Human Movement and Taking Control of your Health with Gary Ward #12
Dr. Rangan Chatterjee speaks with human movement specialist Gary Ward about his Flow Motion Model. They discuss how understanding the body's interconnected mechanics and identifying root causes, often from old injuries, can resolve chronic pain and empower individuals to take ownership of their health.
Deep Dive Analysis
15 Topic Outline
Introduction to Gary Ward and Dr. Chatterjee's Back Pain Journey
Gary Ward's Backstory: From Teacher to Movement Specialist
Discovery of Foot Mechanics and Whole-Body Connections
The Flow Motion Model: Understanding Human Gait and Joint Mechanics
Challenging Conventional Wisdom: Back Pain Not Always a Back Problem
The Body's Ability to Change Structure and Re-educate Movement
Case Study: Resolving Chronic Back Pain for a Bodybuilder
The Importance of History Taking and Identifying Earliest Insults
Interconnectedness of the Body and Holistic Approach to Health
Rethinking Qualifications and the Value of Diverse Perspectives
Promoting Opposite Movement for Balance and Efficiency
Empowering Self-Help: Taking Ownership of Your Body
Introduction to the 'Wake Your Body Up' Series
Benefits of Free Joint Movement for Overall Healing
Final Thoughts and Resources for Further Learning
6 Key Concepts
Pronation
Pronation is a movement of the foot, often associated with a 'flat foot.' Gary Ward explains that while it can be seen as a problem, it's a necessary part of natural movement and only becomes an issue if one spends too much time in it or cannot experience its opposite.
Flow Motion Model
This model describes how every single joint in the human body moves in three dimensions and how these movements sequence with the joints above and below during the human gait cycle (walking). It maps the entire body's mechanics to understand ideal movement patterns.
Pain as a Warning Signal
Pain is understood as a signal of warning from the brain, indicating that something is going wrong in the body that needs to change. It's not necessarily a direct instruction to rub, crack, or stretch the painful area, but rather an alert to investigate deeper causes.
Insult to the Body
Coined by A.T. Still, this term refers to any injury or trauma experienced by the body. The brain responds to these insults by organizing the body around them to keep it safe, and these responses can manifest as movement limitations or discomforts later in life.
Brain Deleting Body Parts
The brain has a way of 'deleting' parts of our body from its conscious awareness if they are immobilized or not used for extended periods. This can lead to altered perception of self and impact how the body moves and feels, even after the physical restriction is removed.
Opposite Movement
This concept emphasizes that if a body part can move in one direction (e.g., side bend to the left), it should be able to move equally in the opposite direction (side bend to the right). A lack of balanced opposite movement can lead to strain, discomfort, and problems in the system.
6 Questions Answered
Gary Ward discovered his passion while working as a ski boot fitter in the French Alps. He received three days of intensive foot education and observed how subtle changes to the foot via orthotics not only improved skiing performance but also eliminated pain in various parts of the body like the knee, back, and shoulders.
Dr. Chatterjee's back pain persisted because treatments focused on the back itself, providing temporary relief without addressing the root cause. Gary Ward identified that his right foot was stuck in pronation, limiting movement in his leg and pelvis, which in turn restricted his back's movement.
Yes, Gary Ward states that structure can change. Dr. Chatterjee's own 'flat foot' was re-educated through specific exercises over a few years, resulting in a natural arch, contrary to conventional wisdom that such structures are permanent.
A broken jaw, or any 'insult to the body,' can create movement limitations that the brain organizes the body around for safety. In the case of the bodybuilder Ray, a broken jaw years prior led to a stuck posture predominantly on one side, preventing balanced movement and contributing to chronic back pain.
Dr. Chatterjee suggests the most important question is: 'When was the last time you felt truly well?' This helps map out a patient's timeline, identifying the initial 'insult' or trigger that led to their current symptoms.
Taking ownership means recognizing that while therapists can guide, individuals ultimately fix themselves. It empowers people to understand their body's changes, identify limitations, and engage in processes to restore natural movement, reducing reliance on external 'fixers'.
20 Actionable Insights
1. Take Ownership of Your Body
Recognize that you are ultimately the one who fixes yourself; view therapists as guides who empower you to understand and facilitate your body’s natural healing processes, rather than expecting them to ‘fix’ you.
2. Map Your Health Timeline
Create a personal timeline of your life, noting significant events, injuries, and the precise onset of symptoms to identify the earliest and most impactful ‘insults’ to your body, which can reveal root causes of current discomforts.
3. Reframe Pain as a Warning
Understand that pain is your body’s warning signal indicating a need for change, not just a localized problem to be treated directly; this perspective encourages seeking the underlying cause of the signal rather than just symptom relief.
4. Apply the Einstein Principle
If a treatment or approach for pain or a physical issue doesn’t provide lasting relief, stop repeating ineffective methods and instead seek alternative explanations and treatments to avoid driving yourself mad.
