Recently, Alex Rodriguez or better known as A-Rod, went through a screening process with the National Academy of Sports Medicine’s CEO, Dr. Michael Clark.  The process is designed to identify muscular imbalances and how these areas of weakness or tightness are affecting the kinetic chain and therefore movement.

So, what’s the common denominator between A-Rod and our patients?  The screening process.  Every patient at Princeton Longevity Center undergoes a thorough assessment of their fitness, including a movement screen.  The screen serves as the basis for our exercise prescription.  We look at the body and how it moves from the perspective of function.  The human movement system is made up from the skeletal system, the muscular system, and the nervous system.  Dysfunction can be attributed to any one of these or a combination of the three.  So, if one area is out of balance, it can throw off the other two and wreak havoc on the body.  For instance, the hip flexors are often shortened due to the amount of time spent in a seated position.  Over time, they want to stay in that shortened position, and can contribute to an anterior pelvic tilt.  This can lead to a hyperlordotic curve of the lumbar spine, poor function of the gluteals, and eventually to low back pain.  All due to a simple muscular imbalance that can corrected once properly identified.

What was identified during this process with A-Rod may surprise you, but in the world of kinesiology and biomechanics, it makes perfect sense.  To read more about what is ailing A-Rod click the following link.  http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/yankees/rod_radical_head_stars_toe_is_program_FUcdxCbjqKmBJWLXZvNmuJ

Keith Burns, MS, CSCS, NASM-CES