Progression-Regression-Variation

The
”after” phase

At FMF, we see a lot of people in the “after” phase. We meet people who are injured for a huge variety of reasons but something pretty common is that at some point in their life they did too much too soon.

Whether that was in weight lifting, dance class, yoga, etc. Sometimes that was the event that caused the injury they’re coming in for and other times it’s something that happened long ago and now they’ve built multiple injuries on top of it.

Meeting our bodies where they are at in whatever sport or movement is vital to having success and to avoid injury. There is no use in pushing ourselves to do something we have not gotten to yet and then getting set back a few days, weeks, months, or even years depending on the injury.

As trainers and coaches it’s our responsibility to identify where that is for a client and stay very aware of how they are tolerating the movements and loads you’re giving them. It’s all too common that a coach brings a male client to the floor and says ok lets start with 10 push ups and the client can’t even do one correctly. He’s got his neck all over the place, shoulder joints knocked out of place, hips practically on the floor and overall a very ineffective exercise for this body.

We must always begin with assessments to find out where our clients are at, meet them there, and design an effective program with progressive overload to get them where they want to be. It is also important as a practitioner to be able to communicate with a client who may think they are able to use certain weights or movements that they cannot and that they need to take a step back in a gentle, firm and encouraging way. That is where progressions, regressions, and variations come in for today’s blog.

“Meet them where they are at”

As trainers and coaches it’s our responsibility to identify where that is for a client

In training we can progress a movement by making it harder. This can be done by adding weight, adding repetitions, or changing the environment i.e making the surface unstable, using closed eyes, or adding in a toss. But we can also make an exercise easier if a client is not yet able to perform something with solid posture. Oftentimes, people call this a regression. While that is correct terminology, at FMF we like to instead simply call changes to movements or exercises “variations”.

“Regression” naturally has a negative connotation. We find that people have more positive reactions to being taught a variation to an exercise versus a regression. Especially in the rehabilitation setting, it is important to keep clients motivated and encouraged because rehabbing injuries is a mentally challenging place to be. Being in physical pain takes a mental toll.

It is ok to not be able to do something. Coaches and trainers…. It's important to step up as leaders in this area to show our clients the value in the quality of their movements and not let them hurt themselves.

Stay tuned for next week’s blog about a few specific exercise examples from the FMF office.

Ouch! My Neck, My Back, My Knee!

How Functional Movement Exercises Saved My Body

I had never heard of the term “functional movement” before somewhere around the mid-2010s.

Before that time, I used to believe treatment programs like physical therapy were meant for either hardcore or professional athletes on one end of the spectrum or people who really didn’t take care of themselves on the other. 

What I didn’t realize is that functional movement is actually a way to heal the body and prevent future injury. It can also help many people avoid unnecessary surgery on their shoulder, knee, back, or other areas of the body.

There are a few things you should know about me. Even though I’ve been a committed exerciser since age 22 (and for those of you who are wondering, I’ll be 36 years this week!), my job has always been sedentary. I’m a professional writer/editor who sits at a computer all day, and even though I devote 30-60 minutes per day to some form of exercise (running, strength training, walking), I’m not moving much the rest of the time. 

I began to have pains from time to time in my neck, shoulder, and back.

Usually, these pains would subside, but one particular time (the night before running my first half marathon, in fact), my shoulder was so uncomfortable I was worried I was having a mild heart attack.

A friend recognized my symptoms and referred me to Foundation Movement & Fitness, where I first met Lorae Metrolis. And that’s when everything changed for me. 

Lorae provided a program of functional movement exercises. These strengthening and stretching moves, when performed over time, heal bodily aches and pains because they get to the root of them. A regular routine of preventative moves can stop them from occurring again.

After consistently doing these movements (including wall angels, which were one of the most effective exercises for me), I was soon able to move smoothly through my day with no pain or stiffness.

But a few years later, I had pain again—in my neck. See, even though Lorae had given me a sheet of exercises to do a few times a week that were designed to keep me nimble, I ignored them. Subsequently, the pain returned (albeit in a different spot on my body). 

I had learned my lesson.

With my proverbial tail between my legs

Back to Lorae I went, my proverbial tail between my legs, and she cheerfully fixed me again.

She also taught me a great foam roller stretch for keeping my neck loose and limber:

1. Lie on the floor with a foam roller under your neck, perpendicular to your body. 

2. Slowly roll your head to the left as far as it will go comfortably, then to the right. (You should hear your hair moving along the roller as you do this.) 

3. Repeat 10-12 times, at least 3 times a week.

I do this stretch on my strength-training days after I work out so don’t forget. Result? My neck rarely bothers me anymore, and if should start to feel stiff, repeating this stretch works out the kinks for me.

These days, I’m a true believer in functional movement exercises. Time and again, these moves have corrected the imbalances caused by my occupational hazard (working at a desk all day) and have allowed me to get rid of pain and stiffness without drugs or surgery. I think it’s pretty amazing. If you’re having consistent pain or discomfort in your body, this approach could be the answer for you, too.

Written by Carrie Rossenfeld

Correcting Posture 2:1 Ratio

Hey Friends!

Today we are going to be going over a quick lesson on some directional terminology that can be super helpful to know. (It also plays a role in the size of your glutes! More on that later...) In the science world, the body is said to be in “Anatomical Position” when it is standing face forward, arms down by the side and palms facing forward. This is very important because this gives anyone in the medical field a universal way to discuss the body and body parts with everyone knowing what they are referring to 

Well, how does that apply to your posture and the size of your behind? Well, today we’re just going to take into account the front and back of this anatomical position. The front of your body is “anterior” and the back is “posterior”. In modern society, most things we do are in front of us. We typically work during the week for long periods of time on something in front of us such as a computer, writing, a client’s hair, a tattoo, machinery, a surgery, etc. Basically life makes us anterior chain dominant because we are always using our anterior chain muscles and always neglecting our posterior chain. 

