(Due to a server crash, this post is being reposted after originally being posted on April 17th, 2010)
We take the Thomas Test that is used for hip flexor contractures and create a beneficial corrective exercise with it. A great way to lengthen the hip flexors for certain populations.
(Due to a server crash, this is being reposted after originally being posted on February 17th, 2010)
If it feels so right, how can it be so wrong?
If the only vehicle that you’ve ever driven in your entire life was a 1974 Pinto, then your only frame of reference for a car is a 1974 Pinto. As far as you know, all cars feel every tiny bump in the road, rattle when moving over 55 miles per hour and take 3 people to turn the steering wheel. Then one day a kind friend of yours hands you the keys to a 2010 Mercedes SL 600. Wow! You have just experienced automotive engineering excellence.
What if your body is a 1974 Pinto? Then that is your only frame of reference of how a human body feels when it moves. You can’t step out of your beaten up body and into the body of a Mercedes SL 600. And because you are unaware how good you could feel or how efficient you could move, you accept life as a 1974 Pinto.
From an aesthetic stand point, we can look at someone else and say “I want to look like that” (or “I don’t want to look like that!”). By looking in the mirror, we can see how we compare visually. But movement and kinesthetic awareness (awareness of your body parts and their relationship to one another in space) is not something we can evaluate in the mirror.
Most of what we do with movement every day is done unconsciously and automatic. We might initiate the process consciously but once the action begins, most of it is on autopilot. For example, you might see that your shoe is untied and consciously make the decisions to bend down to tie it. But once the movement starts you’re not thinking about how much to bend from the ankle versus the hip. Those movements are based on your existing, unconscious movement catalog (even if they are those of a 1974 Pinto).
When you are learning a new exercise or dance move, nearly all of the learning is initially through visual and auditory information. The movement is demonstrated (visual) and the cues are spoken (auditory). The kinesthetic part of learning or what we feel works off its existing 1974 Pinto point of reference and are not something we can evaluate in the mirror.
When people learn a new movement, they often miss out on some of the critical kinesthetic cues the body provides. This is because when you learn a new movement or move, the tendency is to be more concerned with the final outcome of the movement, versus what’s the best route to getting there. In other words, the focus is more on what needs to be accomplished (i.e. tying your shoe) rather than the quality of the movement. Therefore, you end up working from a foundation of movements that you are already doing wrong, even though it feels so “normal”.
So what can you do about this? First, it is important to understand that the best way to influence how our body moves is with subtle movements. This is how our nervous system detects change from the status quo. A good example of this is with corrective exercise. The precisions and control of corrective exercise movements allow the nervous system to recognize differences in formerly familiar movements. This is opposed to rapid, dynamic movements that essentially generate momentum with the bigger muscles in the body. Granted, you won’t get your heart rate up the same way, but that is not the purpose.
Corrective exercises will help “reboot” your software so that your body can ultimately learn to do things in a new and improved way. With this your body starts to receive kinesthetic cues that are more like a Mercedes and less like a Pinto.
(Due to a server crash, this is being reposted after originally being posted on January 20th, 2010)
As you are reading this, my guess is that your thoracic spine and the lower cervical (if not all the cervical segments) are in flexion. So I’ve taken another of the exercises from the Pain-Free Program for Corrective Exercise #15.
As always, I hope to offer you a little more insight and detailed information on an exercise/posture like this that goes way beyond the obvious.
Click on the image to watch this short, informative video.
Are you as amazed as I am by some of the feats that performers of Cirque du Soleil can pull off? Is this a God given talent or thousands of hours of practice? I am sure it is both.
Balance is one of those physical traits that are subject to the, “if you don’t use it, you lose it” principle. It is also a trait that can be dramatically improved upon when progressively challenged.
Balance plays a critical role in athletic and life performance. Great athletes have exceptional balance that allows them to quickly change direction, effectively recover from movement errors and position their bodies in ways that maximizes performance and minimizes the risk of injury.
Balance also plays a key role in our everyday safety. This is clearly evident in the unfortunate frequency of falls and injuries to the senior population. What is even more unfortunate is that many of these falls can be prevented.
But balance is not just about avoiding falling over. It’s also about helping us find the most stable or safe position when our environment around us changes. How quickly and effectively we react to those changes can be the difference between a shot of adrenaline and a herniated disc in the back.
