“Pain makes you stupid.”
That’s one of my associates favorite quotes of mine.
Not only is it quotable, it’s scientifically verifiable.
My academic progress has been paralleled by my journey out of pain. As I’ve had more pain relief, I’ve done fewer stupid things. This post is about how my practice of joint mobility is less stupid than it used to be.
mM: Joint Mobility 2.0
I have spent a lot of money and a lot of time trying to get out of pain. When it was evident that there was no amount of money that could get me out of pain, I shifted my attention to figuring out pain (non-neuropathic pain).
Since then, I’ve made significant inroads into understanding the nature of pain…
I won’t detail the entire discovery here but my understanding of pain is in no way similar to the now popular “Neuromatrix Theory of Pain.” (How useful is an over-complication of the simple Black Box Model?) Friends, it is far, far simpler…but that’s a whole other article.
I used to do isometrics. I used to do static stretching. I used to do foam rolling. I used to do instability training on balls and discs. One of the last practices that fell away in my quest out of chronic (or what I call omni-contextual) pain was joint mobility.
To be honest, I don’t even like writing or saying the words. The main reason being is that it is such an imprecise term. Every guru has a different definition, different principles and a different practice of it.
One guru says to do it to maintain Range Of Motion (ROM).
Another says to to do so to nourish the joints.
Yet another says to reeducate the Nervous System.
Yes.
Yes.
Well, that’s a complicated way of looking at things.
Principles are often correct
but when it comes to practices…
those can go off the rails a bit.
One guru tell you to do more and more of it.
Another tells you to make your practice more and more complex.
Yet another tells you to make more precise.
Probably not.
Maybe.
Only if necessary.
“The clarity with which we define a term determines it’s usefulness.”
–Tony Blauer
Micro Movement
As I said before, I don’t even use the term, “Joint Mobility.” I like another term that is a bit more self explanatory: micro-movement (mM).
To me, joint mobility is small movement.
Nothing fancy – just small movement.
What’s so special about small movement?
Well, in the hands of the right practitioner,
performance can go way up
and pain can go way down…
if not away completely.
Some may argue that it is outside of the scope of practice for a trainer to relieve pain. As for me, I think it’s outside of the scope of practice for a trainer to put their clients in pain. Well, there’s yet another post for me to do.
I used to post incessantly on Internet Forums about how Joint Mobility could instantly eliminate pain (in some people – especially those who have been in pain less than a year.) That is why I was drawn to it and that’s why many are still drawn to it.
It makes sense: movement puts people in pain so movement can take them out of it. But are micro-movement the only movements that can relieve pain? As it turns out - No.
As people have been testing their big movements (macromovement or MM),
they are finding out that tested movement is correlated with pain relief. Doesn’t it make sense, though? Big movements put people in pain…shouldn’t big movements be able to take people out of pain..and isn’t that more specific, anyway?
A nice side benefit of Gym Movement
While the biofeedback based Gym Movements protocol is not intended to relieve pain (It is intended to deliver a PR every workout), we can’t help it if it does. After all, all exercises that test well are corrective exercises. There is no need for separate performance and recovery parameters. When all of your exercise is corrective, do you really need warmups, prehab, rehab or cooldowns?
Among those following the Gym Movement Protocol, practices such as isometrics, static stretching, foam rolling, warm-ups and yes, joint mobility, are becoming things of the past.
What follows are 14 aspects of my personal protocol for joint mobility that has allowed me to go from practicing more joint mobility than probably anyone on the planet to almost completely shedding the entire practice.
Micro-Movement (mM) Manifesto
1. Find the minimal effective amount of mM practice
Unless mMs are your sport – seek the mEA.
This includes finding the mEA of mM practice to acquire the ability to do it and the mEA of practice to maintain it.
I don’t know what the mEA of practice is to acquire the skill but I expect it to be highly individual. For now, I can do all of the individual mM about once a month and retain a fairly high degree of movement quality. Since I am trying to find the mEA of practice frequency, I try to increase the time in between practices.
2. Test your mM
Use your biometric of choice to test: for me, ROM is the fastest and most reliable way to administer a self test. mM isn’t inherently good or bad. It isn’t any better or worse than any MM (macro-movement), exercise or otherwise. If a big movement can test poorly so can a small movement.
I used to go through all of the mM daily for years. After each session (which was sometimes hours), I wouldn’t feel any better than when I started and often I would feel worse. After I tested my mM, I always felt better having practiced them and would be through in 3-5 minutes. What a concept.
3. Gross to Fine
Whenever we learn movement, we learn in a gross fashion and from there we refine. While your goal may be to differentiate your movement (moving one part without moving another), understand that you cannot start with too fine a motion. For example, start with full spinal rotation before you progress to only rotating your thoracic spine.
4. Use different shapes
People practice Joint Mobility using some very funky shapes: figure eights, infinities, clover leafs. While there is some benefit to using different shapes, the shapes I recommend are those that start off curvilinear and move towards linear. The least challenging to your tissue is to move in is a spiral. The most challenging to your tissue is a line (and it’s the most specific to how we move).
5. Test your type of mM: more spiral, more circular or more linear?
Just because circumduction of the hip has been testing well doesn’t mean hip flexion and extension won’t test better. As a very general rule of thumb, on better days expect to be able to move more linearly. On worse days, expect your movement to be less direct. Over time, expect your “joint mobility” practice to look more and more like active, dynamic and ballistic flexibility training. Isn’t that the logical conclusion of moving from circles to lines?
6. Speed is dependent upon shape
When you move in a spiralic fashion, you will move slower than when you move linearly. No need for multiple speeds. Simply move at the fastest speed you can while maintaining movement quality. Expect that as you build the movement skill your speed will increase. You’ll notice as your speed increases, the shape becomes more linear.
