As I see more and more clients in the office, I have noticed an emerging pattern that aims to explain a wide range of issues. In essence, these problems stem from one glaring problem – the lack of control of our joints and muscles.
What does this mean?
The most common symptom I see with the lack of control is pain. Therefore, for us to begin understanding control – we must understand pain.
Pain is experienced differently from person to person and comes from a variety of different causes. However, there is one thing we should all understand about pain – it is not normal and it is usually the body’s way of letting us know something is wrong.
Pain can be easily compared to a fire alarm. When a fire alarm goes off, we do one of two things: ignore it because we know what triggered it (e.g. burnt cookies in the oven), or we seek help because we are uncertain of, or unable to manage, the situation. Pain is similar in this manner; if we experience pain, our body is telling us something is not normal and help should be sought or the necessary steps should be taken to turn the pain signal off.
Many necessary components that help turn off the pain signals are given during your visit in the form of exercises. Exercises help clients regain control of their joints and muscles. Now these should not be mistaken for exercises you would do in the gym with weights and bars. In fact, these exercises are all performed with only body weight. Being able to control your own body weight is critical to treating the issue.
At the office – we use a 4-step process to help clients regain control through exercise.
- Find your range – typically during the assessment or getting into the starting position of the exercises.
- Expand your range – through soft tissue therapies and adjustments, stretching, or working out.
- Control your range – with specific, targeted movements via a combination of Kinstretch and Animal Flow to assist the newly expanded tissues to become normalized.
- Create NEW RANGE – by continuing the exercises everyday, as often as you can.
Many have heard the phrase before or during a visit “You will never be given a piece of paper with exercises on them, nor will you be given sets or reps.” Our bodies are not meant to work in a form of sets or reps, so we don’t train this way. The more often the exercises are done to create new range, the more receptive our body is to accept the new forces from the exercises. Force is the language of our bodies, by adapting to new ranges and forces, we become more resilient .
By following these steps, we help clients move optimally and thus, reduce symptoms and prevent future injuries. Our goal at Premiere Spine and Sport is to diminish or even fully eliminate pain symptoms while providing simple exercises to help maintain healthy joint and muscle function in everyday life.