Balance equates to control. Lack of balance=lack of control. And like a car unable to stop properly or control its steering accurately, the body with poor balance is an accident waiting to happen.
Regardless of our age, we all have the same basic mechanisms that give us balance or help us restore balance. These can be thought of as information gatherers that tell our muscles what to do. These information gatherers include:
* Vision
* Inner ear
* Stretch receptors in the muscles
* Movement receptors in the joints
* Touch and pressure receptors on the skin (particularly the soles of the feet)
The difference between great balance and not-so-great balance is dependent on two main factors:
1. How fast our nervous system receives and processes the signals from our information gatherers
2. How quickly and efficiently our muscles act on that information to make the appropriate adjustments
The wonderful news is that both of these factors can be improved upon. Doing so will improve performance for some and reduce the risks of injury or falls for others.
Balance training goes way beyond standing on one leg statically or standing on one leg while performing other movements. Single leg standing probably falls in the area between beginning and intermediate balance work. Standing still on one leg is closer to the beginning scale and moving your upper body while on one leg would be more toward intermediate.
Beginning balance training might include just standing still with the eyes closed to remove the outer visual references from helping. Another beginning balance work might be to tilt the head back. Doing sore moves the contribution of the inner ear for balance. Combining these or doing these on one leg would certainly increase the level of difficulty.
Intermediate balance training might include active one-legged exercises such as lunges or directional changes on one leg. Intermediate balance work might also include maintaining static stability while supported on an unstable piece of equipment such as a wobble board or physio-ball.
More advanced balance training might include explosive work on one leg such as hopping. Adding dynamic movement to the unstable apparatus will increase the level of difficulty significantly. For example, doing squats while standing on a BOSU ball or lunges on a balance beam.
The Core-Tex(TM), a new piece of equipment that I have developed works on reaction. This type of equipment challenges you by taking you out of balance within a limited area and requiring your nervous system to immediately react to that dynamically.
Balance exercises should enhance musculoskeletal stability and improve performance for sport or life. Therefore, never progress yourself until you have demonstrated a proficiency at a less challenging level. Frustration, compensation (and even humiliation!) will result if you don’t progress properly.
There is no denying the role exercise plays in good health. One of the benefits of exercise includes avoiding the negative health effects associated with excess weight and higher percentages of body fat. Equally important is the role proper nutrition and eating habits play toward the same,overall good health. Research has shown that to lose weight AND maintain the desired weight loss, eat right and exercise. New research is even telling us about the differences in the way many of us metabolize food.
But our choices of food and how much we eat can be related to many factors. Research done in France and published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders (2001; 29, 195-204) concluded the foods you crave may say a lot about the state of your mind and body.
Researchers analyzed the eating habits and cravings of more than a thousand men and women and came to the following conclusions:
*Women crave food more often than men do, with cravings peaking during times of sadness or anxiety.
*Men are more likely to eat when they’re feeling happy.
*Chocolate cravings may signal that you are tired.
*An urge for salty foods or dairy products may be your body’s way of telling you it wants a real meal.
*Those who had the most frequent cravings were more likely to be on a diet or actively trying to lose weight.
Researchers theorize that women may experience more cravings because of the increased social pressure to be thin, which also leads them to diet more frequently than men. The researchers were also sure to point out that relationship between mood and food are complex and are based both on psychological and biological factors.
Do you enjoy watching TV, listening to music or reading while you eat? Or do you like to have the company of friends or family around for good conversation when you break bread? The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a study involving 41 “healthy weight” women, ages 26 to 55. The women ate lunch once a week under four different conditions in a laboratory setting.
They were alone without distraction, alone while listening to recorded instruction on how to focus on the taste of their food, and alone while listening to a tape of a detective story. And they ate lunch with three other women who were also participating in the study.
Despite reporting equal levels of hunger under all four conditions, they ate considerably more calories while listening to the detective story.
Researchers recommend that people who wish to maintain or lose weight avoid eating while watching TV, talking on the phone or listening to music, all activities capable of distracting you from your dietary plan.
It can be helpful when we know where some of the speed bumps are on the road to healthy eating habits. Consider your moods and your environment when you are eating. Recognize your motivations for what you are eating during any times you might get off track.
