Blogs
Phases of Motor Learning II (12/9/2020) - In this month’s blog, we will continue to address motor control exercise and the last two phases of motor learning—the associative phase and the autonomous stage. The first phase, the cognitive phase, was addressed in last month’s blog. This was described as the ‘ground floor’ stage of rehab-related postural or movement optimization. This phase is […]
Phases of Motor Learning I (11/10/2020) - There are three distinct phases of motor learning, each with its own unique characteristics and requirements. Therefore, we will need distinct exercise strategies, appropriate to each phase, for learning to optimally transfer from exercise to ADL. In this months’ blog and next, follow brief descriptions of the phases motor learning—applicable whether learning a new skill […]
Motor Control Musings (10/6/2020) - Damage Control My wife and I were having dinner the other day when she gave a quiet moue of distress—she had just bit her tongue. Been there, done that, don’t like it. But it did get me to thinking about how absolutely mind boggling it is that we are not always biting our […]
Limb to Trunk Rapport (9/3/2020) - Starting Off on the Wrong Foot In last month’s blog, the topic was pelvic control—one of the two primary differences between static and dynamic integration philosophies. This month we’ll address the second characteristic of dynamic integrated movement, which features another major divergence from static practices. We’ll talk about how the limbs (arms, legs and […]
Dynamic vs Static Pelvic Control (8/2/2020) - The Boss Who’s in charge of moving the pelvis? Who calls the shots concerning pelvic stability? Who’s the boss when it comes to balancing the pelvis, both front/back and left/right? Where do we point the finger of blame if the pelvis is moving too much or is not moving enough? Who wears the […]
Static Integration Concepts (7/1/2020) - Time to Put it to Rest Movement always needs to be described relationally. Something moves in a particular direction relative to where it started—we need to have two points of reference to define a direction of movement. Additionally, something needs to move relative to something else: The head moves relative to the […]
Isolate vs Integrate (5/5/2020) - History In the 80s, we rehabbers stretched all the muscles related to the affected part, commonly doing this in all directions in a classic shotgun approach. We imagined that everything that was hurting was too stiff and needed to be stretched. We now know that a vast array of self-inflicted wounds can manifest as […]
Division of Labor (4/1/2020) - Regional Interdependence This is the second in a series of blogs asking what makes movement good or bad—what are our principles of optimal movement. The first two were alignment and conservation of energy. This blog addresses appropriate distribution of movement andproportional use of synergists. The emerging rehabilitation principle of regional interdependence is defined as “seemingly […]
Alignment & Conservation of Energy (3/27/2020) - What is Optimal Movement? What makes movement good—can we define it or can we list principles of optimal movement? Notice that these are subjective/qualitative terms. We are not asked to transform society (as per 2013 APTA vision) by improving goniometric measurements or manual muscle testing scores, but by improving quality of movement. I will address […]
Teachers & Healers (2/1/2020) - The Role of the Rehab Professional What is our role in orthopedic related rehab? Should we use tissue treatment techniques or teach movement optimization strategies? My father-in-law was a retired auto mechanic who drove an early 80’s Pontiac and spent his time with an ancient Model T. Why does he drive a 30 year old […]
Article Reviews
