IT'S ALL CONNECTED

I know you know this, but let me say, your body is amazing. It is a dynamic mechanism in which nothing happens in isolation. That said, dysfunctional movement patterns in one area, if left uncorrected, will negatively affect neighboring areas. This can begin a chain reaction, which may trigger pain in parts of the body you had no idea were connected.

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What does this mean to you? The knee pain you may feel after a walk might have less to do with your knee and more to do with how muscles around your pelvis are (or aren’t) working. Then again, a lack of mobility in your ankles or muscular imbalances in your lower legs could be the culprit. And why are your shoulders so stiff? All you did was sit at work all day. Do you see where this is going?

Let’s take it from the top. If you have shoulder pain, it may be due to tight chest muscles and upper arms, which are rolling inward. This can give you shoulder and bicep pain and really poor posture. Consequently, the muscles on your back are lengthened and weakened (yeah, that’s bad), which leaves your upper traps to overwork. This sets up a work overload for your rotator cuff muscles, the four of whom try to keep the shoulders in their proper position.

If you have the structural issues described above, you are likely to have an excessive forward tilt of your pelvis and compression of your lower back (owww). A forward tilted pelvis keeps your abdominals and glutes from performing like they should, so the hip flexors and hamstrings try to compensate and suffer for it. Rather, you’ll be suffering L

Down the chain, your weak glutes and out-of-whack low back and pelvic area will allow for greater stresses on the area around your knees and ankles. The result of this may be felt as knee pain, tight calves and plantar fasciitis.

The important thing to remember is the site of the pain is rarely the source of the pain. Weakness or tightness in one area indicates something above or below the site of the muscular pain is probably not functioning like it should. Everything is connected and how you move influences your overall physical wellbeing.