- drnapolitano
The Backbone of Movement
From a musculoskeletal standpoint, the spine plays a vital role in providing protection, support, control, stability, and mobility so that we are able to produce and achieve quality movement and efficiency from the inner most part of our bodies, like the hip and shoulder girdles, to the outermost parts- arms, hands, legs, feet etc. 𝐁𝐮𝐭, 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐀𝐋𝗪𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐚 𝐁𝐔𝐓…𝗪𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐬 🔑 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝟺 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝟹- 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 (𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬), 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 (𝘮𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦), 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 (𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬). 🔑 𝘌𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 🔑 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 🔑 𝘐𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘦 🔑 𝘉𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞- 𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰… 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 When our posture is compromised from too much sitting, we tend to develop a rounded upper back with an associated forward head posture = neck, shoulder pain and possibly headaches 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸 To compensate for an increased rounding in the upper/mid spine, our lower back will excessively curve inwards (hyperextension) causing the pelvis to tilt in an anterior or downward direction= increased pressure in lower spine and low back pain can occur 𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐀𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞? Golfers must train in ALL planes of motion- sagittal, frontal, and transverse, for increased power output and maximized performance, as all planes of motion are hugely tied to the golf swing. The same goes for the overhead athlete as this population tends to base the majority of their training in the sagittal plane (flexion/extension). When our Tspine is stiff, our neck, low back, and shoulders begin to make up for this sad loss in movement. In the upper body, this lack of mobility will not allow the shoulders to achieve adequate elevation placing stress on the neck, shoulders and even elbows. In the lower body, the areas that work to provide stability and support like our lumbar spine (low back), tends to be the area of compromise as it will begin to make up for that lost rotational motion at the tspine. Problem is, our lumbar spine holds a very small rotational capacity, and our neck and shoulders are already built for mobility therefore adding to their job forces them to become too mobile and throws off posture and joint positioning. These physical limitations are the cause of faulty movement patterns and when these two combine forces it will result in poor power production with swing, throwing, and overhead lifting mechanics and eventual pain or injury. Yikes!..Call me