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The Habits that Make or Break Movement

August 18, 2015 · by Garrett McLaughlin

| Article written on August 18th, 2015 at 12:30pm | Follow Garrett on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram |

“It took a habit to make that pattern, and it’s going to take a habit to break that pattern.” – Gray Cook

Habits form so much within our lives. The things we do on a daily basis, repetitively, over and over again become ingrained in us.

When it comes to movement, habits can either make us stronger, more resilient, and efficient. Or, habits can cause us to breakdown, hurt, and need fixing. The habits we practice in terms of movement will ultimately decide which path we travel down.

The good thing is, we can change or alter our outcome. This doesn’t always mean we can reverse what has been done for years and not need the surgery our doctor recommended. But, if we change our intent, and modify our habits to those that build us up instead of break us down, we can improve the quality of our movement.

What people need to realize is that there is often no quick fix. Most of the problems that cause injury or dysfunctional movement have been plaguing our bodies for years. That means even before we have pain, we often have dysfunction that isn’t yet apparent. This is where I feel many fitness professionals fall short. Before a new client or member begins training with you, it is essential that they complete a movement screen to hopefully uncover problematic “habits” on the front end. Compounding dysfunction with strength training and conditioning can be disastrous.

What can you do about this?

The first step is to seek out a healthcare/fitness professional who is trained in assessing movement. Ask them where you need to focus your attention, and what you need to stop doing in terms of exercise that will make things worse. Before you leave, schedule a follow-up session in 4-6 weeks. The initial assessment is only as good as the intervention and follow-up session to check progress.

Next, and the most important part… You need to start doing something about it. Remember, it’s all about habits. On a daily basis you need to practice proper movement. More often than not, this doesn’t mean getting stronger but becoming more efficient. So, don’t be embarrassed to start at bodyweight, foam rolling, and mobility work. Use the assessment to guide your new habits on where you need to focus your attention. And, stay away from things that will continue to exacerbate the problem. If your thoracic spine is immobile, you may want to stay away from overhead exercises and improve mobility in that area first. And on top of that, implement some exercises to be completed every hour while taking a break from your desk.

Remember, habits can either build you up or break you down. You chose the path you wish to travel.

By: Garrett McLaughlin, MS, ATC, CSCS, ART

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ART for the Everyday Athlete

August 14, 2015 · by Garrett McLaughlin

| Article written on August 14th, 2015 at 2:10pm | Follow Garrett on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram |

Active Release Techniques (ART) has become a staple in the maintenance programs of distance athletes to ensure optimal performance and a reduced likelihood of injury. But, more often than not, ART is an effective treatment and maintenance therapy for the everyday person. Pain and dysfunction as a result of soft-tissue injury or nerve entrapment are the only requirements to be successfully treated with ART. These types of injuries are common in people who perform repetitive tasks in their everyday lives and in the workplace. Some professionals who may not realize their pain and discomfort can be significantly decreased and/or eliminated using ART are: office workers, hair stylists, construction workers and other laborers, journalists and musicians.

The start of the repetitive injury cycle requires some type of stress or insult to the soft-tissue, whether big or small. We tend to think people need to be working out, or competing in athletics to be at risk of injury. These are obviously situations that may predispose someone to an increased injury risk, but what about those who complete thousands of repetitions of a task each and everyday? One big stress vs. thousands of small, repetitive stresses can cause similar outcomes.

In the case of those who work at desks and type on the computer for 8-hours each day. It doesn’t look too harmful to the normal observer. But, the repetitive typing motion on a keyboard can cause significant overuse injuries in the long run, like golfer’s elbow, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, dequervain’s tendonitis, and much more. For soft-tissue to stay healthy, we need constant, re-circulated blood flow, oxygen, and nutrients to be sent to the muscles, tendons, and ligaments. When we are in a state of low-level muscular contraction, like the muscles of the forearms when typing on the computer, blood flow is unable to re-circulate to these tissues. Lack of blood flow causes cell hypoxia and we actually see fibrotic changes within the tissue. As we continue along this route for days, months, or even years, the tissues texture, density, and function can change dramatically. Instead of being supple, and elastic, they become more dense and shortened. This eventually leads to pain and dysfunction.

ART allows us to examine the function of specific tissues and nerves through advanced palpation and movement techniques. It’s not just about one specific tissue, but how adjacent muscles and nerves glide past each other. Once a specific problem is located, it is treated using specific protocols that restore that areas natural, pain-free function. This technique allows office workers, contractors, musicians, athletes, and anyone suffering from soft-tissue injury to continue doing their job and enjoying life, pain-free.

