Lots of Fun On A Free Run

If you've see the latest Bond movie - Casino Royale - you'll remember the chase at the beginning. But rather than a car chase, which we commonly see in movies, this was a 'human chase'!

Well, that scene was inspired by a sport/pastime called Free Running, also known as Le Parkour as it was originaly French.

If you haven't seen the chase at the beginning of Casino Royale, you can check it out in the video below.



Looks kinda fun doesn't it?!

Free Running is a sport/pastime/leisure time activity that is growing in popularity and the beauty of it is that:

• It doesn't require any specialist equipment
• It's great fun to do - no matter what level you're at
• It's an extremely good workout for your body, putting all of your joints through a full range of motion

We all know that postures are becoming more and more compromised as lifestyles become more and more sedentary, and the activities that people do participate in are often very linear. Running is a great example. There's no doubt that running is good from a cardiovascular viewpoint, but from a 'putting all your joints through a full range of motion' viewpoint...well, it doesn't really!

So what can we do to get a full range of motion workout? Well, in addition to your postural therapy program, Free Running is definitely up there as one of the best things you can do.

Last weekend, I decided to stuff myself into four seperate commuter packed trains and trawl from Surrey to North West London to check out one of the very few Free Running classes around. Before I go into any detail, I simply have to say that it was FANTASTIC FUN! (And an extremely good workout too...a bit too good in fact!)

Before I go any further, you should check out David Belle in action. This is the French guy who started it all and he is pretty amazing. Very inspiring to watch and a great incentive to keep getting up and trying it. So I may never reach his ability, but then, it's not so much the destination that's important, rather it's the fun of the journey.

It's all pretty spectacular, but watch out in particular for about 2 minutes 40 into the video where he jumps from one bar to another...the balance, skill, agility and overall strength just shows us what the human body really can do.



Inspiring eh?!

It was that inspiration that led me to go to a class, and while we didn't do anything quite as death defying as that, it was great fun nonetheless.

Now, I don't believe I've mentioned the fact that I was hobbling around like a little old lady all weekend have I?! It wasn't because I injured myself attempting to do a backflip or anything stupid like that (I know my current limits, which I will be expanding). No, the reason I was hobbling around was because of the warm up no less...it nearly killed me!

One of the instuctors could see there were people flaking (including me) and he kept shouting (with a big smile on his face), "come on, this is only the warm up!"

We did all kinds of fun and, most importantly, functional stuff to get the blood pumping. There were:

• Push Ups
• Bear Crawls
• Inch Worms
• Table Tops
• Cobras
• Squat
  

To name but a few.

Click on the links above and you'll see that these are exercises that are already in the Egoscue Practitioners tool box. We may not always use them, but they're there nonetheless.

The squats we did were no ordinary squats though! They had us balancing on tip toes and holding the squat position for a looooong time...and then we came up a little bit and held it some more...and then down a little bit where we held it some more. And up. And down and on and on.

I can safely say I have never had screaming quads like it!

So, if you want to get fit, have fun and play like you probably haven't done since you were a kid, then get yourself along to a Free Running class. I'm off again this evening and I hope to get some cool pictures and videos to show you...so look out for those.

If you are interested in coming along to the class I went to and am going to again this evening, you can find full details here. It's a mere £5 for just over two hours. Can it get any better?!

Have a great weekend and I'll talk to you soon.

Matt

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It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing

I came across this blog post that talks about common golfing injuries and ways to avoid them.

While the sentiment is nice, the 'shot' (message) has been sliced and is heading far from the green and into the rough!

Leading the list of golf injuries is golfer’s elbow. The best way to avoid golfer’s elbow is to strengthen the forearm muscles and slow the swing so that there will be less shock in the arm when the ball is hit.

This is such a common way of thinking when it comes to injuries: "If something hurts, it must be weak. So if it's weak, it needs strengthening". Right? Wrong!!

Golfers elbow (Medial Epicondylitis) , along with tennis elbow (Lateral Epicondylitis), carpal tunnel syndrome and a whole host of other symptoms isn't necessarily a sign of weakness...it's a sign of misalignment.

What's happening is that the shoulder on that same side is out of position (along with the rest of the body). As the shoulder position becomes compromised, it can no longer go through a full range-of-motion and function as it was designed to.

Your body knows that you have to keep moving and going about your day, no matter what, so it will call on other muscles and body parts to do the job that the strong and mighty shoulder should be doing.

And who's it gonna call? No, not Ghostbusters...your elbows and wrists are the ones that pay the price for a dysfunctional shoulder and take up the slack. Now, just as every muscle in your body (over 600) has a specific job and operates within a team, so too do your joints.

Your shoulders, in a functional position, are designed to rotate (as per its ball and socket function) and they're also designed to hinge forwards and backwards. But when their position becomes compromised and they get stuck in a forward hinged position (for example) they can't assist you properly in driving the ball down the fareway.

