Total Body Stabilization
STRENGTH IS NOTHING WITHOUT STABILITY
After years of research I have discovered how the brain/nervous system organizes proprioception (where we are and how we move through space) to establish stability throughout the body. Total Body Stabilization (TBS) is a cutting-edge modality that identifies and restores proprioception.
Stability is defined as the ability to maintain or control movement or position. Stability is achieved by the coordinating actions of surrounding tissues and the neuromuscular system. You may be doing all sorts of muscle strengthening and lengthening to improve performance, but you might be limited by your ability to stabilize.
All athletic movements, swinging, throwing, kicking, running, agility, etc., is controlled by the protective mechanism of the nervous system. These movements will not be able to be performed any better than what your nervous system and its ability to stabilize the joints will allow. If you "over-swing" a bat, tennis racket or golf club, you lose power and precision. The more stability you have, the more power, speed and control. This holds true for any athletic endeavor and carries into the general population, especially the elderly, in the prevention of falls.
This concept also carries over into most injury rehabilitation programs. The exercises that are given are to increase strength around the injury site, but do little to improve stability. This delays recovery time and makes the site vulnerable to re-injury.
TBS, along with strength and conditioning programs, will help to increase performance, shorten rehab time, and prevent future injuries.
TBS begins with a whole body neural screen using neuro- proprioceptive muscle testing to identify any inhibited muscles and instabilities. It is very gentle, non-invasive, and painless. Once inhibited muscles and areas of instability are identified, communication is restored by gently moving the skin over key muscle attachment sites around the feet. The feet are key to our overall stability.
Here's a brief overview of how our nervous system works. Our brain receives signals from receptors in the muscles, joints, ligaments, tendons and skin, telling us where we are in space and how we are moving. This is known as proprioception. These signals converge in the cerebellum of the brain. The cerebellum attempts to merge these signals into a cohesive map that the rest of the brain can understand. This information is sent to the motor control center in the cortex, where all movement is elicited and coordinated. The quality of our movement is equal to the quality of the information that is received.
Stress, trauma, overuse and underuse may cause a low level of inflammation that inhibits the communication between the muscles and the brain. Because of this inhibition, the muscles are unable to contract completely in their shortened positions, resulting in an instability around a joint. As a response, the protective mechanism of the nervous system will tighten other areas to compensate for this instability, and if not addressed pain may occur over time.
Our feet are our foundation and are the first thing to register force when we walk. If the joints in our feet are not stable or the muscles in our feet are not biomechanically sound, abnormal force will ascend up the body creating torques around the joints of the knee, hip and spine. An overloading of the muscles can occur. Walking is the primary movement we do which causes the most load up through the body, and over time a series of instabilities and compensations may occur. These compensations form a pattern that mimic the back force transmission system. This system is a series of connected muscle slings that start at the foot, go up the leg to the hip, cross over to the opposite side of the body at the pelvis, go up the spine to the shoulder and neck and end at the TMJ. It represents how the ground reaction force enters through the foot, and how it is absorbed and dissipated up through the body during normal gait. It is critical that the foot be stable and functioning correctly for this process to occur optimally.
What you wear on your feet has an influence on how well your body will function and move. If the shoes you are wearing change the natural structural alignment and/or weaken the muscles, your feet will become unstable. This instability caused by the shoes will affect the functioning and stability of the joints up the body. The shoes you wear the most need to be brought in and tested, especially shoes you exercise in (ski boots, golf shoes, running shoes, etc.). Several sessions may be helpful to reinforce proper proprioceptive input and stability.
$185 an hour