Dooley Noted: 7/25/2014
After an illness earlier in the week, I was not myself.
Feeling better yesterday, I did a little too much too fast. I used the strongest part of me to get me through my day.
Evidently, my strongest part is my neck.
How do I know?
It was the first to get injured.
Dysfunction appears long before a repetitive microtrauma shows its face.
Mine showed up during pressing. Evidently, I had been using my neck to do most of my pressing.
I woke up yesterday, barely able to move my neck. Suddenly, I couldn’t use my neck for my power.
At first, I felt myself start to make excuses.
I heard myself state, “I can’t do things if my neck is injured.”
I knew this mentality was probably not the safest. After all, my neck was working too hard in the first place.
The hardest worker of the group project is the one susceptible to burnout, not the lazy members of the group.
So, my system had to change its habits fast.
I had to prevent my own discomfort by using parts I needed to use all along.
I felt my abs kick in for rotation, instead of being overpowered by neck rotators.
I felt my hips come alive, since they were somehow disconnected from my neck.
I realized that my neck needed the assistants of the rest of this beautiful group project that we call movement.
It took me getting minorly injured to understand I had been burning out my neck.
Now, I’m on a path of movement congruency between all parts of the movement habit.
If you feel disconnected from a part of your body, get assessed.
If you have tightness or discomfort, get assessed.
None of it is normal or par for the course.
You deserve a solid assessment to help the members of your movement group project work together as a team.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley