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Of course I am a proponent of general movement and general exercise, but a spectrum of attention to detail does exist. If you want to be smart about your mobility and/or exercise workouts, focus more on the movements that you get less in your day-to-day life, whatever that entails.
If, for instance, you sit all day, like many people do, then biking hunched over in the seated position might not be the best way to get exercise unless you’re smart about it and also move in the opposite direction. Likewise, if you sit most of the day, your hip is usually in neutral rotation or external rotation. If you have that knowledge coupled with an interest in above-average health or desire for athletic performance, you likely want to bias hip internal rotation movements in your exercise routine. (So much hip stuff I see on the Internet focuses heavily on moving hips into external rotation compared to internal rotation, which doesn't make much sense!) This level of knowledge and personalization is certainly rarely taken into account with general classes (yoga, Pilates, Barre, etc.) - and it’s not expected to be. But if you want to be at the end of the spectrum designating excellent health, this information should be taken into consideration. The first general goal is simply to move. But a second goal is to be purposeful about how you move and focus on balance (eg balance between joint flexion/extension, internal/external rotation, and abduction/adduction). Our joints move in lots of different directions, though our everday routine is usually comprised of only some of them. Therefore, use the time you focus on exercise intentionally to help close any gaps. -- Laura
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If you want an awesome golf swing, a great squat, a long triple jump, or even an efficient gait, the component parts need to be working normally. You want these component instruments - joints muscles, nerves, etc. - to be functioning individually before you start to program or re-program patterns. The independent parts will improve as a unit when the swing or squat is practiced - and we don’t want to engrain abnormal unconscious patterns if we don't have to.
Take running as an example. If you’re lacking normal dorsiflexion that can affect how you run. Worse case scenario, that leads to injury at the ankle or somewhere else. Best case scenario, it doesn’t matter at all. Could your dorsiflexion normalize simply by running? Maybe. I am more exact, however; I investigate how to get a patient more dorsiflexion (there are many causes). There are so many moving parts when it comes to the symphony of running and I realize most people who run aren’t going to check all these things. But if your goal is performance and/or you’re interested in investing time and energy in perfecting your running, it behooves you to see to it that the individual parts work well. -- Laura Simply put, therapy makes something that isn’t working, work again. Performance, on the other hand, makes something that already works, work better. There is overlap between the two realms, but it’s not as large as many seem to think. If you understand how to fix a torn muscle, you likely have a basic understanding of how to maximize performance of a normal muscle. Likewise, if you understand how to make a normal heart become more efficient, you’ll have modest knowledge of what happens when something goes wrong.
Having been a relatively high-level athlete myself, I am comfortable in the world of performance (fitness and sport performance). However, that is not my expertise. As I value expertise, I advise people within my area of expertise (orthopedic therapy) and refer people to other professionals for guidance in other fields. Do you run a 9-minute mile and want to run a 6-minute mile in 3 months? Do you want to improve your vertical leap by 25% before next season? My role in these situations is to ensure no orthopedic problem is stopping you (which is an important step!). That it, things work well, they are just not conditioned for that higher level of performance. While I could certainly help in the performance realm, if you want the best, most efficient training plan, I am not your person. Overlap most concretely occurs when a high-performing patient is nearing the end of therapy. My job is to restore a patient’s body to the patient’s individual normal. If her normal is playing professional soccer and I can get her only 75% of the way there (at which point her body is way above universal norms), that is the time for a performance specialist to take the lead to get her to 100%. -- Laura |
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