5. Identify Root Causes Beyond Pain
When experiencing chronic pain, consider that the root cause might not be in the painful area itself, but in other, seemingly unrelated parts of the body due to interconnected mechanics; treating the painful area alone may only offer temporary relief.
6. Believe Body Structure Can Change
Do not assume that body structures, such as a flat foot or other anatomical positions, are unchangeable; targeted movements and exercises can help restore natural function and form over time.
7. Promote Balanced Opposite Movement
Actively work to ensure your body can perform opposite movements equally (e.g., side bending left and right, or pronation/supination), as an inability to do so can lead to strain, discomfort, and problems.
8. Integrate Daily Corrective Movements
Incorporate short, specific corrective exercises (e.g., 3-4 minutes, like the ‘sleepy glutes’ exercises) into your daily routine, even during mundane tasks, to maintain body balance, prevent pain, and set yourself up for the day.
9. Learn Your Body’s Early Warnings
Develop a deeper understanding of your body’s ’early warning signs’ (e.g., tightness in neck or back) to proactively adjust your activities, perform corrective movements, and make different choices to prevent minor discomforts from escalating.
10. Clear Joint Restrictions for Healing
Focus on ‘clearing out the joint restrictions’ in your body to promote the free flow of blood, oxygen, nerves, and lymph, thereby creating an optimal internal environment for healing and overall well-being.
11. Investigate Pre-Pain Injuries
When analyzing your health history, pay close attention to any injuries or traumas that occurred before the onset of your chronic pain, as these seemingly unrelated past events can be the root cause of current biomechanical imbalances.
12. Assess Foot Mechanics for Whole Body
If experiencing pain in areas like the knee, back, or shoulders, investigate subtle changes in foot alignment and mechanics, as proper foot function can enhance performance and eliminate pain in distant body parts.
13. Consider Jaw Alignment in Pain
Be aware that the jaw’s movement and alignment can be connected to whole-body posture and chronic pain, as demonstrated by cases where addressing a previously broken jaw resolved long-standing back pain.
14. Look Beyond the Knee for Pain
If you have knee pain, look beyond the knee itself to potential issues in the hip or foot, as the knee often takes strain from imbalances or limitations in these adjacent joints, acting as a ‘rock and a hard place’.
15. Avoid ‘Good’ or ‘Bad’ Movement Labels
Do not label natural body movements (like foot pronation or supination) as inherently ‘good’ or ‘bad’; instead, understand that imbalance, or spending too much time in one position without experiencing its opposite, is often the true issue.
16. Embrace a Holistic Body View
Adopt a holistic perspective of your body, recognizing that it is ‘one system’ where every part is interconnected; addressing one area will inevitably affect the whole, and problems in one area often have roots elsewhere.
17. Seek Guiding Therapists
When seeking professional help, look for therapists who act as ‘guides’ and empower you to understand your body’s root causes and self-healing mechanisms, rather than those who solely focus on temporary fixes.
18. Trust Your Brain’s Efficiency
Trust that your brain inherently knows the most efficient way to move; by consciously putting your body into correct positions through specific exercises, you can re-educate your brain to adopt more efficient and pain-free movement patterns.
19. Utilize ‘Wake Your Body Up’ Series
Access Gary Ward’s ‘Wake Your Body Up’ series on findingcenter.co.uk for a guided self-assessment of your history, posture, and joint motion, and to learn movements that can initiate an ‘unwinding process’ for physical discomforts.
20. Read ‘What the Foot’ for Deeper Learning
For a deeper understanding of human movement, its interconnectedness, and its relation to pain, read Gary Ward’s book ‘What the Foot,’ especially if you found the podcast concepts engaging and valuable.
6 Key Quotes
I always marvel at the fact that people are having positive experiences with this work, and all it is that I feel like I have done is write down what the body does and dictate when it does it.
Gary Ward
A back problem may not be a back problem. Or back pain may not be a back problem. Or I think in your first course that I, I think you said something like, you know, a knee problem is very rarely a knee problem.
Dr. Rangan Chatterjee
If the back isn't the problem, you can foam roll that thing all day long.
Gary Ward
Pain is a signal of warning. And that warning says, something's going wrong in my body that we need to change.
Gary Ward
The Einstein principle, of course, would be, if it didn't work the first time, you've got to look somewhere else, because otherwise you'd drive yourself mad, going again and again and again and again for the same process.
Gary Ward
We are guides, we are not the fixers.
Gary Ward
1 Protocols
Wake Your Body Up Series
Gary Ward- Take a history: Look back at your personal timeline for significant events, injuries, or 'insults' to your body, especially the earliest and most impactful ones.
- Assess your posture: Learn to observe how you hold your body.
- Go through a series of joint motion assessments: Identify patterns and limitations in your own body's movement.
- Perform specific movements: Begin an unwinding process to reintroduce movement to restricted areas and remind the brain of its ability to access them.