PHASE II: PART 1 - MOVEMENT: WEEK 2

FAULTY MOVEMENT PATTERNS ARE INGRAINED PATTERNS OF MOVEMENT  AN INDIVIDUAL FOLLOWS WHICH ARE DEVELOPED OVERTIME BY DAILY HABITS, ACTIVITIES, LIFESTYLE, PREVIOUS INJURY, CHRONIC PAIN, HAND DOMINANCE,, LIFTING OVERLY HEAVY WEIGHTS, REPETITIVE MOVEMENTS, LOW LEVELS OF PROPRIOCEPTION, ILL-FITTING CLOTHING, AND POOR POSTURE ARE ALL EXAMPLES OF MOVEMENT PATTERNS THAT CAN BECOME FAULTY. 

SOME MUSCLES ARE OVERUSED; OTHERS ARE UNDERUSED. SOME MUSCLES ARE INHIBITED BY THERE OVERLY TENSE ANTAGONISTS. CRITICAL MUSCLES BECOME WEAK AND TIGHT, WHILE OTHERS BECOME VIRTUALLY DORMANT. 

THE BEST WAY TO BEGIN ASSESSING YOUR MOVEMENT IS TO START BY TAKING VIDEO OF YOURSELF ACTUALLY MOVING.

SOME BASIC MOVEMENTS THAT YOU MAY WANT TO CONSIDER FILMING ARE:

• WALKING (NORMAL GAIT) - BACK AND SIDE VIEWS
• SQUATS (BODYWEIGHT) - FRONT, BACK, AND SIDE VIEWS
• LUNGES (BODYWEIGHT) - FRONT AND SIDE VIEWS
• SHOULDER PRESSES (LIGHT WEIGHT) - FRONT AND SIDE VIEWS
• PUSH UPS - SIDE, FRONT, AND TOP VIEWS
• SIT UPS - FRONT AND SIDE VIEW

WHAT SHOULD YOU BE LOOKING FOR?

1. ARE YOUR JOINTS ALIGNED CORRECTLY FOR THE EXERCISE BEING PERFORMED?
2. ARE THE RIGHT MUSCLES BEING ACTIVATED, WITHOUT COMPENSATIONS, FOR THE EXERCISE BEING PERFORMED?
3. IS THE MOVEMENT RELATIVELY SYMMETRICAL?
4. CAN YOU COMPETENTLY PERFORM THE MOVEMENT?  

MOVEMENT PATTERNS CAN BE ASSESSED AT ONE OF ABOUT SIX POINTS, DEPENDING ON WHAT THE EXERCISE RECRUITS:

• ANKLE/FOOT
• KNEES
• HIPS/PELVIS
• ABDOMEN/CORE
• SHOULDERS/SCAPULAE
• HEAD/NECK

ONCE YOU HAVE FILMED YOURSELF MOVING YOU CAN THEN BEGIN TO ASSESS.

WATCH THE VIDEOS BACK SEVERAL TIMES VERY SLOWLY.

1. LOOK FOR MISALIGNED JOINTS (I.E. FOOT AND KNEE).
2. WATCH THE FIRING ORDER OF THE MUSCLES (WHAT MUSCLES ARE FIRING FIRST?)
3. IS THE MOVEMENT ASYMMETRICAL? ARE YOU ROTATING OR SHIFTING MORE TO ONE SIDE THAN ANOTHER?
4. PAY ATTENTION TO WHERE YOU START STRUGGLING WITH THE MOVEMENT. IS IT WHERE YOU INTENDED, OR IS IT PREMATURE?

FILMING YOURSELF CAN BECOME AN INVALUABLE TOOL FOR IMPROVING YOUR QUALITY OF MOVEMENT, ELIMINATING PAIN, AND REDUCING THE RISK FOR INJURY.

BEING AS SPECIFIC AS POSSIBLE WHEN SETTING GOALS FOR YOURSELF IS THE SUREST WAY TO BE SUCCESSFUL. NEBULOUS AND UNCLEAR GOALS LEAVE ROOM FOR EXCUSES AND A LACK OF PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY. WHAT ARE YOU REALLY AIMING AT?

