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Proprioception – Why The Mind-Body Connection Is Key!

by Cori Lefkowith | Jun 10, 2017 | Blog, Foam Rolling, Functional Fitness, Pain Relief

All too often we go to the gym with the intention of just getting our workout DONE.

We lift the weights and do the movements and try to push ourselves to work hard.

But when was the last time you asked yourself, “Where do I feel this? Are the right muscles ACTUALLY working?”

The sad part is…Most of us haven’t thought about that in awhile. We don’t really think about WHERE we feel a move or what muscles are working.

Because most of what we see promoted in fitness is how much you can lift or what crazy moves you can do…or even how fast you can finish a workout.

It is all about doing something GNARLIER…something better or more advanced.

It’s about pushing harder, doing MORE.

But guess what the often unknown side effect of that push harder, do more culture is?

INJURY!

And it is all because our proprioception SUCKS.

Now I’m not telling you not to work hard in the gym. To not go lift weights. To not have fun taking on crazy new hard challenges.

But what I am telling you is, you also need to include proprioception work in your training.

So what the heck is proprioception?

Well simply put proprioception is our body awareness. Our ability for our mind and body to communicate and understand where our body is in space.

It is our mind’s ability to recruit the muscles of our body to act.

Sounds like something you should be able to do naturally, right?

I mean, if you can squat, your mind and body are communicating properly, right?

So you think this maybe doesn’t relate to you because you can run and squat and deadlift…

WRONG!

We’ve heard sitting is bad for us – that it creates poor posture.

But what we don’t realize is that all of that sitting at a computer, sitting watching TV, hunching over our phones texting or even driving in the car not only leads to poor posture, but also imbalances that kill our proprioception.

All of that forward flexion (aka rounding forward as we sit with our heads forward) causes our mind to want to use the WRONG MUSCLES to perform movements.

So yes, your mind will connect with your body and recruit muscles to perform a squat.

Heck, if you are athletic, it may even recruit muscles so you perform a seemingly PERFECT looking squat.

The problem is YOUR MIND IS CONNECTING WITH THE WRONG MUSCLES. It is recruiting muscles that can’t handle the load to perform a movement!

It is compensating.

Our bodies take the path of least resistance to perform the movements we ask of it.

It is a wonderful and horrible thing. Our mind wants to do what we ask so it recruits the muscles available. Muscles that may be overactive because of our daily posture.

Muscles that aren’t necessarily the best option for the job.

But because those are the only ones your brain can easily recruit, it calls on them. And then you are able to run and squat and do the movements your workouts and daily life require….

However, we can only ask so much of these muscles. And the loads we ask them to carry because we can’t recruit the right muscles is too much for them.

And that is why we end up injured.

The injury may happen when you are doing something seemingly innocent and easy.

Heck, it could happen when bending over to reach for a pencil on the ground.

We’ve all had friends do that…or maybe it has happened to us even. We “sleep wrong.” Or we just turn to look or reach or bend for something and WHAM! pain and injury.

But it wasn’t really that event that injured you. No…that was just the “straw that broke the camels back.”

That final thread just finally snapped.

But it was really a build up of things that caused it. A build up that started because we lacked proper proprioception.

Because we didn’t have that mind-body connection to begin with.

So…long story short…Proprioception is the mind-body connection.

And hopefully now you’re starting to see that being able to squat or run doesn’t necessarily mean you have great proprioception or even any mind-body awareness for that matter.

Repeating a movement doesn’t mean the right muscles are working.

Ever wonder why you squat but your glutes never change? All you feel is your quads working?

Or ever wonder why people will say their back is sore after rows or pull ups but all you feel is your arms or maybe even your neck and shoulders?

That right there is the sign that you aren’t recruiting the right muscles for the job.

But that requires you to start THINKING about the muscles that are working WHILE you workout.

You can’t simply try to “get through” your workout. You can’t simply try to go fast or lift more.

NOPE!

You’ve got to actually THINK about the muscles that should be working.

That is the first step to not only realize that the right muscles AREN’T working, but also the first step toward getting the right muscles activated.

It is the first step in restoring proper proprioception!

That is why I asked, “But when was the last time you asked yourself, “Where do I feel this? Are the right muscles ACTUALLY working?'”

