![]() For example, a person with poor mobility in their hips will sacrifice lumbar spine stability in order to squat down, lunge or step. These problems have led individuals to create compensations, which sacrifice mobility and/or stability in order to complete a movement or task. Fundamental movements consisting of such as squatting, lunging, stepping and reaching, have become less efficient due to habits, poor training and/or injuries, causing postural and prime moving muscles to become less effective at performing their tasks. This causes an inability to create the balance of mobility and stability, improving this balance is the basis of functional training.Ī problem many exercise professionals are faced with today is active individuals that have lost their ability to do the basic fundamental movements. When these movements become dysfunctional, it can often be traced to a disruption in the body’s proprioceptive system, leading muscles to either be inhibited or not facilitated at the right moments. Fundamental movements such as squatting, lunging and stepping are PNF patterns that all rely on the body’s ability to effectively create and control mobility and stability. This requires the muscles to have the reflexive ability to contract and relax in order to perform basic movements. 1 The muscles must work synergistically in order for movement to occur. One of the pioneers in the use of PNF, Dorothy Voss, defined it as a method of promoting or hastening the response of the neuromuscular mechanism through the stimulation of proprioceptors. PNF uses the body’s proprioceptive system to facilitate or inhibit muscle contraction. 1 These principles describe the rhythmic and reflexive actions that lead to coordinated motion. His techniques were based on Sherrington’s principles of irradiation, reciprocal innervation and inhibition. The purpose was to enhance and create movement in areas where the neurological system has been compromised. He found that by stimulating the distal segments, the proprioceptors in the more proximal segments became stimulated. PNF techniques have been around since the late 1930s and '40s when a physician and neurologist named Herman Kabat began using proprioceptive techniques on younger individuals with cerebral palsy and other neurological conditions. In order to improve the neuromuscular system’s effectiveness in coordinating movement, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) concepts should be utilized. Improving this system should then create more effective movements. The dysfunction many times can be related to a disruption in the neuromuscular system. If there isn’t a balance of mobility and stability, then movement patterns will be dysfunctional. This balance requires effective proprioceptive communication between the muscles and joints. ![]() ![]() The focus of functional training is to improve movement and respectable movement is based on a balance of mobility and stability. ![]() It is important that some of the basic principles are incorporated throughout training in order to gain and maintain proper movement mechanics. When we look at training movement, we must have an appreciation of the fundamentals that create movement. In order for the body to function properly, there must be cohesiveness between the muscles, joints and neuromuscular system. As with all shifts in thinking, there is going to be some controversy in how functional training is defined, however the foundation should be based on enhancing overall movement. Individuals such as Gary Gray and Vern Gambetta seemed to lead this shift in thinking on how we should be training our athletes and active individuals. It seemed to become more popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s as we moved from traditional fixed axis equipment into more fundamental and skill movements. Functional training has been utilized as part of performance enhancement and conditioning for years. ![]()
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