Try this if you can please…
Lay on your back, do not move a muscle… knees flexed 90 degrees. Your partner will place his fingers (palm down) under the lumbar space of your back. Draw in as if you were to crush his/or her fingers. Do not move a bone or joint in the body. This mechanism does not move joints, only stabilizes them inter-segmentally.
•Act as if you are drawing in your belly away from the waistline of your pants.
•Inhale… and as you exhale, draw (DON’T suck) your lower abdomen in and upward toward your spine.
- Imagine that you’re crushing my fingers under the small of your back, but nothing else moves. This is the start of the how to activate / wake up the TVA transverse abdominal.
Here is another form of “Activation Core” Four point stance:
Above is the proper posture needed to “FEEL” activation as we slowly lift one “POINT” right hand, left knee, left hand, right knee without moving a muscle! Right hand- left knee @the same time….hold 2345…switch! left hand-right knee same time…hold 2345.
Then below we do the same thing…only now we use “LONG” lever arms fully extended…however we still move slowly. This is not an exercise, it’s a challenge to the “System” that provides the inner units, (stability- stabilizers) an engagement or connection so the Inner guys (all that help with stability) can be a part of the “Servants” that we call upon specific to the need. MOBILITY / STABILITY OR BOTH.
Find your neutral position. Your arms straight hands under shoulder joint, knees under hips…Inhale and exhale, and draw in your abdomen without moving your hips. Hold your breath for 10 seconds. Now try it again however this time without swaying, or rocking lift your right hand, left knee, as if I want to slide a piece of paper under it. Hold 2,3,4,5, What are we doing? Challenging the stabilizing mechanisms in and around the hip area (LPHC) lumbo pelvic hip complex to maintain stability internally right? Make sense? We challenge to increase control, so now we can handle forces a little better. Now switch to the other side…hold 2,3,4,5, did you find it more difficult on the other side? I bet you did. Most people will start with their dominant or strong side. What does this tell you, what are you going to do? Practice!!! We only become great in a said environment by practice. Now stay in that same 4- point, hands and knees position. Now extend your left leg straight back parallel to the ground, as you extend right arm out parallel to the ground…HOLD 2,3,4,5. This is another challenge to the system, more difficult right? Moment or lever arms will raise the bar of difficulty.
Remember, nothing moves when you properly draw in the deep abdominal stabilizing mechanism.
So basically we need to water this down for the client to understand. If we were to talk tech, our clients would be bored. To explain this to your clients why a basic move like this is so important as part of the assessment program I would say this:
Pretend you’re holding a piece of paper…. Demonstrate when you flick the paper (load) buckles the paper. This represents any external force originating in to our musculoskeletal system. However if we create a cylinder with the paper (roll it up) with a strong core, or proper draw-in, we create an internal corset/weight-belt we have now activated the deep stabilizing mechanism (transverse abdominis) it now acts as a link and support system. Another way is to think of the body as an algebraic equation. Both sides must equal each other to solve the problem. Unfortunately, our bodies are not as balanced as a mathematical equation. When the human body is out of balance and we cannot stabilize, our function is compromised. However, creating awareness and learning how to train the deep abdominal musculature will produce equal strength gains as well as coordinated motor control.
For example: cars driven with its wheels out of alignment will have worn tires, lose speed, have decreased fuel efficiency and compromised handling. We need to focus our attention on developing inter-segmental strength and stability, not superficial strength. (Real strength will come.)
FACTOID-
WHEN WE MIGRATE AWAY FROM PROPER SPINAL ALIGNMENT WE LOSE MUSCULAR AND NEUROLOGICAL CONNECTIONS. THESE CONNECTIONS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR GIVING US A STRONGER FOUNDATION TO EXERT FORCE. WE THEN IN TURN DE-EMPHASIZE THE GOAL.
WE MUST TEACH OUR CLIENTS PROPER AWARENESS OF THE DRAW-IN MANEUVER!
Global vs. Local …as it relates to the musculoskeletal system… this is of extreme importance! Professional trainers need to know the difference between both.
