Gravity Fx Fitness

This weekend I had the pleasure of learning to use Indian clubs from physical educator Dr. Ed Thomas.  This ancient art is highly useful for re-teaching or restoring proper posture, as well as expanding the ribcage and positively influencing your breathing patterns.

I had been using Indian clubs for a little while with my clients and myself as part of a dynamic warmup, but I must confess that the patterns used were very “primitive” at best, nothing close to the precise patterns that Dr. Thomas is capable of.

So first thing Monday, all my clients spent a couple minutes learning how to “properly” go through some of the patterns and could really feel their shoulderblades moving and their ribcages opening up to allow for better breathing.

I have to confess, after a weekend of using the clubs for several hours, along with a basic yoga class and I am standing taller and breathing much more relaxed.  I also feel less tension in my neck.

It might interest you to know that it wasn’t just personal trainers or physical educators that were expressing the health benefits of diaphragmatic (abdominal) breathing, but physical therapists like Gray Cook, also.

Here is a link to an article that Ed Thomas wrote on breathing.

This is a simple video that can be used for 2-5 minutes daily to work on proper breathing.  With the majority of our society being seated throughout most of their day, high stress levels and a lack of proper exercise, this is a simple way to help combat these issues.

Soon I will post an article on the clubs with some simple ways to increase mobility in your shoulders and increase your coordination and posture.  Interestingly, Dr. Thomas learned to use the clubs in Davenport, Iowa as an 8 year old in the Fifties at the German Turner hall.  I think its time to bring back some of these lost arts that have been around for hundreds or thousands of years in various cultures throughout the world.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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Can rope training be a part of rehab for shoulder injuries?  I think so.  Having worked with many shoulder injuries and having my own rotator cuff problems in the past, gives me a little insight on this issue.

If you’ve never heard of rope training before, you probably will see plenty of it soon.  It was just voted Best Cardio Equipment 2009 by Men’s Health magazine.

I recently added it to my own workouts for some upper body cardio and love it.  They are a fun and creative way to train…… and pretty effective, too.  The movements are very rhythmical in nature and involve up and down, side to side, diagonal, and circular movements.

Something that doesn’t irritate my shoulders in any way, gets plenty of blood flowing to the upper body (great pump), as well as helping with coordination and quality of movement – something very important for healthy shoulders.

Several years back, I worked in a physical therapy clinic.  There were plenty of shoulder injuries being treated and they would often use an overhead rope pulley system to increase shoulder range of motion.  Another tool used was the Bodyblade.

It has a handle in the middle with weighted ends.  You grip it with one or both hands and shake it back and forth.  The blade is flexible and the weighted ends cause it to oscillate as it moves.  It requires coordination and rhythm to keep it moving properly…..

which is one of the goals – to increase coordination and stability in the muscles surrounding the joints.  Its frequently used to help rehab shoulder injuries and help restore movement awareness (proprioception), with the many oscillations (vibration) sending lots of feedback to the nervous system.

Many of the “average” (non-athlete) patients had a difficult time with these movements and they may have lacked coordination before their injury.  The rhythmic nature of rope training might be an additional component to increase coordination in these patients.

In trying to restore movement awareness (proprioception), movement quality is extremely valuable and should be considered when evaluating progress.  I think that the ropes could definitely play a part in this, though the size of the ropes may need to be adjusted.

The movement also greatly increases blood flow to the injured area, which can help with the healing process.  Not to be forgotten is the grip work that ropes provide.  Your grip is important for helping with shoulder stability.  Something that is discussed in the Secrets of the Shoulder DVD’s.

The Power Plate is another tool that can help with awareness as the multiple vibrations help stimulate your postural muscles – the ones that are important for proper joint alignment and stability.

Soon I will discuss Indian clubs which are one more awesome tool for mobility and coordination.

Get moving!

Brian

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