Education

It’s All Relative
Advice from Jeremy Shore, Director of Personal Trainer Education

As you know, choosing the path of least resistance almost always leads to trouble.  This is true for life and for the body.  Whenever we attempt to take the easy way out we end up suffering in the long term.

The body does the same thing when the kinetic chain, made up of the nervous, muscular, and skeletal system, seeks the path of least resistance.  In the training community, this is called Relative Flexibility and is clearly seen in many everyday movement patterns such as the squat.

Due to restrictions in the calf complex, during a squat pattern an individual is forced to either externally rotate the feet, or thrust the knees forward to fake dorsiflexion.  This allows the individual to squat, but ends up overloading other areas of the biomechanical chain which causes more dysfunction.  For example, once the knees become overloaded the quadriceps begin pulling down on the pelvis which in turn starts locking down the psoas.  This forces the individuals to ‘right’ themselves and leads to low back compression, decreased neuromuscular control and overall joint dysfunction.  Combined with dehydration and the stresses and repetitive movements of life these dysfunctions are only exacerbated.

By strategically addressing loss of tissue tolerance with Myofascial Compression Techniques, homeostasis can be restored and the body freed to move with ease increasing performance in life and sport.  It does take time and commitment, but anything worth doing in life usually does.

Muscle Coordination – All Together Separate
Advice from Jeremy Shore, Director of Personal Trainer Education

It is important for health and fitness professionals to understand the integrative function of the neuromuscular  system as it relates to human movement.   For the fulcrums and levers of the body to move efficiently muscles must be free to move independently, but also as one.

When an individual muscle become dysfunctional due to the formation of scar tissue, trigger points, or adhesions, the entire movement system will be affected.  Not only is the neurological feed to the muscle compromised, but also its ability to produce, reduce, and stabilize force effectively.

Intramuscular coordination must first be established, which involves proper motor unit recruitment within the muscle.  Once this is achieved inter-muscular coordination can then be accomplished which is the ability of the neuromuscular system to activate muscles in the proper sequence for the most effective and efficient movement possible.

Trigger Point Performance’s education and tools empower individuals to take care of their muscle tissue through self-administered deep tissue massage.  Each manipulation strategically targets and addresses dysfunctional tissue in key areas of the body, restoring intra-muscular coordination so that inter-muscular coordination can be achieved.  The result is fluid, pain free movement that maximizes performance in life and sport.