Month: November 2016

All machinery is designed to work with a specific alignment.  When a machine’s design parameters are compromised or it’s parts become mis-aligned, then things within the machine do not work as they should.  Parts begin to grind and accelerated wear and tear  occurs as the result.

The same goes for our human bodies.  Our spines and the major weight bearing joints are designed to work within a specific design and alignment too.  If your posture is compromised, then things within your body will not work they way they should.  This translates into muscle weakness/tightness, pain and loss of movement.

It’s a concept called “Tensegrity” and it is derived from the two words “tension” and “integrity”.  All structures are supported by a balance between tension and compression…including our bodies.  We carry on a constant battle with gravity .  As Ida Rolf so eloquently said,”When the human energy field and gravity are at war, needless to say gravity wins every time.”

According to Buckminster Fuller, who first introduced this concept, the skin, muscles, and connective tissues are the tensional elements which are separated by the hard elements of the body – bones.  The tensional elements serve as “spacers” that sustain proper tension within our body structure.  They also distribute stress throughout the entire body.  In the case of poor posture, this tensegrity turns into a compressional structure that causes uneven wear and tear in our body structure.

It’s not uncommon for me to observe 2″ of anterior forward head posture in new clients. Would you be surprised that your neck and shoulders hurt if you had a 20-pound watermelon hanging around your neck?

Although it may have annoyed you to hear your parents say “stand up straight,” it was very good advice. Good posture when sitting or standing puts your spine in alignment so that stress is properly distributed to the intended muscles and ligaments. With good posture, your muscles work properly causing less wear and tear in your body.

Think about that one next time you are texting or working at your computer.  I think it’s time for me to get up and take a short walk in my building now!

Cheers, Drock

Want to learn more about improving your functional movement and sports performance? Follow Dianne’s blog: https://dtasmblog.wordpress.com

Dianne Rockefeller is a Licensed Massage Therapist, National Academy of Sports Medicine – Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Orthopedic Manual Therapist, Certified Myoskeletal Therapist, Certified Kinesio Taping Practitioner, Certified Cupping Therapist, and Muscle Activation Techniques Practioner (MAT). She has treated athletes of all levels, from youth to professional, from all sports. She brings a very unique perspective to manual therapy utilizing her experience with motion analysis and sport. Her blend of advanced integrated skills along with practical and rehabilitation experience deliver exceptional results. Additionally, Dianne is a self-proclaimed scholar of “Applied Performance Manual Therapies“. Contact Dianne at drock@dtasm.com or 210-973-4848.

You might understand that body movement is pretty complicated, almost a lucky accident happening beyond your control. Each of our movements is a brain and Central Nervous System (CNS) solution to a complex problem. The “rules” of the problem are called constraints. Typically, they fall into three categories:

1. Task           2. Environment           3. Organism

Task constraints involve exactly what you might imagine. Pick up an object of “X” pounds. Carry it “Y” distance. So, if the task at hand is picking up a bowling ball, then picking up a pebble doesn’t follow the same rules. Environmental constraints are equally intuitive. What sort of environment are you performing this task in? This involves varied textures and terrain, or social factors like peer pressure or support.

OK, now note how you can’t do a whole lot about those first two constraint types. This is where the organismic constraints come into play. These involve things like strength, mood, fatigue, and similar items. When you combine all these constraints, you get something like this happening (Image A) , and all of your movements emerge out of this complex Plinko board-like interaction that your brain and Central Nervous System controls.

Mobility plays a huge role here. Just think of mobility as “movement potential.” It’s a key constraint on what muscle options your brain has access to. Improve control and coordination of your muscles and you increase ranges of motion in joints. When this happens, you radically expand what you’re capable of in sport as well as in day to day life. Body mobility widens in your body “Plinko” box and your brain has access to more efficient options. More options make you a more resilient, adaptable, and decrease injuries.

Cardio doesn’t do that. Strength training doesn’t (always) do that. Mobility and stability is like compound interest in the body movement world. If you consistently put a little bit in, then you can expect improvement in all other areas across the board. Which means less wear and tear on body parts due to less compensation by your brain.

Here’s the thing: It takes a heck of a lot more than just stretching, foam rolling and exercise to improve your mobility and stability. Those might slightly improve your flexibility, but they don’t do much to teach your body how to put that range of motion to use or provide you with joint stability. They have nothing to do with improving coordination and muscle control either. Training on a Bosu ball for stability when muscles are already unstable just results in more instability or injury.

