Skill, Function, Foundation
The complete athlete has superior skill in a body that functions through a full range of motion with strength and endurance, built on a foundation of normal, symmetrical, pain free and full motion. Great athletes have all three systems fully in place.
An athlete who is skilled, say from his youthful participation in a sport like tennis, for example, might have lost some range of motion and possibly strength over the years, and he might have developed a series of motion restrictions (lost mobility) or possibly even hyper mobility (lost stability) in various joints due to accidents, injuries, habits etc. over the years. This person would be set up to injure himself if he played a game of tennis in an effort to recapture his youth.
Often, when we see an injured athlete, he or she is in this situation: Lots of skill, but poor strength and endurance on a poor, often painful foundation. We focus on building the foundation first, then build the functional tolerances, then introduce skill training in order to return an athlete to participation.
Evaluating the Athlete:
The "Over-Powered" Athlete has an ability to generate power that exceeds their ability to move freely. This is often the movement pattern of an athlete coming off an injury.
The "Under-Powered" Athlete typically has excellent range of motion but is inefficient in their movement patterns and an inability to generate power. We see young pitchers in this category where they have great mobility, but poor stability and poor endurance and recovery.
The "Under-Skilled" Athletes require coaching to develop athletic skill rather than an exercise program to increase strength, endurance or power.
The FOUNDATION is made up of normal mobility and normal stability
MOBILITY
Mobility is the combination of normal Joint Range of Motion and proper Muscular Flexibility. This is essential for proper joint mechanics and prevention of injury. Mobility allows your body to move in all six degrees of freedom giving you the ability to perform any (normal) motion without having to sacrifice STABILITY.
Mobility allows the generation of ELASTIC ENERGY – and therefore establishes a base for efficient power production. This is a function of the Quick Stretch Reflex. There are three “rules of engagement” to elicit an effective quick stretch reflex. These are
- No time delay
- Moderate stretch
- Faster stretch = more energy.
STABILITY
Stability is defined as the ability of any system to remain unchanged or aligned in the presence of change of or outside forces. This is what many areas of our body, such as our lumbar spine, knee and foot are asked to do. Stability is created by combining three things:
- Balance
- Strength
- Muscular endurance
Stability is required for normal athletic participation. Consider the similarities between the golf swing and the effort required to shoot an arrow with a long bow. You would have to keep the bow stable in order to pull the string back, which itself would require strength, balance, muscular endurance and strength. Maintaining your posture while swinging a golf club, for example, is an example of Stability.
SO WHAT?
The evaluation procedure that we use, called the Selective Functional Movement Assessment, examines your body with a view to understanding the Mobility and Stability issues present.
Mobility and Stability follow a normal pattern with alternating stability and mobility one joint after another (stable foot, mobile ankle, stable knee, mobile hip, stable lumbar region and pelvis, mobile thoracic spine and so on).
Trauma, stress, toxins and poor technique lead to alterations in the normal pattern. Limitations in mobility predict instability – instability is often the source of pain and compensation. Poor mobility leads to muscle imbalances.
Muscle imbalances are caused by a sedentary lifestyle, lack of a variety of movements, prolonged postures, and so on. Overuse leads to shortening and tightening of postural muscles, and disuse leads to weakening and inhibition of phasic muscles. Neurological reflexes leads to tightening of one muscle and concurrent inhibition of the antagonist.
The lower Crossed Syndrome (shortened hip flexors, weakened butt and abdominal muscles) and upper crossed syndrome (short tight sub occipital and posterior neck muscles along with weakened mid back and anterior neck muscles), are two examples of muscle imbalances that complicate mobility and stability problems.
In order to perform as an athlete without pain, you need to restore a good, normal pattern of mobility and stability, and it takes specific exercises to begin to make those kind of changes in your body.
To schedule an evaluation, please email or call today.
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