Tom Waldron - Franklin Method & Movement Therapy

*Supine CORE Activation*
📍'Core' focused exercises may not be necessary for all clients (with or without back pain) and being able to achieve optimal activation of the 'core' supine may not translate from a neuromuscular perspective to 'functional movements' for improved stability in movement.
1) Single hip folds maintaining 'neutral' spine/pelvis.
... 2) Single leg stretch maintaining 'neutral' spine/pelvis.
3) Alternate arms/legs maintaining 'neutral' spine/pelvis.
4) Double arm over head/single leg stretch maintaining 'neutral' spine/pelvis.
❗Bracing should be an automatic function. Consciously bracing to increase spinal regidity should be an intervention (if necessary) to optimise the co-ordination of the 'core' muscle's activation.
Athletes that need to lift heavy weights like power lifters may benefit from 'core' focused training at 80-100% capacity to train maximum spine stability when lifting 🏋️
📚It's important to remember that the research to support core training is poor and we should constantly question and challenge how appropriate this style of training is 🤔
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Looking forward to teaching spinal biomechanics in London in a few weeks. Spinal mechanics have the potential to affect the extensibility of muscles down the leg due to the root canal.
The mobility or lack of mobility can influence the nerves that innervate the thigh muscles. Being able to assess the nervous system helps the coach/therapist give the appropriate exercises at the appropriate time to help their client achieve their movement goals.
Nerves require movement too.
... Portsmouth: 8th-9th September. Bristol: 15th-16th September. Essex: 13th-14th October.
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Saturdays.