By: Garrett McLaughlin, MS, ATC, CSCS, ART

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4 Things I Learned from the Active Release Techniques (ART) Spine Course

July 29, 2015 · by Garrett McLaughlin

| Article written on July 29th, 2015 at 9:35am | Follow Garrett on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram |

Just last weekend, I had the opportunity to take my third Active Release Techniques (ART) course which focused specifically on the spine. As an Athletic Trainer, the spine has always been an area that I would recognize as a weak point. AT’s are typically very good at evaluating and treating injuries in the extremities, because this is what we see most within the younger (high school and collegiate), athletic population. With that being said, the spine is often overlooked while treating injuries at the extremity because issues can be traced not to where the pain is, but to the actual source of the dysfunction. The ART spine course allowed me to re-visit such an important inner working of anatomy and biomechanics that are easy to overlook in human function. But, to also recognize the connectedness and relationship of one structure to another.

Here are 4 things I learned from the ART spine course:

The superficial back line (SBL) can become problematic and often overlooked at the sacrotuberous and long dorsal sacral ligaments. Often we see poor posture and increased kyphosis at the thoracic spine, as well as increased tension and tightness in the hamstring musculature. Well, the sacrotuberous and long dorsal sacral ligaments are the soft-tissue structures that connect both of these problematic areas. Maybe they need more attention to improve their resiliency and function that can help improve issues commonly seen at the thoracic spine and hamstring.
Do you suffer from relenting headaches? Headaches can often be combated and resolved with soft-tissue intervention to several surrounding head and neck muscles. There are so many vital muscles that surround the head and cervical spine. When these tissues become tight and fibrotic from poor posture, staring at a computer screen, and constant abuse, headaches are often the result. Several muscles, including: temporalis, occipitalis, rectus capitus posterior major/minor, superior oblique, trapezius, splenius capitus, and semispinalis capitus need to be evaluated from a soft-tissue standpoint to determine their quality. More often than not, we quickly prescribed medication to treat persistent headache without investigating the possible root cause in the surrounding musculature.
Is spinal alignment off? Manipulation is a key component to restoring proper alignment and function within the musculoskeletal system. But, manipulation without addressing the restricted soft-tissue structures will ensure you need multiple visits to regain pain-free function. When we look at spinal alignment, we have deep soft-tissue structures that control vertebral position, such as: rotatores, multifidus, intertransversarii, quadratus lumborum, iliolumbar ligament, and more. Many of these structures need to be treated in conjunction with manipulation for full resolution. There is no one technique or solution to resolve pain or dysfunction, but a multi-faceted approach will provide the best results.
Referred pain patterns into the thigh, lower leg, and genitals are possible from nerve entrapment within the hip flexor area. We have several nerves including: femoral n., genitofemoral n., and lateral femoral cutaneous n., that can become entrapped at the psoas, iliacus, and anterior aspect of the quadratus lumborum. When this happens we can feel burning, tingling, aching, or shooting pain further down it’s distribution pattern. Don’t always be fooled when something hurts that the specific location is the problem. With referred patterns, like when dealing with nerves, we must investigate the entire pathway of that nerve to determine if there are any issues further up.

I hope you enjoyed this post. If you are suffering from any type of soft-tissue injury or interested in improving overall function of the body, contact me to learn more about ART. In conjunction with a structured exercise regime, ART can allow you to stay injury-free, recover from injury, or feel the best you have in years.

By; Garrett McLaughlin, MS, ATC, CSCS, ART

The Right Way to Resolve Upper Back Tightness

June 27, 2015 · by Garrett McLaughlin

| Article written on June 27th, 2015 at 9:30am | Follow Garrett on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram |

The region between the shoulder blades is often an area where we feel tons of tension and nagging pain. In the majority of situations, this area is held in a constantly lengthened and tensioned state. From poor posture and the heavy use of technology, we create postural changes within our upper body that increases kyphosis at the thoracic spine, shifts the shoulder blades laterally, and tightens the anterior chest/shoulder musculature. To resolve this issue we tend to look towards soft-tissue work and foam rolling at the area between the shoulder blades, which will temporarily reduce symptoms. But, what we actually need to do is loosen up the anterior chest and shoulders, while strengthening and shortening the muscles in the upper back. This will provide the long-term fix needed to resolve the issue.

Here is a demonstration on these everyday, negative postural changes, and what we need to do to resolve them:

By: Garrett McLaughlin, MS, ATC, CSCS, ART

Function Before Fitness: Why Does It Matter?

