PT in your Pocket » Effective Movement

Cultivating awareness through exercise

Troy Hasler — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 03:28:01 +0000

Do you find it amazing to think that if you live to be 80 years old you’ll be spending approximately 700,800 hours in that body of yours doing a combination of sleeping, eating, moving, working and whatever else you might do on a day to day basis? How many of those hours do you think you really make the most of, and how many of those hours are spent in automaton mode – or auto-pilot – where you are just blobbing in front of the television, or blindly going about day to day repetitive activities? Day dreaming about events that may never happen, or worrying about things that already have.

Its amazing for me to think that many of us have lost awareness of our bodies, but I’ve recently come to see that quite often when I give prompts to people and ask for feedback they have no idea where they are meant to be feeling it, or they feel nothing at all. This says to me that many of us have lost a subtle awareness of our bodies, and this worries me because it means we are losing touch with ourselves.

In my programs I often try to get my clients to do really simple awareness drills. These drills are basically a way of isolating certain muscles and allowing you to feel that particular muscle working, so that when you are doing more complicated movements you know how to integrate the movement of that muscle with the rest of your muscles.

One of the most important movements I think many of us have lost recently is the ability to control the movement of the pelvis. In my experience a lot of back discomfort and injury comes from instability and stiffness in the joints above the pelvis, cause by lack of mobility in the pelvis. Here is a simple drill you can do to mobilise your pelvic tilt and gain a greater awareness of it:

Assume a horse stance on hands and knees.
Try and tilt your pelvis forwards to accentuate the lumbar curve in your back.
Try and tilt your pelvis backwards (tucking your pelvis under) causing your back to arch like an angry cat.
Now integrate these to opposites with your breath.
Firstly, breathe out and tuck your pelvis under. Arching like and angry cat and tucking your chin toward your chest.
Now, breathe in and tilt your eyes to the sky as you push your bum backwards and accentuate your lumbar curve.
Always stop if you feel discomfort, but continue to synchronise your breathe with your movements for 5 – 10 repetitions.

This will mobilise and free up your pelvis and lower back and is a great way to start the day!

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Cube Theory: A six sided approach to Core Activation

Troy Hasler — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:05:46 +0000

In the ABC’s of Effective Movement the letter ‘C’ stands for Core Activation, this article will describe what the core is and how you can learn to properly activate it when exercising or performing everyday movements.

When people refer to the ‘core’ what usually comes to mind is the abs, or abdominal muscles, because having strong abs is the same as having a strong core.. Right? WRONG! The ‘core’ is actually comprised of 29 equally important muscles, which means that if you are only doing crunches in your ab routine then you are working on only one facet of the core and that you are probably neglecting the rest.

BUT I HAVE A SIX PACK! I don’t care if you have a six pack, an eight pack or a twelve pack.. In terms of core activation your six pack is about as relevant as a one finger grip is when trying to grasp onto something. A 10 finger grip will beat a 1 finger grip EVERY TIME.

I like to use CUBE THEORY to describe how the core works. Its not a perfect theory, but its a simple explanation that doesn’t require a degree in human movement to understand. (If you want to read a more advanced description of core activation then google search ‘Paul Chek’ to read about the Inner and Outer Units).

A cube is supported from SIX sides.. Front, Back, Left, Right, Top and Bottom. If you take away any of these sides, or if one side is stronger than the others then it loses its balance and strength. I’ll describe the six sides of the cube in more depth, but first lets look at the spine.

The spine consists of 33 vertebrae presented in 4 different curves (Cervical, Thoracic, Lumbar and Pelvic) which stack on each other vertically to create the Vertebral Column (which is just another name for the spine). These vertebrae are separated by discs and supported by the musculature of the ‘core’. The way that these ‘core’ muscles support the spine is by providing tensional integrity (a.k.a tensegrity) that, in a basic sense, pulls it from all different directions in order to stabilise it (think of guide wires holding up a ships mast).

CUBE THEORY

Front – Rectus Abdominus (also Psoas and Hip Flexors)

Back – Multifidus, Erector Spinae (also Glutes and Hamstrings)

Sides – Inner and Outer Obliques, Transverse Abdominus (TVA)

Top – Diaphragm

Bottom – Pelvic floor

The diagram below shows the core muscles of the front and sides. Notice how there are vertical AND horizontal fibres. The combination of these is what provides tensional integrity.