YOU MIGHT SAY "I WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT", BUT WHAT ARE YOU ACTUALLY SAYING? YOU ARE ACTUALLY SAYING:

• I WANT TO IMPROVE MY HEALTH MARKERS
• I WANT TO IMPROVE MY SELF-VIEW
• I WANT TO DE-LOAD MY JOINTS AND FEEL BETTER
• I WANT TO FEEL IN CONTROL OF MY ACTIONS AND MY LIFE

THESE ARE ALL THINGS THAT ARE SLIGHTLY MORE SPECIFIC AND MORE ACCURATE. 

TAKING THE ABOVE GOALS AND MAKING THEM MEASURABLE IS THE NEXT STEP IN SETTING S.M.A.R.T. GOALS.

• "I WANT TO IMPROVE MY HEALTH MARKERS." OKAY. WHICH ONES? WHEN I WAS OVER 200LBS I WANTED TO DECREASE MY BLOOD PRESSURE, MY CHOLESTEROL, MY WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE, AND MY BODY FAT. THESE ARE JUST SOME EXAMPLES OF MEASURABLE HEALTH MARKERS.
• "I WANT TO IMPROVE MY SELF-VIEW AND MY AESTHETIC." WHILE THIS GOAL MAY SEEM SUBJECTIVE, IT IS ALSO QUANTIFIABLE. IN YOUR JOURNAL YOU CAN: NOTE INSTANCES OF NEGATIVE SELF-TALK (AND MORPH THEM INTO FORWARD MOMENTUM STATEMENTS), AND YOU CAN NOTE ALL YOUR NON-SCALE VICTORIES. AS YOU PROGRESS THROUGH YOUR JOURNAL TOWARDS YOUR GOAL, COUNT THE NUMBER OF TIMES YOUR NEGATIVE SELF-TALK OCCURS AND BEGIN REDUCING THOSE NUMBERS AS YOU BECOME MORE AWARE OF THEM.

NOW THAT YOUR GOALS ARE MEASURABLE, ASK YOURSELF, ARE THEY ATTAINABLE?

• "I WANT TO LOSE 0.5% OF MY BODY WEIGHT EACH WEEK TO BRING MY BODY FAT DOWN TO LESS THAN 24%." ✅ THIS IS GREAT! YOU HAVE DEFINED AND REASONABLE PARAMETERS FROM WHICH TO SPRING BOARD.
• "I WANT TO LOSE 5LBS A WEEK TO REACH MY GOAL WEIGHT." ❌ 5LBS A WEEK, WHILE DEFINITELY MEASURABLE, MAY NOT BE ATTAINABLE. LIKEWISE, GOAL WEIGHTS ARE MEASURABLE, BUT MAYBE NOT ATTAINABLE. THEY ARE MOST OFTEN ARBITRARY NUMBERS BASED ON PAST WEIGHTS, OR OTHER PEOPLE'S WEIGHT WHO YOU PERCEIVE TO BE SIMILAR TO YOU. 

REALISTIC IS SIMILAR TO ATTAINABLE WITH JUST A SLIGHT NUANCE. NOT ONLY CAN YOU CAN YOU ACTUALLY ACHIEVE WHAT YOU'RE SETTING OUT TO ACHIEVE, BUT CAN YOU SUSTAIN IT? KEEING REALISTIC GOALS IS DEFINITELY HELPFUL TO PREVENT EXTREME ALL-OR-NONE THINKING.

• "I WANT TO REDUCE MY BODY FAT TO PREPARE FOR A BODYBUILDING COMPETITION." ATTAINABLE? YES. SUSTAINABLE? NO.
• "I WANT TO WORK OUT 7 DAYS A WEEK." ATTAINABLE? YES. SUSTAINABLE. MOST LIKELY, NO. YOU'LL EVENTUALLY GET SICK AND NEED A DAY OFF, OR BE TOO BUSY. 

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE YOU TO REACH YOUR GOALS? SETTING SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM GOALS KEEPS YOU CONTINUOUSLY FOCUSED ON REACHING A NEW GOAL. WHEN YOU ACHIEVE YOUR SHORT-TERM GOALS, YOUR LONG-TERM GOALS TAKE THEIR PLACE AND YOU'RE NOW FREE TO ESTABLISH NEW LONG TERM GOALS. KEEPING YOUR ASPIRATIONS ON A ROLLING TIMELINE ENSURES THAT YOU NEVER BECOME COMPLACENT OR BORED.