The Other Kind of Joint As
Mike Boyles has mentioned in his articles, the human body is a series
of joints stacked on top of each other. Anytime there's dysfunction
there must be compensation. Imagine you're driving down the
road and you have a stiff neck. You want to turn your head and look
over your shoulder before changing lanes. What happens when you have a
stiff neck? You end up twisting your torso to compensate for the lack
of mobility in your neck. This is how joint compensation works. When
one joint can't move freely, other joints have to pick up the slack.
When a joint is forced to do extra work, you set that joint up for
injury. Think about the ankle joint. When you have plantar
faciitis and excessive foot pronation, another joint must compensate —
the knee joint that's directly above it. The knee joint is being pulled
inward to compensate for the excessive foot pronation. Since
the knee joint has altered its natural position, the hip must follow
(you can't move your leg without it affecting your hip) and shift its
position. Importantly, the hip joint is linked with the shoulders
because of your fascial line. So now that your hip has shifted, the
opposite shoulder must compensate by shifting, too. Depending on the
position of the hip, your shoulder might compensate by moving more
anterior — thus throwing your scapula out of its ideal placement and
shortening the muscles on the front of your shoulder. In
essence, you could say that plantar faciitis can cause shoulder
problems. But the distance can travel even further. Indeed, research
has demonstrated a direct link between a fallen arch and TMJ in your
jaw!(1) Now are you beginning to understand the
importance of tissue health, mobility, and proper posture? You must
keep your fascia as healthy as possible by performing mobility and
flexibility drills, along with maintaining proper posture and balancing
out
the exercises that train your entire body. And this is where it's
appropriate to bring up mobility and flexibility training.

Mobility and Flexibility: Are They Synonymous? It's
safe to assume that you've heard the term "flexibility," and thanks to
the writings of Cressey, Robertson, Hartman, and Boyle, you're familiar
with "mobility." Over the past few years, mobility training has been
the focus of many fitness coaches and physical rehabilitation
specialists. What are flexibility and mobility, anyway?
Flexible and mobile. Imagine
you're lying on your back with your legs straight. If you just lie
there and let a physical therapist lift your leg up as high as possible
he'd be testing your passive range of motion. This is a test of
flexibility — the ability for your muscles to passively lengthen. When
you stand up and mimic the same test by pulling your leg up as high as
possible, you're testing mobility. Think of mobility as active
flexibility. After all, the definition of mobility is "the ability to
move freely." So flexibility and mobility are not synonymous terms.
They have been in the past, but I think it's an over simplification. Is
one better than the other? No. Just like you need to lift heavy,
medium, and light weights to train your muscles to work for different
periods of time and at different speeds, flexibility and mobility
training serve different purposes, too. It's common practice to
stretch your muscles before you train. I'm not talking about
"warming-up" by jogging or jumping rope, I'm talking about passively
stretching. You've probably heard that stretching prevents injuries by
"preparing" your muscles for hard work. Intuitively, it makes sense,
but research is mounting to refute the notion that stretching before a
workout provides any real benefit. In fact, passive stretching before a
workout might impede your performance. Flexibility training,
or passive stretching, is relaxing to your muscles. That's great for
recovery, but it's also relaxing to your nervous system. For example,
you'll temporarily lose strength in your hamstrings if you passively
stretch them by weakening the signal between your nerve endings and
muscles. You of course know that you want the nervous system to
work at its peak while you're training in order to recruit as many
motor units as possible. By reducing the nervous system transmission
between your motor neurons and muscles, you won't be able to produce as
much force as if you skipped the passive stretching. After a
workout, however, it's beneficial to relax your muscles and nervous
system since it was revved up during your workout. When your nervous
system is stimulated, it's very difficult, if not impossible, to get
your muscles to the point of relaxation that's necessary for recovery. This
is why you typically get a stiff neck when you're stressed. Therefore,
I recommend flexibility training, or passive stretching, at the end of
your workouts for two reasons. First, it'll help your muscles and
nerves relax. Second, it's a time when a temporary loss in strength
isn't detrimental to your performance. Mobility training, if
performed correctly, can enhance your nervous system and prepare your
joints for a workout. When you actively move your muscles through a
full range of motion, you stimulate the motor nerves that innervate
your muscles, thus allowing you to recruit more motor units. If
you've ever watched Olympic swimmers right before they dive into the
water for a race you'll notice that they do big, fast arm circles to
prepare their shoulders. This is a smart move. By actively moving their
shoulder joints through a full range of motion, they're enhancing the
neural drive to their muscles and stirring up synovial fluid that
reduces joint friction. This information doesn't end with the
nervous system and joint fluid, though. Remember that fascia that I was
referring to? Well, flexibility and mobility training help keep that
fascia supple. By doing so, you'll receive three big benefits. First,
you'll be able to train your exercises through a greater range of
motion. Second, you'll potentially reduce your risk for joint
injuries. When one area of your body is stiff and restricted, another
area has to compensate. Compensation is a big set-up for injury since
it
makes a specific area function differently than it was designed. Third,
you'll give your muscles room to grow by "unbinding" them.

What Next? As
I mentioned in the beginning of this article, not all of the
aforementioned information is practical. This is an article that's
intended to help you understand "why" you perform mobility and
flexibility instead of "how." For the "how" part, you have a
few options. For the mobility exercises that you should perform before
your workouts, I highly recommend the Magnificent Mobility and Inside-Out DVDs that outline excellent lower- and upper-body mobility drills, respectively. You can purchase the DVDs by clicking here. After your workouts is when you should perform passive stretching. Here's a Testosterone article that outlines a good, basic stretching routine.

Conclusion You
might not think that fascia is very sexy or exciting, but damn it, it
should be. Please put this information to good use and you'll keep your
money in your pocket instead of contributing to a physical therapist's
retirement fund.

For more of Waterbury's information pick up his e-book The 10/10 Transformation here.
His book Muscle Revolution can be purchased here.
Chad
Waterbury is one of the world's leading experts on developing muscle
for the goal of enhancing performance. His novel training methods are
used by athletes, bodybuilders, figure models, and fitness enthusiasts
of all ages and from all walks of life. He has an M.S. in Physiology
from the University of Arizona, and he specializes in the
neurophysiology of human movement and performance. He currently trains,
consults and lectures around the country.
1.Janda V. J Prosth Dent. 56(4):484-487, 1996.



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