7. Change Direction as sensations make themselves known
As you approach end ROM, you will feel stretch tension. Change direction with whatever shape (more circular or more linear) you are using. Expect your ROM to increase as you move. If you work to your absolute ROM limits, expect those limits to remain the same or become more limited. If you work at the leading edge of your limitations, expect to become less limited.
8. Have an external focus
There is mountain of empirical data supporting the use of an external focus vs an internal focus when looking at performance. I personally have run tons of “anecdotal” experiments assessing the efficacy of an external focus on pain relief on both myself and countless others. The results are in: external focus is where it is at.
Yet our gurus will tell us to feel our muscles and feel our joints in order to move correctly. Moving correctly doesn’t require an internal focus. In fact, we are designed to be externally focused and internally governed. Your body lets you know when something is going wrong or about to go wrong. You don’t need to seek a “sensation.” In fact, you need to avoid particular sensations: specifically, those correlated with effort.
9. Avoid the Elements of Effort
Most of us have learned to avoid failure and have set more PRs because of it. Those using the Gym Movement Protocols have learned to avoid those elements of effort that precede failure and have PRed every workout. It’s only logical. Let me explain.
Let’s say you are going for a lift and you start to fail. What do you do? You start tensing harder, you change your breathing, you shift your alignment. If that doesn’t work, you fail…and sometimes throughout this effort, you might feel pain. And sometimes if you feel pain it’s because you caused damage.
Don’t just avoid failure, avoid those things that precede failure – the first being excessive tension. Applying this to lifting allows for a PR every workout. What would happen if we applied this to our mobility and flexibility/ROM training, as well?
10. Don’t have a set rep count
Your body requires a different number of reps at different times. When performing movement, one of the first signs of excessive tension is a slowing of speed. If your rep speed slows, that may be a good indicator to terminate that set. If your speed increases or doesn’t decrease, consider continuing your set.
11. No need to do them in all contexts
There are endless body positions including sitting, standing, lying, gait positions, etc. Does that mean that you should practice all joint mobility in all positions? Absolutely not. There is lateral transferability of skills. Learn your mMs in one context, apply in all contexts when needed.
12. Have a good reason for doing it
In my opinion, the use of mMs have two purposes: movement acquisition and movement correction. When I teach jiujitsu, I have to break big movements down into smaller movements but I don’t break movement down any smaller than I have to. I recommend you don’t either.
When dealing with very special cases of pain relief, I sometimes have to break movement down smaller than I do in my performance practices. Even then, I don’t make movement any more isolated than necessary. In fact, for long term pain, isolated movement is often contraindicated.
13. Move what’s not moving
Seeing what is moving too much is easy. Maybe that’s why corrective exercise experts focus on it. They do so by stabilizing what’s moving too much with contraindicated levels of tension. This isn’t necessary and it’s counterproductive. When you move what isn’t moving, what is moving too much often moves quite a bit less.
Take me for example: from my years as a martial artist throwing punches and kicks, I run in a very inefficient pattern by rotating through my spine. As opposed to me stiffening my spine, I might work on arm extension which would allow me to disperse force without rotating my spine.
In many cases, there is a probably a good reason why something isn’t moving. Just because an issue requires correction doesn’t mean it requires correction today. Test to see if moving what isn’t moving is actually good for you.
14. Move Smaller, See better
Sometimes the only way to see what isn’t moving is to practice moving everything independently. This may be the biggest benefit. Moving better has allowed me to see better.
How do things move or function? That is determined by the shape or form of the joint where the movement occurs. What follows below are some (not all) of the joint areas in the body and how they move. You can practice these open chained, close chained, bilaterally or unilaterally but for god’s sake, do so purposefully. There is no need to make joint mobility your sport. Use mMs to help you acquire movement and correct movements.
Big Toe
flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, transition between those
Toes
flexion, extension
Ankle
dorsiflexion, plantarflexion, eversion, inversion, transition between those
Knee
flexion, extension, rotation in a flexed position, transition between those
Hip
rotation, flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, circumduction
Pelvis
anterior, posterior and lateral tilting, transition between those, forward & backward torsion
Spine
rotation, anterior, posterior and lateral translation, transition between those, flexion, extension, lateral flexion and extension, transition between those
Jaw
retrusion, protrusion, elevation, depression, lateral translation, transition between those
Scapula
upward and downward rotation, elevation, retraction, protraction retraction, transition between those
Upper Arm
rotation, flexion, extension, horizontal abduction and adduction, abduction, adduction, circumduction
Forearm
supination, pronation, flexion extension, transition between those
Wrist
flexion, extension, ulnar and radial deviation, transition between those
Thumb
opposition, reposition, flexion, extension, abduction, adduction
Fingers
flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, transition between those
Think it over, try it out.
fF
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{ 71 comments }
Spectacular article Frankie, it is my pleasure to host it thank you for the exceptional time you spent preparing it.
I love you too, Velvet.
Good article. I’ve experimented with the three main JM systems for years, and have been using the second, unspecified guru’s system since 2006 (nourish the joints and sophisticate your movement are familiar sayings). My personal practice has evolved quite a bit since then – reaching several, but not all of the conclusions you have above. I’m in favor of getting anyone moving more, regardless of the system they follow, and the principles used are more important than the system which compiles them.
It’s definitely important to define the terms we use, especially when it comes to fitness. Phrases like corrective exercise, functional training, and joint mobility all carry quite a bit of baggage and mean different things to different people. I appreciate your clarification.
John,
Thanks for reading.
Have you been using the biofeedback based Gym Movement protocol?
If so, what have been your results?
Frankie,
I haven’t been using the Gym Movement bio-feedback protocol exactly as I’ve understood it, but honestly I haven’t looked into it too much either. My basic understanding is using ROM tests to determine what movements your body will benefit most from on any given day. I guess I’m confused about how extra ROM correlates with a better performance outcome – except in the case where extra ROM is the goal you’re working towards. Where can I learn more?