NB – One important thing to note now that I have described the basics is that clearly the human body is not shaped like a cube. It is cylindrical, like a can, and even more importantly is that there is no real distinction between front, back and sides because the human body works synergistically – This means that all of the muscles and fascia are interconnected and work together to support the spine.

The Plank

Almost everyone has done the plank (a.k.a The Hover, Prone Hold, Bridge) at some point or another in their life. But have you ever done it properly? Try these next few steps the next time you do a plank and see if you can feel the difference in the structural integrity of your core as you do so. Steps 1 – 5 are the basic steps to proper activation of your core in almost all movements.

Start on your forearms and knees, with forearms parallel to each other and palms facing down.
Find your neutral pelvic tilt by tilting forward and backward – in the middle is neutral.
Draw in your belly button – this activates your Transverse Abdominus (TVA).
Start breathing diaphragmatically (feel the air enter and increase pressure in your stomach as you breathe)
Clench your pelvic floor (this is the same sensation that stems the flow of urine when you pee)
Maintain all of these things as you come up into the plank position – Forearms and Toes should be the only parts of your body in contact with the ground.
To increase difficulty try putting your feet in plantar flexion – Point your toes so that your weight is on the tops of your toes/feet rather than on the balls of your feet.
Breathe – Always try and maintain a steady breathe when doing a plank.
Try and hold for 60 seconds or longer.

The Plank can also be done on both sides (Side Plank) and as the ‘Table Pose’ in Yoga which is a kind of upside down plank.

I hope you have found this BASIC explanation of core activation helpful. But if you have any questions, need a personal trainer, or would like further instruction on how to properly activate your core muscles, or do any of these movements, then please contact me.

The Oxygen Equation

Troy Hasler — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 04:14:46 +0000

The ABC’s of Effective Movement – ‘B’ is for BREATHING

“To know life in every breath” is one of my favourite movie quotes from The Last Samurai, and its ironic that there is so much life in every breath yet sometimes we fail to recognise the importance of breathing properly. I emphasise properly because we are all breathing, that is to say that we are all inhaling and exhaling, but to actually breathe properly requires a lot more attention than you would think.

Inhalation, or the IN breath, is our bodies way of taking in oxygen. We need oxygen to survive. Our bodies can last many days without food, and a few days without water, but more than a few minutes without oxygen and we die. Exhalation, or the OUT breath, is our bodies way of getting rid of waste products and toxins such as carbon dioxide.

When it comes to breathing properly I am fortunate to have a fantastic teacher in my son Campbell. At 10 weeks old and unburdened by the stresses of modern living he has a naturally perfect breathing pattern. Watch any baby for yourselves and see how their breathe is unforced and natural. Babies breathe through their noses and have a gentle rise and fall pattern in their abdomen that shows a natural diaphragmatic breathing pattern that many of us lose as adults.

In fact there are at least three (and probably more) ways of breathing:

Shallow (or HIGH) breathing generally fills only the upper portion of the lungs. The collar bones and shoulders often rise, but there is no expansion of the rib cage or stomach. This breathing is often a lot faster than deep breathing and is how the majority of people breathe.

Deep (or LOW) breathing involves the diaphragm dropping into the abdominal cavity and expansion of the stomach when breathing. This is a slow deep breathe that many people are incapable of reproducing without deep concentration, although most people will unconsciously breathe in this manner while sleeping.

Complete breathing (perhaps also the same or Buddhist or Taoist breathing) involves inflation of the chest AND expansion of the stomach while breathing. I’ve read in some places that the chest and shoulders should remain unmoved when performing this breathe, and it sounds similar to what Army Snipers do when they are concentrating on a long range shot but in Yoga it seems that this is the deepest possible breath and that the shoulders and collar bones should rise as well as the stomach.

In fact, during the meditation phase of yoga this COMPLETE breathing is what we are trying to attain while “focussing on our breath”.

A practical exercise you can do to try and attain a complete breath is to:

lie on your back on the floor.
place a piece of paper on your chest and one on your stomach
breath IN deeply through your nostrils
your breath should fill your chest and lungs, or thoracic cavity, first
then you should feel your diaphragm drop and your stomach inflate
the paper on your stomach should rise,
and you should almost feel the air ‘touching’ your spine
breath OUT slowly

repeat as many times as necessary, focussing on the sensations of the breath through your nostrils as you inhale, filling your lungs and stomach, touching your spine and then gently exhaling.

