Mobility: the other side of the coin

Now that we have taken a brief look at the basics of stability, let us  turn our attention to mobility.  Again it will be a series of articles but for now let us look at what mobility is.

To me it is the opposite side of the coin or it should be if we want to be healthy.

People seem to be at either end of the spectrum.  There are the modern bodybuilders who can barely touch their toes (this was not always the case as real strongmen of the past were often also able to get into the full split position while weighing in at well over 100kg).  And then there are the gymnasts who can put their feet behind their heads but who may be irritating their joints by doing so (depending on how they actually get into positions).

What am I referring to when I say mobility?

To me, mobility is the ability to move into large ranges of motion in a dynamic fashion.  Think high kicks and low kung fu stances, full squats, striding out in sprinting, the ability to swing the arms through a natural range of motion, that kind of thing.

Notice that I did not use flexibility or muscle length as to me that is a static and mechanical physical property of tissue.  That is purely how far the muscle can be stretched.  It is a passive quality and an isolationist way of looking at how the body moves.

I know people who have very flexible muscles from a purely mechanical perspective but who cannot coordinate these segments and units into normal, let alone, advanced ranges of motion in action.

Mobility is also not hyperextension or hypermobility as that is not strong or healthy.

Again, it is a matter of motor control and coordination.  For when we move as an integrated unit one part affects another.  Mobility requires control and strength in range of motion.  Sounds a lot like stability now doesn’t it?  For if the body is not stable it will not let you move further.  And if the body is not stable it will often just grip and tense to prevent that injury which it is not strong enough to control.  Mobility is strength and the ability to deliver that strength in a range of positions.  It is about ranges that you can use not just what you can relax into.  Again think high kicks and striding out in sprinting activities.

I am talking about active not passive ranges of motion.  It’s what you can use in movement that interests me here.

Breathing and Stability

Breathwork.  It can mean a lot of things to a lot of people.

But did you know the intrinsic importance of your breath to stability and movement, in particular, ‘core stability’?

Firstly, the anatomy of breathing and an introduction to the diaphragm.

For now, the most important thing for you to know is that the diaphragm is the primary breathing muscle.  The lungs are not a muscle.  It is like a parachute that opens and closes as it moves up and down during the breath.

The diaphragm attaches to the spine, the ribs, the bottom of the sternum as well the heart, internal organs and deep core muscles via soft tissue.  Now you should start to see why it is so important.

Now let’s look at the actions of the diaphragm.  Anatomy texts will tell you that this is the bucket handle and pump handle actions of the ribs as the diaphragm expands.  However, that is a simplified version of what really goes on.

Just like inflating a balloon, all the actions are going on at the same time.  Inflation in 3 dimensions.  All at once.

The diaphragm is pretty strong then as it has to work all day every day.

Now, let’s look at how it affects stability.

So some people may use it to stabilise the body.  Often when there is insufficient stability in the rest of the body.

This is observed as unconscious breath holding or sensations of breathlessness under stress.  This stress can be physical or psychological.

Either way, the diaphragm is now being used INEFFICIENTLY as a stabiliser rather than as its main function as a respiratory muscle.  Whatever else you are doing is now going to be inefficient as it is built on an unstable platform.  With reduced oxygen now reaching the body, sensations of stress will also arise as the body responds naturally to this starvation of oxygen.

Now do you begin to see the importance of breathing?

Integrating core stability

We have come to the fifth and last piece in this series on core stability.  So a quick wrap up and some closing words.

Hopefully you have learnt by now that:

• it is not just a meaningless contraction of muscles irrespective of where they are,
• timing and coordination are very important
• proper training begins with the basics and requires integration for core stability to be ‘functional’.

I would like to add that without deep abdominal breathing you are going to miss out on a lot of the benefits.  What I see in gyms, schools and on the streets is mainly abominable not abdominal.  Breath holding, high breathing, missed breaths.

Conversely, if you can improve your breathing patterns then you will find a lot more stability as you won’t be fighting yourself to stabilise.  And since we breathe so much throughout the day it is probably the number one skill you should learn if you want to improve performance.  Yogis, women in labour, martial artists, meditators and even high level athletes emphasise the breath.  So what are you waiting for?  Here is something I wrote earlier on the breath if you need more awakening.

 

One way to check is alignment.  Butts out, backs arched, chests up…you haven’t quite got it.

 

Core stability is only useful as part of an integrated body not an abstract concept by itself.  It is only useful if the power is transferable.  ‘Abs’ by themselves mean nothing.  What we are after is really core fluidity or core integration, otherwise we are still training modern bodybuilding by attempting to isolate.  We are units not parts.  Hence breathing and moving stability.

 

Alignment, Breathing and Connection are not abstract concepts. They are integrated concepts and you do not learn or improve on one aspect without it flowing on to another.