Because you’ve got to start thinking about what muscles are working when you move. If you think about recruiting the right muscles, you can start to rebuild that connection.

But it can be difficult to start doing that during compound lifts such as the squat or deadlift or even when you run when the muscles are inactive.

You may NOT feel them working. And you may not be able to focus on them working without risking your form breaking down or further compensations.

So to get yourself to be able to start thinking about what muscles are working, you need to include activation exercises in your routine.

You need to return to basics.

It’s kind of like how children learn to walk and then run. They don’t just jump right into running, right?

First they crawl. Then they stand while holding on. Then they stand on their own. Then they stand, but hold on to start walking. Then finally walking a few steps on their own…Until they are able to not only walk, but run.

They had to build that mind-body connection slowly, starting with the basics.

You’ve got to do the same.

It sucks to regress movements…I know…trust me.

But if you want to keep yourself healthy and even lift more and run faster, no matter how advanced you are, you’ve got to return to the basics.

Basic, bodyweight exercises that ISOLATE the muscles you want to get working correctly. Muscles that on their own don’t want to work because of our daily lifestyle.

These aren’t moves you are going to try to load down with tons of weight. These are moves that help you focus on the muscles that should be working so you can get them engaged BEFORE you go do more compound lifts.

By doing these moves, you can help yourself KNOW the muscles are turned on because they may even be “burning” before you go do your workout.

You feel them engage through the isolation of them so you can then more easily think of them working during your lift.

For example, you are going to run or even go deadlift.

And you want to get your glutes activated because you now realize they are inactive and have been causing you some low back and even hip pain.

You struggle to think about them engaging and never feel them during your runs or lifts.

So you decide to try using some activation moves before you workout.

You do bodyweight glute bridges, focusing on extending your hips and squeezing your glutes. You engage your abs and make sure your low back and hamstrings don’t take over. You start to FEEL the contraction of your glutes and they start to burn.

You then add in some fire hydrants and a few other basic moves. Your really feel those glutes “burning” by the end. Not tired. Just really AWAKE.

You go right into your lift and run ALREADY feeling your glutes.

And guess what? When you think about the muscle during your workout, you actually KNOW you are using it because there was already a pump going.

That burn beforehand makes it easier to be aware of what is working.

You are able to make your glutes work because of the basic activation moves that got them engaged. Your brain has established a connection with your glutes before you do more compound moves where it has to recruit more muscles at the same time.

You started restoring your mind-body connection. You started developing proper proprioception!

Exciting, right?!

I mean the right muscles working so you can run faster, lift more and avoid injury!?! HECK YES!

Now while it would be nice if it only took one activation session and BAM! results, it often doesn’t work that way.

I do activation as part of every warm up and have my clients do the same. Especially on days when we are working muscles, like the back and butt, that often don’t want to engage naturally.

And, as you start to turn muscles on, you may need to regress other movements in your workouts so that you don’t cause those newly activated muscles to shut off.

Loading down movements with too much weight or doing a super high volume when you are just learning to get muscles activated may lead you to keep compensating.

If you’ve been doing pull ups with neck pain and decide to start working to activate your back with activation exercises (and maybe even get it working with those moves), but then jump right back in with weighted pull ups or even a super high volume of repetitions, you may still end up with neck pain.

Because you are still overloading a muscle that your brain is still just beginning to learn how to recruit.

And at the first sign of too much stress, guess what?!

Your body reverts back to the easiest to recruit muscles. Your body reverts back to the path of least resistance aka what it knows best!

And you’ll still end up with aches and pains.

So what does this all mean?

It means you’ve got to regress to progress and put ego aside.

It freaking sucks. I know. None of us want to go “backward.”

But it isn’t going backward.

It’s taking one step back…Ok maybe like 10 steps back…But we are taking those steps back to end up 20 steps ahead of where we were!

So stop allowing aches and pains and injuries to hinder your workouts. Stop letting the desire to do MORE or be gnarly(…aka our ego…yes we all have it…I know I do!) hold us back from ACTUALLy lifting more or running faster in the long run.

Regress to progress.

Start being conscious of your body during your workouts and stop just powering through. Especially powering through the pain.

Ask yourself, “Where do I feel this? What muscles are working?” and start rebuilding your mind-body connection. Restore proper proprioception and start moving and feeling better TODAY.

