What is Sports Kinesiology?

What is Sports Kinesiology? This is a question that we get asked almost daily. We at DC Health have decided to write this article in an attempt to get the answer to this question available to as many people as possible. 

Sports Kinesiology is a summation of the best of Western and Eastern medicine and health technologies. It combines methods and philosophies from osteopathy, traditional chinese medicine, functional anatomy, energetic medicine, strength and conditioning, chiropractic, nutritional medicine and bodywork therapies. It is a holistic approach to healing, health and well-being that considers all aspects of the person, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. This comprehensive approach allows us to revolutionize performance in a way not yet seen before and is the key difference here at DC Health.

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Here is an example of Sports Kinesiology at work. This is taken from a real case study and is an example of how sports kinesiology can fully work with the interconnectedness of the human organism. A client came in with torn ligaments in his shoulder. Surgery was scheduled. Using orthopedic assessment and a comprehensive knowledge of functional anatomy, the practitioner was able to ascertain that the injury actually originated in the opposite ankle. A look at this blog,

http://miketnelson.blogspot.com/2009/05/opposite-joints-my-elbow-hurts-you-want.html goes into detail about how the site that hurts is not often the cause of the problem. 

After treating the ankle the shoulder regained full pain free range of motion in one session. The next session was dedicated to clearing up imbalances in the shoulder musculature. Kinesiology uses neurological testing of muscles to see how the central nervous system is controlling them. A muscle has 3 possible responses. Either it has neuromuscular integrity, it has a lack of neuromuscular integrity and thus is ‘underfaciliatated’ or it is overworking and is thus ‘overfacilitated’. Kinesiology then uses different techniques to ascertain what is the actual cause of the neuromuscular dysfunction. This is what sets sports kinesiology apart. We can identify whether the problem comes from a physical problem, an emotional issue, a digestive disorder or a host of other possibilities. This gives sports kinesiology a huge advantage over other therapies. 

This clients particular problem related to some emotional issues. Each muscle in the body is related to a different meridian in Chinese medicine and each meridian has a set of different emotional issues or ‘life lessons’ that relate to it. This interconnectedness shows that each little issue we have affects our whole system and can cause a number of seemingly unrelated problems. By dealing with this clients emotional issues using gentle acupressure techniques we were able to resolve the issues and eliminate all the blocks to healing. 

The next step in this clients healing was to introduce a corrective exercise program. This included stretches, mobility drills, soft tissues techniques and corrective exercises tailored exclusively to this clients needs and particular imbalances. This combination of therapy and exercise is an invaluable step in recovery from any injury. The kinesiology in effect reset the neuromuscular system and the corrective exercise basically reinforced good patterns of movement and taught the client to move correctly again. 

In the end this client did not receive surgery and both his orthopedic surgeon and osteopath he was referred to by the physician were blown away by his healing. This is something that is not a miracle but can be a very common occurrence when the whole human body is addressed and treated. DC Health bases its training and treatment philosophy around this interconnected model. This allows us to effectively address nearly any issue our clients have and help them achieve their dreams.

Purpose and Potential

Our purpose in life and the ability to express our full human potential are inextricably intertwined with each other. To the degree that we are aware of our purpose in life, our calling card and legacy, is the degree to which we express the full magnificence of our potential. Read more

Goals

We are nearly one quarter through the year. The question that we need to ask ourselves at this turning point is ‘ have we achieved one quarter of our goals?’ Many of us set goals but either do not persevere with what we want to achieve or set unrealistic and unstructured goals. Today, we want to discuss how we might be driven to persevere and achieve our goals and how to set goals intelligently.

When we set goals, we need to look at a number of things. I am sure you are all familiar with the acronym of setting SMART goals. if you have not, it stands for:

Specific – Is it a specific goal?

Measurable – can it be measured?

Achievable – is it achievable?

Realistic – is it realistic?

Timely – is it in a timeframe?

What is lacking is not an intellectual understanding of what this means. It is a lack of action towards these goals. This interview with Will Smith describes very eloquently what is needed to make our goals reality.

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We need to make our goals so important to us that our day revolves around us achieving our goals. These goals do not have to be fitness related, but they can be in any of the seven key areas of life. The seven keys areas of life, as described by speaker and author Dr John Demartini are physical, mental, financial, spiritual, vocational, social and familial. If we can effectively set goals in all these areas of life we will be truly create great things in our life.

Here are some examples of goals in these seven areas of life

Physical – Achieve goal weight of 55kgs (current weight 70kgs).  Time frame – 3 months. Action steps to achieve goal – Resistance train 3 days a week. Cardio interval training 2x a week, 1 long walk. Eliminate poor quality carbohydrates, consume 6 grams of fish oil a day. Measure weight every week to ensure continual progress and adjustment of training and dietary protocol. Throw out all ice cream and alcohol in house to eliminate temptation. Cook extra for dinner and bring lunch to work.

Mental: Read 12 books about an interest of ours, e.g. hormonal balance. Action steps to achieve goal. Schedule one hour per day to read. Time spent on goals – 3 months. Ensure one book is read a week. If one book is read in less than a week, start reading the next book. An interesting side note on this is that according to Brian Tracy “One hour per day of study will put you at the top of your field within three years. Within five years you’ll be a national authority. In seven years, you can be one of the best people in the world at what you do.”

Financial: Save $5000 by the end of the year. Action steps to achieve goals – set up an automatic debit into a savings account. Time frame – 40 weeks. Ensure $1215 dollars a week is transferred and the money cannot be withdrawn. Ensure you only eat out one day a week rather than several. This as you see will also help you with you physical goals.

Familial: Spend more time with the kids. 2-3 hours more a week. Action steps to achieve goal – integrate the kids into your fitness plan. Take them for your cardio training sessions. Take them on a bush walk then to the park on the weekend. Children have been found not to care so much about what they do with their parents, but how long they spend with them. This goals is harder to put a time frame on. One option is to schedule it in to your diary and treat it like an appointment that cannot be missed.

Vocational: Present seminar on the hormonal system to other health care professionals. Time frame – 6 months. Action steps to achieve goals. 1 hour of research a day (fits in with mental goal). Have another health care professional evaluate at the end of every month to ensure progress.

Spiritual: This goal is highly personal. My personal definition of spirituality is taking responsibility for your decisions and living your life as dictated by your highest ideals. Therefore one goal could be to define your own personal mission statement. To evaluate the success of this is to identify how closely your mission statement reflects where you are in your life and to read it each and every day.

Social: Network with other established professionals and enhance reputation. Action steps to achieve goal. 12 new contacts in 12 weeks. Send one email a day to different people. Ensure one email is to a new contact and six are to maintain relationships with current contacts. Join a think tank or other related group and schedule it in as an appointment.

As you can see, just like how every system in our body interacts to create a symphony of health, so does every goal interact to create the symphony of our life.  What we would like you to do over the next few days, before April starts is give yourself the time to identify what it is that you would love to achieve in your life. Your DC Health practitioner would love to help you in any area that they can so we can all live magnificent lives.

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