March 30, 2014 · by Garrett McLaughlin

Function before fitness is a topic that I am very passionate about. I really shy away from giving people exercises just to exercise. To me, that is unethical and missing the most important part. Proper bodily function should precede every fitness program. This means each person should complete a movement screen first to detect any underlying imbalances, asymmetries, faulty movement patterns, or pain. If you test acceptable on the movement screen, then by all means do whatever exercises you like. But, if there are red flags, it is essential to investigate and correct these issues before compounding the problem

One ex Squat - delaware ercise I often see people doing wrong is the squat. By far one of the best exercises and a fundamental movement pattern that everyone should be able to do. But, if you can’t squat properly with the chest up, knees out wide, and weight back on the heels, then you really shouldn’t be adding weight to it. Something here is wrong and continuing to add weight to a dysfunctional movement pattern will compound the problem a lot quicker then correcting and then building up from scratch.

Have you ever suffered from an injury? Did you properly rehabilitate to regain natural function? And, I’m not just talking about until the pain subsided. Following each injury and any stimulus of pain, it is common for our movement patterns to be altered. This matters because so often people endure injuries where they limp, compensate, or favor the affected side and changes occur which will increase the likelihood of future injury. This should be taken into consideration for any exercise goer who had/has pain and continues to exercise without properly addressing the issue.

So, what am I trying to get at? Function far outweighs fitness when comes to proper movement. If you haven’t had a chance to be assessed, it is well worth the money. And, if you are returning from an injury or currently have pain, make sure you go through a full rehabilitation program aimed not only at decreasing your pain and symptoms, but fixing the underlying cause and addressing any compensation which resulted. All of this is just like building a house. You’d obviously want a solid foundation laid down before adding all the extras. Contact myself if you are interested in completing a movement screen or would like to be directed to the appropriate professional in your area.

Garrett McLaughlin is an athletic trainer, personal trainer, and certified active release techniques provider. He is passionate about creating safe, and effective fitness and rehabilitation programs for the general population and athletes. ‘Like‘ Garrett’s Facebook page to stay up-to-date on related health, fitness, and nutrition information.

What is Active Release Techniques?

January 6, 2014 · by Garrett McLaughlin

Active release techniques is a patented soft-tissue system that treats muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, and nerves. It is common through repetitive daily tasks and athletic events that we develop restrictions within our soft-tissue structures which limit blood flow/circulation, cause pain, limit range of motion, and cause compensatory motion. ART is a specific system that allows the provider to use his hands to identify restriction and adhesions within the tissues and treat using specific protocols. These protocols consist of identifying the structure involved, placing that structure in a shortened position, apply a specific contact tension along the tissue, and then actively or passively lengthening the tissue. By doing so, the dysfunctional tissue slides under the contact of the provider causing any restriction or adhesions within the tissue to be broken up resulting in the restoration of normal functional tissue.

Several factors are taken in consideration when it comes to ART and they are: tissue tension, tissue texture, tissue movement, and tissue function. When a tissue doesn’t function properly, pain is often the result within that specific tissue or others, as a compensatory mechanism. Why do some of those factors change within tissue you may wonder? It is usually a result of the everyday stressors we expose our bodies to. For example: An office worker who types for 7 hours a day and reaches in the same direction to pick up the phone. This may not seem like much, but imagine how the body adapts to the same small movements day in and day out for years. It is also common for the athletic population to have some type of soft-tissue dysfunction from the normal wear and tear of the activity.

This past weekend, I had the chance to become a certified ART provider for the upper extremity. This 4-day certification educational program is only offered to healthcare providers such as doctors, chiropractors, physical/occupational therapists, massage therapists, and athletic trainers. It was an amazing educational experience which provided me an additional set of skills in evaluating and treating soft-tissue injuries. It is common for many soft-tissue injuries to be labeled as tendonitis when it is nothing more then adhesions within the tissue that need to be appropriately treated using ART. It can also be used for many postural issues such as forward rounded shoulders and the loss of normal joint range of motion from tissue tightness. I feel ART can have a great impact on not only someone who is injured, but the regular gym-goer or athlete who wants to prevent injury and maintain healthy bodily function.

For more information on ART and if it can help you, contact Garrett or check out the ART website.

Garrett McLaughlin is an Athletic Trainer and Personal Trainer in Nashville, TN. He creates personal training and injury rehabilitation programs for the general population and athletes. Garrett is passionate about not only working one-on-one with clients, but educating them on health & wellness so they can continue making positive choices throughout their lives. Contact Garrett with questions or to schedule a session.

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