Monday, March 31, 2008

Getting in the Flow: Joint Mobility Re-Education


I am really enjoying discovering (or recovering) the movement of my body around my joints. First I started with Z-Health which introduced me to the idea of joint mobility. Stretching is something that works on flexibility issues by lengthening your muscles. Mobility issues are cured by mobilizing the joints through motions. I sense that some of my joints are "stuck" in repetitive motions and they need to be retrained back to the original and normal movement patterns.

I like the Z-Health approach and its focus on working all body joints through their range of motion. It also has a neural component that retrains the nervous system so that your joints will remember how to move correctly. I have gained success through using the R-Phase DVD.

I am still learning and adapting to the that system but wanted to know more so I then checked out Scott Sonnen's Ageless Mobility DVD. This also worked on mobilizing the joints but also worked on the surrounding connective tissues around the joints. It supposedly lubricates the joints and "flushes the body with nutrition". Well all I know is that it was pleasant and tiring at the same time and when finished a lot of tension within my body had eased.

Ageless mobility was working but was a long DVD and I wanted to learn even more so I next ordered the Intu-Flow DVD through the RMax website. I have used the beginner level (their are 4 levels) each day for a week now and boy do I like this program. It has some similar exercises to the Z-Health routines (you are working all the joints) but they are done at a more difficult intensity. They feel real good while doing them and my body feels relaxed and more and more in sync each time I run through the routine. I also notice a warm feeling around the tissues surrounding certain joints after doing the routine as if those parts are feeling the good effects of the movements. A lot of the minor aches and pains from my imbalances disappear and I feel that I am getting in control of things for the first time in a long time. I am noticing more looseness throughout my body. Particularly pleasing to me is my hips are loosening up and my knee is not knocking in but starting to be more balanced to the outside. I also notice how I stand more balanced and now that my calf pain is gone the running movement is feeling improved.

So far my experiment with adding the joint mobility component to my routines is paying off and I hope it continues to improve my movements and running. I look forward to moving up to more difficult levels of the Intu-Flow system in particular, I am looking forward to learning how to use the clubbells that came with the DVD I ordered. It is not sold on Amazon, but it is through Scott Sonnen's website. I wasn't sure what they would do but since I am also experimenting with and enjoying kettlebells I decided to see what these could do. They feel a lot heavier then you would expect and feel fun (in a Star Wars sense)when you start whirling them around but I am holding off on learning exactly how to use them for now.

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