Another Z Health story!
I had the opportunity to work with an Olympic level marathon competitor who was having some left hip pain of about a 6/7 on a 1-10 scale and some pain in her right big toe that was preventing her from rolling up on to the ball of her foot (she could only get her heal about 1/2 to 1 inch off the ground before pain). The toe pain had been ongoing for over a year.
We did some simple range of motion and a gait analysis in addition to muscle tests for rectus femoris, psoas, glutes and hamstrings. Her left rectus femoris, psoas and glutes tested a bit weak and that was reflected in her gait (walking motion). We tried some Z Health drills on her left and right foot/ankle and were able to get her hip pain to less than a 1 and no "clicking" in the hip motion. Whooo ha.
Being able to roll threw your bit toe is important for running, so we went to the opposite joint of the right big toe which is the left thumb. Remember that your body is a big "X" in regards to force transfer via the back force transmission system.
When I step with my right foot, the force goes up my leg into my right glute/hip area and at my SI (middle of hips) crosses to the other side of my body and on up to my scapula where it begins to split into my LEFT hand and my LEFT jaw/side of my face. So if you have TMJ issues and the clinician is ONLY ever looking at your jaw, you may want to look elsewhere. Remember, the SITE of PAIN is RARELY EVER the SOURCE! It just means you have pain and something is not right. The pain can be very real of course and where you have pain can test very poor, but you many want to look at the entire body for the actual SOURCE.
So we went to her LEFT thumb to work on the RIGHT big toe and it turns out she had a very hard time moving the joint in the middle of the thumb at all! Hmmmmm. With some work over a few minutes she was able to move it on her own and the pain in her big toe went to less than a 1 and she was able to roll up much much further on her big toe for the first time in years. Whoo ha and behold the power of the nervous system!
So if you are interested in your own custom Z Health session, check out the information HERE and drop me a line to get on the schedule.
Any other comments on crazy mobility work?
NEW RKC!
Wanted to send a shout out to Brad Ellingson for passing the RKC test!! Brad also recently completed the Z Health R Phase certification in addition to the NSCA CSCS cert in the past. Brad contacted me to help him out on the RKC snatch test due to some past injuries. It took a few months, but he was diligent on doing all the work and was rewarded. Congrats to Brad!! Check him out at Top Notch Fitness if you are here in MN.
