Archive for the ‘Health and fitness professionals’ Category

Anthony Carey on the LifeTime Fitness Podcast

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2020

From the show notes:
Join Industry Veteran Anthony Carey and Jason Stella Discuss…
1. Why he has spent the majority of your career working on how to help people decrease their pain.
2. Discuss his PRACTICAL book called: “The Pain-Free Program: A Proven Method to Relieve Back, Neck, Shoulder and Joint Pain.
3. WHAT have you found to be the best ways to help, staying within the scope of being a trainer?
4. Explain the following concepts in his book
1. The Body’s Interrelatedness
2. Our Self-Healing Bodies
3. The need to take responsibility
4. Anthony’s unique way of putting exercises is specific groups called Form & Category
– What’s the differences between them
– Show some of the exercises within each area and how they may be able to help specific people?
5. Explain and show your invention, The CORE-TEX.
a. Why and how did you come up with this?
b. Can you show us some of the common ways you use this to help clients improve
3. Explain the course that you put together called the “Pain Free Movement specialist

Corrective Exercise Programming and Readiness

Monday, November 30th, 2020

What does readiness mean to you?

When designing the corrective exercise program for the chronic pain client, it means many things.

As you decide on your exercise selection, does a strategic sequence advance your objectives and build your client’s movement confidence?

The readiness in this case is based on many things, but at the top of the list is trust. Trust of their own capabilities without provoking pain.

This is precisely why we have created a framework for corrective exercise progressions.

Enjoy this clip and consider joining us on our mission to help those in pain live more comfortable and productive lives.

Corrective Exercise Static Wall Femur Rotations

Tuesday, October 27th, 2020

The following exercise is taken from our library available at www.functionfirsted.com

We share this example with you as an exercise that you might find useful as well as to add to your understanding of the bio-psycho-social considerations we apply during programming.

This Level B exercise can also be found in my book, The Pain-Free Program: A Proven Method to Relieve Back, Neck, Shoulder and Joint Pain.

Biomechanical Outcomes:
•Increase bi-lateral hip rotation autonomous from gravitational influence over the pelvis and entire upper body.
•Enhance transverse plane hip rotation independent from the pelvis and lumbar spine motion.

Neurological | Physiological Outcomes:
•Enhance cognitive processing mechanisms associated with the planning phase (evaluation) and motor unit recruitment involved during the execution of exercise.
•Promote connective tissue extensibility associated with internal and external hip rotation.

Psycho | Social Outcomes:
•The introduction of localized and independent hip rotation fosters a novel experiential awareness designed to help expand maladaptive appraisals and challenge any associated neurosignatures of hip rotation avoidance.

If you have not taken advantage of the 24 FREE PASS to Function First Academy to see all of the great stuff there, now is your chance!

30 – static wall with leg rotation.wav from Kevin Murray on Vimeo.

How PFMS Programming Excels

Thursday, August 13th, 2020

What drives your decision making when designing your client’s/patients exercise program? No doubt some of the decision is based on your client’s goals, as it should be. That is why they are seeing you.

But there are often many routes to a goal. And when we throw conquering pain into the equation, the route that is chosen becomes much more significant.

With the Function First Approach and its Pain-Free Movement Specialist curriculum, the sequencing of the exercises is critical. Much like a phone number, the same elements in a different order will often yield a different result.

With the client who has experienced or is experiencing chronic pain, the biomechanical, neurological and physiological characteristics of the exercise are critical. But those characteristics can be negated and potentially pain provoking if we have not acknowledged, validated and considered the psychological state (readiness, expectations, apprehensions, preconceived ideas, etc.) as it applies to the exercises we will provide.

And this is where the PFMS excels. Marrying the critical movement and mechanical needs to the psycho-social needs of the client at that time. Delivered with empathetic and confident coaching and you can see why Function First has served clients from around the globe who could not have their needs met elsewhere.

As such, I want to give you a peak into one of the many ways our Function First Academy can be a resource and support you in your mission to serve those challenged by chronic pain.
In the video below, I will walk you through a few of the aspects of the site that will change the way you program.