And if you need some help, you’ll want to start with a 3 part process – Foam Rolling (Self Myofascial Release), Stretching AND Activation. This is what I call the RStoration Method.

You are relaxing those muscles that want to try to engage and carry a load they can’t. So you are relaxing them so your brain doesn’t want to recruit them. And then you are getting the right muscles for the job engaged and working.

Through that three part process, you can eliminate pain for GOOD and get more out of your workouts.

Here are some great articles to help you get started covering each of the three part in the RStoration Method!

Self Myofascial Release aka Foam Rolling:

Stretching:

Activation:

Unilateral Glute Activation Workout
10-Minute Posture Fix – This workout actually includes all three pieces of the RStoration Method
Activate Your Glutes Before Your Workout
Bodyweight Glute Activation Series
Activation Exercises For Your Entire Body

10 Minutes To Improve Your Posture

by Cori Lefkowith | Oct 13, 2016 | Blog, Core, Exercises, Pain Relief, Workouts

Whether you have a desk job, a long commute, work on your laptop on the couch, text on your phone as you walk, watch TV…you’re spending probably way too much time in flexion.

You’re hunched over, your head is forward, your hips, knees, elbows and even wrists are bent….

And then you start to suffer from aches and pains…Your neck, shoulder, back, hips, knees….

You get massages and maybe even see a chiropractor. Yet the aches and pains just continue to come back and maybe even start getting worse.

Your workouts suffer and you either feel limited in what you can do or you start to notice things aren’t working correctly and you’re getting injured.

Guess what?

This all has to do with your posture!

You know what makes all of this even worse? People then think they simply can no longer do the things they love. They think they’ll just end up injured again if the run or lift or cycle.

And while that is partly true, it isn’t because you can’t get back to doing the things you love. You don’t need to give those things up!

Instead of giving up the activities you love, you need to first do things to improve your posture. If you solve the real problem, you can get back to being active.

But if you never solve the actual problem, you’re just going to have to keep avoiding activities and exercises. And avoidance solves nothing. It may seemingly prevent injury, but not for long.

At some point there will be a “straw that breaks the camel’s back” and your poor posture and imbalances and compensations will lead to injury. And you’ll still suffer from aches and pains.

So stop avoiding the problem and solve it. Allow those massages and adjustments to stick by working to loosen, activate and strengthen the correct muscles and improve your posture so you move and feel better!

Try this quick 10-Minute Core Workout using my RStoration method from my 21-Day RStoration Workout Program!

The Core Focused Posture Workout

This posture workout is focused on strengthening your core and on mobilizing and activating everything between your shoulders and your knees. It should take 10 minutes and can be done as a warm up or as something separate from your workout (which is ideal).

Tools Needed: Ball or Roller, Towel
Set a timer for 30 seconds for each move (or per side) for the first two circuits. Then complete the reps/time as listed for the third circuit.

CIRCUIT #1 – 1 round
Chest Foam Rolling
Bicep Foam Rolling
Quad Foam Rolling

CIRCUIT #2 – 1 round
Lying Chest Stretch with Scorpion
Rotational Half Kneeling Hip and Quad Stretch

CIRCUIT #3 – 2 rounds
5 reps per side Sit Thru to Thoracic Bridge
10 reps per side Side Plank Clams
30 seconds Forearm Front Plank Hold

–> If you’re sick of aches and pains and ready to commit 10 minutes a day for 21 days to improve your posture and prevent injury, click HERE! <–

EXERCISE DESCRIPTIONS:

Chest Foam Rolling – To roll out your chest in a doorway, it is best to use a smaller, harder ball. Stand facing the wall besides the doorway and place the ball between your chest and the wall. You want to be right on the edge of the wall so that you can extend your arm forward through the doorway. Start with the ball in your chest besides your shoulder and below your collarbone. Press into the ball and raise the arm on the side you are digging into up toward the ceiling and back down. Because you are in a doorway, you can raise the arm straight out in front of you as you swing the arm very slowly up toward the ceiling and down toward the ground. Hold on any tight spots as you move your arm. You can also roll the ball along the muscles below your collarbone and even down around your shoulder toward your armpit. Hold on any tight spots you find and even lift and lower your arm. Then switch and do the other side.

