When mobility drills are great ...and when they're not.

Mobility drills, also know as dynamic stretching are wonderful.  Research has found them to be superior to static stretching for increasing range of motion, raising resting heart to prepare for activity, and increasing coordination.  Common versions include dynamic leg swings, using the foam roller to push the thoracic spine (i.e. ribcage) into extension, and the tea-cup drill for shoulder mobility.  I have, and will discuss these at length because they are one of the most valuable things you can do for yourself to stay flexible and resilient. 

So when might these actually be a bad idea?  To answer that question, we need to review the "joint-by-joint approach", pioneered by Gray Cook and Mike Boyle.  This theory proposes that the body is comprised of joints which alternate an emphasis on mobility, such as the ball and socket joints of the hip or shoulder, and those which emphasize stability, such as the knee or elbow.  One of the stable joints is found in the pelvis, between the ilium (where you "put your hands on your hips"), and the sacrum (what most folks think of as their tailbone.  This is known as the sacroiliac joint, and is a common source of low back pain. 

Osteopaths, chiropractors, and physical therapists have all developed various home exercises to mobilize this joint.  The problem is, however, that it's very easy to make any of the stable joints too mobile, aka "unstable".  The sad truth is that this instability is the source of most of the pain which comes from these joint; conditions like plantar fasciitis, tennis elbow, AC separations, and runner's knee.  While someone may, in fact, need mobilization at one of these locations, it's almost impossible to determine that for yourself.  For this, see a chiropractor, or an osteopath or physical therapist with a specialty in manipulation.

Flexible for life

Many of the problems I see regularly as a chiropractor are caused by inflexibility.  The sedentary nature of modern life tends to mold the body in the image of sitting.  As a result, moving out of that position is much like driving with the parking brake on.  What's worse, moving that way for months, years, or even decades is very detrimental on other parts of the body which must move more to compensate.

Muscle length is a function of two things: the absolute, plastic length of the the tissue; and how long your body perceives it to be.  That perception is via a sense known as proprioception or mechanoreception, but it is essentially what you might call position sense (e.g., is the door open or closed?).  Mechanoreceptors, which perceive movement are located primarily in the joints, and are triggered by movement.  When one doesn't move for a while, like when sleeping, the body shortens the muscles to protect them because it hasn't heard from the mechanoreceptors recently.  This is one cause of feeling stiff when you wake up.

The dynamic warmup deals with this phenomenon by gently and gradually reminding the body of how long the muscles actually are.  There are a number of ways to perform a dynamic warmup, but they all involve loose, relaxed swinging movements of the arms and legs, as well as bending, rotating, and tilting the spine to wake up all the major joints.  This generally results in having the majority of one's flexibility immediately, instead well into the workout as the body temperature climbs.  Warming up this way will also gradually increase the heart rate, and when trained daily for an extended period will increase coordination.  While to many people increased coordination may not seem important, it reduces the chance of injury when tired.

Over the next month or so, I will be posting the sections of the dynamic warmup for different parts of the body.  Stay tuned!

Why can't I heal?

Chronic injuries are one of the most common things I see as a chiropractor.  Whether it's "bad knees", a "bad back", or a "bad shoulder", the bottom line is an injury that won't heal.  It may have been months, years, or decades.  So, people walk in with the bad news.  The good news is that bodies heal.  That's what they do.  As an example, if you cut yourself, do you expect it to heal?  Of course you do.  That has been your experience for your whole life .  It's so commonplace we take it for granted, but we notice when it doesn't happen.  If something continued to cut you in the same place, day after day, the cut wouldn't heal the way you expect it to.  This is exactly what happens with most joint problems that won't go away.  Something is continuing to cut the wound over and over, day after day.

Sometimes, the re-injury is an activity of daily life. But more often, the problem is a loss of movement, near the injury, but not at it.  Most commonly, the injury hurts from moving way more than it is supposed to, because something else isn't doing its job.  If your hip doesn't extend well, you may well hyperextend the low back to make up for it.  The new movement is similar, except that the low back isn't designed to extend the way the hip is.  And that's not good for the low back.  It will start to inflame.  The ligaments will start to tear.  Discs may rupture.  And before too long, your low back hurts all the time, and doesn't move so well.  Did I mention the muscles will be really tight?  This is because they are trying to hold the area together against excessive force, day after day.  Therefore, the body will resist any attempt to stretch them because it's coming apart at the seams.

But, as I said before, bodies heal; it's what they do.  So, this cycle can be reversed if you can find what it is that is chronically injuring the area.  For the low back, hip and ribcage mobility are key.  Once the cause is removed, the injury will heal.  Granted, sometimes there are limitations of matter, but generally, healing happens.  For the record, the process of removing the obstacle takes time, particularly if the problem has been present awhile.  But it will happen.  Trust the way your skin has healed for your entire life.  In addition to removing the obstacle to healing, there are things we can do to help the victim heal, such as ice, ultrasound, soft tissue work, and electric stimulation.  However, treating the victim will not work if you you don't fix the culprit.

Turkish get-up high pelvis to knee

Stepping swing, high pull, press to elbow

Week three of kettlebell fitness at the Manchester, NH YMCA

Kettlebell swing and alternating floor press

Turkish get-up (first movement) and kettlebell deadlift