Would You Look at That It was a little over a year ago that I took PRI vision and was blown away. A little bit after that, I went through the PRIME program to become an alternating and reciprocal warrior. I had learned so much about what they do in PRI vision that I was feeling somewhat okay with implementation. Then my friends told me about the updates they made in this course. I signed up as quickly as possibly, and am glad I did. This course has reached a near-perfect flow and the challenging material is much more digestible. Don’t expect to know the what’s and how’s of Ron and Heidi’s operation. And realistically, you probably don’t need to. Your job as a clinician is to take advantage of what the visual system can do, implement that into a movement program, and refer out as needed. This blog will try to explain the connection between these two systems. If you want more of the nitty-gritty programming, I strongly recommend reading my first round with this course. Otherwise, you might be a little lost. Let’s do it.
Read MoreTag: Ron Hruska
Course Notes: Cantrell’s Impingement and Instability, 2015 Edition
Third Time’s a Charm A trip home and hearing Mike Cantrell preach the good PRI word? I was sold. Impingement and Instability is one of those courses that I could take yearly and still get so many gems. In fact, I probably will end up taking it yearly—it’s that good. I took I&I last year with Cantrell (and the year before that with James), and the IFAST rendition was a completely different course. Cantrell provided the most PRI clinical applications I have seen at any course, which is why he continues to be one of my favorite people to learn from. Basically, if you haven’t learned from Mike yet, I pity you. Get to it! I have way too many gems in my notes to discuss, so here are a few big takeaways.
Read MoreCourse Notes: PRI Cervical Revolution REMIX
Note: I made some errors on the first rendition of this blog that were corrected after speaking with Eric Oetter. Courtesy to him, Lori Thomsen, and Ron Hruska for cleaning up some concepts. Four Months Later When the Lori Thomsen says to come to Cervical Revolution, you kinda have to listen. I was slightly hesitant to attend since I had taken this course back in January. I mean, it was only the 3rd course rendition. How much could have changed? Holy schnikes! It is simply amazing what four months of polishing can do. It was as though I attended a completely different course. Did I get it all figured out? No. But the clarity gained this weekend left me feeling a lot better about this very complex material. This is a course that will only continue to get better with time; if you have a chance to attend please do. Let’s now have a moment of clarity. Biomechanics 101 The craniocervical region is the most mobile section of the vertebral column. This mobility allows regional sensorimotor receptors to provide the brain accurate information on occipital position and movement. The neck moves with particular biomechanics. Fryette’s laws suggest that the cervical spine produces ipsilateral spinal coupling in rotation and sidebending. The OA joint, on the other hand, couples contralaterally. C2 is the regulator of cervical spine motion; much like the first rib regulates rib cage movement. C2 is also important for the mandible, as it balances the cervical spine during mandibular
Read MoreThe Road to an Alternating and Reciprocal Warrior: You down with ENT?
This spans an entire treatment over a year’s time. Here’s part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 “Yeah you know me.” ~ Naughty By Nature You know how sometimes when you are treating someone that individual eventually reveals fairly important information that he or she forgot about. Yeah that was totally me. I’ve always had a stuffy nose as far back as I can remember; especially in the winter. The only time breathing felt incredibly easy was when I was eating paleo in college. I have progressively been losing my sense of smell as well. Must be old age right? When I spoke with Lori Thomsen about my recent experience, she mentioned at Pelvis that attaining neutrality in certain areas but not others could lead to a “pressure cooker” phenomenon. For example, if I have someone with a neutral neck and thorax, lower extremity symptoms may possibly be more common. In my case, I had a neutral pelvis at the time my wisdom teeth were pulled. Pull out wisdom teeth and my nasal airway goes crazy. Guess where the pressure went? It was time to see an ENT. ENT Begins After viewing my CT scan and airway, my ENT concluded I have patho-scoliosis. More specifically, airway scoliosis. He found a deviated septum and some enlarged turbinates. These two factors could have a large impact on my breathing capabilities. To me this made a lot of sense. If you read this article, a nostril will drive air to the ipsilateral lung.