Bicep Foam Rolling – To roll out your biceps, you will place a ball or roller up on a table or desk like you did to roll out your triceps. You will then rotate your chest toward the ground and place your bicep down on the roller or ball right above the inside of your elbow. Rock slightly side to side to dig out your bicep. Hold if you find an especially tight spot and even flex and relax your bicep by flexing and extending your elbow if your desk or table allows. Then move the roller higher up your bicep toward your shoulder. Again rock side to side and hold on any tight spots. If you don’t have a table or desk you can use, you can also do this against a wall although you may not be able to flex and extend your arm then.

Quad Foam Rolling – To roll out your Quads, take the foam roller and lay over it as if you are about to do a plank. Start with the roller right above your knees. Rock side to side and then move it up a little higher on the front of your legs. As you rock and move the roller higher, make sure to pause and hold on any extra tight spots until the pain lessens a bit. Work your way all the way up to your hips. If you find any tight spots, while you hold on them, flex and relax your quad to help the tight spots loosen. To apply more pressure, place only one leg down on the roller and rock side to side, holding on any extra tight spots.

Lying Chest Stretch with Scorpion – To do the Lying Chest Stretch with Scorpion, lie on your belly with your arms out straight at shoulder height. Bend the elbow of one arm to 90 degrees so that your upper arm is in line with your shoulder. Then lift the opposite leg from the bent arm up and bend your knee to kick your foot over and behind you to try to touch the toe down to the ground behind you. As you rotate your leg over, press your chest open with your straight arm. Feel a stretch through the chest and shoulder on the side you are kicking toward. You will also feel a stretch through your low back. Make sure that as you rotate open and kick the leg back over your body that you relax your head down onto the ground. Hold for a second or two then bend the other arm and kick the other leg back and over. Alternate sides, holding for a second or two each way.

Rotational Half Kneeling Hip and Quad Stretch – To do the Rotational Half-Kneeling Hip and Quad Stretch, set up in a half kneeling position with your right leg forward. Then place your left hand on the ground and lean forward. Reach back with your right hand and grab your left foot. Pull your foot in toward your butt as you drive your hip forward. Feel a stretch down your hip and quad. As you press your hip forward, rotate your chest open toward your front leg. You may also feel a stretch through your spine and down the outside of that front leg. Hold here and breathe as you relax deeper into the stretch. You can also open your knee outward to stretch into your adductor or rotate your knee inward to hit your TFL. Beginners may need a towel or stretch strap to help them do this stretch as it requires more flexibility to reach around and grab the leg with the rotation.

Sit Thru to Thoracic Bridge – To do the Sit Thru to Thoracic Bridge, start on your hands and knees with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Flex your feet and lift up onto your hands and the balls of your feet. Then lift your right hand up and bring your left leg under your body and through and place your left foot flat on the ground. Rotate your hips up toward the ceiling, squeezing your glutes to lift them up as high as you can. Really try to open your hips up toward the ceiling and squeeze your glutes to fully extend your hips. With your hips lifted, reach your right hand down toward the ground, rotating your chest toward the floor. Really reach your hand toward the ground as the rest of your body opens toward the ceiling to feel a nice stretch as you rotate. Feel your glutes working to keep BOTH hips up, while you reach your hand down. Don’t let your hips drop as you rotate. You should feel a nice rotation and stretch through your spine. You are twisting almost like someone wringing out a towel. Make sure though that you aren’t hyperextending your low back to bridge up but are instead squeezing your glutes. Then drop your hips and step your foot back through while placing your hand back down on the ground. Rotate to the other side, bridging your hips up as high as you can. (Click here for a video – shown at 1:39)

Side Plank Clams – To do the Side Plank Clam, lie on your side propped up on your forearm with your elbow underneath your shoulder. Bend your knees so that your feet and lower legs are behind you. You can place your top hand on your hip or reach it up toward the ceiling, but don’t touch it down to the ground. With your legs stacked, lift your hip up off the ground, driving through your knee and forearm. As you lift your hips up, lift your top leg up and toward the ceiling, keeping the knee bent. Open up as high as you can then lower the leg back down. As you lower the leg back down, lower your hip back down to the ground. Repeat, lifting up and, as you do, raise your top leg up toward the ceiling. Complete all reps on one side before switching. Make sure you are lifting straight up and not rotating toward the ground or open toward the ceiling. Also keep your elbow under your shoulder and do not get too spread out. When you lift the top leg, don’t rotate open as you do. Really focus on lifting with your glute.

