Another Course in the Books As an official Ron Hruska groupie, the tour continued to the Big Apple to learn a little Postural Respiration. And in NYC, everything is bigger. The biggest city I had prior been exposed to was Chicago. The cities feel similar, only NYC has twice as many people on the same size streets. I felt like this course was one of my less understood areas in the system, as Respiration was my first live PRI course. Taking this class the second time around really cleaned up a lot of things for me, and Ron was on point as always. So let’s dive into the cranium…I mean pelvis….I mean thorax. Oh sorry, wrong course. Laying the Foundation The three foundational courses aim to inhibit tone, twist, torque, and tension in the human system by various methods. In Myokinematic Restoration, mastering the frontal plane with both legs inhibits the system. In Pelvis Restoration, active leg adduction inhibits the system. In Postural Respiration, trunk rotation inhibits the system. When these powers combine, the goal is to simultaneously maximize phases of gait and respiration. This development allows for total-body freedom to move, breathe, live, and create amidst our incessant desire to run on our built-in right stance autopilot. There is nothing wrong with right stance, but it becomes wrong when it is all you know. “There is nothing wrong with half the gait cycle until it becomes the full gait cycle.” ~Ron Hruska. Make a Memory – The Zone of
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PRI and Pain Science: Yes You Can Do It
Questions You may have noticed that my blogging frequency has been a little slower than the usual, and I would like to apologize for that. I am in the midst of creating my first course that I am presenting to my coworkers. It has been a very exciting yet time-consuming process. It makes me excited and more motivated to someday start teaching more on the reg. Ever since I started blogging people started asking me questions. These range from many topics regarding physical therapy, career advice, and the like. Some of the more frequent ones include: What courses should I look at? Any advice for a new grad? Seriously, Bane. What’s the deal? But the one I get asked more often then not is as follows: “Zac, how do you integrate PRI into a pain science model?” A great question indeed, especially to those who are relatively unfamiliar with PRI. With all the HG, GH, AF, FA, and FU’s, it’s easy to get lost in the anatomical explanations. Hell, the company even has the word (gasp) “posture” in the title. Surely they cannot think that posture and pain are correlated. I think there is a lot of misinformation regarding PRI’s methodology and framework. What needs to be understood is that PRI is a systematic, biopsychosocial approach that predominately (though not exclusively) deals with the autonomic nervous system. The ANS is very much linked into pain states, though not a causative factor. But of course, that may not be enough. Perhaps
Read MoreCourse Notes: Advanced Integration Day 4 – Curvature of the Spine
Today we get wild and crazy and talk about scoliosis and the like; the last day of AI. For day 1, click here For day 2, click here For day 3, click here Scoliosis Variations The entire day focused predominately on treating scoliosis, which oftentimes amounts to exaggerations of the common patterns PRI discusses. Because scoliosis is an exaggerated PRI pattern, one must beget the question if the pattern or scoliosis came first? This question obviously cannot be answered, but for our intents and purposes we ought to assume pattern precedes curve. That way we may be able to alter the impairment. The scoliosis we can alter is often functional aka rotational. These types are ones that everyone has; the question is to what degree. Nonpathological Curve The nonpatho curve is an exaggerated version of the LAIC/RBC pattern, oftentimes with superior T4 syndrome involved. In this pattern the left ribs are externally rotated and right internally rotated. This reason is why 98% of scoliosis has right sided rib humps. A rib hump is akin to excessive rib internal rotation. In this case, the spine looks like so… Here we can see how the spine excessively right orients up to T8-T9, then rotates left superior to that. These patients will present with typical Left AIC and Right BC test results along with typical right lateralization. One difference may be the right shoulder is not as low as typical with most patterned individuals. This change is due to compensating for the excessive curve. When
Read MoreAdvanced Integration: Day 2 (Triplanar Activity)
For day 2 we discuss more and more the areas that help support ZOA establishment. Read on comrades. For day 1, click here Neutral Neutral can be described as a position in which certain muscles are disengaged; those that make up chains in the human system (i.e. left AIC, Right BC, right TMCC). It is neutrality that allows us to function out of an unbiased non-lateralized position. We will never be fully symmetrical because we are neither built as such nor function cortically as such. But being able to be as symmetrical as possible may allow our bodies to function favorably. Achieving neutrality is only step one in the process. It allows for someone to accept triplanar movement. Once one can reach neutral, then you may teach them how to move with the left and right sides of the body. Is it possible to be too neutral? The answer is it depends. Mike Cantrell, one of PRI’s instructors, discussed a sprinter he was treating. Mike was able to get him neutral, but once this occurred his times worsened. This result goes back to part 1’s discussion regarding variability. In this case, being neutral, being too parasympathetic, made him slower. We could akin this to almost parasympathetic overtraining. The crazy thing? This sprinter’s sister had died earlier in a week he was scheduled to see Mike. The guy came in as neutral as could be. His nervous system shifted him towards this state as a way to disengage, thus leading him
Read MoreCourse Notes: PRI Myokinematic Restoration
What a Class Wow. That’s all that really needs to be said. I have had a great deal of exposure to PRI in the past, but I have only had one formal class under my belt. Needless to say, I was looking forward to learning more. James Anderson and the PRI folks did not disappoint. Myokinematic Restoration was easily the best class I have taken all year. It also helped having another like-minded group attending. You learn so much more when you are surrounded by friends. Here is the course low-down. Disclaimer for the Uninitiated I know there are a lot of misconceptions about PRI on the interwebz. Even though posture is in the name, PRI has little to do with posture in the traditional sense. We know posture does not cause pain, and PRI agrees with this notion. But it’s not like they can change the name of the organization now. What? Do you think Ron Hruska is Diddy or something? After discussions with James and his mentioning this aloud in class, the target of PRI is the autonomic nervous system. Not posture, not pain, not pathoanatomy, but the brain. Essentially, they have figured out a window into the autonomic nervous system via peripheral assessment. Moreover, PRI is not in the pain business, though many think this is the case. Hell, even in the home studies they mention pain quite a bit. But realize those were done in 2005. Would you like me to hold you to things you have
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