Instead, the elbows and wrists are called on to do a job they were never designed to do. The result? Well, we know that rubbing two sticks together creates enough friction to start a fire (in theory - I was never able to do it as a kid...but that's another story ;>) ). And it's the same for muscles and tendons that are inflamed from over work: eventually they rub, which causes friction, which causes the pain.

Now, you can strengthen your forearm muscles all day long and it will do nothing to address the underlying problem that caused the pain in the first place. Remember, pain is simply a message. It's telling you that something is wrong and that it needs you to do something about it. It isn't to be feared, it's to be understood.

Your body works as a unit. Misalignment in one part can and does affect the rest of it. Nothing happens in isolation.

If you're suffering with any elbow pain, do these exercises from The Egoscue Method and see what happens. They are designed to treat the cause of your pain, rather than the symptom...they will start the process of repositioning your shoulder and getting you more bilateral, which in plain English, means having the left and right side of your body functioning as it was designed to.

Let me know how you get on and if you have any questions.

Talk to you soon.

Matt

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So You Think You've Got Good Posture?

How 'good' do you think your posture is?

One thing I hear quite a lot from folks calling or emailing to find out more about the work I do is something like, "I get the occasional bit of back pain / knee pain / '_____ fill in the blank' pain, but I think I've got pretty good posture".

In my experience, anyone who has pain such as knee pain or back pain also has a compromised posture...a body that no longer looks or functions according to how it was designed to look and function.

In fact, in my experience, pretty much anyone who doesn't have any pain has a compromised posture!

It's a modern day epidemic!

So, would you like to find out for sure? How would you like a complimentary posture assessment to see exactly how yours compares to the 'blueprint design?

On Thursday 27th September, I'm holding a Postural Awareness Open Day at the health club I work at in London.

This is a one day only event and places are already filling fast. To get the full details and to make sure you reserve your spot, click here.

I look forward to seeing you next Thursday!

Matt

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If It's Broke, Patch It!

If you're familiar with The Egoscue Method and functional fitness, you may already be aware of what's called 'The Patch'.

The Patch is an absolutely great way to put your body through a full range of motion and have great fun at the same time! Now, you may not have one of these in your back garden - not many of us have...but that doesn't mean you can't get creative!

All you need to do is find a few objects that you can leap over, crawl under and scuttle across ;>) Just watch kids at play (if they actually get out that is...they're doing it less and less nowadays, which will be the subject of a future post or two), and you'll see how they improvise on the go.

Here's Egoscue's latest video, with Pete Egoscue talking about how The Patch came into being.



The black & white footage that you saw in that video was of an Eastern European (I think Polish) Olympic Weight Lifting Team from around the early 1960's.

Notice how much of their training actually involved lifting weights? Very little.

That's because, like Egoscue, they recognised that the body functions as a unit and it needs to be trained in all areas, in all planes of motion.

If you're wondering what 'planes of motion' are, I'll let you know in a future post.

For now, have a great weekend and make sure you get out and get some movement!

Matt

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Baby Builds Good Posture!

OK, so it's been far longer than I had hoped it would be since my last post...this will change!

If you've been following the goings on from my previous blog, then you'll no doubt remember that I became an uncle for the first time back in February of this year. Here's a page I put up on my website when my nephew was born.

I'm very please to say that the little feller is doing extremely well and is developing as a baby should develop. Interestingly, he's picked up quite a cool little habit that would have many an adult screaming!

You see, an exercise that we often use in The Egoscue Method for posture correction is called Foot Circles and Point/Flexes. It's a bit of a killer and usually causes a grimace at the very least and often nothing short of screams of torture (which I get no pleasure from observing, honest ;>) ).

Here's a video of Foot Circles from the Egoscue website, so you get an idea of what they're about.

Does that look like your kind of fun? Cool, I thought it might...

Now, here's a wee video of nephew number one performing his latest habit. Notice that he's doing (naturally) what many of us scream and moan about?!

This is what we are designed to do from early development right through until old age. We're not designed to stop at, say, our teenage years and then slowly decline...we are designed to do this stuff until the end!


Let me know what you think of the video!

Talk to you soon.

Matt

Welcome!

Hello!

I'm very pleased to say that the new blog is here!

It will cover many things to do with posture and health, including all your favourites such as:

• Back Pain
• Knee Pain
• Hip Pain
• Scoliosis etc

There will also be all the latest in the world of The Egoscue Method and Muscle Balance & Function (MBF).

And because our bodies work as a unit, there will probably be other bits and pieces that aren't directly related to posture and health, but are very important nonetheless!

You are invited to share all the news and views and to leave comments on any of the posts. If you have a question or if there's something you'd like to see covered, please send me an email!

Talk to you soon.

Matt

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