Forearm Front Plank Hold – To do the Basic Forearm Front Plank, lie on your stomach and bend your elbows so that you’re propped up on your forearms. Your legs should be straight out behind you with your feet together. Flex your feet and lift up onto your forearms and toes. Your elbows should be stacked under your shoulders and your feet should be together. On your forearms and toes, create a nice straight line with your body from your head to your heels. Make sure that in this position you are concentrating on tucking your pelvic to engage your abs as you squeeze your glutes and quads to keep your legs straight. Make sure that you are also squeezing your legs together as you hold and driving back through your heels. Do not push forward onto your toes. Also, do not let your chest sag toward the ground or your upper back round. You want a nice flat upper back. Feel your lats engage to pull your elbows down under your shoulders and toward your hips to protect your shoulders. While holding, don’t just go through the motions. Assess whether the right muscles are engaged and even consciously activate them. If you begin to shake, you know you are engaging the muscles. Hold in this position for a set amount of time or until your form starts to break down. If you feel this in your low back, assess whether or not you are performing a proper Pelvic Tilt. Beginners will want to start with a Plank from their knees.

Why Imbalances Are Worse Than Inflexibility – Our Top Injury Prevention Articles

by Cori Lefkowith | Jun 7, 2016 | Blog, Pain Relief

Have you ever heard someone say, “I want to be able to touch my toes?” As if that was a very important thing to show their fitness and health.

It is such an arbitrary sign of “flexibility” and isn’t necessarily meaningful when it comes to preventing injuries or moving well. (Ready to address a specific ache or pain? Click here and check out our best injury prevention articles)

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Full-Body Foam Rolling Moves – The RAD Kit

by Cori Lefkowith | Apr 2, 2016 | Blog, Foam Rolling, Pain Relief

I’m always looking for new tools and instruments to not only improve my personal health and wellness, but also improve the quality of training that I can provide for my clients.

And if those tools come in a nice kit that clients can even get for their homes so that they are doing more things throughout the day to move and feel better, that makes me even happier.

So of course I was super excited when I found RAD Roller at the LA Fit Expo. After seeing their great product, the RAD Roller, which was a nicer variation of the Peanut I teach everyone how to make, I went to their site and ordered my own RAD Kit. I wanted to test out their complete line so I got the RAD All-In Kit.

It was $140, which some may think is expensive but it came with, what I felt, were the tools to roll out EVERYTHING. It wasn’t just a big roller for $70 bucks (although I do love my full-sized Rumble Rollers as well).

I got the entire kit, and here are all the moves and ways I felt you could truly use it to roll out everything from head to toe. And the best part, if you are a messy person like me, it is easy to store everything in one place because the balls have spots in the blocks! WOO HOO! No more random balls all around the apartment!

SIDE NOTE: I have fallen in love with the RAD Roller so much that I’ve become an affiliate of their products. So of course I think you should get their stuff to do the movements below. HOWEVER, if you have other variations of these tools, you still need to do these moves as I’ve found these are some of the BEST to help prevent pain and injury especially if you sit at a desk all day!

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15 Leg Isometric Exercises To Improve Your Mobility, Stability and Strength

by Cori Lefkowith | Jul 15, 2015 | Blog, Bodyweight, Exercises, Pain Relief

Isometric Exercises are a great way to build mobility, stability and strength in your lower body.

While most people include dynamic and static stretches in their workout routine, they often forget about the importance of Isometric Moves to developing mobility and even flexibility.

And Isometric Exercises are key.

Dynamic and static stretches do improve your flexibility and mobility; however, they don’t at the same time strengthen and build stability through that new range of motion.

Then when we go lift, even after doing the stretching, we often don’t work through the increased range of motion, which simply means we tighten everything back up only to have to stretch out and loosen up again.

By including Isometrics, you not only improve your flexibility and mobility, but you also work and strengthen through the new range of motion to help you keep the increased range of motion.

And, by doing Isometrics, you can learn to activate and feel the correct muscles working during the movements so that, when you go to lift weights, the correct muscles are being recruited through a full range of motion!

Below are 15 Leg Isometric Exercises you should include in your workout routine to not only improve your hip mobility and the flexibility of your legs, but also strengthen and build stability.

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