The Movement Guy

- Check the end of the vid for pre/post gait

I know it looks mad, I know a lot of people don't understand it, or refuse to, but this is the single best modality I have ever found and if it wasn't for the bars and Steve, I'd probably still be in constant pain

Phil here has a complex condition called bertolotti syndrome, a piece of his L5 is fussed with the sacrum, causing nerve compression

The tissue locks up, his gait is altered, the inflammation/symptoms get worse, this relives the pressure and resets the tissues, I then give him drills to capitalise on the opportunities the bar created

The bars are so misunderstood, people see damage, I see the nervous system calming down due to the rhythm/vibration of the tool, people see red, I see areas reconnecting

People will call it dangerous, but are fine drugging people to death, people will say it's not necessary but tell people to live with their pain, to manage it

I'm huge on movement, on healing through movement, but in the early days of my recovery from traditional training these bars were the only things keeping me going

Outside of that Ive used it on every condition and type of person imaginable and it continues to help me and my clients do things the conventional approach would say is impossible

Movement is great but if someone is in so much pain they can't move then a bit of first aid in the form of a tissue/nervous system reset goes a long way

We accept a decline in our movement ability as an inevitable part of aging and little by little our movement diet shrinks until there's nothing left but fish and rice cake

But, what if you've slowed down because you stopped trying to move fast?

What if you're tight because the only signal you've given your tissues for years is to be rigid?

What if you have no rhythm/coordination because you stopped doing things that require it?

What if you can get it back?

Thats the mission, restore movement, upgrade it, set people free into the vast world of movement possibilities to have fun, regardless of their age or health barriers

You can turn back the movement clock, just not by doing what everyone else is doing

I started noticing common faults in people, areas they were lacking control and connection that were pretty universal, even amongst exercisers/athletes

Tbh Gym goers are often worse in terms of gaps in their movement maps and when you start probing you find that their strength is masking a whole host of dysfunctions and all of a sudden those unexplained pains, injuries and health conditions start to make sense

They've built strength in a select few ranges and as a result their nervous system has started to limit their movement - a protective mechanism to prevent that force from going places that can't handle it

You're not stiff and tight because you don't stretch, you're stiff and tight because your movement map is incomplete and doesn't marry up to the rest of your capacities

Those who watched DBZ will remember Future Trunks Vs Cell, Trunks pumps himself up, surpassing an unfazed Cell in raw power, but he can't touch him, he's pumped himself up so much that he can't move and he's completely outclassed

Strength is really useful but if your neurology and capacity to utilise that strength is lacking, it can become a prison

After knee surgery, injury or pain it's common to lose confidence in it, movements become guarded, your range and capacity dwindle and the muscles, particularly the quads, lock down

There's no give in the system and every step you take hammers the joints, costs way too much energy and reinforces the initial fault in the nervous system

I had a wrecked knee for years before finally having it fixed a few years back (meniscus, partial patella, MCL + a few cysts). I spent so many hours managing it with all the conventional/non conventional stuff you can imagine, backwards walking was a daily ritual, step downs, Nordics, all sorts of squat patterns, flossing, needling, blading, tempering, peptides....I threw the kitchen sink at it pre/post op but even after a couple of years of intensive rehab (post op) my knee still didn't feel like mine

The leg strength was there, my quad was bigger than it was pre op, I could do single leg stuff, pistols, hops, jumps, but something was still off about it and like the rest of my guarded, mangled body there was no give in it and my nervous system was holding on for dear life through every movement - hence the drills I use now to help others rebuild their knee confidence/ability

That's why I don't focus on isolation or strengthening single muscles, I focus on integration, building patterns and developing an ability to flow through movement, channeling the forces rather than fighting them

I'm always trying new bits when I get the chance, mucking about with different patterns, different tools, different positions - trying to find movements that feel 'right'

At the end of the day it's all made up so why not make some stuff ourselves and get creative?

We may think we have it all figured out but there's far too many injuries and problems for that to be true so the fitness industry experiment must continue to evolve

If our nervous system doesn't feel safe to let go of tension, in our ability to absorb and release force, we'll carry excess tension in everything we do

Every movement will take more energy, every pattern will become inefficient, standing will become a demanding task and when we rest, we'll still be tense

Joints are exposed to more stress, tendons lose their spring and become overloaded, muscles and fascia become stiff and dry - you become a walking inflamed knot

That's why I use these patterns/drills to restore the spring, to teach people how to yield a little and help their nervous system ease into positions without locking down

Once they develop this capacity and we refresh a few forgotten movement patterns, the tension drops and they're able to relax and flow in movement and life

I like to look for opportunities, things that aren't doing what they should be, things that look off, or are lacking, then go to work

The hip flexors are a common one, most of us train them with squats, hinges etc but neglect building end range flexion (knee up) this then affects the hamstrings, glutes, pelvis etc

You can stretch them, release them, wrap bands around them, but if you don't address the deficit then you'll always be missing a vital piece

That's why I emphasize the knee lift on integrated movements like this, to bring up the deficit and reincoparate the activation pattern into movement

The biggest barrier to pain free movement is a guarded nervous system that's keeping things locked down - the muscles are tight, the tissues are guarded and the tendon organs won't let go

There's no give in the system and every movement is met with far more tension than is necessary, the nervous system is on constant high alert and even the most basic of tasks demand an excessive amount of energy

That tight tissue tires fast and it also prevents you from utilising the immense potential of the tendons for storing and releasing energy, again leading to simple movements extracting far too heavy a toll

That's why, once I've built some basic patterns I start to get people bouncing, hoping and bounding within those patterns, expanding their movement map and their Nervous Systems tolerance for movement

Feels good too