Read More
Course Notes: Pelvis Restoration Reflections
Pelvises Were Restored It was another great PRI weekend and I was fortunate enough to host the hilarious Lori Thomsen to teach her baby, Pelvis Restoration. Lori is a very good friend of mine, and we happened to have two of our mentees at the course as well. Needless to say it was a fun family get-together. Lori was absolutely on fire this weekend clearing up concepts for me and she aptly applied the PRI principles on multiple levels. She has a very systematic approach to the course, and is a great person to learn from, especially if you are a PRI noob. Here were some of the big concepts I shall reflect on. If you want the entire course lowdown, read the first time I took the course here. Extension = Closing Multiple Systems This right here is for you nerve heads. It turns out the pelvis is an incredibly neurologically rich area. What happens if a drive my pelvis into a position of extension for a prolonged period of time? I’ve written a lot about how Shacklock teaches closing and opening dysfunctions with the nervous system. An extended position here over time would increase tension brought along the pelvic nerves. Increased tension = decreased bloodflow = sensitivity. We can’t just limit it to nerves however, the same would occur in the vasculature and lymphatic system. We get stagnation of many vessels. Perhaps we need to think of extension as system closure; a system closing problem. Flexion will be
Read More
The Road to an Alternating and Reciprocal Warrior: Wisdom Teeth Extraction
This spans an entire treatment over a year’s time. Here’s part 1 Part 2 Part 3 The Saga Continues I’ve been through vision, I’ve had dental integration, I’ve put in the PRI activity homework, maximized my PRI testing, and feel a new man. Yet neutrality eludes me. It is a state of mind I could once feel by the power of glasses and splints, but the nervous system learns and accommodates. I topped out. But of course, I knew that would be the case from my very first session with Ron. “You gotta get those wisdom teeth pulled.” ~Ron Hruska By virtue of the dentist I integrate with, the time came. And here are the results. Zac B.E. (Before Extraction) So at this point in my life the large HRV gains I initially had were dropping and I was still having some neck tension. Training was feeling so-so. Test-wise, the videos below show what I look like. Here’s my squat And my toe touch. Upper quadrant tests And lower quadrant tests Mandibular movements And some cervical movements My pelvis is consistently neutral and I can shift and squat with the best of ‘em. But I still present with restrictions in my thorax, neck, and mandible (BBC/RTMCC). These limitations are likely present because of a bony block called wisdom teeth. As you can see, the maxillary (top side) wisdom teeth limit the excurision of my lateral pterygoids for lateral trusive movements. My hope is by removing these guys I will get
Read MoreCourse Notes: PRI Cervical Revolution
Where are all the People? I recently made the trek to Vermont for the first rendition of PRI’s Cervical Revolution course; a course in which the attendees doubled the population of the entire state. It was nice to go to the class with a bunch of old friends. You always learn better that way, and I couldn’t have been more excited to get the band back together. And even more so, I got to meet a lot of good folks for the first time. It was a real treat. This course was meant to update the former craniocervical mandibular restoration course (which I reviewed here and here), with extra emphasis on the cervical spine and OA joint. In this blog however, I will not touch much on the cervical spine positioning. I still have several questions regarding the mechanics. Some spots within the manual seemed to be conflicting; the blessing and curse of a first run-through. I will update this piece once I get these points figured out. That said, the revolution helped fine tune the dental integration process for me. I have been working a bit with a dentist, and I have a bit more insight in terms of what devices they are using for whom. Let’s go through my big a-ha moments. Smudging 901 The human body is symmetrically asymmetrical. When we have capacity to alternate and reciprocate, we are able to separate the body into parts to form a whole. If you lack integration, then there are
Read MoreCourse Notes: Cantrell’s Myokin Reflections
Third Time’s a Charm Mike Cantrell was in my neighborhood to teach Myokinematic Restoration by the folks at PRI. And I couldn’t resist. This is the third time I have taken this course, a course I feel I know like the back of my hand, yet Mike gave me several clinical gems that I want to share with y’all. This post is going to be a quick one. If you want a little more depth, take a look at my previous myokin posts (See James Anderson and Jen Poulin). Or better yet, take a PRI course for cryin’ out loud. Hip Extension, We Need That Yo. Sagittal plane is your first piece needed to create triplanar activity. Since this is a lumbopelvic course, we look at getting hip extension as high priority. If I am unable to extend my hip, here’s what I could try to use to do it: Back SI joint compression Anterior hip laxity Gastrocnemius and soleus. We use two tests to see if we have hip extension: adduction drop (modified ober’s test) and extension drop (Thomas test). The adduction drop will look at your capacity to get into the sagittal and frontal plane, and the extension drop test will look at your anterior hip ligamentous integrity. A positive extension drop is a good thing if you are in the LAIC pattern. It means you didn’t overstretch your iliofemoral and pubofemoral ligaments. Well done! The reason why this test is not a hip flexor length test has to
