Fun Facts and Health Hacks with Stefan and Zack
● Health Hack with Zack - Utilizing essential oils as a pre-workout for improving sport performance (7,8). Oils include peppermint, cinnamon, citrus and wintergreen. Zack dilutes a few drops of the oil in either coconut or olive oil and then applies to his wrists. Throughout his workout he takes big breathes from his hands when he wants an increase in energy.
● Fun Fact with Stefan - Its not a lack of oxygen that stimulates your body to take a breath, it is actually due to an accumulation of carbon dioxide within your blood. Carbon dioxide is a byproduct of cellular metabolism and its levels are picked up in the blood by chemoreceptors within the arteries. This information relays to the brainstem which then stimulates heavier breathing (9).
Zack's Approach to his Mobility Practices
● It mainly comes down to consistency over complexity● His daily routine:
1. Upon waking - 15 minutes of intentful mobility exercises. He has tried multiple different practices including yoga, soft tissue roll out, long isometrically held positions etc, but now is utilizing Controlled Articular Rotations (CARS). The reason why he prefers CARS is due to the fact he can isolate joints and tackle different "layers" of immobility. These include myofascial, neuromuscular and articular layers of restriction. CARS are limited in that they dont integrate larger, complex patterns the way that more global movements could. Another is that there are joints that cannot be isolated consciously, like the spinal joints.
2. 20-60 min walk - Gait is a primal movement, it is great at integrating. Uses every joint in the body, allows for fluid movement, and very coordinated.
3. Hourly 5 minute Movement Breaks - walking, CARS, squats, really any movement that allows him to get out of his seated position. Also great opportunity to improve skills, increase caloric output, add exercise stimulus and improve venous and lymph flow. As long as there is some sort of intent beyond the movement, you will see benefit. This really adds to the consistency of movement throughout the day.
4. 10-20 min Breath work - The diaphragm is such a large muscle and changes pressures within the body creating fluid motion. If tissues get more fluid exchange, they will function better, including the tissues around joints.
5. Biweekly check-ups/treatments from a Manual Therapist - Understand that there are limitations to what you can change on your own. It is okay to seek help, especially when trying to optimize health and performance. You also do not have to be injured to receive benefits from "Body Work" whether it be Chiro, Osteo, Physio, Massage, etc, they will be able to catch things before they become problematic and keep your body functioning optimally.
Stefan's Approach to his Mobility Practices
● Tries to get more bang for his buck utilizing collective mechanics and utilizes sensory input● The only physical interface your body has with the environment is through the feet which is balanced by the visual and vestibular systems.
1. Eye Exercises - Great way to stimulate the brain, a huge amount of your brain is dedicated to visual information. Your body assesses its environment by keeping the eyes level with the horizon and will change your posture and muscle tone throughout the body to achieve this. Cranial nerves innervate the eyes, there is an accommodation reflex between the pupillary muscles and extrinsic muscles of the eye which help your eyes focus in and out on moving objects. This sensory information reflexes into a host of areas within the brain such as the brain stem, which relays to postural muscles to govern your body movements and position. If you can stimulate those reflexes through the eyes, then you can make change to postural compensations and restrictions. He explores extreme ranges of motion through both of the eyes, through the whole circle of his orbit. This will go a long way in coordinating the extrinsic eye muscles that control the position of the eye. You can also work on convergence, which is the ability of the eyes to zone in on an object. You can track objects at different ranges or integrate movement of the body while focusing on a target. These all help integrate more sensory information from the eyes and vestibular system so that the body has more practice interpreting this information to improve your posture and coordination. You don't know how much benefit this type of training can have until you try it. Past injuries and trauma's can have a large impact on this system and its many reflexes creating immobilities throughout the body which can be potentially alleviated through training and reintegrating them.
2. Foot positioning - There are huge amounts of sensory information coming from the feet and you don't recognize it consciously. Restrictions in the feet from previous injuries or repetitive positions can “steer” the mechanics of the knee, hip, and pelvis leading to problems in the future. Thankfully the body is able to respond quickly through the nervous system to reorganize its movement and muscular tone. Wedging and orthotic inserts are often used to facilitate these changes but can have limitations. Being that the foot thrives off of variety in movement a case could be made that orthotic use, although initially beneficial, could create limitations in a similar way over a longer period of time due to a lack of variety from the same orthotic position. (Hoping to explore this concept in the future with a professional who has more insight and experience with orthotics!)
