#13 - Arm lines front and back
The Front and Back Arm Lines is your second installment of the six basic motion chains of the body.
Where the arm lines attach, from the center of the body and go all the out to the hands, it is a no-brainer that we need to keep these lines stable, mobile, active, strong, and flexible. All inclusive – joints, muscles, fasciae, and nerves.
There are also huge implications on what they will do for you, performance wise – especially if you use your hands in your sport.
For example, if you have ever had an injury to your shoulder, elbow, forearm, or hand, the greatest possibility is that your Arm Motion Lines are not sending your brain the correct information. Then it is impossible for the brain to select the best motor program for your desired movement.
Imagine you are driving and have an important business call on your cell. You are in NYC at the start of your call and have perfect cell-tower coverage. It is shaping up to be a great call and all communication is perfectly clear. But as you drive north, you go through New Canaan, CT and you have only one bar on your cell. Then communication becomes garbled, and you miss some important points of the call, which makes the caller on the other end confused. In the end, the business call turns out no-so-good.
This is a good analogy of what can happen with body-to-brain communication. If any part of the Arm Lines has ever been injured (head, neck, shoulders, chest, arms, elbow, forearms), no matter how long ago, the overwhelming odds are that you are getting poor cell coverage from that part of the body, which weakens communication from your body to your brain, and from your brain back to your body.
Rehabilitating the entirety of all motion chains is so important, in this case, the Arm Lines.
I find the simplest, most efficient, and best way to rehabilitate these motion chains is by adding significant resistance on both sides of the body, at the feet and at the hands. In essence we are then forcing strong electrical signals through the entire lines of joints, muscles, fasciae, and nerves, which reacquaints the brain with upgraded information more like what it had pre-injury, strain, pain, swelling, inflammation.
We will mirror the method we used for the Spiral Motion Lines. I have made videos so you can learn the movements with no resistance, then some resistance, then resistance at both ends of the body. Please watch all the videos and learn the exercises correctly from the start. A few extra minutes learning the movements without resistance will be most helpful in the long run.
What are the Arm Lines in relation to the skeleton?
Arm Lines - Skeleton.mov from Joe LaCaze on Vimeo.
Understanding the mechanics of the exercise.
Arm Lines - Practice No Resistance.MOV from Joe LaCaze on Vimeo.
Practicing the exercise.
Arm Lines - Handheld Only.mov from Joe LaCaze on Vimeo.
Doing the exercise.
Arm Lines - Combo for Front and Back.mov from Joe LaCaze on Vimeo.
Advanced exercise.
Arm Lines - Back Only Reverse.mov from Joe LaCaze on Vimeo.
Perform one set of these exercises once or twice daily, as needed. Do from 6-8 repetitions for each part.
Please always feel welcome to reach out to me directly to let me know any questions or feedback.
In Health and Performance,
Dr. Joe LaCaze