Any weakness brings up a difficult point:
How to strengthen a weak area without putting it under stress. If your knee hurts when you walk or run, it is hard to imagine exercising it. If you have neck pain, you might be afraid to use the neck at all. Before I met Bernie Falk I often tried to do some exercise to relieve my pain only to find that the exercise itself led to more pain.
For instance I used to do the yoga-type head rolls. These are presumably good for the neck. Here the head is rolled around in a front, left-shoulder, rear, right-shoulder, circular pattern. During my bout with neck pain, whenever I tried this exercise, I found that my neck really hurt afterwards. I grew to dread it. I now believe the sideways tilt of the neck is odd and questionable as a good exercise.
From a movement view, I had a neck problem resulting, in part, from years of working at a desk and keeping my head down and tilted. The worst neck exercise for me would be one that twists the head down at an abnormal angle. On the other hand, an exercise that keeps the head back, say the Head Lifts, or an exercise with a level sideways rotation, made me feel better. The more I did it the better I felt.
Other exercises prescribed by others led to pain.
One, in which the arms pull and press a pump held across the chest, was supposed to strengthen my upper back. For me, it often led to even greater pain. I finally abandoned it. It shows the subtlety of Falk’s exercises. The apparently similar Dumbbell Laterals were wonderful.
This kind of issue has, I suggest, confused the medical profession’s approach to many health problems. Fear of court suits, fear of injury, and fear of risk, has enormously inhibited certain potential solutions. These solutions relate to doing more, to really exercise. Of course, there are quick, harmless exercise programs that do little. But it is safer and easier to say: do not run, or rest more, or take this medication.
Falk’s exercises are the safest exercises one can do.
Why? Because the exercises are all based on beneficial movement patterns. This means that the chances that Falk’s exercises will hurt in any kind of way are slim, less likely than any other exercise approach. Even for a person in severe back pain, an exercise like Dumbbell Situps (which exercises the back itself) is unlikely to cause problems, even if one tries to scale up too quickly. Notice that a person in pain is usually fearful, extraordinarily unlikely to do anything unreasonable like using weights that are much too heavy or doing an exercise that risks a fall. A beginner will not get on a trampoline and attempt to do a flip.
Notice the balance of several supporting (not contradictory) views. Any exercise for any person should be chosen carefully. This is central to Falk’s approach to persevering or restoring health. It may be months before an individual touches a ten-pound weight. On the other side, in the stages of recovery from a problem, a particular set of exercises will eventually become easy, too easy. One may want (really want) a new set.
Selection of Exercises:
Disclaimer:
I am not a qualified physician. As with all exercise programs, when using these routines and examples shown, you need to use common sense. To reduce and avoid injury, you may want to check with your doctor before beginning any fitness program. By performing these exercises, you are performing them at your own risk. Theoryofexercise.com will not be responsible or liable for any injury or harm you sustain as a result of this information shared on this website.