These slow deep breathes should also be done while exercising but instead of letting your stomach expand, gently pull in your belly button (this activates your transverse abdominus muscles) and tighten your pelvic floor muscles. This creates a strong box with the top and bottom being created by your diaphragm dropping and your clenched pelvic floor, and the sides being your abs, obliques and erector spinae / multifidus muscles.

If you’d like more information on breathing, relaxation, meditation or core activation then contact us for more information on personal training and a FREE breathing consultation if you are looking for a Personal Trainer in Glen Iris, Melbourne or surrounding suburbs.

The ABC’s of Effective Movement – Part Three

Troy Hasler — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 01:30:03 +0000

Welcome back for the 3rd instalment in the ABC’s of effective movement series where we will finish of ALIGNMENT by discussing Ankle to Knee (A2K) alignment. If you haven’t already read about spinal alignment and shoulder stabilisation then feel free to read these articles first.

In my experience as a personal trainer I have found that a lot of issues that people have with mobility stem from stabilisation of the feet and mobilisation of the ankles. This usually leads to stabilisation problems in the knees and mobility problems in the hips.. As you can see, when there is a problem with one link in the kinetic chain it generally has a flow on effect up the chain to another area.

To increase the mobility in these joints there are a number of joint mobility exercises that you can do, and Steve Maxwell has done a fantastic job of compiling the “Daily Dozen” – The daily dozen is a joint mobility program consisting of 12 exercises that you can easily do anywhere, any time and EVERY DAY to increase the mobility in your whole body. If you think of these movements as your daily warmup and try and do them every day for a week or two I guarantee you will feel the difference in the way that your body moves.

The topic at hand today though is Ankle to Knee (A2K) alignment in the specific context of exercising or physical work.

A2K alignment refers to the alignment of your knee and ankle when viewed from the front and from the side. Lets look at these two alignments separately.

The Front: When viewing a squatting or lunging movement from the front, your ideal alignment is that your knee should travel in the direction that your toes are pointed. The reason for this is that your knee is a hinge joint and only has maximum mobility in one direction. To check this alignment you can watch yourself in a mirror face on while you squat or lunge. Ideally your knee will always line up with the direction that your toes are pointing and will not deviate medially (toward the midline) or laterally (towards the outside). These deviations can be caused by flat feet, weak arches, weak gluteus muscles or a number of other reasons, but the important thing is that you can recognise the problem and correct it yourself.

The Side: I don’t recommend turning your head to the side to watch yourself in a mirror but if you aren’t lifting any weight and are just checking alignment it should be ok. Your ideal A2K alignment from the side is that your knee should NEVER ever travel forward over your toes. I try and get all of my clients to lunge UP and DOWN instead of forward and backward, this stops you from transferring your weight forward too much and over your toes. A really good way to remember how to do this properly is to maintain a mid foot balance in your feet with 80% of your weight through your heel and only 20% on the balls of your feet. If your bodyweight (and knee) travels over past your toes your weight will automatically distribute to the ball of your foot. We don’t want this to happen.

In a perfect lunge both front and back knees will be at 90 degree angles, your body will be erect and spine lengthened with your bodyweight distributed equally between front and back legs. There will be perfect alignment of the knees from the front and side, and if you interlace your fingers behind your head and pull your elbows back slightly you will have good crown to coccyx alignment as well.

If you have any questions or would like some FREE advice on how to lunge or squat properly then please contact me.

The ABC’s of Effective Movement – Part Two

Troy Hasler — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 22:47:12 +0000

In this second part of the ‘ABCs of Effective Movement’ series I would like to continue where I left off with ‘A’ for Alignment. The reason that alignment comes first in this series isn’t just because A is the first letter in the alphabet, its also because the alignment of joints should be corrected before we actually do any moving. We’ve already covered the crown-to-coccyx (C2C) alignment in part one of this series and if you haven’t already read this article you can find it here.

This article will cover shoulder alignment, also known as the shoulder pack.

For the purpose of this article all you need to know about the shoulder joint is that it is incredibly mobile, but not as stable as it probably should be for the mobility that it has. This is the reason why shoulder impingement problems and rotator cuff strains and tears are so common. Although there are probably many possible causes, it is my opinion that the majority of shoulder injuries come from one of two possible causes a) over training of pressing movements (i.e. Bench Press) and not enough pulling movements (i.e. Rows) thereby creating an imbalance in the musculature of the upper body, which is partly caused by b) incorrect alignment of the shoulders when performing exercises or repetitive everyday tasks.

