Having gone from exercising individual body parts to body movement patterns; emphasizing movement over muscle over the last 20 years has led to the next logical step in functional training.
The joint-by-joint theory is being advanced by coach Michael Boyle in a conversation with a friend, physical therapist Gray Cook who has done extensive work with professional sports teams in boosting performance and reducing injury. One of their basic movement assessment tools is the Functional Movement Screen.
Take a look at the joints and their primary function from the bottom up:
Joint Primary Training Needs
Ankle-mobility (particularly sagittal)
Knee-stability
Hip-mobility (multi-planar)
Lumbar Spine-stability
Thoracic -Spine-mobility
Gleno-humeral-stability
Notice how each joint alternates between mobility and stability. Boyle and Gray maintain that lack of mobility in one joint affects the stability of the joint above it. Conversely, a joint with poor stability will limit the mobility of the joint above it. Personally, I used to have poor mobility in my hips and as a result, had a lower back problems and imbalances. Simply put,
- Lose ankle mobility, get knee pain.
- Lose hip mobility, get low back pain
- Lose thoracic mobility, get neck and shoulder pain (or low back pain)
I would have to credit the type of training I now do which emphasizes ankle and hip mobility for strengthening and stabilizing my lower back. My shoulders, which used to be like glass, due to multiple falls on inline skates are now much stronger, more mobile and pain-free. (Shoulder dislocates and overhead squats played a large role in improving my gleno-humeral mobility. Work with improved abdominal and hip flexor training only helped. An great additional benefit for me has been improved posture, though it still needs improvement.
I strongly urge you to read Coach Boyle’s detailed breakdown of each joint in “A Joint-by-Joint Approach to Training” in T-Mag and read his new book, “Functional Training For Sports“, but only if you want to improve your performance and stay injury-free!
This book is also available at Dave and Laree Draper’s fine site, davedraper.com.
Take a look at the joints and their primary function from the bottom up:
Joint Primary Training Needs
Ankle-mobility (particularly sagittal)
Knee-stability
Hip-mobility (multi-planar)
Lumbar Spine-stability
Thoracic -Spine-mobility
Gleno-humeral-stability
Notice how each joint alternates between mobility and stability. Boyle and Gray maintain that lack of mobility in one joint affects the stability of the joint above it. Conversely, a joint with poor stability will limit the mobility of the joint above it. Personally, I used to have poor mobility in my hips and as a result, had a lower back problems and imbalances. Simply put,
- Lose ankle mobility, get knee pain.
- Lose hip mobility, get low back pain
- Lose thoracic mobility, get neck and shoulder pain (or low back pain)
I would have to credit the type of training I now do which emphasizes ankle and hip mobility for strengthening and stabilizing my lower back. My shoulders, which used to be like glass, due to multiple falls on inline skates are now much stronger, more mobile and pain-free. (Shoulder dislocates and overhead squats played a large role in improving my gleno-humeral mobility. Work with improved abdominal and hip flexor training only helped. An great additional benefit for me has been improved posture, though it still needs improvement.
I strongly urge you to read Coach Boyle’s detailed breakdown of each joint in “A Joint-by-Joint Approach to Training” in T-Mag and read his new book, “Functional Training For Sports“, but only if you want to improve your performance and stay injury-free!
This book is also available at Dave and Laree Draper’s fine site, davedraper.com.
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