Self Healing - Full range of motion
- By Chris Hardwicke
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- 29 Jun, 2018
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Do you have a full range of motion?
Let us talk directly about moving through an old injury. In choosing this approach I had no models or mentors to help me find my way. I have taken courses in many types of movement but healing was not discussed. To allow our bodies to heal naturally there are a few important things on which we must focus our intentions.
The words “full range of motion” are given much lip service in the world of body movement, but seldom is this the case in practice. Our knee pain loop (work-pain-rest-work-pain-rest) is reinforced by squatting only to the 90 degrees proscribed by most trainers. What happens when go well below that while skiing or falling in sports? Knee pain and/or tendon tears occur or reoccur. You have trained the support tendons and ligaments to support the knee in only HALF its operating range. Below that range, the knee has no integrity and for that matter, nor do the ligaments which is precisely why they often tear.
Also foreign bodies (bits of bone, cartlidge) that are natural byproducts of neglect and trauma tend to collect in these unused articulate areas and may become involved in the articulation of the joint when full range is suddenly employed. So for prevention, as well as allowing healing to occur, we must squat to full range: Butt to heels.
As an example of how we have been remiss in our instruction of the general public, I shall use lifting a box from the floor as an example. As I mentioned, we are trained to squat to 90 degrees, in fact a large amount of leg machines in gyms will not allow a greater range. We are also taught to lift using our legs, NOT our backs. As we arrive at 90 degrees, we find something amazing; our hands cannot reach the floor without leaning the torso forward and putting our back in a vulnerable position! To pick up that box, you must have leg integrity and strength all the way to the floor.
To allow the knee to heal, we should not begin with lifting, nor should we begin to squat to full depth on legs that have no full-depth integrity without some assistance. One may simply hold on to anything chest high and lower the body in alignment and raise it with as much arm strength as you can. I have classes for “damaged” knees and have yet to find anyone who cannot perform this movement. In extreme cases the depth must be increased incrementally and if you are feeling discomfort in the knee, do not progress to deeper squats until pain recedes at a given depth.
In my experience, this painless movement eventually occurs in almost 100% of my clients. Full range of motion applies to pulling or pushing with the arms as well. Did you know that a push up is six to ten inches short of full range when your chest hits the floor? Or that a chin up performed to full range becomes a chest up?
We are fight or flight, hunting and gathering animals. In our DNA are all the tools for energy creation. Through the Kreb’s cycle, we can convert ALL food to energy. We can live in excess of 40 days on water alone. We can walk 300 miles without anything other than water. Though it is occasionally not evident, we are the most highly evolved animals on Earth.
To better understand how we create more energy, we would do well to visualize a spiral. If we follow the line of the spiral we see that it moves up and then levels out, reaching an ever-increasing height. The same is true when we create energy. Our energy levels cannot simply rise straight up. We must also level out to create energy (rest).
If you have been sedentary for a long time and one day you decide to go jogging for a couple of miles, you will be tired for several days after. You will need to rest. Tiredness is the downside of the spiral. From just that one run, you have created more energy that is yours to use AFTER recovery. This increased energy is the upswing of the spiral. If you continue to run and rest, the spiral will go up and level out with the net result being a gain in energy. Our heart becomes bigger and our lungs more toned, the relevant jogging muscles are stronger and more efficient.
To return to our car analogy, our engine has become bigger and stronger. When running a couple of miles no longer challenges us we have ADAPTED to our running regimen. At this point, if we do not run faster, farther or longer we will not continue to increase our energy. Our current level of running will MAINTAIN our current level of ADAPTATION (energy level). If we stop running we will gradually go back down the spiral. If we do not allow for full recovery through proper sleep we will also see a drop in performance. Sleep is an important part of the leveling out of the spiral.
In a nutshell, we must work hard enough to go higher “up” the spiral, and then rest, through which we will adapt to higher and higher levels of energy.
You can feed all the fuel you want to a weak engine and it will still not go faster. You can cleanse the fuel lines all you want and you will not increase YOUR performance if your engine is small and weak.
We have total control of our energy level. We are responsible for creating our own energy. If you do not have any, you have created the weak engine I am talking about. It is very easy to look to cleanses and supplements, but a strong engine can run very well for a long time on junk food, much as putting cheap gas in your car often takes 100,000 miles to have a negative effect.
In our car analogy, we fixed everything but the engine and still we had no better performance. A big difference between human engines and car engines is that if you park your car in the garage for a few years, the engine remains just as powerful. The human engine, however, will actually shrink. Your entire system can get clogged by parking it on the couch too long and not taking it out for a good drive once in a while. If you only drive it to work and back it won’t continue to run well for long. You will see what I mean when you finally “floor it” and black smoke pours out of the exhaust! It may even stall! Quick, before it’s too late, let’s make this thing run right, faster, and longer.
Why don’t you have some coffee, sugar, or fruit? That ought to pick you up! How about an energy drink with some wild sounding jungle herbs? Most of us regularly look for energy in a particular food or drink and we are eventually forced to acknowledge that it does not work.
We have an epidemic of blood sugar problems (hypoglycemia) that affect an estimated 60% of this country. In fact, most companies give workers a break at 10 a.m. and often this is not because they are generous, but productivity has markedly slowed. At this point you have only been at work for two, at most three, hours! Certainly you are not already out of energy. Notice that your break room is filled with caffeine, candy, and salty and sweet carbohydrates in hopes of kicking you back into productivity.
Further notice that the great ‘medication stations”—convenience stores— that are filled from one end to the other with these items! I can fix your “Blood Sugar” problem such that you can fully access energy you already have, but that will NOT create more!
Many alternative modalities promise to remove “blocks” to your energy or increase the flow of energy. Often “cleansing” of some type is recommended. Notice that removing blocks and increasing FLOW are NOT the same as creating MORE energy. For a better understanding of energy, I shall use a car for my analogy.
Let’s say that the tube that carries gasoline to the engine (the fuel line) is clogged. The car runs poorly. When you clear the “blockage” you “increase the flow” of fuel to the engine. While this is important and I often recommend energy-flow work, you will NOT have MORE energy, but full access to the energy you already had.
How about if the carburetor is not mixing the air and gasoline correctly? Again the car runs poorly. Many vitamin and supplements companies make “increased-energy” claims based on improving your fuel mix. While supplements and diet can sometimes correct nutritional deficiencies, you will only have better fuel, not more fuel. This is very important as better fuel is necessary for high performance. Many people in third world countries suffer from malnutrition and cannot perform well. However, you and I are likely getting everything we need for our day-to-day performance and even our “weekend warrior” athletics. Body builders, high school, college and professional athletes may well need supplements if their diet is less than perfect but I’m willing to bet that quality fuel is not your problem.
For now, let’s assume that your fuel system is clean enough and you eat a good enough diet. If this is the case, and most often it is, the cause of your lack of energy is that your motor is small and inefficient and that nothing you put in the gas tank can change that!
