ON YOUR FEET!
In my opinion, where a lot of rehabilitative type exercise falls down, (pardon the pun) is it’s failure to be functional. We are humans, we stand on two feet and move our bodies as a whole, so when training the body to move better, shouldn’t we move our ‘WHOLE’ bodies whilst ‘STANDING’ on our two feet??
Not sitting, nor laying, nor isolating one body part.
Exercising this way might be helpful for creating isolated strength of one muscle group but it doesn’t translate very well to everyday life….
In everyday life, how often do we need to move an object with our arms whilst the rest of our body remains entirely motionless??
Or sit down and straighten our bent knees against a fixed resistance?? We’re not robots!?!
Here we can see the same pulling action as demonstrated in the above image.
However, whilst the female above is lying on her stomach,
completely static except for her shoulders and arms,
this movement challenges balance and stability with a split squat whilst a load is simultaneously pulled,
training the body to safely and efficiently pull heavy and/or repetitive loads more akin to everyday life.
When moving heavy, awkward loads how realistic is the expectation to ‘set our posture’ & ‘engage our core’?
Life happens! Often we’re faced with situations in which we’re un-prepared or simply unable. So, wouldn’t it be helpful to practice negotiating load in that same manner?
In my experience, learning how to best move in our everyday lives and becoming strong in this manner is a powerful key to changing chronic pain. Whether a gym junkie with an annoyingly repetitive injury or desk worker with back pain who doesn’t exercise at all, getting better at moving functionally could be the life-changing, alternative treatment approach you’ve been looking for.
Book a consultation with Tracey below to learn if your pain or injury could be helped with movement or changes to your training regime??