Global reefers to all the muscles that expand over a certain number of joints ie: chest, lats, biceps, rectus abdominis to name a few. They are responsible for pulling power, force, more on a superficial level. The global muscles expand and move joints as they pull on their attachments. Local muscles are close to the spinal structures, and joints. Local muscles connect block to block rather than expand over a certain number of joints. When considering machine-based movements, your body is fixed /anchored to a platform. This platform is the body’s external source of stability. The body is now glued in place; the joints (depending on the manufacturer) are being dictated through one plane and path of motion. All the inter-segmental intrinsic muscles (local) responsible for balance and core stability are shut off. The machine is now holding you in place.
Question: Is there a place for this type of environment for the musculoskeletal system?
Answer: Yes, if the goal is major muscular hypertrophy! However, what we at Fit-Pros advanced application school are trying to relay is “This is not where the money is”… “This is not your market.” This type of workout is not the norm; it is more for the gym or fitness center with no supervision. We call it “the assembly line, where one size fits all.”
That being said, free motion training is far more important than fixed machine based movements.
Remember this: If your body adapts to fixed environment overtime your ability to maintain inter-segmental support diminishes. When you’re in a position / environment that demands balance and stabilization you start bringing in more muscles, because you have more joints moving. When you have more joints moving, you start to de-emphasize the goal. What’s moving the joints? Muscles… What are muscles? Internal forces—and this is really important, because your body’s job is to make life easy. When the body experiences a load/resistance it tries to dissipate the load as best it can. Remember, your body can’t see forces; you can draw them with arrows do in your textbook. You can quantify those using numbers. Just because we do not feel “the pain” doesn’t mean we are not dealing with accumulative stress. Your back is not going to blow a disk if you hyperextend while doing a bicep curl. It is the accumulative stress over time that will eventually lead to pain and dysfunction. Using this vital information, we can avoid poor exercise techniques and unnecessary injury.
If you understand your client’s active control, you will understand the range of motion in which he/she should move. Your resisted/loaded range should never exceed your active range (non-loaded). We must assess a client’s ability to move.
This leads to posture and the definition of ideal skeletal alignment…
It’s where the skeletal system functions most efficiently. In fact, it’s where the entire body functions most efficiently. Poor posture will cause tension, an increased volume in the abdominal area, and it even messes up your digestion. With correct posture, the nervous system works better because it can receive and transmit messages more quickly and smoothly.
1.THE EFFECTS OF POOR POSTURE CAN BE EXEMPLIFIED BY PERFORMING THIS EXERCISE….PLEASE STAND UP.
2.I WANT YOU TO GO BEYOND WHAT YOU WOULD TYPICALLY SEE IN A GRAVITY-INDUCED POSTURE.
3.LET’S ALL CREATE FORWARD HEAD POSTURE. (ACTIVELY PRESS YOUR HEAD FORWARD.)
4.ROUND YOUR SHOULDERS…DROP YOUR RIB CAGE…YOU WILL HAVE A DEPRESSED STERNUM.
5.PUT YOURSELF INTO AN ANTERIOR PELVIC TILT, WHICH WILL CAUSE THE KNEES TO GO BACK.
Remember, your body’s job is to maintain balance in this gravitational field, so when one joint is off, that disproportionate load starts to trickle through the whole body.
STAY LIKE THAT FOR A WHILE… WHAT DO YOU FEEL?
TENSION IN THE BACK OF YOUR SKULL, LOW BACK PAIN… YOU WILL FEEL DISCOMFORT IN YOUR KNEES.
The closer you get to your neutral position, the less stress and strain. The further you get from a neutral position, which is being exemplified right now, the more stress and strain on the entire system.
● For some of you, breathing is more difficult now than if you were standing
in perfect alignment.
•Blood flow and transmission decreases because this position is so abnormal.
We need to be able to identify poor posture, so we can teach and train the clients more efficiently. This will be carried over to their daily lives.
HOW TO EXPLAIN THIS TO THE CLIENT:
“Ideal skeletal alignment is like a race car in perfect alignment. The better the alignment, the better the performance and the less energy wasted. Therefore, you will have more energy to do what you are trying to accomplish. Most of your clients will be tired because they sit in a gravity induced posture/position. This position is not the strongest neurologically.
FACTOID: We live in a chair-borne society. Because of labor-saving devices and technology, life is getting easier. In just 10 years, America has gone from 21% obesity to 39% clinically obese. We move less, expend less, and indulge more. We get up in our box beds, get into our box cars, sit in front of box desks, eat our box lunch, and head right back to our box lifestyles.
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