I went for a visit to my physio therapist last week.  I’m still working on the ankle rehab from an injury I sustained prior to my Antartica adventure. The good news is, it’s much better and I have started running a couple times per week.  There is no pain while running, but in the morning it still feels stiff.

I see a great Physical therapist named Shawn for treatment for the first half-hour and in the second half-hour I work with a functional movement expert named James on strength. We focus on healing the ankle, and strengthening hips, glutes, hamstrings, quads and calves.  Often injury comes from a weakness in one of these areas, so we are trying to be proactive.

James is a teacher and has a great method of training.

1. He tells me the area we are going to focus on and why.
   
2. He models the exercise and breaks it down to its basic components
   
3. He creates a goal in each set, and has me focus on feeling and firing a specific muscle
   
4. For homework exercises, he has me model it back and describe where I feel the work in the body
   
5. He uses visual terms or analogies to help me mentally connect the dots
   
6. We finish with the action plan – what I am going to accomplish this week and before our next session

James pushes me within each session for micro improvements to improve range of motion and flexibility, which will not only heal the current muscle, but will positively impact my running and longterm health.

I leave every session with more confidence in the healing process, educated on self care and accountable to growth through his immersion method. 

Where can immersion help you this week?