Now if you use muscles such as your pectoralis muscles and your hip flexors and quads and biceps all day long they are going to develop more and become tighter by nature. Consequently your glutes and rhomboids and lats are going to weaken and become overstretched. So when training it's really important that we focus on posterior chain strengthening and anterior chain opening. Things like rolling your pecs with a lacrosse ball can be a great way to open your pec muscles throughout the day. Doing exercises to target your glutes such as hip thrusts, RDLs, and lateral band walks are great to build strength but also to help open up your quads and hip flexors. 

So now that you know the different chains, there is a good rule of thumb to keep in mind when creating your workouts Try implementing a 2:1 ratio of posterior to anterior chain muscle training So if you are going to do a chest workout such as a push up or bench press, offset that with any two back workouts. The can be in any order, the idea is just to balance out the already large anterior chain dominance we get from our lifestyles in the gym.

Sumo, Conventional & All things deadlift

This is the third and final part of our deadlift series. So if you haven’t yet, go ahead and read the first two before this one so you have a solid background on our conversation about deadlifts!

So let’s dive into sumo deadlifts.

With a sumo deadlift and a conventional deadlift, the starting point of the lift is the same. It is different, however, from the Romanian deadlift. The starting point and ending point of the lift is with the weight on the ground, whereas with the Romanian it starts and ends standing up. 

---

Below are the steps to take for the sumo deadlifts

1. Place your feet on the ground in a stance about one step wider than a squat position with your toes pointed out and bring the barbell right up to your shins, knees spread out super wide.

2. Take a nice deep belly breath and then lock in your core by thinking about someone punching your tummy or by drawing your hip bones together (learning to brace your core is something one needs to understand before performing any deadlift so if they are unsure what this means or how to do it please review that first as it is extremely important so that you do not injure your back).

3. Holding the barbell, sit your hips back and spread your knees wide so that your hips are just slightly above your knees, not as far down at a squat.

4. Engage your shoulder blades together; think back and down, taking the slack out of the bar and squeeze your glutes to stand up, thinking about pushing the ground away from you with your feet.

5. Come to a pelvic tuck at the top, keep your breath held, and then hinge your hips back, knees wide and bring the weight back to the ground.

---

Conventional Deadlifts

For a conventional deadlift, you’ll perform basically the same movement just with a different stance. You will have your feet pointed forward and shoulder width apart. The rest of the movement is the same so you will notice that the big difference here is that it requires a lot of hip mobility to get into the position for the conventional deadlift without having some rounding in the lower back. A lot of people simply don’t have that available to them. Secondly, because of that difference in foot placement, in the sumo deadlift, the bar has less of a distance to travel to pick it up off the ground meaning theoretically one should be able to lift a bit more weight when doing the sumo versus the conventional.  

So now we have some videos to talk about the “hip lift” in a deadlift. I am sharing these videos to emphasize one big aspect of deadlifts, which if I had to choose (aside from proper breathwork) would probably be the most important part to AVOID back injuries during deadlifts.

This issue is WHEN YOUR HIPS SHOULD RISE when performing the deadlift. What I want you to look at in this video is his hips. Your hips should go up at the same time as the rest of your body. They should not be the first thing to go up. In the videos you can see we are working on getting his hips to stop popping up before he starts lifting the barbell. This is so common. When you view from the side like this it is very obvious but when you’re doing them with no visual feedback it can be hard to tell. I film my clients frequently in many lifts to give them feedback and we lift a lot in front of mirrors. 

If your find yourself struggling with this issue, there are a few things to try

#1 Decreasing the weight

one problem if this is happening may simply be that the client cannot lift the amount of weight on the bar. After this if you see a slight improvement but still see the hips lifting first try a few different cues.

#2 Cues. Some cues I use for clients

Before you even move: 
Big breath into your core 360*
Brace
Pull the bar until it locks your shoulder into place and pull with your lats

Keep your head neutral, DON’T look up before you lift and strain your neck

Next:

Think about pushing the ground away from your with your feet and (in a sumo) spread your knees wide

Squeeze your glutes, use power in your hips and then wait for the bar to move

Think about SENDING YOUR GLUTES through your hips like a hip thrust

As you can see in the video with proper hip movement, his hips do not move until the bar starts to move. The reason this is important is because when you raise your hips and start to pull with your lumbar spine, it curves and all the load goes into your vertebrae which can cause a lot of damage and over time cause low back pain to start if it doesn’t just begin right away. So if you are having these problems there are a lot of little things going on as well. 

At FMF we teach your body stability and how to move efficiently which translates directly into heavy lifts like deadlifts as well as any sport and daily activity. But deadlifts have a huge neurological component. It's a triple extension movement and knowing how to activate the correct muscles is very important. 

So I hope you learned a lot from this three part series on deadlifting. Feel free to reach out with any questions, we’d love to connect with you!

As always, if you feel like you would like to work with us at FMF and improve your posture and movement and become pain free, send us an email or DM on Instagram or just book yourself a consult on our website!

Thanks so much for learning with us this week and happy deadlifting!

New Year, New Moves

Happy New Year, beautiful people!

For many of us, the new year tends to prompt reassessment, leading to changes that enable a healthier lifestyle.

---

January seems so full of possibilities for growth and fresh starts that it can be quite exhilarating, especially after the typical overindulgences of the holiday season that just ended. In fact, we might tend to go overboard in our zealousness to change, which can ultimately lead to a return to old habits that may not serve us well.

So, let’s make this year different.

Let’s make 2022 a year to approach healthy starts in a way that sets us up for success. Here are a few suggestions for accomplishing that.

1. Choose one thing to change at a time.

While it’s tempting to plan a complete life overhaul at the beginning of a new year, this method usually leads to failure. It’s just too overwhelming to try to change too many things at once. In fact, it takes at least two months to develop just one new habit—it makes sense that the more new habits you try to create, the longer they will take to stick. And if you don’t see results right away, you’re less likely to maintain that good behavior.

Instead, just pick one aspect of your health you’d like to change. It helps to start with something small, like giving up biting your nails or going to bed 30 minutes earlier. Once that habit becomes ingrained and you are starting to see positive results, then you can start implementing the next change. 

---

2. Let your passion guide you to healthier behaviors.

Let your curiosity guide the way…

If you let your own curiosity lead the way, you can find yourself trying all sorts of new things over the course of your life.

Instead of forcing yourself to commit to unappealing but “healthy” new habits, like giving up sugar or exercising an hour every day, pay attention to what draws you in and let your enthusiasm lead the way.

For example, several years ago, I saw a picture of someone doing stand-up paddle boarding and thought, “Wow—that’s cool!” It led me to take a few lessons that allowed me to really enjoy this new, challenging sport. Similarly, a friend encouraged me to try running 13 years ago (a sport I had despised when I was younger), and I discovered a new passion.

You may conclude that you don’t want to do them forever (I soon found SUP cumbersome), or you could realize you want to make them a permanent part of your life (I still run with a buddy three times a week and love it). Trying something new, guided by your interests, allows you to know yourself better, and it can lead to positive, lasting changes rather than forced habits that you discard once you tire of them.

---

3. Think of change as a reward.

Saying, “I have to lose 20 pounds” or “No wine for two months” makes these changes punishments—and who wants to commit to that?

Instead, think of the things you do to better your health as rewards in themselves. Every time you add vegetables to your meal, you’re improving your skin and your digestion—and you’ll feel better. Getting at least seven hours of sleep will give you more energy to do the things you want to do the next day.

I do functional movement exercises a few times a week so I can move through my day without discomfort. I never dread doing them because every day without pain is a gift. One of my favorite moves for keeping my hips and knees nimble is the wishbone:

Place a beachball or similar-sized rubber ball on the floor against a wall or sofa. With your back braced against the ball, squat as low as you can, pressing your knees to each side, for at least 30 seconds. (Your bottom should be well below your knees if you’re doing it right)

As you reassess your health goals at this time of year, why not set yourself up for success in your endeavors? By choosing one thing to change at a time, letting your passion guide you to healthier behaviors, and thinking of change as a reward in itself, you are more likely to stick to your resolutions and enjoy the ride along the way.

Written by Carrie Rossenfeld

Oh my, It’s RDL Time!

Hi everyone, welcome back to our deadlifts series, if you haven’t read part one please refer back to that before diving into this post. 

So let’s start by explaining the difference between a Romanian, conventional, and sumo deadlift.

RDL (Romanian deadlift): An RDL is, (in my opinion), is usually the best place to start with learning deadlift. They are the easiest to perform because they involve the least amount of moving joints and they are a great start to learning the hinge motion that precedes the other deadlift variations.

The starting position of the RDL is standing up straight in a neutral position holding whatever type of weight you are using, most commonly dumbbells, kettlebells, or a barbell. Below are the steps to perform the RDL

1. Take a nice deep belly breath and then lock in your core by thinking about someone punching your tummy or by drawing your hip bones together (learning to brace your core is something one needs to understand before performing any deadlift so if they are unsure what this means or how to do it please review that first as it is extremely important so that you do not injure your back).

2. Engage your shoulder blades together; think back and down

3. Hinge your hips back toward whatever is behind you (if you do not know how to properly hinge your hips we have a blog post called “Stick Hinge”, please refer to this before doing a deadlift).

4. While sending your butt back let your torso bend forward lowering the weight until the point where you are no longer able to stay neutral in your lower back and are not rounding forward and then squeeze your butt to stand back up

Next post we’ll review a sumo deadlift, a conventional deadlift and finally, the hip lift. Sumo deadlifts are typically what I teach second. Certainly with someone lacking hip mobility I would do sumos before conventional to accommodate that. Other options would be to pull from a raised platform for the conventional if you wanted to do conventional before sumos. Sumo deadlifts can absolutely help improve any lacking mobility and obviously any client with these issues should 100% be working on that in their programming as well, but they are also just a great and fluid next step from the Romanian while on the way to the conventional if that is the end goal.

*Just to note, there are some clients with whom I don’t ever get to the conventional deadlift which is perfectly fine. The conventional is the most complex and the easiest one to mess up and hurt oneself. For example, with inexperienced clients, older clients, and clients with a lot of pre-existing injuries, I don’t find it necessary to get into the conventional deadlift as there are copious benefits from just doing the Romanian and sumo as well as plenty of variations of those two.

Alright thanks so much for learning more about deadlifts with us. Reach out by email or on our Instagram with any questions you may have! We’d love to connect with you!

See you next week!

Your postural movement specialists

Oh my, Deadlift I: Function and Why

Hello friends!

The next three weeks we are talking deadlifts. Romanian Deadlifts, Conventional Deadlifts, Sumo Deadlifts. 

• What are they?

• What's the difference between them?

• How to perform them correctly?

• Which one is best for you? 

• and everything else you need to know...

Deadlifts are fantastic for building functional strength and movement patterns. There are quite a few variations of deadlifts and choosing what type of deadlift someone might want to do depends on a few things. Just to name a few, these include the person’s body mechanics and abilities, the person’s goals, and their current available range of motion and mobility.

For example, a person with very minimal hip mobility might do better with sumo deadlifts as they don’t require as much depth from the hip joint as conventional. A person looking to specifically target their hamstrings over all else may choose a Romanian deadlift over a conventional. And someone with shoulder problems may try a hex bar deadlift as you can keep a neutral grip and don’t have to have your shoulders in an internally rotated position, as with a straight barbell. 

• Overall some benefits of deadlifts include:

• Posterior chain strength

• Low body strength and power

• Challenge nervous system

• Great for physique

• Good for posture and functional strength

• Teach stable and safe way to pick things up - helping with injury prevention

• Reinforces core stability and proper breathing mechanics
  

There are so many reasons to deadlift but there is a common misperception that deadlifts are dangerous because people can hurt themselves when they are done wrong. They don’t need to be feared, if anything we should run towards deadlifts. Just like any exercise, especially when done heavy, you can surely injure yourself. But learning to do deadlifts correctly doesn't have to be complicated, it can be simplified so people at many levels can use different variations of deadlifts at different intensities and loads.

