This is an engine:
This is an engine without maintenance (30,000miles without an oil change):
Our bodies our are engines. An engine can run forever if you take care of it, not to mention the improved performance and durability you get out of it with a little preventive maintenance. The point is there's a few things we need to do before our human engines look like this mess and its too late with a season ending or a reocurring,chronic injury . We don't want, as athletes, to let our bodies to get to a faulty, poor performing engine. Luckily, taking care of our own body is similar to taking care of an engine:
- Maintain the Fluid Levels:
- Adequate fluid levels ensure you can complete several necessary actions without damaging other components. Don't have blake fluid; then your gonna be hurting down that hill. What about not having enough oil, than fiction will build making the engine essentially unusable.
- Similarly, we need to have maintain adequate mobility to prevent compensations and the risk of damaging several components in our movement systems. Lets say you don't have enough ankle mobility, than components like your knees and midfoot may build up extra friction and prevent normal movement from occurring. More so, not having enough mobility limits what you can and can't do. And as athletes we want to perform each task optimally and not be limited because of a stiff joint or muscle pattern.
- There are many components that need to be assessed to ensure normal movement without compensation. Seek out a movement specialist, like ourselves, to find what's limiting your movement.
- Here is just one simple FMS test, the straight leg raise, to ensure adequate hamstring/posterior chain mobility.
FMS STRAIGHT-LEG RAISE TEST:
- Lie on your back inside and perpendicular to the doorway, with the midpoint of your thigh even with the frame.
- Extend your arms straight out to your sides, palms up.
- Start with both legs straight, heels together, and ankles flexed 90 degrees.
- Raise your left leg as high as you can, keeping your right leg, including knee, flat on the floor and both legs straight.
- Repeat with your right leg.
- YOU PASS IF: both leg remains straight throughout the test, your heels clears the door jamb, your head and arms remain on the floor in their original position.
- Maintain Belt Tension
- Adequate tension on the belt will make sure the engine works in sync and connects to other components. Similarly, we want to make sure our body has enough motor control to keep all our parts in sync when they move together.
- Our body needs to integrate thoughts into meaningful and efficient movement. Often our body will compensate, regardless of mobility, to complete a task because of imbalances over time. This leads to less efficient and productive movement, drastically inhibiting performance.
- Again, this can not be tested by just looking at one movement pattern (because so many exists), however here is one to get you started and see if you may need further assessment.
FMS HURDLE STEP:
- Run a strip of masking tape across the doorway at a height just below your kneecap.
- Stand with your feet together, facing the "hurdle," toes directly beneath the tape.
- Place the stick across your shoulders as you would for a barbell squat. This is the starting position.
- Step over the tape with your right foot.
- Tap your right heel lightly on the floor on the opposite side of the tape.
- Step back over the tape.
- Repeat this move with your left foot.
- YOU PASS IF: you don't touch the tape going forward and back with either foot., your hips, knees, and ankles keep their original alignment--nothing twists or bends in or out (have a friend make sure of this), and the stick remains completely parallel to the floor.
- Maintain Equal Tire Pressure
- If one tire is low in pressure it can dramatically affect your mpg, or efficiency. Similarly our body relies on relative symmetry for optimized performance. In addition, asymmetry has been shown to be a big risk of injury. Additional evidence proves asymmetry as a big risk of knee injuries including ACL tears. A majority of functional tasks as well as exercises are asymmetric in nature so ensuring an equal balance is so important, here’s just one screen for this.
FMS INLINE LUNGE:
- Cut a strip of masking tape the length of your lower leg.
- Lay the length of the strip through the doorway, centered between the jambs. Stand with the toes of one foot on the back end of the tape, and the heel of the other foot on the front end.
- Place the stick across your shoulders.
- Keeping your torso upright and front foot on the floor, slowly lower your back knee to the tape.
- Reverse to the starting position. Switch feet and repeat.
- YOU PASS IF: your upper body remains perpendicular to the floor, with minimal movement, your feet stay on the ends of the tape, your back knee touches the tape behind your front heel, & the stick remains parallel to the floor without touching the door frame.
- Regular Oil Changes
- Athletes punish their bodies on a continual basis. Your not just a regular commuter but a high performance sports car or a monster truck. You may even do a lot of mobility or do other activites that are important for performance like healthy eating and getting good sleep. However, few athletes receive preventive care, or oil changes. Mostly because they think everything is alright. Our teeth may not be falling out but that wouldn’t stop you from seeing a dentist 1-2x/year for preventive care. And as high performing engines you need more care, not less. You think a ferrari gets the same oil as a toyota corolla. Doubt it.
- I would recommend Regular movement assessments once a year minimum. More (2x+/yr) if you're a serious or competitive athlete.
- Movement assessments ensure symmetry and the highest level of performance output. This allows athletes to have the correct strategies to take care of themselves, stay healthy, and move optimally. Ensure you see someone who specializes in movement for your annual movement assessment.
“stay healthy my friends”
