[VIDEO] 'Alternative' SE: fr/occ symultaneous contraction

[OhS]

Dear... scalpers,

Some time ago I received Tom's material, and watching the CD I noted something curious. I asked him privately and he encouraged me to post a question here on the forum.

I've always thought that the SE consisted of alternated contractions of occipitalis and frontalis, and I've been doing this way for 6 months now.

But when I watched Tom's video, I noticed that he raises his eyebrows *before* the scalp actually moves forward. Or at least, so it seems.

Now I've made some experiment and it seems to me that the only way to replicate that would be this: you contract the occipitalis, then *before* you release the tension, you start contracting the frontalis; when they are contracted, you release the occipitalis, and the frontalis will fully contract. Then repeat. You basically have your eyebrows going up with the occipitalis still contracted.

So technically it's feasible; however I'm wondering if this is any different than just alternate the contraction, like I've always done. You do get more opposite force, so in a way I guess you are making your muscles working out better.

Any comments?

[NickSE]

On this topic I'm looking forward to Tom's answer.

By the way, I use to:
1) Contract the frontalis. My eyebrows raise and come closer to the scalp: or maybe it's the scalp that moves down towards the eyebrows, I don't know
There are also lines forming on the forehead.
2) Contract the occipitalis. The ears move and flatten against the skull as Tom says. In this phase the lines of the forehead completely disappear and the frontalis muscle itself relaxes because I'm working on its antagonist, the occipitalis.
3) Start again from number 1

I see the best movement of my scalp happens when I do this alternate contraction. I can also move my scalp by only contracting the frontalis, but with the alternate contraction it does just move more.

[Tom Hagerty]

But when I watched Tom's video, I noticed that he raises his eyebrows *before* the scalp actually moves forward.

The tough character, Fred Casely, in the movie Chicago says to Roxie Hart, "You gonna believe what you see or what I tell you?" Anyway, Roxy shot the rascal.

Many people must see an optical illusion on my DVD. But don't believe what you see. This is what I actually do. I contract my frontalis muscle. This raises my eyebrows immediately. Then I contract my occipitalis muscle. This pulls back my scalp and plasters my ears against my scalp immediately. With this alternate contraction of both muscles there is about a half inch of scalp movement. It's as simple as this.

I don't think there is any good reason to make the correct execution of the scalp exercise more difficult than it is already. This is not a complex philosophical or religious problem.

NickSE wrote, "I see the best movement of my scalp happens when I do this alternate contraction."

Thanks, NickSE. That's exactly it.

OhS, wrote, "You basically have your eyebrows going up with the occipitalis still contracted."

That's exactly not it. You contract one epicranial muscle at a time. The rest (the correct execution) will take care of itself.

I'm going to introduce you to Roxy Hart.

[VegetaHairline]

So basically raise forehead/flatten ears against the skull/rinse and repeat.
It will take me time to get used to this very specific set of movements

Although i noticed that my scalp slides very well even if i only raise my forehead.
My occipitals work automatically even if i only contract the frontalis.

[OhS]

NickSE wrote, "I see the best movement of my scalp happens when I do this alternate contraction."

Thanks, NickSE. That's exactly it.

...and that's exactly what I've been doing for 6 months or so now.

OhS, wrote, "You basically have your eyebrows going up with the occipitalis still contracted."

That's exactly not it. You contract one epicranial muscle at a time. The rest (the correct execution) will take care of itself.

...and this is exactly what I'm NOT doing, and what YOU seem to be doing in the DVD.

By the way Tom, let me say this: I kinda've to agree with what you wrote in the material, that is "some people say I tend to inject humor at the wrong moment". You keep saying that a video is worth a million words and then you make Roxy Hart mock at people by saying don't believe what you see but what I tell you? C'mon!

Anyway, back to the SE itself, in my humblest opinion if you contract the frontalis before releasing the occipitalis, the only thing that happens is that the frontalis has more load to push, and therefore you are making it work better.

As for coordination issues, to be honest it seems to me that people who learned the exercise later in their life find the exercise much more difficult than those who have always had control over the occipitalis. This is not bragging, I'm just saying that I don't find the SE particularly difficult, even with this kind of variations...

[VegetaHairline]

I must be weird but my scalp slides a lot even if i only control my forehead.
It seems my occipitals do all the work automatically lol.

Also holy shit my scalp sliding motion feels much better now that my occipitals are a bit more trained.
It feels like my galea slides more naturally and easily now.
Also for fucks sake my occipitals have become tough. Even if i only slightly raise my forehead i can feel the back of my head GOOOING CRAAAZY.

[NickSE]

OhS: I read you've been doing the SE for 6 months. What about your hair health? Any improvements? Are you satisfied?

[OhS]

OhS: I read you've been doing the SE for 6 months. What about your hair health? Any improvements? Are you satisfied?

I'd say yes, but let me answer with more detail, 'cause it's not that simple. First of all: 6 months is still a short period, from what I understand. That being said, my hair does look and feel different. I actually have a thread about my progress, which I plan to update every some months. Here's the link: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=420

The problem is that since I am combining the SE with a few other measures (you'll find in the link above), I'm not sure how much of my improvements I should attribute to the SE and how much to the rest. For example, my experience had already told me in the past that yeast is really powerful in this sense.

Anyway, be it the SE or a combination of things, I do intend sticking to this schedule. Here are some other improvements I've noted:

1) In the past 6 months I've been growing my hair, and the length I have now (roughly 10 cm on the top of the head) would have definitely been enough, last year, to look totally horrible. Now it's fine.

2) I can shampoo far less often without my hair looking a total mess. Not in terms of greasy hair & scalp (never really had many), but in terms of hair keeping the shape I give it. I can comb it better. Now my goal is to reach 1 shampoo per week, but I am still far from that: 2 shampoos per week now. Still better than 1 shampoo per day or so.

3) When I massage the scalp and let hairs falling into the sink, they seem much thicker. Ok, some people will say that I'm making this up. I myself really wondered if it was my imagination or not. I don't think so, because sometime a thin hair does fall, and when I compare them the difference is quite noticeable.

4) So far no clear sings of regrowth. What you'll se in the picture in the other thread must have been either an optical illusion or a temporary effect that hasn't come back to life yet. But I don't give up! But there are definitely sings of more body and volume.

How long have you been doing the SE?

[NickSE]

How long have you been doing the SE?

I did it from time to time (no consistence at all) from January till August.
At the end of August I decided to discipline myself and to take it more seriously, so I've been doing it with consistence and patience (2 months now).
I have to wait at least another 6 months to judge. i won't give up easily though.
I've got a similar thread: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=422

[VegetaHairline]

I noticed that i'm shedding thinner hairs ever since i started the SE.
I hope these hairs will get replaced by thicker hairs. I usually shedded both thick and thin hairs before, now almost every one looks thin.
Also i have some hairs that don't grow past a certain length, probably MPB's fault.
Well, ever since starting the SE, these hairs have started to grow again past their maximum length.

Now i just need to hope some of the vellus i have will go terminal.