A JOINT-SPECIFIC APPROACH
THE F4F WAY TO REDUCE PAIN AND DISCOMFORT
Here’s the truth: pain is NOT inevitable.
If you haven’t heard of this method, controlled articular rotation (also known as CAR) is the practice of moving your muscle group or joint through its entire range of motion, which helps with your mobility. “Essentially a CAR is when you’re activating muscles as you’re taking them through a full range of motion,” says Aaron Alexander, a movement coach and author of The Align Method. “This is helpful because it’s actually creating stability and support with flexibility at the same time.” So working through these functional movements benefits you by giving you more lengthened, supple muscles. “You’ll walk away with more spaciousness in your neck and a longer sensation in your spine,” says Alexander.
LEARN A ROUTINE & STICK TO IT
Follow along in this article as you learn the best exercises for back pain!
AN INTRODUCTION TO C.A.R.S
Before you get started, its’ pivotal that you understand the concept and how to execute it for maximum benefit.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Inhale, trap air in lower abdominal region while breathing shallow
2. Stabilize all articulations and perform an isometric contraction throughout your body in order to ensure strict rotation in the desired joint.
Tension Guidelines for Isometric Contraction of Body Besides the Joint in Focus:
10-30% (morning routine)
20-50% (warmup before exercise)
70%-max (training)
3. Begin articular rotation slowly ensuring that it is occurring in the outer limit of movement
4. Attempt to "expand the circle" with each repetition
5. If you feel a painful "pinch" on the closed angle of a joint skip over that area as it may indicate that there's a problem with the joint.
6. Most people will feel "sticky spots," clicks, and cracks, and stutters in the movement or may couple or compensate by moving other parts of the body rather than isolating the joint. This is an indication that the joint and surrounding connective tissue requires more motion and neurological drive and input to restore lost ranges of motion and maintain the health of the joint.
Keep moving and living life DYNAMICALLY!
JOINT OF FOCUS #1: THE NECK
You’ll be hard-pressed to find someone that hasn’t experienced tech neck or neck tension before. This is why any tip for neck decompression or fixing neck alignment is worth incorporating into any recovery routine, stat. But, out of all the tension-busting methods out there, physical therapists love recommending controlled articular rotations for the neck.
Oftentimes people will see massage therapists who will make everything loose and happy, but at some point, the body needs to be able to fire into action, which is the other side of the coin. The CARs movement is helping to integrate those two worlds.
joint of focus #2: the scapula
The benefit of adding these into your regimen is that they’re a great opportunity to realign your muscles and give them their integrity in their newfound ranges of motion
The most important thing is to maintain an elongated position and avoid collapsing in any way. Watch it in action right here.
joint of focus #3: the spine
The bottom line is, if you don't use it you lose it.
In life, we usually go about the same repetitive motions rarely taking each joint through it's full range of motion. As Dr. Spina, creator of Functional Range Conditioning (FRC) protocol says, "you will always regret not training the range of motion you got injured in."
joint of focus #4: the hip
We must move and train every angle and have control over our movements so the nervous system understands how to access and make use of the range of motion. This builds mobile joints and resilient connective tissue to bulletproof your body.
joint of focus #5: the knee
Our health depends on movement.
Movement is nature's anti-inflammatory pill. It pumps oxygen and nutrient rich blood to our cells. But, cartilage on the other hand has no blood supply. It receives oxygen and nutrition from the surrounding joint fluid by diffusion.
joint of focus #4: the ankle
During movement pressure expresses fluid and waste products out of cartilage cells, when it is relieved, fluid diffuses back along with oxygen and nutrients.
Joint mobility literally bathes your joints in synovial fluid and washes away calcium deposits and toxins; helping you move with more ease.