Bio-feedback is definitely something I consider in my personal practice, and I always let my results dictate the approach I take (even micro-results that happen within a session, or even within a specific exercise set). A similar approach is Circular Strength Training’s Intuitive Training Protocol, where we measure self-perceived ratings of technique, discomfort, and exertion and let the results dictate our approach for any given training session.
I also make it a point to PR every time I train – not for the sake of meeting an external performance goal (of more pounds, more reps, etc.), but more for the purpose of ensuring I am creating an internal experience to ensure progress towards my specific goals.
John,
Wouldn’t an increase in the quantity of movement (ROM) correlate with an increase in the quality of movement (globally)?
“I guess I’m confused about how extra ROM correlates with a better performance outcome – except in the case where extra ROM is the goal you’re working towards. Where can I learn more?”
That is a very big blog post. The short of it is this: Everything one does either makes them better or worse – improving the quality of their body, both in form and function.
If one’s movement quality goes up, their movement quantities go up including their: speed, ROM, strength, endurance, etc. I know this isn’t a very scientifically meaty answer but I’ll post one that is sometime.
“A similar approach is Circular Strength Training’s Intuitive Training Protocol, where we measure self-perceived ratings of technique, discomfort, and exertion and let the results dictate our approach for any given training session.”
I think using self perceived ratings is far better than using external models. Previously, I had the most success using self perception. Unfortunately, perception is sometimes inaccurate and always incomplete.
Consider experiments ran where baseball players swung a bat and had their speed and accuracy measured then swung a weighted bat and then swung a regular bat to have their speed and accuracy measured again. The athletes felt as though they were swinging harder/faster after swinging the weighted bat. Turns out this wasn’t the case: less accuracy and speed.
Under many circumstances, our perceptions are easily skewed. Using a more objective measure such as ROM testing insulates us a bit from perceptual error. Since using ROM testing, my pain relief and PR accumulation has increased substantially.
John,
One of the most common ROM tests is the toe touch.
I recommend starting with that one.
Slowly reach down towards your feet and stop at the first sign of tension anywhere in your body.
The first way to apply ROM testing which is one of the most important is in exercise selection. Test whatever exercises you are going to do for the week every workout and do the 1-3 that test best. I think you’ll get even better results than you’re getting if you’ll apply a more objective measure of biofeedback. Report back your results and I’ll give you a few more tests to run to yield even better results.
Thanks again for dropping in.
fF
Thanks Frankie – I’ll watch for that article, and I’ll try out the toe touch test this week.
Unbelievable right up Frankie. This makes everything so much clearer. I love reading articles that make u better and u can apply right away. Thank you
Frank,
Thanks for the comment.
How has this changed your joint mobility practice?
Before gym movement about a half hour every day, now only when I feel tight, which is never. Before pain now none.
Ah, this article made me understand a lot better what you said before “when you feel tension, change direction”. Great writing. I feel you sometimes write in verse (in a good way.)
I have a question, though. Should we do a given movement when it test extremely well, but still causes pain? For the last month I’ve trained for the splits using Biofeedback with isometric stretching and increased my ROM. What you instructed sounds a million times better.
Adam does all kinds of lifts where he is in pain such as finger lifting.
Logan pulls vehicles with his hair which causes some pain, too.
It hurts Adam’s finger.
It hurts Logan’s head.
The difference with what they do and general exercise is pain is what they have signed on for. It is inherent to their exercises.
If you can lift or stretch without pain, I recommend that.
I see. I thought about this, because I sit way too much as an unemployed person and my glutes aren’t firing well enough when I deadlift, making my lumbar area take the pressure.
Frankie
Excellent really all i can say , that info is amazing, it will take me a minute to process it all but its application in my life will provide amazing results thanks for the article frankie i really appreciate it.
Mike,
I composed this to be used as a reference.
Don’t think you have to get it all in just one sitting.
I look forward to hearing more of your results.
Very impressive, thus far.
Excellent Frankie! An awesome distillation of years of thoughts and action. Should be required reading for everyone that has a body. I will have a link to it on my blog this Sat.
Rock on
Mike T Nelson PhD(c)
Thanks, Mike.
Enjoyed the Corrective Exercise article, too.
I’d drop a comment but what else is there to say?
Awesome article. I used to do the customary joint warm-up every day, and before working out, the usual wall squats, halos, and pumps. Now? I do none of it. Don’t need to. When I test a movement that goes well, my body is seemingly already ready to go for that particular move. I love that. Saves me time, and makes me more effiecient. More lifting, less hip circles.
Right on, Jesse.
I think the last time I warmed up was in February, and that was mainly because I could see my breath in the gym before the heat kicked in.
No need to get warmed up when you’re fired up.
“When I teach jiujitsu, I have to break big movements down into smaller movements but I don’t break movement down any smaller than I have to. I recommend you don’t either.”
In particular I greatly appreciated this statement as a dance instructor. Go only as small or in detail as you need to to make it work.
The whole article was excellent.
One question: you mentioned running with a stiff spine vs. rotating through the spine, as a sprinter in my youth, a martial artist for a good chunk of my life, and a dancer now I’m interested in any documentation or a deeper example into the technique behind running that explains your comment.
Carl,
The short answer is this:
Running and walking are both front to back or anterior/posterior motions.
Any motion other than that is an inefficiency.
So if I run while rotating through my spine
I am wasting movement.
The solution to that, though,
is not “stiffening” my spine while running.
We don’t “fix” patterns in the patterns.
We “fix” patterns by drilling parts of the patterns.
To get my arms behind me, my spine is rotating.
As opposed to addressing the issue with tension,
we address it by moving “what’s not moving”…
in this case, my arms which weren’t extending.