Next week we will start to go over RDLs and talk a little more about form and function! Thanks for reading this week. As always feel free to reach out to us with questions and if you are looking to improve your posture and get out of pain, we’d love to work with you so send us an email or book a consultation on our website!

See you next week!

Your postural movement specialists

How to Take Time for Self-Care During the Holidays

Tis the season again, folks. Seems like it starts increasingly earlier every year. The Halloween decorations come down the same day the Christmas lights go up—and Thanksgiving is thrown in the middle. Sounds like a recipe for stress, doesn’t it?

While the holidays can cause anxiety for so many of us, it’s important at this time of year to rise above the fray and take time for self-care. Remember that you can’t fill other people’s wells if yours is empty. The reason for the season is all about joy, celebration, and love—including self-love.

What does self-care look like when your holiday to-do list keeps getting longer? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Stop. 

Take a minute to breathe, look around you, recognize the beauty in your life, and be grateful for what you have. 

Scientific studies have shown that gratitude actually leads to happiness, and there’s no better time to be thankful than the holiday season. There is ALWAYS something to be grateful for, no matter what you’re experiencing. Find it and think about it. When you acknowledge grateful feelings, they become more real, and they grow.

Also, spending a moment or two taking slow, deep breaths changes your brain chemistry so you are calmer and better equipped to handle holiday demands. Here’s a brief breathing exercise that will help steady you:

Think of a word or short phrase that represents the state you want to be in (peace, calm, clarity, grounded, centered, etc.).

1. Close your eyes.

2. Taking a slow inhale, pay attention to your breath. Picture it slowly filling your lungs.

3. Taking a slow exhale, think of our word or phrase.

4. Repeat as needed or desired.

As you focus on the positive, your heart becomes lighter and happier. Suddenly, you’re not so worried about your to-do list. Maybe you lay it aside for a half hour and go play you’re your child or your dog. Maybe you tackle the list with gusto, buoyed by these positive feelings. Or maybe you just realize you don’t have to take everything so seriously.

2. Say no, occasionally.

Despite beliefs to the contrary, you don’t have to shoulder every responsibility thrown at you—or attend every party to which you’re invited. The holidays are hectic enough without thinking you’re obligated to cram every activity imaginable into eight weeks.

This time of year, it’s easy to feel out of control because your life can be dictated by outside forces (including other people’s schedules, needs and desires). When you give yourself permission to say no, you’re putting control back into your own hands, which relieves a lot of the pressure you may be feeling to “do it all.”

A great way to say “no” without using that word is, “Thank you, but I’m going to pass this time.” You can offer to do something else instead, revisit the subject later, or leave it at that, depending on your comfort level.

Say “no” to a friend’s cocktail party—and plan to get together with that friend in January instead. Say “no” to running the Christmas charity event—and volunteer for something that you’re passionate about in the spring. Keep in mind that there is life after the holidays for you to live and enjoy.

3. Connect to your spiritual side.

Whether or not you are observant or religious, the holidays allow us to access our spirituality more readily. The last month of the year does contain some of the most beloved religious holidays many of us have celebrated our whole lives in some form.

Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, Chanukah, or Kwanzaa, you can use this time to connect with a divine higher power that is larger than you can comprehend. There is something very soothing about this. It creates a sense that there is a larger purpose to our existence than the day-to-day grind, and that can alleviate concerns and worries both large and small.

To that end, you can go to a church or synagogue service, take a long walk and contemplate the certainty of day and night, or simply sit in your backyard and watch the stars come out. However you choose to connect to your spiritual side, your stress level is guaranteed to drop.

4. Move.

Not your home—your body. Movement is one of the key rejuvenators to which we can always turn. 

Your body may be craving movement more during the holidays since it’s a wonderful way to raise your endorphins and reduce cortisol levels.

In addition to whatever form of exercise you like, simple movements like head rolls, shoulder stretches, and wishbones can produce similar good feelings and relieve the stress that builds up in the body at holiday time. 

Check out our website for more about incorporating movement into your daily routine.

While the hectic pace of the holidays can produce negative emotions, many of them can be counteracted with a deliberate self-care plan. When you remember to stop and look around, turn down invitations and responsibilities occasionally, connect to your spiritual side, and incorporate simple movements into your daily life, you can reduce stress and amplify the positive and joyful aspects of the season – this year and every year to come.

Written by Carrie Rossenfeld

Spinal Muscles: What are they and why do they matter?

You may have heard of spinal muscles before, maybe with a coach or in physical therapy. There are three most commonly referred to: the QL or quadratus lumborum, the multifidus, and the erector spinae.

Let's dive into what these muscles are and what they do!

The Quadratus Lumborum “QL” is a deep spinal muscle relatively large and long in size. It extends from the lowest rib to the pelvis. It has a tendency to get tight from sitting and lack of movement throughout the day so it’s important to stretch and mobilize but it’s also important to strengthen! This gets forgotten a lot because people associate it with getting tight and therefore are told to or think to stretch it, not strengthen it.

The Multifidus: This muscle is integral in supporting the lumbar spine and protecting your joints. It is made up of three muscles and is pretty thin but very long as it runs down your entire spine and connects deep in your pelvis. It contracts when you extend your spine and when you rotate your torso.

The Erector Spinae are long thin muscles that stabilize the vertebrae. They are also responsible for extension of the spine, rotation and holding you upright.

So as you can see it’s pretty important ….

that these muscles are functioning properly so that you can stand, move and protect your spine. If you are experiencing back pain it is pretty likely that at least one of these muscle groups aren’t doing what they are supposed to either because they are tight or aren’t contracting properly.

Head over to our last post where we posted workouts to do to target each of these muscles specifically as well as the rest of your core muscles. 

Have a great week!

Your postural movement specialists

If you are ready to take the step to improve your posture and get out of pain, book your consultation with us online or send us an email. We’re always happy to answer questions and get you started on your journey to better health.

Form Verse FUNction

WHAT IF YOUR FAVORITE SWEATER WAS SHAPED LIKE PANTS INSTEAD AND YOUR FAVORITE PANTS TURNED INTO THE SHAPE OF SOCKS AND YOUR FAVORITE SOCKS TURNED INTO A SWEATER!?

