginning of the match to the end. I couldn't relax.
Classical ballet is very extreme. You're doing it six days a week, and it's a kind of obsession of perfecting a move. So every muscle in your body has been stretched and tightened, stretched and tightened.
I get massages almost daily. Sometimes I fall asleep during the massage, but it's very important to have deep-tissue massages because that type recovers muscles best.
I've found that it's a great stress reliever to get adjusted. It takes away a lot of the tightness in the muscles.
