Optimize Your Movement Potential with The RANGE

Welcome to the RANGE

At the RANGE, we strive to offer chiropractic care, rehabilitation, and functional healthcare excellence. Our primary objective is to serve the St. Louis community with empathy, encouragement, and education, ensuring that each patient receives personalized care that values, motivates, and challenges every patient while catering to their unique needs. We are dedicated to providing exceptional services that help them achieve optimal physical health and well-being.

 What is the RANGE?

David Epstein argues in his book Range that having a wide range of skills is important for success in the long run. Being a generalist means the journey you take to get where you are going might meander and wind through different paths but in the end, your skillset will allow you to be more creative, and more agile and create connections that others can’t see. This applies to movement as well. If our goal is to live a long, healthy life then we need to take a generalist mindset to meet our goals. This doesn’t mean taking a haphazard approach, where we bounce around from idea to idea. We can still be systematic, but at the same time minimize how much we specialize in one particular area. Joint health is the foundation of movement. If the joints are healthy and display a sufficient range of motion for the desired task then everything is easier. Increased range of motion, means more access to different tissues to minimize exhausting certain fibers or portions of tissue decreasing the risk of injury. Once you have a solid foundation, you can do anything you want. When the range of motion bandwidth is wide it allows us to be more agile, more robust, and better equipped to handle the stress of life.

“Breadth of training predicts breadth of transfer. That is, the more contexts in which something is learned, the more the learner creates abstract models, and the less they rely on any particular example. Learners become better at applying their knowledge to a situation they’ve never seen before, which is the essence of creativity.”

David Epstein

The practice range is a dedicated area where golfers can work on and upgrade their skills related to the game of golf. There are minimal consequences on the practice range, which encourages experimentation and trying new ideas. The range is a place to test new ideas and ultimately the course is where we stress test them to see if they are robust enough to hold up under the pressure of competition. Astrophysicist Brian Nord from MIT says a principal element of science is failing. He tries to fail as fast as possible, to make some ideas not work as fast as possible, so he can move on to the next one. Science is about constantly testing new ideas and trying to disprove ourselves. This is the same thing that happens while practicing at the range. We are constantly trying to improve our technique while expanding our shot selections or options. The best professionals have a menu of different shots they could play in different situations, while amateurs probably only have one or two options for a given scenario. Again, the same thing applies to movement. We need to constantly explore new varieties of movement. Most people’s lives are highly patterned with the same routine. It is essential to establish a movement practice that encourages a wide range of movements and adaptability, breaking us out of the monotony of daily life and allowing our joints to reach their full potential.

Arizona State University practice facility, Phoenix, AZ

The ability to have a menu of movement options is predicated on one’s range of motion. Having range of motion is movement potential. The more limited someone’s range of motion the more limited their movement options are and the greater likelihood for compensation. Compensation is not necessarily negative, but there will be consequences when the system fails to adapt over time. Maintaining a reasonable range of motion is crucial for physical health, but it is not synonymous with being excessively limber. It is important to avoid attempting positions that surpass your abilities and may result in injury or strain. It’s safe to say that no one desires to feel stiff and restricted in their body or have less control over it. The feeling of being inflexible could be due to a lack of strength or difficulty producing force in certain positions. By focusing on strengthening the specific areas where force output is insufficient, one can improve their range of motion without resorting to stretching.

Justin Rose discussing the importance of his warmup routine before playing a round of golf.

 A lack of movement health always requires intervention or rehabilitation to some extent. If you have pain with movement or serious dysfunction with certain activities the natural tendency is to restrict the movement to the pain-free range. While there are modifications that can be made in the gym, this needs to be addressed outside of the gym setting. Workarounds only help for a short time. Eventually, you will end up removing things from your movement menu, leading to a smaller global workspace and how you interact with the environment. Most people trying to lose weight or get back in shape after a long period of being sedentary will have an orthopedic issue that will disrupt either the training intensity or volume before any results can be attained. When people embark on the goal of improving their fitness, sometimes it can come at the cost of their health. It is not uncommon for people to prioritize their fitness goals over their overall health, which can lead to negative consequences. Often, individuals may start out with an overly aggressive approach to exercise, striving for quick and effortless results. However, taking shortcuts and attempting to minimize effort can ultimately result in harm.

During Tendinopathy rehabilitation we have to use gradual loading over time to create progress.

To avoid injury, it is important to take a gradual approach to exercise. For programming purposes there are three general variables that can be manipulated, which are Frequency, Intensity, and Duration. If all three are increased simultaneously, the risk of injury grows exponentially. Instead, it is best to increase each parameter at appropriate intervals, allowing the body to adapt and avoid harm.

It is also important to recognize that different tissues adapt at varying rates. Muscles respond quickly to exercise, while connective tissue may require more time. By taking a measured approach and avoiding injury, one can make steady progress towards their fitness goals.

It is more beneficial to view fitness as a journey, rather than a destination. Small, consistent changes over time can lead to the ultimate goal of being both healthy and fit. Avoiding injury and taking a gradual approach to exercise can help ensure long-term success and well-being.

“Movement is expected to take the place of many remedies, but all the remedies together can never take the place of movement” -Clement Joseph Tissot

To perform any sport, activity, or movement, there is a prerequisite range of motion. This is called the articular workspace and without it, movement is stiff, awkward, and restricted. While having a good range of motion does not guarantee quality movement, it is impossible to have clean and uninhibited movement without it. A critical part of range of motion is afference, which is the sensory feedback that each joint provides the brain. If a joint or articulation does not have an adequate range of motion, the sensory feedback will be reduced. Even if a joint does not need to move much during a movement, the more sensory information that is provided to the brain, the better the movement outcome will be.

Why does any of this matter???

Movement is essential for all aspects of life. You may feel awkward, intimidated, and disconnected when movement is restricted or suboptimal. People that feel awkward, intimidated, or disconnected will limit how much they move to avoid these feelings. This creates a negative feedback loop, which results in less movement or activity.

Would you rather be a supple ninja or a stiff Tinman?

The Tinman needs oil

Having “good” mobility allows you to move with more freedom, variability, and athleticism. This makes navigating your daily life easier and more enjoyable. You will also be more resilient and less likely to get injured because your body can accept and produce force in a variety of positions.

Poor mobility will leave us stiff, tight, and restricted with our movements. It can feel so debilitating when your mobility is limited or you struggle with joint pain and reoccurring injuries. With specific training, we can vastly improve these limitations.

Our ability to move is one of the most important aspects of being human and directly impacts our quality of life.

Age is not the reason you have lost your ability to move. It's a result of multiple factors including your past injuries, movement history, and limited exposure to different positions over time. However, the human body can do amazing things even as you age, as long as you keep it active. You can still achieve feats like running marathons, lifting heavy objects, climbing mountains, and performing challenging yoga poses. Even better, you can start improving your mobility and strength at any age. Don't let age be an excuse for poor health, because there are many ways to overcome it, with daily movement being one of them.

An ancient proverb states that the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.

Your mission if you choose to accept it, is to start now.

I don’t want to be a stiff Tinman. I want to be a supple ninja. What about you?