WELL, I’LL TELL YOU WHAT WOULD HAPPEN… THEY WOULD NO LONGER BE YOUR FAVORITE ITEM THAT THEY WERE BEFORE BECAUSE THEY CHANGED SHAPE.

THEY CHANGED FORM, THEY CHANGED STRUCTURE. AND STRUCTURE DETERMINES FUNCTION. SO THEY’D NO LONGER FUNCTION AS YOUR FAVORITE CLOTHING ITEM BECAUSE THEY NO LONGER FIT THE PART. 

What does this have to do with bodies!? Well let’s talk a little about biology. 

Cells are the functional units of life. The function is based on what their structure is. Every cell has a purpose to fulfill and that purpose is determined by its structural make up. Our body parts are the same!

Your body was so perfectly engineered to serve a purpose… your knees cannot walk on their own, and your shoulders can’t pick things up right? But in the bigger picture we can see that many many very small structural intricacies come together to make your body function efficiently. 

So what happens when these structures are compromised? When our shoulders become rounded forward instead of being locked in place - nice and stable and mobile? Or a current favorite example - what happens to our FEET when we lock them up into shoes (that completely alter the shape of our foot) all day long? What happens when our feet - which are meant to be strong and muscular, in contact with the ground, and should have open space between each toe - when we deprive them of their natural STRUCTURE by forcing them into shoes? 

They lose their ability to FUNCTION properly.

Point being that we need to value the importance of maintaining the proper structures of our bodies if we want them to perform correctly for us. Let our feet see the light of day or live in shoes with toe space and no heel lift. Let us keep our heads on top of our bodies and not a foot in front of us staring at our phones. Let’s keep correct alignment throughout the day! 

Really my job is pretty beautifully simple because I’m really putting your body back to its original shape so it can function for you and take you through life however you want it to. 

Be good to your bodies, friends, and hit me up if you have any questions. I'm always here to talk!

Make sure you are subscribed to our email list because we send out content a few times a month that you don’t want to miss! (I promise we won’t spam your inbox everyday!) And don’t forget to follow our Instagram to get daily content from us that stays interesting and current!

Until next time,

Your postural movement specialists

The Price of Good Health: Invest Now or Lose Your Shirt Later

These days, it seems like everybody and their uncle is trying to sell you good health. 

“Lose weight fast!” “Regain your strength and energy now!” “Look 10 years younger in 10 days!”

Sound familiar? These ads beg for your attention in print, on TV, online, through email, and via your social media feeds. This type of promotion is screaming at you to notice, and it’s promising you good health—NOW!

But the truth is, real good health doesn’t come in a bottle, a 10-day program, or a quick-fix solution (“only three easy payments of $49.95!”). Real good health comes from some simple self-care and pre-emptive behaviors – the sooner and more consistent the better. Admittedly, this sometimes costs money; but trust me, it’s money well spent.

Don’t believe me? Here are three examples of how investing in preventive care is more beneficial than waiting for health problems to escalate.

Supplements. 

Let’s get one thing straight: supplements are not medicine. While they won’t necessarily cure an illness or disease, they do boost nutrients the body needs – and that could prevent an illness or disease from occurring in the first place. After all, once you’re sick or develop a condition, it costs you time, money and effort trying to cure it, which is certainly no fun.

The truth is, the right supplements at the right time can ward off many ills. For example, adding vitamin C, D and zinc to your diet can boost the immune system, potentially preventing colds, flu and (some believe) even COVID-19.

Yes, supplements do involve money, but the payoff can far outweigh the price tag. The key is to only take the supplements your body needs. Do your research, and heed the advice of a trusted healthcare practitioner before buying.

Movement.

So many health problems can be avoided by incorporating more movement into our lives. And while most people know about the importance of exercise to their overall health, movement isn’t just about exercise.

Did you know that certain movements can prevent and even eliminate neck, shoulder and wrist pain? It’s very common for people who sit in front of a computer all day for work to have pain and stiffness in these areas. That’s because their posture falls out of alignment, and the muscles that are supposed to be supporting them become weak. This forces other muscles take over, and before long, everything hurts.

However, a few simple movements can ease a stiff neck, shoulders, and wrists. Sitting at your desk, bring your left ear toward your left shoulder, stretching the right arm out straight. Spread the fingers of your right hand and move the hand in a windshield wiper motion back and forth as you stretch out the right side of your neck and shoulder. Continue for 30 seconds to a minute. Bet you feel less tension and more relaxed in just that short amount of time.

Click this link to my quick full body movement flow! Follow along for a full body release.

The body craves movement, and unfortunately, many of us spend so much time sitting that we often don’t get enough of it – even if we exercise regularly. If we don’t move our bodies enough, they will tell us. The trick is to add that movement back in before our bodies start screaming at us and serious medical intervention seems like the only solution.

Rest.

Most people underestimate the importance of rest in being a healthy, happy human. A great majority of us are inclined to hit the ground running in the morning and power through the day with few or no stops before we crash at the end of the day. This leads to excess stress levels, which leads to inflammation, which leads to chronic illness. It’s a bad formula.

In reality, rest is more than just getting enough sleep at night – which in itself is becoming a lost value in our culture. Short, regular periods of rest during the day are what sustain us and allow us to perform at our peak, rather than run on empty. Rest fills us up and is vital to productivity. We should all be resting for 20 minutes every 90 to 120 minutes during the day, taking what is known as ultradium rhythm breaks that allow us to recharge and return to work with renewed energy.

What does rest during the day look like? Maybe it’s a power nap, a walk around the block, a dance break, a phone conversation with someone who makes you laugh. It’s less important what you do than actually doing it – separating from your work completely for short bouts of time so you fill up your well and keep your health and sanity.

The best part about rest? It costs you nothing!

“Investing in your health earlier rather than later is smarter and more effective than falling prey to the many false promises that target consumers today. By focusing on preventive care such as supplements, movement and rest, you can pre-empt or reverse many health issues and set yourself up to live a long, happy life that inspires others to do the same.”

