The joints are often the limiting factor for range of motion causing pain and altered motor function. Many of our athlete patients have an old injury that was not properly rehabilitated. This presents later on in life as a lack of mobility that needs to be restored.
How Mobility Changes As We Age
Often, it is the capsule that surrounds our joint that gets fibrous and stuck to itself with repetitive or lack of motion. When functioning properly this capsule imparts mobility and stability throughout the movement.I look at my kids and I’m in awe of the mobility they have in a deep squat, or getting a leg behind their head with the same ease.
Sometime around the age of 25 we all start the process of fibrosis, and we can no longer get away with poor motor habits. On top of that, we are no longer doing 3+ hours of exercise a day and are usually stuck behind a desk for 8+ hours a day.
How to Maximize Your Physical Performance
We walk, even run, we take an exercise class, maybe do a little yoga or foam rolling. However, we end up adding fitness on top of dysfunction. Down that path leads joint degeneration and arthritis. Do you have a system in place that addresses your mobility needs so you don’t break down?
To maximize your physical performance performance and reduce the potential for injury you need a system that addresses:
- Short tight muscles
- Soft tissue and joint capsule restrictions
- Motor Control Dysfunction
- Joint Range of motion limitations
Correct human motion is non-negotiable, and technique provides the means necessary to fully express movement in the most stable position possible.
At the Center for Spine Care and Mobility (CSC+M) we identify your dysfunctional and/or painful patterns of restriction and mobilize within your pain free position to improve performance and reduce injury.
How Super Bands are Used To Improve Mobility
Our New York Chiropractors are great at improving joint range limitations and capsular restrictions on the table-you can take some of that magic off the table and apply them in your own movements using a Super Band.
To help you understand this concept, we use the rubber band analogy: imagine a rubber band that is fat on one end and skinny on the other. If you pull on that rubber band from both ends the skinny part stretches, but you get only a little bit of stretch at the thick end.
Your joint capsule represents the thickest part of the rubber band. In order to effect change within a joint capsule, you need to create space within the joint. This is where banded distraction comes in-meaning that you use a band to create space and facilitate movement around the joint. Physical Therapists and Chiropractors have done this manually for a long time, but the band enables you to do it yourself.
We always address faulty mechanics first, but we will prioritize joint centration if there is an obvious joint problem like lack of shoulder internal rotation, forward rounded shoulders, loss of hip extension, and/or loss of ankle dorsiflexion.
Exercises Using Superbands
Sitting too much?
Our hip flexors start to reflect our working position by becoming adaptively short and stiff. Use the pinch test to illustrate lordotic posture. You have to overextend your spine and keep your knees bent to get the torso upright.
Try super banded hip capsular distraction to fix this capsular pattern of loss of hip extension.
Attach the Super Band to a stabile surface waist high. Hook the band around your hip so the loop is pulling forward and get into a half kneeling position. The band is around knee is downside. Use a a kettlebell or weight to add a slight internal rotation. Organize your core; try not to over extend the back and maintain good breathing
Hold this stretch 30sec or 8 slow breaths. Repeat Daily up to 10x.
- Try Gentle hip traction around ankle.
- Try Gentle hip traction with internal rotation.
- Try Super banded external rotation.
Forward Rounded shoulders?
Our shoulders start to reflect our working position by becoming adaptively short and stiff. A lack of shoulder internal rotation illustrates forward drawn shoulder posture.
The pec gets short and tight and the external rotators get relatively weakened long.
Try super banded shoulder capsular distraction to fix this capsular pattern of loss of shoulder internal rotation.
Attach the Super Band to a stabile surface above your head. Hook the band around the shoulder so it pulls the shoulder back. Bring the shoulder into internal rotation think hand in opposite back pocket. Organize your core, try not to laterally flex the spine or neck, maintain good breathing hold the stretch 30 sec or 8 slow breaths.
- Repeat daily up to 10x.
- Try banded overhead distraction.
- Try overhead distraction with external rotation.
