Page 44 - August Life In Naples Magazine

health & fitness
KEEP DEVELOPING THE NEUROMUSCULAR SYSTEM
DON’T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED
I t seems that the older one gets, the quicker
by Paula Allia
PT, DHSc, MTC, OCS
Working on
postural muscles
that keep us in the
best positions to
perform activities
needs to be
implemented in
your daily routine
and in your
exercise workouts.
Fitness Together
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Naples, FL 34102
239.263.9348
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44
a severe affected cerebral palsy baby. The
life passes by. It is time to learn how what
developmental sequence is delayed and
we had when we were born has developed. sometimes cannot be mediated.
We are all born with these reflexes and
The aging person needs to work at keeping
up with stimulating their neuromuscular the majority of us can develop where they are
system to not revert backwards. no longer dominant, but are still present in
Let me briefly explain. When a baby is the background. What seems to happen with
born there are no purposeful movements. some is that start in this c-shaped curve at
A baby cannot immediately reach or turn birth and later in life develop similar weakness
over. A normal baby is born with certain in the sets of muscles that were stretched at
reflexes that dominate what they are capable birth...interesting. Is it possible perhaps, that
of doing in certain positions. Their initial the reflexes surface a little more with age?
movements serve no purpose. There is a On top of that our habits nowadays with
developmental sequence that needs to occur electronic devices many times put us even more
as the neuromuscular system matures. It susceptible to the same weaknesses.
is fascinating to watch the progression as We are also wired with connections to the
neuromuscular maturation advances. right and left sides of the body. Some people
In the womb a baby is in a c-shaped
move better in a reciprocal manner while
position. This position puts some muscles in others cannot. Some people do better with
a shortened position and others on a stretch. bilateral motions. It is important to know your
The baby is dominated by the reflexes they
body and see how you function best.
have. As the infant develops they put some of As with an infant, it is important to work
these stretched muscles into a shortened held on the muscles that provide us purposeful
resisted contraction like when they are on the movements. Prevent yourself from reverting
stomach and they arch up and their neck and
back to the c-shape that you once had.
or back muscles shorten. This just happens with Working on postural muscles that keep us in
a normal infant. the best positions to perform activities needs
In order for this development to occur, the
to be implemented in your daily routine and in
infant needs to mediate the reflexes they had your exercise workouts.
when they were born. They do not simply go Balance is key to your neuromuscular
away but as the brain develops the infant can stability. Many times bilateral strengthening
overcome the reflexes and start to perform and positioning works best to develop some
purposeful movements. They learn to hold core isometric performance. Once the core
their heads up, reach for a bottle and roll over. muscles are more developed, challenge
It is indeed intriguing how the developmental them with unilateral movement and balance
sequence advances. activities. Keep the neuromuscular system fresh
Why is this important? Well, normal by challenging it. Recognize your deficits and
babies can overcome these reflexes while some work on improving them. It is a lot easier to
cannot. Most actually reach the ultimate level keep yourself going that to have to get it back.
of skills in various positions. For example, if However, if you find you are struggling to get
an infant on their back can reach up and cross back to where you think you should be, seek
the midline with their arms. Another example out an expert to help you. It is never too late to
is an infant that can perform reciprocal start a program that can be designed for you
crawling versus hopping like a bunny. Yet, based on your individual needs.
another example of not overcoming this is Here’s to your Health!
Life in Naples | Aug/Sept/Oct 2018