April 1, 2015
One of the more positive trends being seen in today’s 50+ crowd is that it is more active than ever before. Unfortunately, with many years of physical activity, an increasing number of people are facing joint replacements, arthroscopic surgeries, and diagnoses of osteoarthritis. In studying functional movement and body mechanics as a PT, Guerrino has learned that the body moves as an integral whole, a complete 3-D system. Many of our most common aging injuries arise from compensations and overuse.
The solution is not to stop exercising. The question becomes how to prevent overuse injuries from occurring. One of the key areas for prevention is exercise. We are often told that all exercise is good exercise. But, many common exercises are passed from generation to generation, and really do not account for how the body moves in everyday life.
Exercise routines should be geared around an individual’s interests, and integrate many different movement patterns into the exercises.
The body goes through through three planes of motion all at once — sagittal, frontal, and transverse plane movements, like the X, Y and Z axis on a 3-D graph. The body wants to integrate movements, not isolate them. This integration protects joints and small muscles from overuse and injury.
So, what does it mean to exercise in 3-D? It may not be as hard as you may think. For example, lunging can become a full 3-D movement once different directions are incorporated into the movement. Any type of exercise can therefore be transformed into a 3-D movement.
Seeking out whole-body motions versus single-limb exercises also is very beneficial to protecting joints. By combining multi-joint movements like squats and lunges with upper-body movements, you reduce stresses placed on joints and protect them.
Dr Guerrino spends a great deal studying this, including the completion of an eight-month fellowship in Applied Functional Science in 2008 through the Gray Institute. Only a handful of practitioners in the state of Rhode Island hold this fellowship certification. Dr Guerrino uses his knowledge of this tri-planar motion to develop exercises and treatments for common and chronic ailments. He also uses that knowledge for writing preventative strengthening programs for individuals. Preventative programs provide great workouts, while also ensuring that a person’s unique area of weakness and potential injury areas are addressed.
Throughout the last 10 years, Guerrino has had great success with these programs. He actively works with local personal trainers and exercise groups to integrate tri-plane exercises.
The goal is to see full 3-D integrated exercise programs become the standard with regard to injury prevention and well-rounded physical health.