Constant training and exercise can’t control muscle contraction timing because the harder you train and push your body, the faster your body’s stress threshold is going to be reached.

Put more simply: To increase your range of motion, you have to be able to train muscles through their FULL Range of Motion.  No foam rollers, tape, forearm strap or other toys necessary. 

.Cheers….DRock

Want to learn more about improving your functional movement and sports performance? Follow Dianne’s blog: https://dtasmblog.wordpress.com

Dianne Rockefeller is a Licensed Massage Therapist, National Academy of Sports Medicine – Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Orthopedic Manual Therapist, Certified Myoskeletal Therapist, Certified Kinesio Taping Practitioner, Certified Cupping Therapist, and Muscle Activation Techniques Practioner (MAT). She has treated athletes of all levels, from youth to professional, from all sports. She brings a very unique perspective to manual therapy utilizing her experience with motion analysis and sport. Her blend of advanced integrated skills along with practical and rehabilitation experience deliver exceptional results. Additionally, Dianne is a self-proclaimed scholar of “Applied Performance Manual Therapies“.  Contact Dianne at drock@dtasm.com or 210-973-4848.

As my clients know,  I am always striving to improve upon the therapy I provide them.  What I do now in a typical session is very different from what I was doing 6 months ago.  Mainly because I have advanced my techniques and body therapy I.Q.  I am constantly educating myself by keeping up on medical research, seeking out experts in their fields as well as taking classes from those same experts.

I refuse to accept that much of the loss of function as we age is “normal” aging.  What I have discovered is that although it might be common, it is NOT “normal” aging.  More importantly, it doesn’t have to be this way either.

So, what the heck is “normal aging” anyway?  I do not have the answer and I will tell you that I’m not sure anyone else does either. Yes, tissues in our body do lose water and become stiffer as we get older, but a big part of looking younger is based upon what we do and don’t do with and for our bodies.  Not what you inject in your face!

I can’t tell how many people I know (men and women) who will spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars every year on hair, skin products, facials, manicures, pedicures and appointments with their “cosmetic  dermatologist” on things like Botox, wrinkle fillers, and countless other procedures their doctors tell them will make them “look younger and feel better.”

For example, I took a call from someone complaining about their foot pain, how they now limped when they walked and how it’s been limiting their life for months.  The person went on to say how they had received my name from someone else who said I had helped them, “get back to tennis.”  Next thing I know, I sensed an attitude change on the phone when I told this person that I do not take insurance.  Seriously?  Are you kidding me here?  When was the last time your Botox or wrinkle filler was covered by your insurance???

Newsflash…Looking old (whatever age you pick for that) is in great part related to how we move or DO NOT move.  Ever think about what your face looks like when you are trying to reach under the table to pick up something that you’ve dropped?  What about what you look like when you get up from sitting?  All the Botox and filler in the world isn’t going to hide what you look like when you move.  Poor body movement can actually make you look OLDER than you are!

Your body is only as good as the movements it can control.  It will get from Point A to Point B using what it has available most efficiently with what it has to work with at that particular time.  In other words, an integrated system such as our bodies is only as good as its individual parts.

Constant exercise when you are restricted doesn’t make you better either.  If you’re training on a Bosu Ball when you are already unstable, then this results in more instability in your body or worse… injury.  When you are weak, tight and unstable then the harder you train or push yourself, the faster your body will break down.  If you want to move better, you gotta make your health a priority and make a commitment (whatever the cost).

Part of what we fear most about getting old is not being able not to do the things we used to do (restriction of movement).  Studies actually show that what people fear most is not dying, but being disabled.  Well, loss of function is a gradual form of disability.  Just remember that whatever musculoskeletal function you lose or give up now will remain lost — AND THEN you will lose more on top of that.  If your knee hurts and you give up running, there’s a real possibility that you will never take this up again.  The same goes for simple things in life.  If you have trouble getting on the floor, then that will become something you avoid or don’t do.  Soon, another layer of limitation will be added on top of that.  And it goes on and on… year after year…

My conclusion? Try taking this 2 minute quiz  (link below) and let me know how old you REALLY are. Be honest!

http://www.biological-age.com/index.html#