The first of these two problems can be overcome by having a balanced exercise and stretching program, while the second problem (alignment) needs a bit more of an explanation. I’m not a professional physiotherapist or exercise physiologist but I’ll try my best to explain it.

Let me start by saying that I think that BALANCE is extremely important. Everything in nature has an opposite – hot/cold, light/dark, front/back, yin/yang – and therefore everything in your body does as well. The shoulder pack allows you to do a pressing movement while also pulling your shoulders back thereby creating a more balanced movement. I can already hear you saying that this seems implausible but I guarantee you that it is not. Try the following exercise:

Begin in a pushup position on the floor, or/ if you are a female try this standing with your hands on the kitchen bench so that your body is straight and at a 45 degree angle to the floor (make sure your feet don’t slip on the floor!)
Your arms should be straight, and activate your core by pulling your belly button in towards your spine gently.
Now.. The shoulder pack is achieved by pulling your shoulders back (sticking your chest out helps this) and then pull your shoulder blades down towards your bum. You should feel muscles activating directly between and below your shoulder blades. You need to link this feeling with the shoulder pack. Remember it!
Commence the pushup movement by allowing gravity to pull your body towards the ground, letting your elbows bend naturally and maintain the shoulder pack at all times. Try and FEEL the muscles in your back working throughout the pushup movement.
Breath in as your body descends, and breathe out as you push.
Aim for a 2:2 tempo – 2 seconds on the way down and 2 seconds on the way up.

This is a basic explanation of a pushup but should allow you to really FEEL the shoulder pack as you exercise. I’m going to create a video of this soon and post it with this article, but until then feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions!

The ABC’s of Effective Movement – Part One

Troy Hasler — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 00:39:05 +0000

I spend a lot of time watching people move.

In my job as a personal trainer I find that I watch everything from the way that my clients walk to the way that they breathe, and one thing I know for sure is that some of the things that should be very basic and ‘natural’ are often overlooked and done incorrectly. As a result of this I have decided to write a series of articles on ‘Effective Movement’.

Effective Movement is the way that we should all be moving naturally, it is ‘ease’ of movement and it is energy efficient because we are not wasting energy doing things incorrectly. This is the first part of my my ‘ABC’s of Effective Movement’ series starting with ‘A’ for Alignment.

Our body is designed to function with a delicate balance of opposing muscles working synergistically to create kinetic energy (or movement). Effective transfer of this kinetic energy relies on the proper alignment of the joints as we move. If the alignment is incorrect then the transfer of energy will either be completely wasted or directed in the wrong way causing injury.

An example of proper alignment that is crucial when moving effectively is the crown-to-coccyx (C2C) alignment, which is the proper alignment of the spine from the coccyx bone through to the crown of your head (aka the Crown Chakra). This proper C2C alignment gives us a neutral spine (the spine has naturally occurring curves in the cervical, thoracic and lumbar regions which must be maintained at all times) and a neutral pelvic tilt. The neutral pelvic tilt is crucial for the proper alignment of the spine. If the pelvis is tilted too much in either direction then the joints above it (the spine is a bony structure comprised of many joints) will be directly affected.

The easiest way to achieve a proper C2C alignment is to start with the pelvis. Practice drawing circles with your coccyx by tilting your pelvis forward, right, backward, left to get control over the tilt of your pelvis, this can be done standing or sitting on a fitball. Once you have this control find neutral by tilting your pelvis all the way forward (anteriorly) then all the way back (posteriorly) and right in between these two extremes is neutral. Once you have achieved a neutral pelvic tilt imagine that you are a marionette (a puppet) dangling by a piece of string attached to the crown of your head. Lengthen from this area upward and you will feel your posture change – your shoulder blades will naturally retract, your chest will lift ‘proudly’ and your chin will tilt slightly toward your chest while you will feel as though you are standing (or sitting) taller. Practice this posture while sitting on the couch watching tv, at your work desk, or while driving your car for best results and always maintain this alignment while exercising.

Other important alignments are the ankle to knee (A2K) alignment, and the shoulder alignment (or shoulder pack) but I will cover these in another article so stay posted for more information on Effective Movement!

By Troy Hasler