Does this help to clarify it?
Danny Dreyer, author of Chi Running and Chi Walking would disagree with you that spine rotation is inefficient. Rotation at T12 and L1 actually makes the gait more efficient. The arm swing functions as a way to generate power, tempo and to maintain the torso square to the front as the spine and pelvis rotate beneath, adding “free” stride length to hip extension and fluidity to the motion. Involving the torso rotators also provides additional power to the movement and takes some of the burden off the legs.
Is he off the mark with his tai chi needle and cotton metaphor for the spine and extremities?
Randy,
How many people who proclaim themselves experts at kettlebell lifting disagree with Russian style KB lifting? How many different schools of thought are there on O lifting between Europe, America, and the Asians?
Who is right? How about we assume everyone is not right, and we test it for ourselves? I know you enjoy debate and conversation on fitness topics, but its all mental mastrubation if it goes untested (as ALL forum nonsense does…) so instead of answering this question on chi needles and cotton candy, go run with rotation, and than run without rotation and report back what was faster and what felt better for YOU. because you are the only person who you should care about.
Adam,
I can say from personal experience (many moons ago when I did distance running seriously) that Dreyer’s recommendations are sound. There are many examples of sport movement that may appear “logically” inefficient but in real world practice aren’t. Rotation of the spine in running is one example. Soccer style place kicking vs the old straight on toe style is another. The S-shaped bar path in the weightlifting pull is yet another: It may not seem efficient in terms of the shortest distance between two points, but it is as close to a straight line as can be achieved while still keeping the bar over the COG and maintaining sound, strong biomechanics.
Discarding sound fundamental technical advice (and assuming everyone is wrong) to “test” for oneself is not really “testing” but rather asking the individual to reinvent the wheel. Not very efficient. Giving what purports to be sound technical advice (with no evidence that there is expertise on the subject) then responding to a question about that advice with “test it” is a bit self righteous, don’t you think? Discourse and discussion and comparing notes among well intentioned, like minded people is valuable, don’t you agree?
Yes, there are different approaches to weightlifting (and kettlebells) but there are many fundamental agreements too. For example, technical nuances aside, for the moment, I wouldn’t recommend someone “test” heavy cleans with rounded lumbars vs. arched lumbars to discover which one tests better.
I agree that individualization is paramount and thinking for oneself is key, but if your fundamental recommendation is that everyone assume everything and everyone is wrong, why should anyone take you seriously? Who really needs “The Movement” to test that assumption?
Randy,
I’ve heard of Dreyer’s work but am not personally familiar with it.
At this point, I don’t believe there is a consensus on what is actually happening at the spinal level during gait (whether that be running or walking). Gracovetsky, for one, believes that the spine is what drives the legs.
As to the nuances of spinal micro-movement in gait,
I don’t have a strong opinion…yet.
I can tell you this:
For those with what I consider an above-average degree of:
ankle dorsiflexion
hip extension
shoulder extension
SI motion
Gross spinal rotation appears non-existent.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t happening in more fine motion, though.
I would be very interested to look at spinal studies
with subjects who had those qualities.
To answer your comments in a more general sense,
I look at mechanics through two lenses:
physics and physiology
When it comes to “physics” based form, what matters is the resultant motion.
When it comes to “physiology” based form, what matters is our bodies reaction.
Physiology based form (whatever tests well via biofeedback)
lets us know what our body is capable of at the moment.
Physics based form lets us know what is optimal.
I think Tudor Bompa said,
“Let research provide direction and experience provide discretion.”
Empirical research is of the utmost importance
but in no way a replacement for anecdotal, or personal, research.
Understanding physics gives us a “direction” to test in.
It allows us to ask better questions.
This greatly shortens the learning curve.
But enough about running and mechanics in general,
did you have any thoughts on the blog post itself?
Thanks for dropping by and commenting!
Frankie,
I’ve had no luck with DJM alleviating pain. In my experience (and this is just my experience) DJM has been useful as a pre- general-warmup warmup. The sensorimotor system is highly complex and highly integrated and only a fraction of the mechanoreceptors in the system are worked by DJM…only a few of the joints are really ” mechanoreceptor rich”, the ankle and jaw for instance. My suspicion is that what is really happening (I don’t know enough to say for sure) when DJM works the mechanism isn’t so much joint receptors but actually the fascia.
I do agree with your ideas about gross to fine practice and doing the minimum DJM required to get a result (if you are lucky enough to get a result). My specific pain issues decreased when I stopped doing prescribed Z work. (In fact, the less I move the better my particular issue gets…exercise of any kind doesn’t test all that well at all for me)
NSAIDs “fix” pain too of course but don’t address the underlying cause (except maybe for an acute inflammation) . Certain DJM modalities seem to to suggest that DJM is somehow fixing the underlying issues causing the pain and that’s not a responsible claim, unless the underlying cause was a fairly minor thing to begin with. In my opinion NSAIDs and DJM are both band-aid fixes for pain. Alleve works better and longer than toe pulls, in my experience.
But that’s just me.
Adam…. Frankie, I get no change on anything I try to test on with ROM testing…… Any idea’s ?
Harlan,
Try a toe touch for a baseline.
Then smash your hand with a tack hammer, preferably as hard as possible.
Test again. Better or worse ROM?
DDs so funny, isn’t he?
Harlan,
which ROM test are you using?
Toe touch, arm raise?
My first suggestion would be to use a different ROM test before using a metric other than ROM.
A couple ones others use include arm abduction and leg abduction.
Use anything you can measure.
David….. have not tried that. How well is it working for you ?
Frankie…… I was useing toe touch. I will reserch the others and give them a try.