*Pelvic Stability Frontal Plane*
Being able to stabilise the pelvis in the frontal plane is important for most sports as well as daily life activities. The muscles that abduct the hip (glute min, glute med and the superior fibers of glute max) are primarily responsible for this.
❗Inhibited motor control of the pelvis can lead to hip pain as well as knee pain.
... 1️⃣ Single leg lift. 2️⃣ Side lying up and down plank. 3️⃣ Single leg lift in side plank. 4️⃣ Hip hitch.
📍As the body is an integrated system, other areas of the body such as the sub-talar joint (foot) can cause the pelvis to lack stability in the frontal plane.
The kinetic chain should be addressed for long term positive results ✔️
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Being flexible doesn't necessarily prevent injuries. Some studies even suggest that stretching routines don't prevent the risk of injury and may even be detrimental to sporting performance 🤔
I've worked with a lot of ballet dancers in exercise rehab scenarios. Typically dancers are very flexible and in the elite demographic, are generally hypermobile. Hypermobile individuals tend to have more of the elastin protein in their collagen and so can produce greater ranges of motion... (I'm over simplifying it as there's also a proprioceptive element too). Bearing this in mind, most top dancers don't need to stretch. They would be much more suited to a strength and conditioning programme to better control the large ranges of motion that they can produce 💯
Not only does strength work help individuals control their movements and in being more stable but it also increases the body's tissue tolerance to loads. If the body tissue can handle tensile and sheer loads more efficiently it is a good predictor of preventing injuries. This is especially important for people who have a recurrent injury.... Hamstring strain people you know who you are 🤓
Strength work doesn't always have to take place at the gym. Pilates and yoga programmes can be tailored to promote tissue strength ✔️
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Great post by @embrklifestyle “[PAIN SENSITIVITY VS. TISSUE DAMAGE] . The nervous system is like Pepperidge Farm…it remembers. Sometimes a better way of thinking about pain when it persists after an injury is to think of it as sensitivity. When our body gets hurt, we become sensitive to certain stimuli because the nervous system is trying to protect us.
... This is great when we first get injured because it alerts us to prevent subsequent harm but not so great when our tissue is healed. It's normal to have some sensitivity when coming back from an injury. After all, our brain is just trying to protect us.
However, after a certain time frame, we know that our tissues/muscles have healed. In these scenarios, we should not relate hurt to harm but instead to sensitivity. You can work around sensitivity by gradually re-introducing activities in varied intensities that once provided discomfort.
You're not broken and as long as you are living…your body does a stellar job at adapting.”
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A space has just become available on the Biomechanics Trainer workshop in Bristol!
Comment of private message if you're interested in attending this two day training. First come first serve.
What you'll learn on this training:
... - 9 manual assessments for the pelvis/spine/shoulders - Corrective exercises to improve the body's biomechanics - Improve body kinetic chains - Muscle energy techniques - Osteokinematics - The science of 'core' stability
This training also provides CPD points
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The multifidus muscle has attachments from the sacrum ascending all the way up to the cervical spine. It's classified as one of the deep 'anti gravity' muscles. The body has the tendancy to flex forward as the centre of gravity is slightly in front. Muscles like the multifidus maintain a certain level of activity to keep an erect spine position when standing or sitting. 🤸
The multifidus can help produce movement at the spine but because of it's topographical anatomy, it doesn...'t have the best leverage to be a powerful mover. This makes the multifidus a unique muscle as it's primary function is stability. When contracted bilaterally, it produces spinal extension. When contracted unilaterally, it produces spinal lateral flexion (ipsilateral) and spinal rotation (contralateral).
The multifidus functions together with the transverse abdominis and pelvic floor to stabilise the spine prior to movement. For example, before you go from a sitting position to a standing position, deep spinal and abdominal ('core') muscles become more active to produce greater rigidity at the facet joints to help maintain stability in movement. Ideal co-ordination of these muscles is necessary for optimal spinal stability.🏋️
📍Bracing exercises MAY be appropriate to improve the neuromuscular feedback of the deep spinal muscles. The research to support 'core' focused exercises to improve stability and help individuals with back pain is sketchy at best. Back pain is multifactorial and stability is a more complicated process than doing supine and four point kneeling braces. In my opinion, it's better to design a training programme around the movements the individual want to improve based off their performance goals with appropriate progressions.
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Yes! 💯
'Great, you've down regulated the person's symptoms.. What are you going to do next???'
If you want to train the nervous system to maintain the positive changes in therapy, you've got to get moving!
... What do you guys think? Is exercise an important aspect of recovery?
Another big shout out to @paincloud1
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*Anterior Shoulder Pain & Improve Shoulder Function*
(Apologies for the facial expressions) 🤓
Strength and conditioning exercises are an important part of physical rehab. Once pain has decreased and a good degree of mobility is available, the logical progression is to load the injured area, increasing tissue tolerance to loads. This can be done with a focus during the eccentric, concentric and isometric phases. The following exercises are with a focus on the concentric phase ...but all of them are important. In the early stages, you may emphasise the isometric phase as it builds strength safely (no movement) and can release endocannabinoids 💪
Strength training is thought to aid in improved proprioception which is necessary for ideal sensory awareness. Sensory awareness of a limb can be inhibited when a body part has been in pain for a while (smudging). Exercising the infraspinatus can potentially help reduce anterior shoulder pain 👍
📍Recent studies have suggested that anterior shoulder pain can be caused by compression at the tendon of the biceps brachii (long head). It is thought that the biceps brachii isn't always the original source of anterior shoulder pain unless there has been a heavy, unexpected load at the muscle. If this isn't the case, 'weakness' at the rotator cuff muscles may be the real problem and exercising these muscles (not just infraspinatus) will calm down the symptoms 🤔
It's always important to remember that anterior shoulder pain is multifactorial and may not be caused by the rotator cuff or biceps brachii ✔️
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Do you have a 'weak core'?
Do you suffer from a stiff spine?
Do you know how to intelligently train your spinal muscles?
... The psoas major, hugging your lumbar spine, is a true core muscle. Awareness and proper training of the psoas complex enhances spinal and pelvic biomechanics, liberates the hips, and awakens the abdominals.
In this workshop, we will activate, balance and strengthen all three muscles in the psoas complex.
Experience the Franklin Method! - Discover a new vision of a strong core. - Create more ease of movement in walking, running and sitting. - Learn ball and imagery exercises to balance and strengthen the psoas complex.
This workshop is 3 hours.
£45 plus VAT
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*Your Squat Can Be Determined By Your Genetics*
One of the leaders in biomechanics and movement, Stuart McGill has become very well known for his talks on the importance of identifying the differences in people's ability to squat deep and their over all form. Due to genetic variation, typical squat cues won't apply to everything and may even be harmful.
Countries that are known for higher percentages of hip dysplasia typically excell in Olympic weightlifting (that require dee...p squats). This can be why athletes from Poland, Bulgaria and Russia gravitate to weightlifting. On the other hand, the Scottish demographic typically have deeper hip joints which isn't ideal for achieving ass to grass (deep squat). As always this won't apply to everyone in Poland or Scotland - genetic variation.
1️⃣ In the first picture, notice the right hip joint, it is more shallow in comparison to the left hip joint. A more shallow hip socket will typically allow for a deep squat. If an individual is squatting deep with a deep concavity at their hip joint, they are potentially at greater risk of accetabular labrum impingement.
2️⃣ Notice the right femur on the second photo. The right femur would be able to achieve a wide and externally rotated squat, a common stance in top powerlifters. The left femur would not be able to produce the same degree of external rotation.
📍This would also apply to other sports as well as movement styles such as pilates, yoga 🤔
📚For further reading on Professor McGill's work check out Back Mechanic and Ultimate Back Fitness.
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It's very easy to get caught in the paradigm that being very flexible is important for all sporting performances or even daily life activities, this isn't necessarily the case. In fact, in many cases being 'too flexible' can be a detriment to performance.
You want the appropriate amount of mobility and rigidity depending on the situation. If your goal for example is to be a fast runner, you actually want certain degrees of rigidity at certain joints to propel yourself forwar...d with minimal energy leakage. If there's excessive laxity at the joints, this requires greater muscle power to propel yourself forward through space.
Another example is football. Strikers may benefit from a certain degree of 'tension' at their hamstrings when kicking a football. This helps protect the passive structures of the knee like the ACL during rapid knee extension.
Let's not glorify flexibility!
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*Improved movement co-ordination through mental rehearsal*
Two groups of people who had never studied piano were taught a sequence of notes, showing them which fingers to move and letting them hear the notes as they were played. Then members of one group, the mental practice group, sat in front of an electric piano keyboard, two hours a day, for five days and imagined both playing the sequence and hearing it played. A second physical practice group actually played the music t...wo hours a day for five days.
Both groups had their brains mapped before the experiment, each day, during it, and afterwards. Then both groups were asked to play the sequence, and a computer measured the accuracy of their performance.
The results showed that both groups learned to play the sequence, and both groups showed similar brain map changes. The mental practice alone group produced the same physical changes in the motor system as actually playing the piece.
By the end of the fifth day, the changes in motor singles to the muscles were the same in both groups, and the imaging players were as accurate as the actual players were on their third day. 📚A. Pacaul - Leone, N. Dang, L. G. Cohen, J. P. Brasil - Neto, A. Cammarota, and M. Hallett. 1995 Modulation of muscle responses evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation during the acquisition of new fine motor skills.
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Muscles don't work individually, they work in groups.
So can you test individual muscles?

