Is Your Body Ready for Your New Workout Program?

Is your body ready for your new exercise program, or for that matter, is it even equipped to handle your well established exercise program?

The number two reason we see people fall short of their fitness goals, behind lack of commitment, is injury. New injuries are incredibly common with new fitness endeavors and chronic injuries with committed athletes. Don’t believe me, ask around. Chances are you will hear something like, “I was going to the gym three days a week, but then I hurt my ____.” Or, ask your in shape friend if they have any ongoing, chronically recurring pain. They will probably be happy to share it with you because athletes often wear it like a badge of courage.

Why does exercise, which is supposed to be so good for you, cause so much pain?

It’s simple, really. We don’t move well.

How you move is the foundation of your fitness pyramid. When you attempt to build strength/power on top of a weak foundation, you create instability and increased risk of injury. Think of shooting a cannon from a canoe, not a good idea.

Before moving forward and discussing the fundamental movement foundation, let’s discuss why we don’t move well. Together we could probably come up with quite the list; industrial revolution, technological advancements, sedentary lifestyles, even the fitness industry itself shares the blame. Instead of reinforcing and teaching proper movement, the fitness industry essentially lowered the bar, pun intended.

“Can’t perform a decent squat, don’t worry, we have this great leg press machine. Oh, that hurts your back? Just sit here and straighten your knee and I’ll pretend I’m counting your reps,” said too many personal trainers.

So how does someone regain proper fundamental movement?

The first step is screening for dysfunctional movement patterns. Sometimes these are painful, but most of the time they are not. The fact that they are often asymptomatic allows them to go unnoticed for some time or seem completely unrelated to the usual aches and pains.

Perhaps you have worked with a personal trainer in the past and they performed a quick analysis of your squat, or maybe even your posture. Such screens fail to thoroughly evaluate for dysfunction and screens performed by someone who does not understand and study human movement will miss the most glaring dysfunction.

The next step is developing a corrective strategy. This strategy is often a combination of corrective exercises and therapies and, most importantly, customized to your specific needs. The body is way too complicated to follow a cookie-cutter approach.

Once a corrective strategy is developed, it must be tested. If it’s not working, it must be modified. If it’s working, great—keep going!

Lastly, once proper (no, not perfect) fundamental movement is achieved, it has to be maintained. This can be done by performing what are called self-limiting exercises, such as Turkish get-ups, single-leg dead lifts, jump rope, yoga, etc.

This approach may come across as overly conservative or unrelated to your fitness goals of weight loss and looking great on the beach, but remember that fitness is about health and health is about longevity. Your future self will thank you for the time you invest now.

If you’re ready to get started, give me a call. I will properly identify any existing dysfunction and prescribe the appropriate corrective strategy. Sometimes the corrective strategy does not even involve me, but I have surrounded myself with some of the best fitness professionals, acupuncturists and health coaches in the area that will help you meet and surpass any health goal you have.

Is your body ready for your new exercise program, or for that matter, is it even equipped to handle your well established exercise program?

The number two reason we see people fall short of their fitness goals, behind lack of commitment, is injury. New injuries are incredibly common with new fitness endeavors and chronic injuries with committed athletes. Don’t believe me, ask around. Chances are you will hear something like, “I was going to the gym three days a week, but then I hurt my ____.” Or, ask your in shape friend if they have any ongoing, chronically recurring pain. They will probably be happy to share it with you because athletes often wear it like a badge of courage.

Why does exercise, which is supposed to be so good for you, cause so much pain?

It’s simple, really. We don’t move well.

How you move is the foundation of your fitness pyramid. When you attempt to build strength/power on top of a weak foundation, you create instability and increased risk of injury. Think of shooting a cannon from a canoe, not a good idea.

Before moving forward and discussing the fundamental movement foundation, let’s discuss why we don’t move well. Together we could probably come up with quite the list; industrial revolution, technological advancements, sedentary lifestyles, even the fitness industry itself shares the blame. Instead of reinforcing and teaching proper movement, the fitness industry essentially lowered the bar, pun intended.

“Can’t perform a decent squat, don’t worry, we have this great leg press machine. Oh, that hurts your back? Just sit here and straighten your knee and I’ll pretend I’m counting your reps,” said too many personal trainers.

So how does someone regain proper fundamental movement?

The first step is screening for dysfunctional movement patterns. Sometimes these are painful, but most of the time they are not. The fact that they are often asymptomatic allows them to go unnoticed for some time or seem completely unrelated to the usual aches and pains.

Perhaps you have worked with a personal trainer in the past and they performed a quick analysis of your squat, or maybe even your posture. Such screens fail to thoroughly evaluate for dysfunction and screens performed by someone who does not understand and study human movement will miss the most glaring dysfunction.

The next step is developing a corrective strategy. This strategy is often a combination of corrective exercises and therapies and, most importantly, customized to your specific needs. The body is way too complicated to follow a cookie-cutter approach.

Once a corrective strategy is developed, it must be tested. If it’s not working, it must be modified. If it’s working, great—keep going!

Lastly, once proper (no, not perfect) fundamental movement is achieved, it has to be maintained. This can be done by performing what are called self-limiting exercises, such as Turkish get-ups, single-leg dead lifts, jump rope, yoga, etc.

This approach may come across as overly conservative or unrelated to your fitness goals of weight loss and looking great on the beach, but remember that fitness is about health and health is about longevity. Your future self will thank you for the time you invest now.

If you’re ready to get started, give me a call. I will properly identify any existing dysfunction and prescribe the appropriate corrective strategy. Sometimes the corrective strategy does not even involve me, but I have surrounded myself with some of the best fitness professionals, acupuncturists and health coaches in the area that will help you meet and surpass any health goal you have.

City Chiropractic Location

Address

806 SW Broadway #350,
Portland, OR 97205

Office Hours

Monday  

9:00 am - 6:00 pm

Tuesday  

Closed

Wednesday  

9:00 am - 6:00 pm

Thursday  

2:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Friday  

9:00 am - 6:00 pm

Saturday  

Closed

Sunday  

Closed

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