Brain & Movement: Improving Bad Motor Patterns
Our brains are inherently lazy and just like our muscles, will always seek the path of least resistance which cannot always work to our advantage. It to our advantage by allowing us to quickly recognise patterns and act accordingly. This is very helpful in split-second decisions and also whenever we need to go on autopilot. However, it can be a disadvantage when we are trying to break a pattern or bad habit.
Here at Dynamic Osteopaths we often see patients who come through the doors with poor movement patterns that they adopted at a very formative age in life. The brain has become so accustomed to these poor movement patterns, that it is now all that it knows. Breaking these patterns can prove quite difficult as the brain is not one to embrace change for something it has done for so long. Here at Dynamic Osteopaths we see a lot of dynamic movements and running gaits where people have just adopted poor technique over time, thus, influencing poor brain motor control and consequently dysfunctional biomechanical patterns. It is evident that there are more efficient ways to control these dynamic movements that can lead to injury prevention and better control.
So in methods to combat this, the need is to break these bad motor patterns and establish new motor pathways in the brain. In a nutshell the brain need to be drastically changed so it becomes a new task that the brain must learn, so it pays attention. One way that we get the brain to pay attention is by cutting the upper body out of the running equation in order to retrain the lower body. When the upper body is restricted by crossing the arms or running with your arms above your head, the brain recognizes this as a new pattern that it must work to learn. This allows the opportunity to retrain the lower body into healthier, more efficient motor patterns.
Further information can be found be contacting Dynamic Osteopaths
info@dynamicosteopaths.com