Read MoreCourse Notes: Advanced Integration and PRC Reflections
I Passed I officially became a Jedi this past December after retaking Advanced Integration and going through the Postural Restoration Certified (PRC) testing. Both were a wonderful experience in terms of learning new concepts and fine-tuning old ones. Since I have retaken this course, I will not go into huge detail in terms of the material covered (if you want detail, read last year’s AI notes here, here, here, and here). Instead, I will reflect on a few concepts that really hit home for me (No, i’m not saying what we did at the PRC)! Enjoy. Extension is Evolution Extension is what allowed our brains to develop because it brought us to two legs. The big extenders: psoas, paravertebrals, lat, QL, capitis Extension given us more but comes with a cost. As we continue to extend, we increase system demands. Extension will likely be a necessary adaptation to live in the world we are creating. I’m scared to see what the future looks like. Position Refers to triplanar position of the body. Neutrality is the state of rest and transition zone from one side to the other. We want this most of the day, but can’t expect this to occur all day. We want to establish a rhythm in and out of neutrality in alternating and reciprocal function. The alternating and reciprocal rhythm has alternate appendages on either side of the body. When the left leg is in front, the right leg should be back. In right stance, the appendages take
Read MoreThe Post Wonderful Time of the Year: 2014 Edition
And That’s a Wrap It’s that time of the year that we get to look back and reflect and what posts killed it (and which bombed). It seems as though my fine fans be on a pain science kick this year, and rightfully so. It’s some of the best stuff on the PT market right now. It’s definitely a topic I hope to write about more in the coming year, and one I will be speaking on at this year’s PRC conference. But without further ado, here are the top 10 posts of 2014. 10. Treatment at the Hruska Clinic: PRI Dentistry and Vision Going through the treatment process as a patient has really upped my game in terms of knowing when to integrate with my patients. It has also been a life-changing experience for my health and well-being. Learn how they did it for me. 9. Course Notes: THE Jen Poulin’s Myokinematic Restoration So much fine tuning occured the second time around. I love how Jen acknowledged the primitive reflex origin of the patterns, as well as fine tuning both lift tests. She’s an excellent instructor (and fun to party with)! 8. Treatment at the Hruska Clinic: Initial Evaluation The start of my alternating and reciprocal saga. Made for one of the most fascinating evaluations I have ever experienced. Ron Hruska is otherworldly. 7. Course Notes: PRI Postural Respiration I love a good foundational course taught by the Ronimal. You always get a few easter eggs that allude to
Read MoreHruska Clinic II: The Follow-up
Six Months Later I have come pretty far in my journey since initially being treated at the Hruska Clinic (see day one, two, and three). I have developed a beautiful squat, am noticing less back issues when I lift, and just generally feel mo’ betta. I also have zero fatigue when reading or on a computer screen. That said, I was still getting some right neck tension and felt that my reading comprehension was not as good as it was. I was accommodating to both my orthotics, so I thought my next trip to Lincoln would be a good time to follow-up. If Youz Ain’t Assessin’ You Guessin’ Came through the door after a long flight and minimal sleep, and surprised even myself. Without any orthotics, I was neutral at my pelvis and thorax, but still had some left cervical axial rotation and right OA sidebending restrictions. I was also lacking the capacity to perform mandibular lateral trusion without kicking in my SCMs. The reason why I don’t have access to my pterygoids for this movement? Those DAMN wisdom teeth. My wisdom teeth essentially alter pterygoid position and reduce my mandible’s capacity to move. When I protrude, I have to extend my OA joint and utilize a forward head posture to complete the movement. The same thing occurs with lateral trusion. When I attempt the movement, the bony block limits my pterygoids from performing the action. SCMs, in particular the right, try to pick up the slack. From a
Read MoreCourse Notes: PRI Integration for Baseball
Another Course in the Books Back in November I had the pleasure of attending a new Baseball PRI affiliate course, taught by my homies Allen Gruver and James Anderson. I really enjoyed this course because it was such a high-level affiliate and great prep for my PRC. We went into great deal regarding position, throwing mechanics, and treatment. A…lot…of…stuff. One of the most amazing pieces of the course was Allen’s ability to breakdown complex baseball movements into their basic biomechanical bits, And from that point show what compensatory things could occur if limitations are present. His eye for these things is unreal. That piece of the course is a post or two on its own, so I won’t touch it here. In fact, I probably won’t touch it at all. Go to this great class and be wowed by Allen. You will be motivated to become a better clinician. I know I was. Here are some of the big takeaways. PRI 101 v 3.0 I’ve heard this overview three times this year now, and it is amazing that I still pick up things from it. James really outdid himself here. The big piece this time around was space. We want space maximized. In the vision course we discussed maximizing left peripheral visual space because the pattern reduces this quality. The pattern in general reduces our ability to move through triplanar space. There are a few other reasons that we would be unable to shift into our left side. Overactive muscles
Read More