This past week I was invited by one of the top orthopedic groups in San Diego to give a demonstration of the Core-Tex for their physical therapists. As mentioned in a previous post, the fitness industry is chomping at the bit for the Core-Tex to be available. And it will be soon.
But this was the first demo for physical therapists only. What was supposed to be a 15:00 introduction and demonstration for 6 therapists, turned into an hour and half with about 20 more therapists, assistants and several patients getting in on the act.
The Core-Tex is one of those pieces of equipment that you just can’t ignore. If you see it, first you see the fun. But then through exploration and a little instruction, the incredible therapeutic value becomes apparent.
This group liked it so much they are interested in doing a study using a population with a specific lower extremity injury and comparing the benefits of the Core-Tex to an existing protocol. Obviously, it is very rewarding when others see the value.
We believe the Core-Tex has as much value to the rehabilitation field as it does to the fitness and sports performance fields. If you have any questions on the Core-Tex or would like to be on the Core-Tex interest list, email: education@functionfirst.com
I am constantly reminded of the incredible differences between people’s commitment to their own health and well being. Those reminders are often people that walk through our front door at Function First.
Today I worked with woman who lives in Chicago, is staying in Palm Desert and drove 3 hours for her one hour appointment with me. And she is 72 years old! What an inspiration. She knows what she wants. She knows what her body needs. And nothing is going to detour her from her goals of exceptional health.
Several weeks ago I worked with a woman who was in from the United Kingdom. She has been all over Europe for help and heard about us through her personal trainer in London. And after her appointment she was thrilled beyond words. The travel meant nothing.
When do you reach your threshold? Is that when you will finally be willing to do something proactive? Is it going to take a full-blown crisis before you take the extra steps you know you need to take to prevent that heart attack or herniated disk in your back? I hope not.
After doing this work for more than 17 years, I am still astonished at the person I meet who will spend $40,000 on a car but won’t spend a dime on their health outside of what their insurance will pay for. That same person will take better care of their car then they will their own body.
The health crisis in the US is a societal issue. People placing blame and responsibility outside of themselves (how dare you not tell me how many grams of fat were in those french fries!). Your health insurance is crisis care. Not health care. How many people do you know that go to a medical provider because they feel great and just want to take their health to the next level?
Make yourself a promise and commit to moving beyond the “status quo” of your current health. Your body will thank you and your life will be much richer.
You can only tread water for so long until you begin to sink……
I had the privilege of being interviewed by Rick Kaselj of Healing Through Movement in Vancouver, B.C. Rick will sponsoring my final public presentation of the Foundations for Function: Movement By Design course.
Rick did a great job of having me describe the course as well as our processes with clients at Function First.
You can listen to the interview here:
From foot pain to migraines: Exercise is medicine!
When: Saturday January 19th
Time: 9:00 a.m-11:30 a.m.
Where: Function First 2700 Adams Ave., #205, San Diego, CA
***Seating is limited for this event. RSVP is kindly required***
RSVP by emailing Melinda at mlacey@functionfirst.com
or call: 619.285.9218
Join us for an amazing morning that will inspire you with strategies for achieving your health related goals and educate you on the role corrective exercise plays in long term good health and athletic performance.
Migraine sufferers will get to hear about some of the best strategies for controlling and preventing migraines. Adrienne Navarra will discuss the role of postural correction to combat migraines along with an overview of some of the other leading interventions.
Athletes to computer users will hear Anthony Carey debunk the myth of overuse injuries and the contemporary methods of treating them. Have all your questions answered and come away with a new found hope for resolving your physical challenges.
RSVP by emailing Melinda at mlacey@functionfirst.com
Here is a link to an article in the periodical, Occupational Hazards. It summarizes a study that looked at 18,000 employees from 11 different studies.
The following is from the last section of the article and is right in line with the Function First Approach:
“This study confirms that much of what is happening at the workplace is well-intentioned but probably pointless,” said Christopher Maher, associate professor of physiotherapy at the University of Sydney in Australia, who was not involved with the study.
According to Maher, regulatory agencies as well as employers make the mistake of concentrating on equipment and policies that don’t work such as back belts, lifting devices and workplace re-design and fail to focus on the “only known effective intervention,” which is exercise.
“We also know that exercise has health benefits beyond prevention of back pain, so you are getting two health benefits (or more) for the price of one,” Maher added.
