Yoga teacher Jenni Rawlings and Exercise Science professor Travis Pollen discuss the many nuanced connections between strength and pain with Adam Meakins, a brilliant and influential physiotherapist and strength and conditioning coach.

Points of discussion include:

• What is strength, and what parameters need to be met in order for an activity to be strengthening?

• Do weak muscles cause pain?

• What are some limitations of using strength training to treat people in pain?

• What’s the relationship between muscle imbalances, poor posture, and pain?

In this episode, yoga teacher Jenni Rawlings and Exercise Science professor Travis Pollen dive into the topic of chaturanga, or yoga’s push-up-like asana.

Points of discussion include:

• Why chaturanga is actually a much more difficult pose than many people realize

• Potential injury mechanisms in chaturanga

• Should the elbows hug in in chaturanga or not?

• Should we only lower halfway down (to 90°) in chaturanga or not?

In this episode, yoga teacher Jenni Rawlings and Exercise Science professor Travis Pollen discuss the hot topic of how to prevent yoga injuries. Points of discussion in this episode include:

• How is an “injury” defined in the scientific literature?

• How are injuries classified and categorized in research on injury prevention?

• What are some common risk factors for injuries?

• The belief in the yoga world that “alignment” is the most important factor for yoga injuries

In this episode, yoga teacher Jenni Rawlings and Exercise Science professor Travis Pollen cover a ton of ground regarding yoga, strength, and movement, including these hot-button topics (and more!):

• Is Ashtanga Yoga a cult?

• Are repetitive movement activities a bad idea?

• 4 distinct phases that a movement science-based yogi might go through on their yoga journey over time

• The common tendency to see yoga as a magical practice

Yoga teacher Jenni Rawlings and Exercise Science professor Travis Pollen discuss the science of stretching with one of their mentors and biggest inspirations, Greg Lehman, BKin, MSc, DC, MScPT. As is the norm with this podcast, an abundance of common myths about this topic are highlighted and busted. Topics discussed include:

• What is stretching?

• What’s the distinction between active and passive stretching – and does it really matter?

The core is a multifaceted and somewhat controversial topic in the yoga, movement, and fitness worlds. In this episode, yoga teacher Jenni Rawlings and Exercise Science professor Travis Pollen dive into the topic of the core, busting many myths about this region of the body along the way!

Points of discussion include:

• What is the core?

• What is the function of the core?

In this episode, Jenni and Travis discuss the confusing and not-well-defined term of “functional movement” and whether this term should be used to describe yoga. Topics covered in this episode include:

• What does the term functional movement mean?

• How is the term functional movement commonly used both in the yoga world and in the fitness/strength & conditioning world?

• Are “pretzel”-like yoga poses non-functional?

This episode might change the way you think about yoga sequencing!

In this episode, Jenni and Travis have a thorough, nuanced discussion about yoga sequencing. Using a movement science lens, they cover what yoga sequencing is, why it matters, some common approaches to sequencing, and they include a special focus on “peak pose sequencing” – arguably the most popular style of sequencing out there!

Learn all about the term “stability” as it applies to the human body and movement!

Stability is a buzz term in the yoga, movement, and fitness worlds today, and it’s often used in multiple different ways to mean different things, which can make for a confusing and not well-understood concept.

In this episode, Jenni and Travis cover the varying definitions and uses of this complex term.