Harlan,
Coming from me this is a tip straight from amateur hour, hahaha, but I don’t often find Toe Touch that useful. My standard base ROM is second knuckle touching my toes, so it’s hard to measure improvements.
I more often use the Side Arm Raise now as I can use external objects more easily to rate improvement. At work I stand next to a Smith machine and use the notches to measure ROM, which works great for me.
Hope this helps.
Piers,
I agree.
It helps to find a ROM to test in where one isn’t that flexible.
Great article and thanks for using me as a pain example Frankie. Got one week to go until that event. “…what they have signed on for.” Too true.
You’re really giving some great information away here. Hope people can take it in.
I use to do a yoga/recharge session each morning to make me feel better. Before working out I ran through a full body joint mobility routine. Now I do neither of those. I don’t need those practices to maintain or support my ability to move. When I train in every movement, in any way, its towards getting better. If nothing else its a time saver.
Logan,
When time is the largest limiting factor,
ANYTHING that saves us time
is of the utmost importance.
Enjoyed your comment.
Good read. Liked it. Whole -> part. Part -> whole. Both have a place.
Is #14 not about an “internal” focus? Maybe I’m just not thinking about it properly.
Boris,
14 is NOT about an internal focus.
If anything were to be interpreted as an internal focus it would be:
9& 10
EE (elements of effort) and rep count.
Just as you don’t have to ask yourself if you’re hungry to ascertain if you’re hungry
(the sensations makes itself known),
You don’t have to search for sensations within your body.
You focus on the output (such as speed) and one becomes sufficiently sensitive.
I just tried to abduct/adduct my big toe – this is the first time in my life that I have attempted this. It required, what I would call, an internal focus to make it happen.
Again, maybe I’m just misunderstanding it, but my first reaction to this is that an internal focus can have its place in situations where sensitivity/proprioception has been lost/impaired.
There are many who would agree with you, Boris. When they have a movement issue, they “inside-out” the issue by focusing on the feel. This is popular in more esoteric movement practices such as Alexander, Feldenkrais, etc.
I contend that the reason why the “feeling” is not there is because the movement isn’t there. The nervous system is a sensorimotor organ system. It feels and it moves….but it feels when we move or when something moves us.
Quite a few neurologically minded trainers come to the opposite conclusion. When we understand feedback/feedforward or afferent/efferent, I don’t think it is a chicken or the egg kinda question. If one does wanna go chicken or the egg, from an evolutionary point of view, all organisms move but not all organisms have a nervous system. Motion pre-dates sensation.
Another interesting caveat, motion is recorded in the brain whether we are conscious of it or not. Consciousness is generally slow and rarely the goal. Unconsciously competent motion is most often the intended result.
By way of application, when I was learning to abduct my big toe, I did so by providing external resistance to the motion.
How’s that for an all over the place response?
Make any more sense?
Boris, did you focus on muscle and nerve activation, or did you focus on seeing your toe move? Seeing the toe abduct is externally guided. Moving from point A to B, not focusing on the sensation of how it feels to move the toe.
I was watching my toe as I focused on activating the muscles that moved the toe.
I can’t say that I disagree w. anything you’ve just said, or point #8, in general. But, an internal focus can have its applications. Perhaps ‘focus’ is overstating what I think of as “awareness” – ‘seeking’ sensation would not be how I would describe simply “being aware” of a sensation.
Boris,
It may be a matter of semantics.
Another example I give is:
Sensations, whether that be hunger, fatigue, thirst, etc. make themselves known whether we want to be aware of them or not.
We can live our lives with an external focus (exteroception) and our internal sensations (interoception) make themselves known when action is appropriate.
When we take action, the sensation relents.
It’s very adaptive.
Thanks for the article Frankie, I appreciate the amount of thought and experiment that went into this post.
It makes me thankful for my lack of pain and (so far) complete absence of “joint mobility ” mM practice.
I suspect that continuing to improve as consistently as I have will preclude me from ever having to learn “corrective exercizes.”
Brad,
While I don’t think you’ll have to learn corrective exercises, I do recommend learning the mEA of mMs.
I assure you – it will be worth your time.
Frankie,
Interesting article. I think I am confused though. Are you saying that all of our movements should go towards being linear for speed and efficiency? I can’t help but think that we are able to produce so much power and torque when we spiral.
Tim,
Spiralic motion as in a baseball swing or a martial artist’s strike is a summation of what I consider linear motion (including rotation).
Very different than moving spirally at one joint (such as hip, shoulder, wrist, ankle, etc).
Got ya. Thanks.
Great article.
Love this: “After all, all exercises that test well are corrective exercises.” A large part of what I do in physical therapy is based just upon this. We call it Total Motion Release and indeed it is to decrease pain and to increase function not in the far or near future but that day! http://www.totalmotionrelease.com/about_total_motion_release.html
And from # 13: “When you move what isn’t moving, what is moving too much often moves quite a bit less.”
The area that “moves too much” is the easy side…it will correct the “hard side”.
You guys are doing some good stuff here!
Bill, you are beginning to look like a spammer with your link to TMR every time you post
I have said this many times- it is not the same thing. As we often ask- are you teaching people to PR everyday? To make continued progress in whatever model of fitness they enjoy using? to run down any goal as fast as possible? If the answer to any of these is no, than it is not the same thing.
Adam…Didn’t mean to leave the impression of a spam deliverer!
There are just some similarities of concepts that are hard to ignore as I pointed out with the quotes I mentioned from Frankies’ post.
I deal with some athletes but lets leave them out of the conversation for now and focus on the people that come to see me to get rid of pain.
Their pain is stopping them from getting more mobility. Their “PR” is to increase ROM and decrease pain as quickly as possible and teach them the concepts to keep them out of our clinic. Our goal is less than 10 minutes. This “goal” is quick enough that the concepts have not been taken “seriously” by the gurus of PT. Not that I give a shit about that. Hell I care about continual forward progress.