— -Carrie R.

Feel free to reach out with any questions, we’d love to connect with you!
As always, if you feel like you would like to work with us at FMF and improve your posture and movement and become pain free, send us an email or DM on instagram or just book yourself a consult on our website!

Thanks so much for learning with us this week and moving, resting, or playing!

Your FMF Team

Written by Carrie Rossenfeld

Stable versus Mobile Joints

Mobility - You’ve heard of it

But what about STAbility?

I’ve noticed that mobility is a hot topic right now and I love that because it’s definitely super relevant this entire past year because everyone went from being anywhere from super active to baseline active to pretty much completely INACTIVE!

So naturally everyone is getting tight hips and shoulders feeling like a hunch back and walking around with joints cracking at every step. Because that’s what happens when you have a more sedentary lifestyle.

Hence why people are putting out courses and discussing mobility to restore that range of motion that’s been lost within your joints and to subsequently reduce some of those aches and pains that might be showing up as well. 

There’s so much to talk about when it comes to mobility but one of the big points I want to emphasize in today’s email is that mobility DOESN’T exist alone! Mobility has a best friend named stability and it’s very important that we understand this when working on improving mobility. There is a lovely and simple graphic that I think is super helpful for understanding what joints need what. They almost perfectly go every other from joint to joint and from head to toe. However some joints actually require BOTH to move properly.

So if you’re looking at the human body skeleton from bottom to top our joints are supposed to have certain functions.

Now realistically each joint does need a little bit of both and sometimes you have cases where, for example, a knee joint is actually fine stability wise but barely has any range of motion in which case it actually needs to gain more mobility. But in general this is what our joints should really look like. 

So while mobility is really important and fun, it’s also important to know where and why you’re practicing and try to improve mobility so that you aren’t attempting to demand mobility from a joint that really needs more stability training rather than mobility. A great example of that is in the lumbar spine. While our hips are meant to be mobile, the lumbar spine is meant to be stable and you’ll see a lot of people doing rotational movements out of their lumbar spine instead of from their hips causing the lumbar spine to become loose and unstable which quickly leads to low back pain. 

We are also posting a really interesting blog that goes deeper into this talking about form and function and how anatomically our different body parts were SPECIFICALLY designed to do different things simply based on what they look like structurally. It’s actually a super simple biological concept that we break down. 

Don’t forget to go follow our Instagram to get daily interesting content on health, movement, and a little bit of fun and silliness. 

If you’re interested in working on improving your mobility safely to decrease pain and stiffness while working on restoring stability and strength where needed. Book your consultation on our website to have personalized posture analysis and a program designed to fit your needs specifically. 

See you soon!
Your postural movement specialists

Ugh.. core... ugh.. planks

Core workout anyone?!

*crickets chirping*

View fullsize

I know, I know… core workouts are hard! I would personally rather do an hour long upper body workout than 10 minutes of core BUT your core muscles are quite literally the reason you are able to stand and sit upright so we should probably pay at least a little attention to them! First, let’s get into some exercises and some anatomy...

And to those of you who love core workouts (I know you’re out there) you’re gonna love this!

We sent out an email this week about the spinal stabilizer muscles (if you aren’t subscribed to our email list, you can just hit the subscribe button on our website so you’ll never miss out!) and talked about their shape and function.

So let’s start with the basic foundational core exercise that everyone knows: the plank.

Everyone seems to know what a plank is but nobody seems to know how to do them correctly and doing them wrong is going to hurt you more than help you! 

To break it down and make it simple...

It’s a plank… so you basically want to LOOK like a plank! 

We’ve talked about how to stand with the pelvis at neutral. not under, core engaged, glutes squeezed, shoulders back and away from the ears and neck in neutral. It’s going to be the same thing but with your hands or elbows and forearms on the ground! 

Here’s the checklist:

1. Shoulders away from your ears and shoulder blades engaged and squeezed together

2. Tighten and engage your core muscles. Think about using your core muscles to draw your hip bones toward your belly button

3. Relax your lumbar spine muscles to decompress your spine and set your pelvis into neutral

4. Don’t forget to BREATHE!

Getting your core strong is one of the basic foundations of proper movement patterns. So starting here, statically, is a great way to build your foundation.

Now moving into just a few more quick ones to hit the spinal stabilization exercises. We have video of each one to help you execute them well.

These next few target the spinal stabilizers specifically like we talked about this week in our subscriber email.

Tall Chop:

Using a medium resistance band, stand parallel to the band and use your core muscles to pull the band to your pocket. Follow the band with your eyes.

*to make this one more difficult, try doing the same exercise at the bottom of a lunge position. As you can see in the video, your legs should be making 90-degree angles at the knee and hip joint and your back knee should be hovering over the ground, not touching it.

Below is the advanced version. Try it!

Bird Dog Plank:

Get into the plank position we talked about above. Try to keep everything steady while extending the opposite arm and leg slowly and controlled and then alternate to the other arm and leg. You want to try to rock and move as little as possible and try to keep your butt from lifting up like a downward dog pose.

Serratus Ball Plank:

In a plank position with your forearms on a stability ball, engage the core muscles the same as described above for a plank and slowly and controlled pulse forward. The further you pulse forward, the more challenging it is to keep your core properly engaged so slowly over time increase your distance and decrease your speed.

Hope you love these exercises! If you have any questions, never hesitate to reach out. We'd love to hear from you.

Talk to you soon!

Your postural movement specialists

Written by: Sabrina Ruediger

An Easy Move to Train the Core and Improve Coordination

A dead bug? Gross!

Noooo not a real dead bug *eye roll

It’s a core exercise! And a great one at that!

The dead bug exercise is primarily a core stabilizing exercise, but there are a lot of other benefits to doing them. It’s one you may have seen before but this will be an in-depth explanation that you might not have heard yet.

First of all, how to execute:

• First, you start laying down on your back and then bring your arms straight up and your knees toward your chest as if you were doing the OPPOSITE of a tabletop position. 

