Chronic, achy pains not caused by distinct trauma are often the result of insufficient musculature stability during abnormal movement patterns occurring throughout the day. These patterns over time accumulate to create adaptations in the body that impair movement and make daily living often more difficult.
Do you walk with a limp? Have pain going from sitting to standing? Do you have pain in your hip that won’t go away and not sure where it came from? What about pain below your shoulder muscle/elbow or decreased grip strength? These are all common examples of symptoms from improper prolonged postures resulting in bad movement patterns I have noticed recently in the office. I have even suffered from these conditions or still experience them occasionally, so I now understand as I reflect on my own body movement inefficiencies.
I found a program that works for me called Foundation Training. Foundation Training was designed as a series of exercises to bring the body back to natural postures and efficient movement patterns. The exercises teach the body to move effectively, instead of in patterns that will break the body down. This training will strengthen weaknesses, build stability in everyday movement, and halt many degenerative processes causing chronic pain negatively impacting our daily lives.
In February I traveled to Florida to become certified in Foundation Training with the expectation of teaching the exercises and knowledge to our patients in the community. This Spring I will be holding larger classes, but please let me know if you would like individual attention and I will be happy to accommodate you. My email is dryanchus@brickfamilychiropractic.com.
Many of my future posts will be based on the basic principles layered into these exercises, which will not only help you in Foundation Training exercises, but also make other exercises much more effective.
You may notice your body getting stronger, but you should first notice simple activities that previously lead to pain will become easy and less daunting. Added stress in movement makes life more tedious and during my time as a doctor, making daily lives more manageable is the greatest life tool I can give to a patient!
Moving well throughout the day is based on proper muscle integration done efficiently. ‘Efficiency’ in this case is defined as proper use of structure, stability and tension to get the most performance out of the body with the least amount of effort. Muscle integration is the sum effect of a group of muscles (Kinetic Chain) helping each other by remaining ready to complete a movement pattern. To pick something off the ground, the posterior chain of muscles (para spinals, glutes, hamstrings, quadratus lumborum, calves) act together to allow the body to safely get to the floor and not fall forward, then rise from the position. It is only when these muscle/movement patterns become neglected and improperly trained that this task becomes difficult.
Learning how to engage muscles simultaneously with a bit of knowledge of which ones work together will improve your movement and lead to far less pain in activity. Simple daily chores can be laborious if attempted on faulty movement patterns and inflamed muscles. Exercise plans/programs should be based on full body moves rather than isolating muscles. These types of exercises train efficient muscle integration when practiced and improved on through repetition. ‘Clean to overhead presses’ should be done to replace the ‘squat, bicep curl and shoulder press’, each done separately. If you don’t know what this means, please ASK!!!…or email me at dryanchus@brickfamilychiropractic.com for clarification.