So I guess the answer to the questions is “yes”.
I missed out on the DVDs earlier…I’m buyin the next one(s) out! Let me know!
Thanks. And I do appreciate the pioneering efforts you have brought to light.
bill
Frankie,
Nice article, I agree with much of it. I’m not sure I understand your position on the internal vs. external focus issue. If we need to sense effort to be efficient, then how do we refine our sense of excess effort without an internal focus? Are you saying that we will sense excess effort regardless of where we place our attention? If so I disagree. It is easy to lose awareness of excess muscle tension and even pain by focusing outward instead of inward. If you focus attention on a particular sensation, you will refine the sensation. I agree that during a game or competition, one needs to focus outside not inside. But practicing with an internal focus has its role.
Todd,
This is the point that is throwing people off.
“If we need to sense effort to be efficient, then how do we refine our sense of excess effort without an internal focus? Are you saying that we will sense excess effort regardless of where we place our attention? If so I disagree.”
Being that we are a sensorimotor creature and that sensation and motion are so “entangled,” I believe and find that better action leads to better sensation and of course, worse action leads to worse sensation.
“It is easy to lose awareness of excess muscle tension and even pain by focusing outward instead of inward. If you focus attention on a particular sensation, you will refine the sensation.”
I agree. But I don’t think it’s the best way. All things move towards being unconscious. Unconscious competency is the goal. For that reason, focusing on being conscious of a process can slow down the transition from conscious competency to unconscious competency. I look for the mEA (minimal effective amount) of conscious attention…and that attention is “pointed” outward. Internal sensations make themselves known.
“I agree that during a game or competition, one needs to focus outside not inside. But practicing with an internal focus has its role.”
I have found that an internal focus is not required at all to increase performance or decrease/resolve pain issues. I am not the only one: Craig, Marty, Mike and a few other trainers you know have, as well. They have resolved this through research and experimentation.
Do you have enough information to design and run experiments to compare the effects of an internal focus vs an external focus?
“If you focus attention on a particular sensation, you will refine the sensation”
I am curious as to how focus on sensation would lead to better output in your opinion. A common cue for pressing these days is to focus on “lat activation” and try to flare and flex their lat more, yet this rarely leads to increase press strength. When we give the cue to press your hand overhead point A to B, we observe people quickly find their groove. Being that I have trained deeply first in a school teaching strong internal focus, and now a school strong in external focus- I am FAR better now than I was than (with video to prove it)
but this is best sorted out on your own. Talking has so many limitations compared to testing the information for yourself. Please report back what you learn once you challenge this idea.
ATG
Hey Adam & Frankie,
GREAT stuff man!!!
I’ve been using Gym Movement protocols with my arm wrestling training
and I must admit, I’m dumbfounded.
I’m now stronger on the table than ever before in my career.
I was considering retirement from the sport but now I think I’m
just getting warmed-up and about to turn 48 at that.
BIG Thanks guys!!!
Joe, has testing table moves worked well for you since you began?
Frankie,
Great article! For the really tough client/patient who has really messed up movement/motor/grooving patterns and you test lets say 3 exercises and one does test slightly better but the movement paterns are still terrible are you still going to want to do the movement. You seem to have had an intimate relationship with pain so you realize that pain changes movement if these bad movement patterens are grooved as the dominant movement pattern from who know what previous injuries, bad standing sitting postures etc. and muscle sequencing is way off gluts, abdominal core, and lats could be turned off or function decreased so stabalization doesnt happen correctly and the impact to the nervous system is huge and most movement is compromised. How do you fit testing into movements like this? Its kind of like doing fitness testing on a group and comparing everyone to those in the group. After their fitness test they are told that their fitness level is at the 50 percentile (didn’t perform as well as 50% but did better than 50% of the group) This doesn’t give a very good indication on their fitness level because they are 50% of what? If the population is obese ho ho eating, video game playing, metabolic syndrome, acanthosis nigricans haven 12 year olds 50% is most likely really really bad. Frankie, Adam I really like what you guys are doing and it makes a lot of sense this comment includes conserns or questions reguarding clients/patients with really bad movement patterns and if your approach would change at all for them. Keep up the good work.
Mark
“For the really tough client/patient who has really messed up movement/motor/grooving patterns and you test lets say 3 exercises and one does test slightly better but the movement paterns are still terrible are you still going to want to do the movement?”
If it improves their baseline,
then yes.
“You seem to have had an intimate relationship with pain so you realize that pain changes movement if these bad movement patterens are grooved as the dominant movement pattern from who know what previous injuries, bad standing sitting postures etc. and muscle sequencing is way off gluts, abdominal core, and lats could be turned off or function decreased so stabilization doesnt happen correctly and the impact to the nervous system is huge and most movement is compromised. How do you fit testing into movements like this?”
Mark,
Our only job is to make our clients better…
not to make their exercise form perfect.
The teacher must meet the student where the student is at.
If a client leaves squatting a little better than they came in
their risk of injury is decreased
and at least one part of our job is done.
Frankie said:
“Being that we are a sensorimotor creature and that sensation and motion are so “entangled,” I believe and find that better action leads to better sensation and of course, worse action leads to worse sensation.. . . I have found that an internal focus is not required at all to increase performance or decrease/resolve pain issues. “
I agree. My point is that this is a two way street. In other words, you can improve movement with sensation just as you can improve sensation with movement. Why not use both pathways where appropriate? For example to improve your squat you could focus on external issues such as moving your bones along a certain pathway. On the other hand, you could also improve the squat by focusing attention on whether the breathing is impacted, whether there is tension in the face or throat, or on the feeling of movement in the hip joints. You could also focus on the sensation of effort. Your post states that you need to avoid the sensation effort. Isn’t it true that you would have a more refined and accurate sensation of effort by specifically directing focus to that sensation? Isn’t it also true that many people are relatively oblivious to excess effort? The sensation doesn’t just come to them, they need to go looking for it with an internal focus.
