From Crawling to Standing and Owning It
Following on from my previous article Back to Basics for a Strong Foundation where do we go after crawling?…to standing and walking of course! But not so fast!!! There are some important steps in between. This blog will discuss how we progress our clients here at IET from rolling on the ground right up to owning their stability in a standing position.
Over time, as we progress through life injuries happen, stress & sedentary lifestyles kick in. How we move affects our gait and movement patterns. Our bodies adapt to these changes but in reality your body is just functioning by compensating. Sooner or later these compensations lead to overuse, and eventually more pain and injury.
That is why here at IET every client undergoes a series of evaluations. Our movement evaluations of choice are The Functional Movement Screen (FMS), Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA) and Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) Golf fitness Screen. The purpose of these screens is to help us identify functional limitations and asymmetries one might have in their movement patterns. These screens help us identify whether its a stability or mobility issue.
We use the results of our evaluations to design an individual corrective exercise program. The key is to program correctives that are beneficial to you specifically…correct the movement pattern and then build strength!
It’s not just the exercises we choose that are important. The order with which we program them is also vital. You can’t just jump into standing exercises if you are lacking stability in that pattern!!! If movement asymmetries or inadequacies exist regression must happen before progression can take place. I know it’s a hard concept to grasp for many but if you want to be stronger, faster, or just functional for everyday living one must learn- Sometimes to go forward you have to go backwards first!!!
As you can see below in our videos these are THREE positions we progress clients through in order to own movement:
Tall kneeling – This is the next step up from our quadruped (on all fours) pattern. The core must learn to stabilize in an upright position.
Tall-Kneeling Anti-Rotational Hold
Half kneeling – Here we take away one contact point with the ground and further develop that reflexive stability that will be required to move efficiently while walking / running.
Hip hinge- This pattern is really important for developing good hip extension. We need hip extension
Once we have progressed to standing there is a progression of exercises we then work on to help strengthen us in a vital movement we do everyday…walking a.k.a our gait pattern! For example we start with single leg work such as standing SLDL then progress to split stance squat to lunging to lateral lunging and then to rotational lunging!
We are all given one body to work with, it’s vital we take care of it so that we can be as functional as possible everyday. As I said in my first article: “Don’t be afraid to regress to progress”
Move Better ~ Feel Better ~ Perform Better