• Next, you’ll want to find and engage your core stabilizer muscles, particularly your transverse abdominis. (we will have another post specifically on TA engagement). 

• Then, engage the muscles and you should find yourself in a position where your lumbar spine is just a little bit off the ground. So, from this position, you simply extend one arm and one leg away from your body while maintaining the core engagement and neutral spine and there you have it. You’re doing a dead bug! 

There is one important point I want to clarify… when engaging your TA, please do not SMASH your lumbar spine into the ground! We want a neutral core for this exercise.

I know we get a lot of clients who have been taught to simply tuck their pelvis under using their glutes in order to find a neutral spine but that actually does not engage the true TA muscles and puts the spine into flexion instead of neutral.

If you’re having back pain in these there are a few possible reasons why.

Two most likely are you simply are not engaging the correct way OR your core muscles aren’t quite strong enough to be doing full dead bugs yet, which is totally fine! You can modify this exercise by keeping your knees tucked in closer to your chest and by not extending your legs completely straight. As you continue practicing these you can progress to the more challenging variations.

Remember, QUALITY movement over everything! Get them right before making them harder, the pain isn’t worth looking cool 😎

There are a few variations you can do with this exercise. One that doesn’t require any other equipment is simply changing the pattern.

So try extending the SAME arm and SAME leg at the same time instead of opposites. 

Mix it up a bit

try same, opposites, opposites, same... 

or same, same, opposite, opposite… you get the idea!

Have some fun with it. 

We have an example of one of my clients incorporating a ball, but omit the ball and it is just as challenging!

So, why else do a dead bug? Here are a few of the other awesome benefits you can reap from doing this exercise:

• Dead bugs mimic and therefore improve gait pattern and upright stability. This then translates directly into walking, running, jumping, and even dancing! Pretty much anything that is a cross-body movement where you move your arms and legs. 

• They make you smarter! Wait what?! Yes, it’s true! Dead bugs require your brain to work quite a bit. You’ll especially notice this when you first try to move your opposite arm and leg and find it harder than you’d think and then again when you try to change the pattern up to the same sides and so on. Strengthening your neuromuscular system is very important. Exercise, in general, does this but specifically doing exercises that make you have to think more is great for your brain. It quite literally keeps you younger and has even been shown to help prevent Alzheimer’s!

• Dead bugs train coordination and proprioception. Yes, both of those things sound really important and they are! Proprioception is your body’s awareness of where it is in space and coordination is how your muscles move at the right times and speeds to create intended movement and they matter for everyone from a toddler to an advanced professional athlete to your 85-year-old grandma or grandpa. The toddler learns this stuff on their own from practice as they get up and fall down over and over. They become more coordinated and proprioceptive because they have to for survival. Coordination might sound like something you only relate to athletes and sports but it's extremely important that your grandparents have and practice coordination daily! Losing proprioception and coordination are actually exactly what ends up in falls in our geriatric population and lead to hip and knee replacements. So go make your grandparents do dead bugs!!!

  The dead bug, while it has a silly name, is not a silly exercise. It has a ton of really important health benefits to all age groups and has a place in truly anyone’s exercise regime. There are progressions for every skill level and every age. What are you waiting for?

• As always, if you have questions or are ready to take the step to work with a movement specialist send us a DM on Instagram @foundation_movement _fitness, an email at foundationmf.info@gmail.com, or just book yourself a consultation by clicking any BOOK NOW button on our website.

Until next time,

Your posture and movement specialists

---

Get Out of Back Pain and Cue those Glutes

We have a fun one for you today! This is called:

The Stick Hinge

Now if you’re not a regular at the gym this might look like a really funny movement to you.

Once you give it a try it’ll start to feel natural pretty quickly because it’s a movement you do every single day. But now we’re just going to learn how to do it properly so that you don’t tweak your back from picking something up off the ground. Because who wants that??

Like I said, this is a very simple movement pattern to bending over to pick something up off the ground.

You’re going to need a PVC pipe or something similar like a Swiffer mop or broomstick. This is the basic breakdown:

1. Put the stick along your spine, straight through the top of your head, and extend past the glutes.

   The stick needs to maintain this contact through the ENTIRE movement. If it doesn’t at first that is totally fine, but that is what you are working towards.

2. Tighten your tummy, think i’m trying to connect the bottom of my ribs to my hip bones.

   This is not a hard contraction of the core, but just get it to engage. This is not a full posterior tilt, but it is a neutral spine.

3. Relax your knees just a bit so they aren’t locked out and HINGE from the hips, not the back.

   Think about sending your hips or butt to whatever wall is behind you. Keep the stick on your back and try and be really neutral in your spine. You will go as low as your hamstrings ( back of the thighs) will let you. Don’t try to bend any deeper, you’ll be going to spinal flexion

4. Squeeze your cheeks to stand back up.

   Using glute engagement to create the movement is key. That’s how you protect your back. There are bigger stronger muscles in your glutes than along your spine. Let’s use them!

5. Keep your body weight in the middle of your feet! 

   Most people will want to put the weight waaayyy back in their heels, or forward in their toes. You should be able to lift up your toes in this move, but you not so far back that it’s all the way onto your heels. Try to keep the weight in the middle of your foot. If you are having trouble with it, put a ball or something small next to the arch of your foot. It will give you some tactile feedback.

It's best to do this in front of a mirror so you can see your back. You’d want a side view so you can watch to see if you’re going into flexion, rounding of the spine. If your back is rounding and the stick is flying off your back or even just going upwards at the bottom - that is now what you’re working on! This way you can easily identify your problem area. 

Learning to properly execute this movement will be so helpful in your daily life. If you have back pain, it is super important to learn this and will help to start to alleviate that and if you DON’T have back pain, learning this will help prevent you from developing it in the future.

Once you see how it works, you can practice it throughout the day! You hinge when you empty the dishwasher, pick up clothes off the ground, empty and fill the washing machine, pick up children, lean over the sink to wash your face, grab something on the bottom shelf at the grocery store, the list goes on! So imagine that stick along your spine and get hinging people!