Frankie said: “ focusing on being conscious of a process can slow down the transition from conscious competency to unconscious competency.” Maybe we already agree here, but to change a movement habit or learn something new you need to spend time in conscious mode. If you don’t need your conscious awareness to direct your movement, then you are moving in a way that you already know how to move. In other words, you’re not learning anything new.
Frankie said: “Do you have enough information to design and run experiments to compare the effects of an internal focus vs an external focus?”
I’m not sure what your exact question is here but I believe there is good research on the efficacy of body scans in reducing pain and excess tension, and making other beneficial changes in the body. These are of course purely internal practices, and they work.
Adam: Thanks for the response. I would not advocate firing the lat or any other muscle while moving. (In fact my most recent blog post on “skeletal awareness” specifically addressed this issue. ) My point is rather that it is often useful to focus on sense of effort or the feeling of movement in an area that is hard to sense, such as the hip joints or the thoracic spine. For example, if you want to move a sticky thoracic vertebrae into extension that hasn’t doesn’t so for years, you need to focus your attention on the sensations in that area while you move. You could increase sensory feedback further by getting someone to put their finger in that area while you move.
Thanks for the good conversation.
“I agree. My point is that this is a two way street. In other words, you can improve movement with sensation just as you can improve sensation with movement. Why not use both pathways where appropriate? For example to improve your squat you could focus on external issues such as moving your bones along a certain pathway.”
Todd, as a side note – not a fan of bone rhythm – Franklin’s or Cobb’s.
“On the other hand, you could also improve the squat by focusing attention on whether the breathing is impacted, whether there is tension in the face or throat, or on the feeling of movement in the hip joints. You could also focus on the sensation of effort. Your post states that you need to avoid the sensation effort. Isn’t it true that you would have a more refined and accurate sensation of effort by specifically directing focus to that sensation? Isn’t it also true that many people are relatively oblivious to excess effort? The sensation doesn’t just come to them, they need to go looking for it with an internal focus.”
I don’t believe that squatting while “focusing” on breathing, alignment or tension is ultimately a useful practice. Those sensations act as governors. Could focusing on them make us hypersensitive to them? I believe so. I recommend using these governors as cues to act upon not sensations to seek. Sensations make themselves known all the time without us seeking them including the aforementioned examples: thirst, hunger, pain, etc. I believe the reason why people exhibit the elements of effort are twofold: they don’t scale their exercise appropriately and they aren’t focused correctly.
“Maybe we already agree here, but to change a movement habit or learn something new you need to spend time in conscious mode. If you don’t need your conscious awareness to direct your movement, then you are moving in a way that you already know how to move. In other words, you’re not learning anything new.”
I agree. We need to spend some time in the conscious mode. I believe that time should be spent with an external focus.
“I’m not sure what your exact question is here but I believe there is good research on the efficacy of body scans in reducing pain and excess tension, and making other beneficial changes in the body. These are of course purely internal practices, and they work.”
But would another approach work better? Can you design an experiment to see if another approach would work better for you?
“For example, if you want to move a sticky thoracic vertebrae into extension that hasn’t doesn’t so for years, you need to focus your attention on the sensations in that area while you move. You could increase sensory feedback further by getting someone to put their finger in that area while you move.”
I don’t believe this is necessary. I believe it can be done much safer by having someone focus on pushing their chest to a point in front of them as opposed to “feeling” it in a thoracic segment. As another side note, proprioception is being enhanced this way, too, only unconsciously – much faster this way.
Todd, I’ll do a post in the future more about the research & practice of external focus.
Frankie said: “Todd, as a side note – not a fan of bone rhythm – Franklin’s or Cobb’s.”
Not sure which aspects of bone rhythm you disagree with, but cueing a client to move their sternum forward counts as bone rhythm in my book, or at least what Feldenkrais might call “skeletal awareness.” In other words, the movement is visualized or cued in terms of the movement of the bony segments, as opposed to the contractions of the muscles.
I still disagree with the idea that sensations come whether they are looked for or not. They are amplified or reduced dependent on your attention. This applies to thirst, hunger and pain as well, and certainly for sense of effort.
“Could focusing on them make us hypersensitive to them? I believe so. I recommend using these governors as cues to act upon not sensations to seek.”
I suppose it’s possible that excessive internal focus on facial tension, breathing, etc. could make you hypersensitive. However, many people will NEVER realize they are grimacing while they move unless they look for it. These are subtle sensations for most people and they will never act as a governor unless they check in and look for them. Extreme pain will get your attention whether you want it to or not, but if you want have more subtle governors, you need to develop your awareness of excess effort through internal focus.
“ But would another approach work better? Can you design an experiment to see if another approach would work better for you?”
I’m not saying body scans are better, or even that internal is better than external, only that it’s a useful tool that works. Why not use it when appropriate? Are you saying it’s never the right tool?
“I believe it can be done much safer by having someone focus on pushing their chest to a point in front of them as opposed to “feeling” it in a thoracic segment. “
There are many ways to get the sternum from point A to B, and some of them involve a nice distribution of movement amongst the vertebrae and some of them do not. It is very hard if not impossible to discriminate between the two without trying to sense the movement in the different segments.
I look forward to your next blog post.
Todd says,
“Not sure which aspects of bone rhythm you disagree with, but cueing a client to move their sternum forward counts as bone rhythm in my book, or at least what Feldenkrais might call “skeletal awareness.” In other words, the movement is visualized or cued in terms of the movement of the bony segments, as opposed to the contractions of the muscles.”
Not a fan of Feldenkrais, either.
