Sorry, everyone, for being a bit MIA of late.  I’ll use today’s post as a quick catch-up on what’s been going on, and what is on tap for EricCressey.com in the months to come.

Last week, I flew out to Phoenix on Tuesday to attend a seminar with Dr. Pavel Kolar.  With the exception of just a few of us, everyone in attendance was a strength and conditioniong coach, athletic trainer, or physical therapist with a major league organization.  For those who aren’t familiar with Kolar, he is somewhat of a “rehabilitation rockstar”  in the Czech Republic, with “clients” that include Jaromir Jagr, Roger Federer, Petr Korda, countless world-class track and field athletes, multiple Czech Olympic teams, and the president of the Czech Republic himself.  Needless to say, he’s a really smart dude; otherwise, people all around the world wouldn’t be paying to hear him give seminars in Czech (yes, the majority of the seminar was through a translator).

All of us in attendance are probably still trying to wrap our heads around his ideas, but Kolar presented a very interesting perspective on dynamic neuromuscular stabilization (DNS) based on developmental kinesiology.  The “Cliff’s Notes” version is that the central nervous system and muscular system it governs are immature at birth, and must go through a very specific adaptation process to achieve anatomical maturation.   In rehabilitation down the road, examining this sequence of events during the first few years of life – from rolling over, to crawling, to standing up, to walking – can help us to understand how we must re-educate the nervous system to optimize function in those with aberrant patterns.

According to Kolar, one can have altered stabilization patterns for any of three reasons: 1) abnormal early development, 2) abnormal training methodology, and 3) trauma.  Sounds simple, right?

Unfortunately, it’s not that easy.   Sequencing of patterns – from the feet all the way up to the head (and including things like diaphramatic breathing and optimal tongue positioning) – is what’s important…NOT recruitment of specific muscles.

So, while EMG of the vastus medialis, posterior rotator cuff, lower trapezius, transversus abdominus, and loads of other muscles that’s important, it’s how all those muscles work together that’s important.

All in all, it was an awesome seminar that really tested those in attendance.  A pessimist would have walked away from it saying that it was too complex and that it couldn’t be applied right away.  The optimist (and I’d include myself in this camp) left realizing that there were a lot of things I’m anxious to research and integrate in one’s programming to get our clients back to their “roots” of rolling and moving from ground-based to upright movements (think sprint-start from the ground and Turkish Get-ups).

We’re also looking a ton more at breathing patterns in all our athletes – especially after spending a few days in AZ with my buddy Neil Rampe, a great manual therapist with the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Most people don’t realize that the diaphram is both a respiratory and postural muscle, so if you’re not using it properly, it’ll interfere with both oxygenation and muscular activity.

Fun stuff.  Just trying to get better…