Body Awareness

Body Awareness

 

Most people who are suffering from low back, knee, neck or other common conditions can greatly reduce their symptoms by simply correcting their posture, body mechanics, lifting techniques, etc..  However, this is not so simple.  Many people do not have the body awareness needed to perform correction techniques merely upon verbal cues by their trainer or therapist.  When I am faced with this client, I will allow them to rely on a mirror for feedback as well as providing them with manual cues.  Nowadays, everyone has a cell phone with camera capabilities.  I have taken pictures during a session and either emailed 'before' and 'after' photos to my clients for further education or I print out the photos to use during their sessions for visual feedback.  After educating my clients using these tools (mirror, photos, manual cues), I assess the carryover by removing those tools.  Once they are able to correctly perform the task at hand, I remove the external cues so that they further develop body awareness.  My goal is to ensure independence with body awareness.  After all, your client will not always have a camera, a trainer/therapist or a mirror available when performing daily activities.     

Develop Shoulder Proprioception - Part 1

Proprioception is defined as the "the sense of the relative position of neighboring parts of the body."  It tells us where the various body parts are located relative to eachother.  In Physical Therapy, Proprioceptive Training is extremely important to assist a patient's recovery from joint injuries (such as rotator cuff tears or surgerical repair) as well as preventing future injuries.  If you have little control of your joints or extremities (aka poor body awareness), it is only a matter of time before you get hurt. 


When training with irregularly shaped devices such as the Kettlebell or Persian Mil, body awareness is particularly important, as these devices are more difficult to control than conventional dumbbells or barbells.  Prior to training a beginner with Kettlebells or Clubs, I would advise the basic prerequisite exercises shown in this video.  They can be used as a warm up or part of your program to maximize joint stability.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp8iOAj1Pas

Normal progression of the "tracing" exercise is:
1)Supine (lay on back) and trace small size letters/shapes with your eyes open
2)Supine and trace large letters/shapes with your eyes open
3)Seated with arm overhead, trace small and then large size letters/shapes with eyes open
4)Repeat the above order with eyes closed
Have someone give you feedback on the your ability to maintain control with your eyes open versus eyes closed
5)Progress to using the kettlebell or Mil