I’ve taken up Yoga a couple of months ago and enjoy it quite a bit, although it’s definitely more intense than I expected. Now, in some positions, I feel (and hear) a very clear cracking sound in my upper back. What happens then ? Is it comparable to cracking your knuckles, from a “mechanical” point of view ?
On the whole, it feels really good, but the initial impression is surprise, followed by a sharp but very brief pain and only then relief.
It means that someone stepped on a sidewalk crack. Are you a mother?
Seriously, I suspect that “back cracking” is due to the same phenomenon as “knuckle cracking”, which is the formation of and destruction of bubbles in synovial fluid.
Or it could be that as you stretch and twist and assume whatever position causes this, you are in fact adjusting your spine. Not uncommon in my experience, i know several people who do that just by twisting their upper back a bit. Heck, I’ve done to myself now and then, and yes, the sensation is as you describe.
Realized I needed a cite, went get one, all I could find were thinly veiled ads for chiropracters and missed the edit window in the process
Are you warming up first (several minutes of jogging, star jumps, etc.)?
No real warm-up to speak of, but I do walk for 25 minutes on my way to the studio (is that how it’s called ?).