The difference is that I am not trying to have them focus on any sensations in any joints – I am just trying to get them to move a part of their body to a point in space. No different than everyday movement such as reaching down to pick something up.
I don’t believe moving under load or moving with some therapeutic purpose really differs all that much from ordinary, average everyday movement. I believe the hyperfocus on the muscles, joints or bones or on some weird energetic visualization is moving away from how we were designed to move and possibly can do more harm than good.
“I still disagree with the idea that sensations come whether they are looked for or not. They are amplified or reduced dependent on your attention. This applies to thirst, hunger and pain as well, and certainly for sense of effort.”
Todd, go without water, food or sleep longer than you are supposed to and the sensations will make themselves know. Lift a weight over and over and eventually sensations will make themselves known. I believe that when one takes correct action, sensations correct themselves without ever a focus on sensation…but you’ll never know unless you try it.
Sensations are associated to actions – they are purposeful to actions – they are action signals – and they are resolved through action.
“I suppose it’s possible that excessive internal focus on facial tension, breathing, etc. could make you hypersensitive. However, many people will NEVER realize they are grimacing while they move unless they look for it. These are subtle sensations for most people and they will never act as a governor unless they check in and look for them. Extreme pain will get your attention whether you want it to or not, but if you want have more subtle governors, you need to develop your awareness of excess effort through internal focus.”
I don’t think grimacing is a subtle expression or sensation. Once again, through experimentation, I have found that an internal focus is not necessary when people are given appropriate external cues – and the cues that I recommend are not taught.
“I’m not saying body scans are better, or even that internal is better than external, only that it’s a useful tool that works. Why not use it when appropriate? Are you saying it’s never the right tool?”
I haven’t found a case yet when an issue can be addressed faster (and probably safer) with an external focus.
“There are many ways to get the sternum from point A to B, and some of them involve a nice distribution of movement amongst the vertebrae and some of them do not. It is very hard if not impossible to discriminate between the two without trying to sense the movement in the different segments.”
I don’t believe good health or good function can be reduced to fine motor control over available ROM. I believe it’s far simpler and easier than that. But that’s yet another blog post.
Frankie said:
“Todd, go without water, food or sleep longer than you are supposed to and the sensations will make themselves know. Lift a weight over and over and eventually sensations will make themselves known.”
Of course the sensations will eventually make themselves known. I would rather that the warning signs be heard earlier than later. This only happens if you pay attention.
“I don’t think grimacing is a subtle expression or sensation.”
Not if you look for it. But it’s not the kind of thing that just makes itself known when attention is elsewhere.
Todd says:
” This ONLY happens if you pay attention…Not if you look for it. But it’s not the kind of thing that JUST makes itself known when attention is elsewhere.”
The only way to DEFINITIVELY arrive at this conclusion is to do experiments comparing internal vs external focus.
I have and I recommend others run their experiments as opposed to simply accepting my conclusions.
My conclusions are this:
Better action leads to better sensation
even without attention being “pointed inward.”
This is a big part of what has allowed people to PR every time they lift – a new technology.
If we can have a more useful and accurate sense of ourselves without attention being internal, why not do it?
Frankie,
“I’ve had no luck with DJM alleviating pain. In my experience (and this is just my experience) DJM has been useful as a pre- general-warmup warmup. The sensorimotor system is highly complex and highly integrated and only a fraction of the mechanoreceptors in the system are worked by DJM…only a few of the joints are really ” mechanoreceptor rich”, the ankle and jaw for instance. My suspicion is that what is really happening (I don’t know enough to say for sure) when DJM works the mechanism isn’t so much joint receptors but actually the fascia.”
…NSAIDs “fix” pain too of course but don’t address the underlying cause (except maybe for an acute inflammation) . Certain DJM modalities seem to to suggest that DJM is somehow fixing the underlying issues causing the pain and that’s not a responsible claim, unless the underlying cause was a fairly minor thing to begin with. In my opinion NSAIDs and DJM are both band-aid fixes for pain. Alleve works better and longer than toe pulls, in my experience.”
I don’t think we need to know (or that we do) all of the physiological and anatomical associations of pain in order to navigate out way out of pain.
In my experience, I believe that mMs done correctly do address the “cause/underlying issue” of pain. I don’t think it is “neural trickery” although some of what is taught is.
If movement can put someone in pain, movement can take someone out of pain. If pain goes away and stays away that is about as certain as we ever can be that the underlying issue has been addressed.
Thank you so much for posting this for us! It’s such a lovely thing to learn more than what is generally offered by traditional resources. This truly is an enlightening read, thanks again.
GGH,
You’re very welcome!
Randy
regarding your question- No one needs me, no one needs the movement if it does not serve their goals, that would be my answer. For the life of me, if someone thinks I am here to think for them they are gravely mistaken. While I will do my best to present sound information, systems, and data- I am not here to serve anyone save myself. After Frankie I was the first to impliment this, and after months and months of using it 100% there is no turning back for me. if anyone else would rather pay other people to think for them than power to them. If anyone else would rather fuck themselves up to appease a guru who can’t even train themselves than power to them. if anyone else would rather discuss ideas than test them, power to them. I wish these people find themselves far from me, quickly too. I have nothing to offer the sheep, because these grounds are full of wolves and lions.
Since I have moved on, I have not made any recommendations which I know would result in someone being harmed- IE round back cleans with a heavy weight, excessive tension in movement, dangerous breathing patterns, or anything else. I have offered information which has allowed me to crush my personal goals, and the goals of my close friends. Naturally if that does not work for someone else- than they need to go do what does. BUT, if other peoples shit has not worked for them exactly as they please, than maybe it is time they trust themselves.
I trust that answers at least of of your questions.
Sounds like you need an FMS and corrections + swings and get ups for the next 8 months Randy
I believe we have a mutual friend who could help you.
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