Corrective Exercise Kneeling Aztec

Thursday, May 28th, 2020

Any exercise that requires you to match a force with a counter force to maintain stability, will be self regulating. In other words, you can only push or pull to a level that can be stabilized by your own internal force generation.

The opposite of this would be ground reaction forces (GRF). The limitations on force production would be strength issue because you can push through the ground. This is the case with most exercises when the force is moved vertically against gravity. But when the force applied is horizontally or perpendicular to the field of gravity, we don’t get the same benefits from the GRF that we get with a vertical load.

Instead, we must turn to our own internal stability from which to create an anchor point for force generation.

As such, this corrective exercise is an excellent core exercise predominantly for the sagittal plane that does just that. It’s also happens to have some great foot benefits too.

Leave your questions and comments below.

The Problem is the Problem

Wednesday, April 29th, 2020

It’s amazing how a few simple concepts can completely change the way we process and approach challenges.

That’s why were so excited to share with you this brief conversation that I had with Kevin Murray, our Director of Education.

Kevin brings a dual perspective to our work with clients in pain that most other practitioners do not. After almost 10 years of learning and growing with the Function First Approach, Kevin went on to complete is graduate studies in Counseling Psychology.

Set aside 30:00 for some incredible insight and actionable items that we can all experience massive value from.

Corrective Exercise Ankle Rocking with Stability Ball

Monday, February 24th, 2020

Limited dorsi flexion isn’t always a “tightness” issue. Sometimes the ability for the talus to pass through the mortise of the true ankle joint can be compromised. As the joint approaches the individual’s current limit of dorsi flexion, often the nervous system will up-regulate increased tone of the surrounding musculature, which can approximate the joint surfaces and further restrict the gliding route the talus needs to take. This can often be experienced as a “pinching” or “bunching” sensation in the front of the ankle.

Using the principle of rhythmical motion and passive self-assistance, improved joint motion can be achieved. Anybody can do this for themselves with a stability ball. An excellent option to send your clients home with!

Corrective Exercise Floor Glides with Leg Extension

Thursday, November 14th, 2019

In this video we are bringing you a very influential exercise that does a surprisingly effective job at lower back stabilization as it challenges the mobility of the shoulders and efficiency of the the thoracic spine in extension.
As you are probably acutely aware, when working with corrective exercises and the client in pain, it is more than just the exercise, it is a thorough understanding of:

“For Whom?”

“For What?

And “When”

Insight into the biomechanics, psychological mindset of the client and social setting/implications of the movement all come into play and are critical to the client’s success.

Corrective Exercise A-P Cat and Dog Rewind

Friday, October 4th, 2019

In one of our past newsletters where we talked about myofascial mobility with rhythm, timing and amplitude, we revisited the Anterior Posterior Cat and Dog as one of the examples of applying those principles.

In this exercise, we take the A-P Cat and Dog and progress it into a surprisingly challenging core exercise. We call it the A-P Cat and Dog Rewind.

You’ll see as the clients center of mass moves forward with the change and limits of base of support, the core has to switch on in a very novel way.

The beauty of this is that the response is reflexive with no feedforward response necessary by the client or patient.

This helps us move beyond the bracing and “keep your core tight” cues that are not part of our long term goals and authentic movement.

Try it, feel it and let us know what you think.

Corrective Exercise Wall Glute Bridge

Thursday, August 8th, 2019

This version of the glute bridge is a great corrective exercise for teaching the body the sequencing and synchronization from the ankle to the lumbar spine that is associated with triple flexion and squatting.

It will certainly challenge dorsi flexion in a pseudo closed chain environment as the knee moves over the toes. There is feedback from the wall and load placed into the wall, but no vertical forces acting on the joint.

The body gets comfortable with relative lumbar flexion in an unload position because it has to go through that motion to get the buttocks of the floor. The beauty is both the novelty and very limited load placed on the spine. So even those with lower back pain will find this a helpful exercise as it reduces the threat.

Additionally, it helps create some separation and distraction of the tissue at the thoraco-lumbar junction. The upper part of the body is fixed on the floor as the lower part moves away, creating the distraction.

Put it to good use and tell us how you did!