As always, if you have questions or are ready to take the step to work with a movement specialist just book yourself a consultation by clicking the BOOK NOW button on our website.

See you soon!

Your movement specialists

“Anytime you bend at your hips, you are doing a hinge. Mindful practice now means muscle memory later.”

— Lorae's brain

The ultimate total body move for people that have no time to work out

Today I bring you…. The Turkish Get Up

Contrary to popular belief, not all Turkish people stand up this way.

But really, the history of the Turkish Get Up is very blurry, one may even say controversial. There are quite a few urban legends if you look up its meaning but there isn’t one sure story. However, one thing that remains constant amongst all the stories is that it's a TRUE measure of strength, it's an extremely FUNCTIONAL movement, and being able to get up from a seated position off the ground or from your back is a true indication of ✨longevity✨. 

The most standing stories seem to be that when someone came along and wanted to join the strong men back in the strong men days they were told to go and learn to do the Get Up part with 100 pounds and then come back to be trained. However, it seems the term “Turkish” in the title doesn’t describe any part of the movement itself nor does it specifically apply to Turkish people. Rather it comes from the name of a seated position which was called a “Turkish sit” similar to how they say sit “Indian style”.

While the name remains a mystery, its benefits certainly do not.

From this one exercise you work:

Grip

Balance

Hip, ankle, and shoulder mobility

Core in multiple planes

Spinal rotation

Overhead stability and range of motion

Glute strength

Hinge, lunge, and rotational patterns

Coordination and proprioception

I mean how could you not want to try it?!

Important to note that you can use this exercise in 2 ways:

To build strength - add more weight, a heavier DB or KB

To improve balance, mobility and coordination -  Use a light and unstable object like a shoe, a balance disc, or any kind of foam workout pad

So pick your poison and start learning to execute a Turkish Get Up… please as always start with no weight and really get the movement down before adding any bells and whistles! It will pay off in the long run that you’re doing this correctly.

Like I mentioned in the introduction, this movement is known to improve longevity as it demonstrates one’s ability to get up off the ground. As we age, it tends to become harder and harder to get up off the ground because we usually decrease our overall activity and become more sedentary making us weaker, less mobile, and tight.

This comes with many consequences, but in relation to this particular exercise post, it ALSO makes it harder to get up! And unfortunately when we become weak, mobile, and tight we are more likely to fall which become far more dangerous if we are unable to get up afterwards and call for help.

So go grab your parents or grandparents and start working on your TGUs! It just might save their life one day :~)

As always, if you have any questions or if you are ready to make the jump to start working with your very own movement specialist, book your very own consultation by clicking any BOOK NOW button on our website.

Until next time,

You movement specialists

Squat. Something we all can do without pain.

Oh, the squat… Such a perfect example of the balance of antagonist muscles and multiple joints working together to create one cohesive movement… *daydreams*

We just screw it up!

Ok that was a little harsh, but it's true! The squat is pretty much the most functional of functional movements that exist. And when all our stability, mobility, and strength is optimal, a squat shows our body moving in beautiful harmony. But as soon as one part is off, it can throw another off, which throws another and suddenly is just a big squatting mess.

Alright friends welcome back to the blog, let's talk about squats

So let's take a look at some KEY points about the squat and how to really MAXimize the benefits of doing squats.

Mobile versus stable joints:

What joints need to be mobile:

• hips, ankles, thoracic spine and shoulders (and wrists if you’re front squatting)

What joints need to be rock solid stable:

• Feet, knees, lumbar spine

  • ( this concept was first introduced by Grey Cook in Movement.)

Common Mistakes:

Foot placement. “Where should my feet be?” One thing I see a lot of is people squatting with their feets in odd places. There certainly is not only one correct squat stance. Squats, like any exercise, can be used for many different focuses and are therefore adjusted in many different ways to reach desired outcomes. But that doesn’t mean there are some stances that are simply ineffective or dangerous that can easily provoke injuries because there definitely are and we don’t want to be doing those!

Some stance options:

• Hip width with toes pointed out 30 degrees. Probably the most basic and functional option. This is what we primarily use with our clients. Knees spread wide allowing space for your hips to get LOW.

• Sumo or wide stance with toes pointed out. Targets adductors and glutes more heavily, leaving quads more out of the equation. However, a lot of times I see people doing sumo squats accidentally. What I mean by that is that they are simply squatting like that because their hips aren’t MOBILE enough to do a standard squat stance so they spread their feet out super wide to be able to get their butt down low. I would recommend mastering a standard squat stance before trying other options such as the sumo so your body adapts to the basic functionality of the squat pattern.

• Shoulder width with toes pointed forward. This is going to be pretty advanced. It's hard to get your butt past 90 degrees with your feet this close together and toes pointed forward. This is commonly referred to as a narrow stance squat. 

Whichever stance you opt for, I always teach to get your booty as low as you can with good form - ideally past 90 degrees, or past your knees.

This maximizes glute recruitment because it stretches the glute muscles. The more you STRETCH a muscle on the eccentric movement, the more the muscle has to WORK to contract and shorten again. 

One last thing to note - people tend to leave the thoracic spine out of the equation when talking about squat patterns. The thoracic spine is essentially ⅓ of the squat. The joints you’ll PRIMARILY see in motion are your ankles, hips, and thoracic spine. When you watch a squat, you can clearly see if someone’s thoracic spine is a factor in preventing someone from having a quality squat pattern. A rounded thoracic spine impacts one’s ability to keep one torso upright, the shoulders back and down, and the overall recruitment of the posterior chain muscles which should be a lot of the primary movers in this movement.

Ok that’s all for now but we talk about squats all the time here at Foundation Movement and Fitness so be on the lookout at our blogs and Instagram if you’re interested in more squat talk!

Thanks for ready and we’ll catch you next time!

Want to see some of the behind-the-scenes or other thoughts we have? Follow us on Instagram, @foundation_movement_fitness

button on our website,

Your movement specialists

“We squat naturally.. but every day things like chairs and desks, screw it up. Practice squatting... you won’t have to worry about the ability to get off the floor if you fall. ”

— Lorae's brain