How to train stability

Let’s recap on what stability is:

-firing the right muscles at the right time at the right intensity to MATCH demand

-to keep our body’s joints and structure connected

-about motor control and coordination

And what it isn’t:

-randomly firing a muscle no matter if it’s the ‘right one’

-gripping or constantly contracting a muscle that is not ‘needed’

-just crude muscular strength

So how do we train that?

That’s why you’re still reading, right?

How to actually train and do this stuff.

Well, it’s very simple.  The right answers always are as long as you can understand the problem.  The problem IS the solution.

First we start with static, basic training.  So quadruped, bridges, planks, etc.  Very simple and absolutely vital that you learn to do them properly because if you don’t have the basics then you are not making the most of your time when you try to move onto more advanced techniques before you are ready.  Because all your issues will show up more clearly in more difficult exercises.  You will end up compensating.  And you will then most likely hurt yourself.

IF and WHEN you have become proficient at these basics, and this may take some time for people, THEN it is time to incorporate some variations and progressions.  This is the phase where we alter the load but not necessarily adding ‘weight’.  You can ‘add weight’ but there are often better ways as the goal is stabilisation strength not just strength.  That will be making the basics more challenging, ie removing limbs, changing positions and angles etc.  Of course, you can also add weight.

The third step is then to make the static training more dynamic and incorporate them back into more realistic and functional activities.

But like any learning it is a process, a path.  You will have to practice if you wish to maintain and improve these skills.  You will have to return to and refine the basics.  A friend told me an epiphany he had recently.  And what was it?  Simply that his teachers were so much better than he was because their basics were so much better than his. 

So once you start to make progress and get all excited, don’t leave the static work behind.  That is where you refine your stability skills.  The basics should be the bulk of your training so that you have a large enough base to support your more ‘fun’ training.

“Core stability”: what is it?

Ok, part three of this series on stability.

And today I am going to focus on the notion of core stability because:

• that is often what people think of nowadays when the word stability is mentioned,
• back pain is so prevalent in modern times
• I keep seeing interest and also lack of understanding in this area.

We will resume from the notion of coordination and timing of stabiliser activation.

Strength and stability is really the ability to adapt to imposed demand.

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“There is timing in everything.”

-Miyamoto Musashi

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That is why it is not just a matter of brute or crude strength.

Stability is more than just stiffening and rigidity.  It is more than having a flat stomach.  That is just a modern cultural notion of aesthetics.  Most people who have hard abs as it were have poor breathing because an overcontracted abdomen does not allow for full breathing.  Which leads to poor health, fitness and stress.

So what is stability then?

It is adequate response to an imposed demand.  It is only responding as needed.  So that means your abdominals shouldn’t always be hard.

Rigidity by itself does not respond to demand but rather just arbitrarily sets an ‘absoprtion’ level as it were.

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“what you are able to do is not as important as when you do it”

-Robert Jay Arnold

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Cues like drawing belly buttons to spine are a learning tool for those who have lost touch with certain muscles but by themselves they lead to chronic tension in the thorax and pelvic floor).

That is not efficient.  A lot of energy is wasted, ie tension is unnecessarily created.  Matching demand is an adaptive process and requires integration and minimal effort to do the job.  Maximal effort that is superfluous is self defeating, dead and leads to overgripping.  Too rigid a midsection when it is not called for leads to reduced balance as the midsection can now no longer adapt to changing environmental conditions and demand.

It is like trying to counterbalance a weight on a seesaw.  Too much and the first weight goes flying.  Too little and the first weight slides off.

Because stability (and alignment) is not static.  But that’s the next dosage of this series.

Stability is about coordination and timing

So continuing on from the last post on stability, I realise that there are many things I wish to embellish on (so this may end up being about 5 parts).  The first and most important of which is that stability is not a matter of strength but coordination.

Simply stiffening and contracting, using strength, to stabilise is a crude and ineffective technique.  Because by the time you think to do it, it is usually too late.  And since you do not know when you may need the stability, the other option is to always engage which just leads to stiffness.

The most important part of stability is stabilising when it is required.  Not just mindly contracting a muscle no matter how deep or important it is.

Think of people with low back pain.  Most have stiff backs not floppy backs. They are mostly overcontracting already.  So ‘core stability’ does not resolve the issue.

Their problems are threefold.  First, their core ‘stabilisers’ do not respond in a timely manner to imposed stress.  Two, tensing or stiffening is deleterious on the joints not to mention restrictive on breathing. Thirdly, their alignments are out.

A lot of people I know with back pain keep telling me how they have been going to pilates, yoga or some such for normally close to ten years and that they have been ‘managing it’.  Which tells me they are merely stiffening to protect the back.  And that the real cause of poor alignment and connection, is not being addressed.

Simply making a muscle stronger doesn’t make it fire correctly when needed.  It’s like lag when you are trying to stream a video.  It is simply not meeting demand as it arises.  What’s the point?