Of all the things to be good at I happen to be a star when it comes to shoulder mobility.
Not amazing cardiovascular fitness. Certainly not epic upper body strength. Nope, shoulder mobility. I can twist my arms around my back and almost fist pump my hands together. New party trick right there.
This discovery came about when Advance Wellness and Physiotherapy's wellness manager and personal trainer Lynsey Graham repeated the functional movement screen (FMS) that I'd done earlier this year when I first started working out there.
I'd done the FMS along with a full body biomechanical assessment by one of Advance's physiotherapists. Together, the assessments pinpointed issues with my body's movement, balance, flexibility and limb function, and ascertained underlying possible causes of stiffness and pain.
Having been working with Lynsey for several weeks now, she decided it would be a good idea to repeat the FMS and compare the latest results with my original test.
The FMS involved me working through a range of movements as Lynsey photographed and videod me carrying them out. I didn't improve on my scores on all of the tests, but as Lynsey pointed out, the FMS has scores of 1, 2 and 3 and it can be hard to perform the movements well enough to score higher. However, I did find it easier to complete some of them than the first time around, such as the deep squat, the hurdle step and the lunge.
I improved on the straight leg raise (pull toe back and raise as high and straight as possible) but my attempts at the trunk stability push up (toes tucked under, arms under shoulders, try to push the body up in one clean movement) were appalling. A flailing legless lizard springs to mind. That's me.
A desk worker, I used to suffer from tense neck and shoulders. I was guilty of hunching forward sometimes and I often found my right shoulder was tense when I used a mouse. And the fact that my job sees me sitting on my ass a lot of the time means the hip flexor muscles, which run up the tops of your thighs, through the pelvis and connect to the lower spine, are shortened. That explains why I suffered from lower back pain sometimes.
Thanks to the gym work I've been doing with Lynsey along with the exercises she gave me to do at my desk (hip flexor stretch, calf stretches, neck stretches etc), I no longer have any back, neck or shoulder pain. And they may well be the reasons for my increased shoulder mobility. It could also have been Lynsey's Scottish brogue on a loop in my head: "Relax yer shouldahs ... shouldahs doon". She drilled that into me during our sessions - I think it's finally paid off.
Advance Wellness Centre is at 711 Victoria Street. For more information about the services they offer see www.advancephysio.co.nz.