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Carver Communications - Index

Carver Communications - 4.1.08 - Index

The industry standard is rapidly
moving toward functional training –
movement and exercises that emulate
daily life and are based on kinesiology
and scientific rationale. Starting a safe
exercise program can be comfortable and
rewarding with some basic knowledge
and finding a functional trainer to assess,
design, and teach you functional movement.
The first step in starting a safe
workout program is assessment. A good
assessment will reveal any posture issues
a person has incorporated through every
day living. For example, a person who
sits at a desk for several hours on a daily
basis often develops lower back pain.
More often than not, a detailed assessment
displays tightness in the hips
caused by the hip muscles remaining
shortened in the seated position. As a
result, the tight hip muscles cause the
gluteus muscles to stop working and
become weak, making other assisting
muscles, such as the hamstrings, work
By John-Michael Ruiz, NASM-CPT
Functional Trainer and Owner, Functional Fitness
Functional Workout Design
harder and they become tight as well.
The resulting lower back pain comes
from the hips tipping forward and
squeezing the low back area. If you begin
exercising without understanding the
condition of your body, you run the risk
of making the tight muscles tighter and
further weakening the weak muscles
leading the body into a negative feedback
loop the National Academy of
Sports Medicine calls the Cumulative
Injury Cycle - muscle inflammation
leads to muscle spasms that lead to muscle
imbalance that lead back to muscle
inflammation. A good assessment allows
program design to break the injury cycle
by addressing the tightness and weakness
throughout the body simultaneously.
The second step in starting a safe
workout program is flexibility. Initiating
a daily stretching program will immediately
start breaking the injury cycle as
the tight muscles begin to loosen allowing
the weak muscles to start working
April 1, 2008 REAL ESTATE NEWSLINE 7
properly. Using the example of the lower
back pain, as we stretch the hip flexors
and the hamstrings, the gluteus muscles
start to activate. As muscles start working
properly and balancing with each
other, stretching must continue to be
practiced as the body becomes stronger.
If not, the body can easily regress to the
tight and weak injury cycle even after
initial problems are corrected.
When doing cardio or resistance
training, stretching after the activity is
absolutely necessary as the primary purpose
of these activities is to strengthen
muscles automatically making them
tight. It is also important to consistently
stretch before going to bed because the
whole body becomes tight from use
throughout the day. Always remember,
stretching is like vegetables, you can
never get enough.
The third step in starting a safe
workout program is core activation. Now
that you have your assessment telling
you which muscles to stretch, we must
get prepared to strengthen the weak muscles
beginning with core activation. Core
activation starts with the draw-in maneuver
of holding your stomach tight while
pulling it toward your spine. Learning to
have constant core activation allows the
core to stabilize and transfer energy
throughout the body resulting in better
performance during stationary and
movement activities as well as decreasing
the chance for injury. With the lower
back pain example, core activation
includes fully activating the gluteus muscles.
Now functioning, the gluteus mus-
cles balance with the stretched hip flexor
and hamstring muscles allowing the hips
to move back into proper alignment,
relieving the pressure on the low back.
The fourth step in starting a safe
work out program is proper posture.
Achieving proper posture comes from
awareness and placement of these key
points of the body: feet, ankles, knees,
hips, core, shoulders, and head.
Returning to the lower back pain example,
the activated gluteus muscles along
with the loosened hip flexors and hamstrings
now allow the individual to maintain
the hips at the proper angle necessary
for proper posture while sitting and
standing, relieving pressure on the lower
back.
Bringing together your flexibility,
core activation, and posture is correct
form; the final step in starting a safe
workout program. Using the assessment,
exercise choice must target the weak
muscles and the difficulty must be based
just slightly above the individual’s skill
level. The correct determination is
whether you can precisely maintain your
form throughout the movement. Using
the low back pain example, choosing an
exercise that strengthens the gluteus and
quad muscles will help to balance the
tight hamstrings and hip flexors. In this
case we choose squatting and use correct
form to maintain proper hip angle
throughout the movement decreasing the
pressure on the lower back.
Call 210-825-0924 or visit
www.functionalfitness-usa.com for more
information.