Just got this awesome feedback from a student on the Biomechanics Trainer Workshop last weekend.
She is a pilates instructor and learnt how to apply manual screens to assess the pelvis, spine and shoulders.
One topic we cover on the workshop (and diploma) are functional leg length discrepancies. If the discrepancy is caused by the the pelvis, we can potentially 'correct' it with 'corrective exercises'
... Love hearing from students post training.
✔️Portsmouth: 8th-9th September. ✔️Bristol: 15th-16th September. *SOLD OUT* ✔️Essex: 13th-14th October.
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The scalene muscles are deep cervical muscles. You have an anterior, medial and posterior scalene. They will contribute to cervical lateral flexion, rotation (a weak rotator) and lifting of the 1st/2nd rib during inhalation.
These muscles are typically very tight on a lot of people so any self management is always beneficial. Self trigger point and movement can really help alleviate 'tension' at these muscles. 💆
The scalenes are located behind the big stenocleidomastoid musc...le. Massaging just behind this muscle will treat the scalenes.
The roots of brachial plexus branch out in between the anterior and medial scalene. If an individual is suffering from sensory or motor issues down the arm/hand, the scalenes as well as the pec minor are good areas to treat incase these muscles are compressing this section of the nervous system.
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Thoroughly enjoyed the training in Glastonbury this weekend. Really useful, thought provoking and interesting. Thanks Tom

I love the knowledge Movement Kinetic Therapy provides. It's very inspiring!

Have just finished the course in Glastonbury....Excellent and professional presentation, amazing results both with theory and practice. Thank you Tom....look forward to more.

Great info and extremely passionate about movement and life :)

Thoroughly enjoyed the training in Glastonbury this weekend. Really useful, thought provoking and interesting. Thanks Tom

I love the knowledge Movement Kinetic Therapy provides. It's very inspiring!

Have just finished the course in Glastonbury....Excellent and professional presentation, amazing results both with theory and practice. Thank you Tom....look forward to more.

Great info and extremely passionate about movement and life :)