The old adage \”crawl before you walk\” is a perfect starting point for understanding infant development patterns. Motor engrams develop in a hierarchical pattern, so if you have a faulty motor engram at a developmental level you are likely to see a faulty pattern in a higher level movement pattern. This occurs due to imbalances in the tonic/phasic properties in the muscular system. These imbalances can occur for a number of reasons. If you do not spend enough time in the crawling phase, the tonic (stabilizing) properties of your oblique musculature can be underdeveloped, which can effect your gait pattern due to an inability to stabilize your pelvis. Other causes can be viscero-motor inhibition, trauma to the muscles/nerves, or simply from disuse. If the cause is viscero-motor you must first address your diet, then you can follow a developmental motor engram program. In the video below I demonstrate three developmental movement patterns. The first exercise is inchworm, this pattern recreates the scoot pattern. The second exercise is fetal flip, this pattern recreates the roll pattern. The last exercise is a crawl pattern, which is self explanatory.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy0gErwrMGc]
These movements are more than just rehabilitative, they are a killer core workout as well. If you are healthy, start with 2 sets of 1 minute of each movement with no rest in between. Good luck and any feedback is greatly appreciated.
Train Intelligently!
TJ Pierce
BS Exercise Science
CHEK 2
