Movement Chapter 13: Movement Pattern Corrections

This is a chapter 13 summary of the book “Movement” by Gray Cook.

 

Back to the Basics

Mobility deficits ought to be the first impairment corrected. Optimizing mobility creates potential for new sensory input and motor adaptation, but does not guarantee quality movement. This is where stability training comes in. In order for the brain to create stability in a region, the following ought to be present:

  • Structural stability: Pain-free structures without significant damage, deficiency, or deformity.
  • Sensory integrity: Uncompromised reception/integration of sensory input.
  • Motor integrity: Uncompromised activation/reinforcement of motor output.
  • Freedom of movement:  Perform in functional range and achieve end-range.

Getting Mobility

There are 3 ways to gain mobility:

1)      Passively: Self-static stretching with good breathing; manual passive mobilization.

2)      Actively: Dynamic stretching, PNF.

3)      Assistive: Helping with quality or quantity, aquatics, resistance.

Getting Stability

In order to own our new mobility, we use various stability progressions to cement the new patterns. There are three tiers in which stability is trained:

1)      Fundamental stability – Basic motor control, often in early postures such as supine, prone, or rolling.

2)      Static stability – done when rolling is okay but stability is compromised in more advanced postures.

3)      Dynamic stability – Advanced movement.

We progress in these stability frames from easy to further difficult challenges.

Assisted → active → reactive-facilitation/perturbations

Since stability is a subconscious process, we utilize postures that can challenge this ability while achieving desired motor behavior. We can also group the various postural progressions into 3 categories:

1)      Fundamental – Supine, prone, rolling (requires unrestricted mobility).

2)      Transitional – Postures between supine and standing such as prone on elbows, quadruped, sitting, kneeling, half-kneeling.

3)      Functional: Standing variations to include symmetrical and asymmetrical stance, single leg stance.