Growth is outside of your comfort zone.

I’ve heard the above phrase a number of times and it accurately described my feelings as I traveled to New York City for a Neurokinetic Therapy workshop.

It was my first time taking a train and navigating around a huge city by myself.  But, it was worth it!

In a small fitness center, I was surrounded by doctors, physical therapists, massage therapists, and other personal trainers.  We all learned how to test for muscular dysfunction.

Since I’ve been practicing the protocol with my clients, I’ve learned even more about corrective exercise.  Below are my key takeaways from Neurokinetic Therapy training.

• Massage, acupuncture, and foam rolling are all forms of release. If you’re not doing an activation of another muscle in combination with your release, it’s an incomplete solution/treatment.
• Scars are the highest priority for areas to be released. They are overactive bullys and can shut down function of several other muscles.
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• The brain is highly involved in how your muscles function.  Sometimes it just needs help making a connection to the muscles.  It takes very minimal intensity to activate a weak muscle.
• You’re not as strong as you think you are. — I consider myself to have a solid foundation of strength since I lift weights twice a week and can do pushups on my toes.  So it was very humbling to have moderate pressure manual resistance applied to my muscles and have them fail.  If you want to read about my abs failing, go here.
• Two-sided problems mean you must address core stability.  For example, if you have pain in both hips, it’s a good idea to look to the core to see what’s weak.
• My obsession with glute activation and core stability is totally legit because they are very commonly neurologically off!
• Muscle testing is totally new to me, but I can now dial in on a specific muscle and determine if it’s tight and strong or tight and weak.
• Where your hands go when you’re laying down often tells you what is overactive. Mine consistently go to my diaphragm.  And yes, it’s totally possible to have an overactive diaphragm.  I found a perfect example in my dad who was a career singer.  His homework is to release his diaphragm with self massage in order to get one of his core muscles to turn on/function/activate.
• The core, aka, the 5 powerhouse muscles is the first place to look for any dysfunction.
• Shoulder problems are more often scapular rhythm problems.  Meaning, your shoulder blade isn’t moving optimally due to muscular imbalances there.  Yet you feel the pain in your shoulder.

I’ve definitely had a learning curve as a put my new knowledge into application, but I’m enjoying seeing the results.

Let’s take my client as an example.  She injured her shoulder trying to move a heavy generator.  I found the overactive trigger point which was causing significant pain and had her release it with self massage.

I had also tested all of her shoulder and rotator cuff muscles to determine which ones were weak.  I gave her several light strengthening exercises and then rechecked her range of motion.  The pic below demonstrates her pain free range of motion in her shoulder.  Though not perfect and she still has daily homework to do, I’d say that’s pretty good improvement!

This is how I can help my clients now.  I’m totally stoked!