Progressive muscle relaxation
Tensing and releasing muscle groups in order to find and drop held tension
Lying down, you tighten one muscle group at a time and let it go, working through the body in a fixed order. The tensing exists to make the release obvious, since tension held all day is easy to miss until it is set against its opposite. Jacobson published the method in the 1930s and it is still taught for stress and sleep. Athletes use a looser cousin between sets, shaking the arms and legs out to dump tension quickly, and coaches often point at the face as the place effort hides.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Pavel TsatsoulineRecommends
Strength coach · StrongFirst
Asked how to switch off, he offers Jacobson's progressive relaxation, tensing and releasing muscles in a set order until the tension becomes obvious, alongside the Soviet school habit of shaking the limbs loose between efforts. Facial tension is the one he tells people to watch through the day, because it costs a lot of effort.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show: Pavel Tsatsouline transcript
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