What started me thinking was Evan Osars book, "Corrective Exercise Solutions." I had a chance to meet Evan awhile back at a Strength/Performance Enhancement seminar and have since tried to read all he puts out, great information.
He uses the term centration quite frequently. Centration is simply the optimal access of range of motion in a joint. When the body has centration, it has ease of movement, no compensation and no pain. If centration is lost, compensation occurs, pain is experienced....eventually. Unless there is trauma, car accident, a football blown knee, falling down some stairs as examples, most of what is felt has had years to develop. That herniated disc didn't happen from picking that weight off the floor, that was just the last insult the body could handle.
It is possible that actually correct optimal movement of the joint was never learned. Neuro development is a hot topic and it appears that the crawling pattern that occurs is more important then previously realized.
An old injury that doesn't even come to mind is a possible reason for loss of joint centration. I can recall so many times athletes telling me that they can't recall how many severe ankle sprains they have experienced. Ever had a bad ankle? You limp around for days, sometimes weeks. That is disrupting your recruitment pattern, the ankle centration has been altered.
For centration to occur, optimal muscle stability must occur. A joint can not move correctly if there is not stability to allow mobility to occur. An injury to a muscle will alter joint centration.
This brings us to the old saying, "Methods are many, Principles are few." It doesn't matter the method, if the principle is achieved. So whether the method is an adjustment, myofascial work, muscle energy, muscle activation, corrective exercise or a combination, know that ultimately the goal is proper joint centration.
Achieve joint centration, achieve ease of motion, achieve a pain free body.
No comments:
Post a Comment