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Body Balance

Body in Motion / Body Balance

Stability, Mobility, Flexibility – Getting it right

17.6.2019
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Body Balance, Fitness for Life, Functional Fitness, Injury and Rehab, Wellness

 While the act of moving may seem simple enough, there is more than one factor at play, determining the quality of our movements As human beings, nature designed us to move. Power, agility and suppleness vary not just amongst different people, but also among various body parts. This is where terms like ‘mobility’, ‘flexibility’, ‘stability’ get thrown around, often in a confused manner. The human body is a stack of joints alternating between stable and mobile regions, forming what is called the stability-mobility continuum. This forms the crux of human biomechanics. As we move, we place ourselves through this continuum, based on the demands of movement. To understand movement, it is important to correctly understand various terms associated with it.   Joint mobility refers to the uninhibited movement around...

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Could That Nagging Pain be Your Posture

08.4.2017
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Body Balance, Functional Fitness, Injury and Rehab, Wellness

This might seem like an utterly basic, common sense question not deserving any screen space, but my long professional experience as a personal trainer, rehab specialist and corporate health and wellness mentor, screams otherwise. So here we are, back to addressing fundamentals of one of nature’s most complex creations– the human body.The world keeps moving at a brisker pace. People are constantly busy doing their stuff, be it working, clawing up the corporate ladder, racing to meet deadlines or chasing endless thankless chores, day after day. A relatively minor percentage engages in some form of active health and fitness pursuits- recreational or competitive, while majority is still relatively sedentary in their daily routines. The health and fitness industry keeps churning out programs in changing avatars...

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Visual guide to 36 useful stretches

15.3.2017
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Body Balance, Fitness for Life, Functional Fitness, Injury and Rehab, Wellness

The effectivity of performing stretches and deriving their benefits in terms of enhancing flexibility, strength, injury prevention and general well being depends on targeting intended muscles appropriately.Without this bodily awareness focus is missing and stretches are often performed incorrectly. The following visual guide along with descriptions, shows the muscles involved in these stretches.Vicky Timón, an exercise expert and author of “Encyclopedia of Pilates Exercises,” created these beautiful illustrations, and James Kilgallon, CSCS, creator of Mazlo’s Body Maintenance Program, contributed the expert commentary. Don’t worry if you don’t understand muscle names. The muscles being stretched are highlighted in the images explicitly. It’s an invaluable source and a delightful way to learn!1. CAMEL POSEMuscles highlighted: Rectus Abdominus and External Obliques. This stretch is best reserved for people...

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Foam rolling – whys and how to

11.3.2017
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Body Balance, Functional Fitness, Injury and Rehab

There are a lot of links being shared online relating to foam rolling - whys and how to. Based on practical experience, I have observed, most don't seem to be able to perform rolling correctly or derive full benefits and still have doubts pertaining to foam rollers and rolling.Some common questions coming my way: - When should I foam roll - before or after exercising/activity/running?You can foam roll before or after or both times. The difference would be in pressure applied and duration. Before any activity, the rolling should be more like a stimulus to the muscles performed in smooth, controlled motion without applying too much pressure or bearing down statically for too long. The idea is to get muscles ready and supple for action.Post exercise is...

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Queries Post Airtel Delhi Half Marathon

22.2.2017
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Body Balance, Uncategorized

Some queries post ADHM interactions being answered in general.Barefoot strength does not only mean running barefoot. It also, and more importantly, means being barefoot strong before shod (with shoes). Shoes are an integral part of a lot of sports (including running). Some sports, specially contact sports like football, soccer and some others like tennis, squash, golf etc are not played without appropriate footwear. This does not mean that barefoot strengthening is not mean...

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Foot Strikes

22.1.2017
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Body Balance, Foot and Gait Analysis, Uncategorized

This video helps in visually understanding the different types of foot strikes while running. Foot strike has a bearing on how the foot loads ( & dissipates) the ground reaction forces when the foot strikes the ground. Foot strike also has a bearing on efficient barefoot running technique and better dissipation of these forces through the body. There seems to be a recent spurt of articles about barefoot running but without any attention drawn to this aspect or explaining the dynamics of going barefoot. Some articles in the paper are alarming because they seem to imply that barefoot is all about running & one fine, glorious day you can simply kick off your shoes & start running barefoot because that's what some athelets are doing!...

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Balance and Proprioception

20.1.2017
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Body Balance

The body maintains balance through Proprioception, using visual, vestibular and most importantly through plantar cutaneous feedback (from the foot) ! What exactly is proprioceptive stimulation? "Proprio" comes from the Latin word proprius, meaning "one's own" and perception is the sense of the relative position of neighboring parts of the body.Proprioception is a distinct sensory feedback mechanism that provides information to the brain about the body. Proprioceptive stimulation is a process in which the brain is stimulated to automatically adjust the body's posture and control it in it's surrounding space. This is done when a tactile stimulation is applied to the bottom of the feet (through standing or walking). Through this stimulation, a message (signal) is sent to the cerebellum (the balance center of the brain). Any training (specially...

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Evidence that short foot works!! AND proof that Barefoot Training is applicable across all sports, not just running.

17.1.2017
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Body Balance, Foot and Gait Analysis, Uncategorized

This is a message from the mother of my young pro golf client (just turned 12!). His golfing coach, who has been working on Raghav's swing for long, has shared his observation. Raghav is flat footed. I taught him the short foot exercise a couple of weeks back and asked him to practise it daily. Am thrilled at the results, more so because this young champ followed my instructions. His drive to excel will take him far. He is already playing (and winning) several championships. His younger brother Vaibhav is just 8. He can already hold the plank for more than a minute making it look so effortless. He too has started playing golf and wants to be a winner like his bro!...

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Importance of single leg training

07.1.2017
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Body Balance, Functional Fitness, Injury and Rehab

Most of our daily activities like walking, running, climbing up and down stairs, involve transitioning body weight from one leg to another. Movement, for most part is a series of transfer from one limb to another. It's only natural to extrapolate, therefore, that efficient and strong movement would be a direct result of the strength of muscles as they get repeatedly called into action in a single leg stance. Any weakness in muscles that need to support the body in it's daily actions, would eventually lead to injuries and compensation patterns. This would negatively impact movement (stability, efficiency and power) and form a cycle. The more forceful the the activity, the greater the need for these stabilizers and mobilizers to fire powerfully and in unison....

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What is the single most important muscle for movement and locomotion

04.1.2017
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Body Balance, Uncategorized

Before you answer that, pause and think – does your answer also apply to “blade runners”, double above-the-knee amputees and those with prosthetic legs? So if you thought of hamstrings, quadriceps, calves and such, how do these inspiring performers do it? If you thought (or now think) core, you are not off the mark. But the question is locomotive muscle or primary mover muscles. It’s the gluteal muscles – the muscles of the buttock! Not only do these muscles define the shape of the derriere, they are the powerhouse that generates the maximum propulsive force needed for locomotion.For cursory understanding, the gluteal muscles are actually a set of 3 – Gluteus maximus, medius and minimus. The Gluteus Maximus is the largest and strongest of the...

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