There are wonderful insights from Gary Ward in this area to gain the tools and understanding to change your foot positioning (5, 6). His book “What the Foot” speaks about the integrated nature of the foot and its sensory feedback to the brain. His courses are very accessible to the average person both in cost and concept and can get you started in your understanding of these concepts.
Mobility of Acute injury
● When inflammation occurs in an acute injury, this decreases the joints ability to move, it splints itself with local inflammation and swelling. It can be common practice to immobilize the joint further with taping or bracing. If inflammation persists for too long, the injury can change from acute to chronic where cellular fibrosity occurs (10). A large contributor to inflammation persisting, this study shows, is through a lack of clearance of fluid.● If we can maintain some motion at the injury with the help of an experienced practitioner while also maintaining and improving the drainage and supply to that joint via its nerve, arteries, veins and lymphatic pathways, it could benefit the healing process.
Don't Get Stuck in Dogmatic Perspectives
● You lose the opportunity to explore other, potentially better options. This is the process and development that all health sciences go through. Part of the job of therapists, coaches, and trainers to evaluate this information and see if it can be implemented safely for a better outcome to evolve your application.● Just because something has been done one way for a long time does not mean there is not a better way. There are times when someone will find a better way which will begin to spread through the industry and its only supported in research after the fact.
When and Why Injuries May Occur
● An injury, even in its smallest scale, when you get yourself into a position you have never been in before or into a position with an amount of force you have never endured. The body can anticipate and protect itself efficiently in positions and forces that it has endured before. To prepare for these positions and forces we must train and practice in them.
Takeaways
● Variety and consistency (over complexity) in everything we do.● Have intent and rationalize the "why" behind everything you do and commit to it. Don't be afraid of letting that rational change over time with new information.● Understand the limitations of what you do and seek help when needed. Refer out and keep open communication with a network of professionals so you may receive the best outcome for yourself or your clients.● Keep it fun. Don't get stuck in the same approach that doesn't allow for exploration and curiosity. Search and experiment to find new approaches and truths to better your health and that of your clients.● Don't be afraid of using breathing as a tool, it is powerful.
Is the arch of the foot a diaphragm?....

Resources from the show:
1. Andrew Huberman Neuroscientist who spoke of eye movements for stress and focus2. Posture pro (Annette Verpillot) and Adam Wolf for eye movement exercises3. Study showing cortical changes in the brain of those who have lateral ankle sprains 4. Inflammation persisting due to lack of clearance:Woods JA, Wilund KR, Martin SA, Kistler BM. Exercise, inflammation and aging. Aging Dis. 2012 Feb;3(1):130-40. Epub 2011 Oct 29. PMID: 22500274; PMCID: PMC33208015. Gary Ward on foot positioning and wedging6. What The Foot, by Gary Ward

References:
7. Jaradat NA, Al Zabadi H, Rahhal B, Hussein AM, Mahmoud JS, Mansour B, Khasati AI, Issa A. The effect of inhalation of Citrus sinensis flowers and Mentha spicata leave essential oils on lung function and exercise performance: a quasi-experimental uncontrolled before-and-after study. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2016 Sep 22;13:36. doi: 10.1186/s12970-016-0146-7. PMID: 27688737; PMCID: PMC5034497.
8. Meamarbashi A. Instant effects of peppermint essential oil on the physiological parameters and exercise performance. Avicenna J Phytomed. 2014 Jan;4(1):72-8. PMID: 25050303; PMCID: PMC4103722.
9. Marieb, E. and Hoehn, K., 2010. Human Anatomy & Physiology. 8th ed. San Francisco: Pearson Education, pp.90-112.
10. Mahdy MAA. Skeletal muscle fibrosis: an overview. Cell Tissue Res. 2019 Mar;375(3):575-588. doi: 10.1007/s00441-018-2955-2. Epub 2018 Nov 12. PMID: 30421315.