Sports Injuries: It Ain't What You Do, Its The Way That You Do It!
by Roy Palmer
When you perform your sport or physical activity, are you moving efficiently? Do you contribute to your own injuries? Try the experiments below:
Experiment 1
1) Fold your arms and look to see which hand is tucked in and which hand has the fingers showing.
2) Now reverse the pattern and fold them the opposite way. Don’t worry if at first you struggle to do this.
3) Notice the difference in sensation and your reaction to that difference.
4) Unfold and after a few moments fold them again. Look at which pattern you have chosen.
(Note if folding the arms the opposite way does not feel different try the same exercise by clasping the hands.)
The pattern in step 1 is your habitual ‘folding the arms’ programme that is activated without conscious thought and will feel familiar and probably comfortable. The pattern in step 2 requires some thought to achieve and will probably feel wrong, as this is different from your usual preference. This experiment shows how strong the force of habit can be. Not only does it select the pattern of the movement in step 1 but it also determines what feels right and wrong in relation to position and movement. Whilst there is nothing wrong with the pattern in step 2 is it a move you would choose to do automatically? Probably not, because you only perform movements in a manner that feels right.
When you do what feels right you engage your usual habitual movement patterns, those performed often enough to establish the habit. What you feel when active is important for allowing modifications and adjustments to the movement. If, as you have found in this experiment, your feelings can differentiate only between familiar and unfamiliar you will unconsciously perform all actions based on what feels right (habitual) and never in a way that feels wrong or different thus limiting your potential to change and develop. This does not cause a problem if all your movements are efficient, however, the next experiment demonstrates there is no in-built mechanism to prevent or measure inefficient effort.
Experiment 2
1) Sit on a chair and get ready to stand up.
2) Before you move, observe what preparations you want to make. Do you hold your breath? Do you push forward with the lower back and raise the chest? Do the muscles in your neck stiffen and pull back the head? Do you feel the need to push with your hands on your legs? Spend a little time to study this movement before attempting the next step.
3) Now try to stand up from the chair
without doing what you have just noted (it may be necessary to ask someone to observe your actions to give you feedback). How far can you execute the move before one, or all of these patterns appear?
To successfully execute step 3 can be difficult because the usual preparations you make are a part of your habitual ‘getting out of a chair’ programme and are ready to go before you even begin to move. You would not attempt to start the move until the familiar conditions such as the sensation of muscle tension associated with the act are present. From a mechanical point of view the common actions mentioned in step 2 actually reduce the efficiency of the movement.
If your preparation and subsequent actions for this exercise are unnecessary, why do you do them? Why are you not aware that the amount of effort applied was inappropriate placing unnecessary stress on joints and ligaments? This is because you do not have a reliable mechanism that rings an alarm bell when an appropriate limit with regard to effort is exceeded. You continue to do it like this because it is a habit. When you end-gain (concentrating on the end result rather than the process of how its done)and think only of why you are getting out of chair, perhaps the telephone is ringing, you will give little thought to how you get out of the chair.
So the point of these two experiments is to highlight what I believe to be the most important factor influencing performance – habit. End-gaining, or not being in the moment, leads to a subconscious dependence on habit that prevents the possibility for real improvement because we become used to the feel of the act and hence to do not attempt to do it any other way. The amount of effort applied to even the simplest of movements may become excessive, but again because it is a habit we remain oblivious to the energy we waste.Excessive or inappropriate effort will put a strain on joints and can effect timing of muscle contractions. Inefficiency can be a leading factor in non-contact sports injuries.
We may assess technique or style if we believe improvements could be made but this is usually done using our same basic underlying ‘patterns’ of movement and effort based on our concept of the activity. The presence of one or more of the actions discussed in the second experiment suggests inefficient preparatory patterns are likely to be present in others. Whilst they remain, attempts to improve performance will have limited results because the same patterns will be used as a basis for all
activity.
The two behavioural factors highlighted in these experiments are pertinent to performance-enhancing exercises. The next time you perform an exercise or a technique, ask yourself these two questions: -
Question 1: Did it feel good? If the answer is ‘yes’, was it because it was my usual habitual pattern? If it felt wrong, how do I know it was wrong? Remember the experience of the first experiment – it is your habit that determines whether it feels right or wrong!
Question 2: Was the amount of effort applied appropriate for the task? Could I perform the task with less effort? Again, how would I know? Think back to the second experiment and whether you were aware of the excessive effort used just to get out of a chair.
This leaves us in a difficult position. If we cannot trust what we feel, how can we ensure our efforts are not wasted or worse still detrimental to health and performance? If your movement and concept of movement is questionable, all measures to enhance performance using these unreliable mechanisms will have a limited or even harmful outcome. To complicate the issue you may not even be aware that there is a problem due to the nature of the condition as you can soon forget what it is like to have natural, free movement if poor movement becomes habitual. More vigorous activities performed with poor movement will further reduce awareness leading to an ever-increasing amount of effort being applied to complete the simplest of tasks. The viscous circle is complete – garbage in, garbage out. Before you think about training you should ensure that the mechanisms you rely on for movement are functioning to their optimum ability.
Unfortunately, living in today’s fast moving world provides the conditions most likely to bring about a lowering in the standard of these mechanisms. Using FM Alexander’s radical approach, The Alexander Technique, can help you to eliminate the end-gaining habit and enhance self-awareness to allow you to see the subtle changes required if you are to improve.
Roy Palmer is a teacher of The Alexander Technique and has studied performance enhancement in sport for the last 10 years. In 2001 he published a book called 'The Performance Paradox: Challenging the conventional methods of sports training and exercise' and is currently working on a new project about The Zone. More information about his unique approach to training can be found at www.fitness-programs-for-life.com
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