I have been working with Jenn for over 4 years and she is the best! In that time I have become so much stronger and healthier. She is professional that tailors your work out to you. She pushes you but also respects your limitations and values your judgment. Jenn is extremely knowledgeable about how bodies work so if you are struggling with something (such as an injury) she has the education and experience to hone in and address the issue.
josh henkin Everything we do is based on the 7 human movement patterns. Why focus on movement patterns in strength training versus muscles? The biggest reason is that our nervous system governs all. If you want to use your muscles to their highest levels, your nervous system has to want to “allow” you to do so.
When we isolate muscles, our body doesn’t learn how to use them in the way we move in life and therefore, our gym strength training never comes to life. There is research to show how our body uses our quads during a leg extension is different than how the quads are used in a squat.
Here is another HUGE benefit on focusing on movement patterns versus isolation. When we isolate, we purposefully take away a lot of the supporting muscles. That is the whole point of isolation, but that means we don’t hit so many of the muscles that not only make us look good, but perform at a high level and be more injury resilient. In other words, it makes our strength training so much more efficient.
me -I believe in training the body through functional movement patterns that serve your life OUTSIDE of training. Strength, stability and mobility are essential to a successful program with lasting results and increased quality of life. Ensuring proper technique, well thought out progressions, and appropriate exercise selection for your fitness level and health will allow you to get the most out of training.
Marc perry -Our bodies are an amazingly complex web of interconnected muscles, joints, fascia, ligaments, tendons, bones, and other tissues and organs that work synchronously and seamlessly. When we are lean and fit, every cubic centimeter of our bodies has a purpose, a function to help us survive and thrive.
So, if the body is this interconnected web that’s really more like one unit, one muscle, why would we focus on only one muscle group during a workout or one type of exercise activity? The idea of focusing on only one muscle group in a workout is definitely not efficient, nor is it athletic. You should focus on movement patterns -- not isolated muscle groups -- when exercising to develop a functionally strong body.
THE FOUNDATION OF EXERCISE
These movements are great to include in your training plan because they improve your function in everyday life and reduce your chance of injury.
Each time your body coordinates the muscles to perform one of these movement patterns, you’re in the process of developing new neural pathways. The more you perform the movements, the more ingrained and efficient the pathways become, and the more benefits you receive from them.
jamie barroso - A solid, well thought-out workout program should have you move in every direction – forward, backward, sideways and even rotationally.
We need functional strength in every plane of motion to help us prevent injury when moving in everyday life. When the movement patterns you practice in the gym mimic the movements you perform in everyday life, you become stronger, more efficient, and can literally slow down the clock on age-related muscle atrophy (or muscle breakdown) while greatly reducing your risk of injury!
The 7 Functional Movement Patterns are patterns which our bodies move naturally, every day. Think of bending over to pick up your child, picking up a box from the floor, pushing yourself up off the floor, running while playing soccer, carrying your child on your hip, tying your shoe, vacuuming, rearranging furniture…each one of these activities requires movement that falls under one of the 7 Functional Movement Patterns. By strengthening these specific patterns in the gym, we have the ability to literally move more efficiently throughout life, reducing the risk for injury and increasing the quality of life, now and as we age.
The 7 Functional Movement Patterns are:
Hinge
Squat
Lunge
Push
Pull
Twist
Gait/Carry
You can think of each of these terms like a big umbrella. Under each umbrella you have a variety of exercises that trains within that movement pattern. Including exercises from under each umbrella, taking into account an individuals experience and history, is critical for developing an exercise program that improves an individuals strength, functionality and mobility at a pace that works within their range of ability.
boyle - the body is a just a stack of joints. the body is a series of interconnected joints where the movement of one joint directly affects the movement of other joints above and below.Each joint or series of joints has a specific function and is prone to predictable levels of dysfunction. As a result, each joint has particular training needs.
Joint–Primary Need
Foot-Stability
Ankle–Mobility (sagittal)
Knee–Stability
Hip–Mobility (multi-planar)
Lumbar Spine–Stability
Thoracic Spine–Mobility
Scapula–Stability
Gleno-humeral–Mobility
The first thing you should notice is the joints alternate between mobility and stability. The ankle needs increased mobility, and the knee needs increased stability. As we move up the body, it becomes apparent the hip needs mobility. And so the process goes up the chain–a basic, alternating series of joints.
Over the past 20 years, we have progressed from the approach of training by body part to a more intelligent approach of training by movement pattern. In fact, the phrase movements, not muscles has almost become an overused one, and frankly, that’s progress. Most good coaches and trainers have given up on the old chest-shoulder-triceps method and moved to push-pull, hip-extend, knee-extend programs. Injuries relate closely to proper joint function, or more appropriately, to joint dysfunction. Problems at one joint usually show up as pain in the joint above or below. When the intended mobile joint becomes immobile, the stable joint is forced to move as compensation, becoming less stable and subsequently painful. Lose ankle mobility, get knee pain
Lose hip mobility, get low back pain
Lose thoracic mobility, get neck and shoulder pain, or low back pain
When it comes to the human body every joint and region has a specific function. The overall function or movement of a joint plays a crucial role in how you feel. For instance, those who function well are typically pain and injury free. Those who function poorly are just the opposite, in pain and experiencing injury. You will often hear medical providers use the terms Mobility and Stability when it comes to different regions of your body. So, what exactly does this mean, and how does it relate to your health? Let us take a closer look:
Mobility is defined as “The ability to move or be moved freely and easily”.
Stability is defined as “Not likely to give way or overturn; firmly fixed”.
Ankle – Mobility
Knee – Stability
Hip – Mobility
Lumbar Spine – Stability
Thoracic Spine – Mobility
Scapula – Stability
Shoulder – Mobility
Lower & Middle Cervical Spine – Stability
Upper Cervical Spine – Mobility
As stated above, there is a happy medium to a joint being mobile and/or stable. If the ankle is excessively mobile than it can lead to a possible injury, and if the Lumbar Spine is excessively stable (or stiff), the body will recruit movement from other regions not designed to carry the extra work. Situations like that is where a movement assessment becomes necessary. We perform a simple movement assessment to determine which joints are not functioning as they should. Based on the results of that movement assessment, we can determine where the cause of your pain is coming from. For example, if individuals:
Lose ankle mobility, get knee pain
Lose hip mobility, get lower back pain
Lose thoracic mobility, get neck, and shoulder pain, or possible lower back pain
altitude phys therapy
The primary illustration is in the lower back. It's clear we need core stability, and it's also obvious many people suffer from back pain. The intriguing part lies in the theory behind low back pain - the new theory of the cause: loss of hip mobility.
Loss of function in the joint below - in the case of the lumbar spine, it's the hips - seems to affect the joint or joints above. In other words, if the hips can't move, the lumbar spine will. The problem is the hips are designed for mobility, and the lumbar spine for stability. When the intended mobile joint becomes immobile, the stable joint is forced to move as compensation, becoming less stable and subsequently painful.
