Tangible Benefits

In one of my earlier posts I wrote about an 11 year old boy that I started working with who plays soccer and hockey. He is now 12 years old---very important update! And has been doing fantastic! I want to write about him today to demonstrate what happens when 'Smart Training' is applied.

I have been working with him for about 6 weeks now and he has improved on every level. At his last hockey tournament he scored 3 goals---which is pretty impressive considering that he's on the defense--NOT OFFENSE!

He got accepted on the soccer team of his choice and is one of the only kids who was able to do the "Iron Cross". This is an exercise where you are lying on the ground face down with your arms stretched out like a cross. There is someone on each side of you and one or two at your feet. The people on each side of you place one hand under your wrist and place the other under the front of your shoulder. The people in the back lift your feet.

The challenge is to maintain perfect alignment for as far as you can as they walk. It's a tough exercise and he managed to do this fairly easily because of the stability of his joints and core.

I will give you a brief outline of the sequence of the training that I have done with him. When I first saw him he had no core stability and was structurally crooked from scoliosis.

So the first step was working on core stability and posture. Second step in a couple of weeks was correcting motor patterns. Because he had been crooked for so long he had developed faulty movement patterns. Then we worked on coordination and did some strengthening.

One of the biggest thing to correct was his postural alignment in movement--starting with his head position. Like so many people I see he has the bad habit of looking down and sometimes even tilting his head.

He has gotten much better on all aspects I have worked on however we still have plenty of work left to get him to be a fully functional athlete.

The work that I am doing with him now will follow him throughout his life. I can't wait to watch him play whatever sport he chooses to play professionally! If that's the road he decides to follow! If not, at least I know that he will be a fully functional adult! :)

Happy training!