Injury Free Holidays: One Man’s Perspective
It’s that time of year again! Time to frantically clean our homes in preparation for family gatherings, put up decorations while holiday music plays, and to get together with loved ones and give thanks. We all have our own traditions that make this time of year special and truly a time to celebrate.
One man in particular, spends the entire year preparing for a special day in December. As Christmas day approaches, millions of children around the world will be anxiously awaiting Santa’s arrival in hopes of receiving their favorite toys. Meanwhile, Santa will be preparing to fly around the world, carrying gifts of all sizes and placing them carefully under the tree.
How can Santa possibly prepare for such an important task?
Photo of the young Claus by Joackim Weiler on Unsplash
Smart Movement
Smart Moves, Santa’s physical therapy elf, shares that movement training is a very important part of every day life for Mr. Claus at the North Pole. “We need to make sure Santa stays injury free leading up to and especially on the big day”, says the elf. Santa needs be confident that he can safely bend down to deliver all those presents.
Santa has an important job to do while on a time crunch, so the focus is on functional movements that prepare Mr. Claus for his very long day and ensure everything goes off without a hitch. Smart Moves shared exercises that he includes in Santa’s regular routine:
1) Core stability training so that he can fling his sack of toys over his shoulder.
2) Squats to prepare for gently placing gifts under the tree.
3) Overhead presses to prepare for reaching the mantle to fill stockings.
4) Balance training to prepare for quietly tiptoeing through the house.
Functional Exercise Helps You Move Through the Holidays
Although you’re not likely to be flying around the world delivering toys, the holidays are a special time that require a lot of lifting, reaching, climbing and bending that can put a lot of physical stress on your body. One movement, like Santa, that you are likely to be performing countless times throughout the holiday is a squat. A squat is an extremely functional position that primes your core to handle a load on top of a stable base created by your lower body.
When performed with proper form, the spine is loaded in a neutral position with equal weight between both legs. From this position you are able to perform a variety of upper extremity motions. The next time you reach to place a log on the fire, put a ham in the oven, or pick up that freshly delivered amazon package notice how you are squatting, reaching and twisting.
Stay Hip Throughout the Season
Moving in a safe and efficient manner will help keep all that holiday prep work from taking its toll on your body. When it comes to squatting, Dr. Kelly Starrett, DPT, reminds us that “the tissues and joints that get loaded first during movement get loaded maximally during movement”. So, as you go to move that roasting pan from the oven onto the counter or place presents under the tree notice how you start. Do you bend your knees, extend your upper body or load your hips first?
The squat looks simple enough to the eye however, neuromuscularly and biomechanically it's actually very complex. Try this WAV squat with trunk rotation to help ensure you keep moving injury free through the holidays.
WAV Squat with Trunk Rotation
Step 1
Begin with feet roughly hip width apart, WAV resting on the thighs with an overhand grip. Ground the feet into the floor creating torque through the lower body as you connect with the floor.
Keeping a neutral spine, begin to hinge at the hips and evenly into knees and ankles to move into a squat position. As a result the WAV is lowered towards the ground.
Step 2
At the bottom of your squat, rotate and tip the WAV to the right, feeling the flowing fluid load weight into your right leg and foot.
Return to center. Rotate and tip the WAV to the left.
Press through the floor, loading the glutes and hamstrings, to rise to a standing position while maintaining a neutral spine.
Step 3
If you plan to be tiptoeing in the dark like Santa then repeat steps 1 and 2 with your eyes closed to add more proprioceptive challenge.
What am I doing?
Stabilizing the body with a neutral spine to facilitate safe mobility during everyday tasks.
Creating torque through the lower body to maintain energy and efficiency.
What am I mindful of?
Am I able to maintain a neutral spine with my core engaged throughout the exercise?
Am starting with my hips back, loading my glutes and hamstrings and maintaining by shins in a vertical position?
Does my spine stay stable as I rotate in the bottom of my squat?
Can I feel the weight of the WAV transfer from one side to the other, while maintaining a solid connection with the floor?
Special thanks to the team at the north pole for taking time out of their busy holiday schedule to share some of Santa's secrets. We all know how hard it is to catch him while he is in action. Join us in tracking him with Norad and learn minute by minute where he is doing all that squatting, tiptoeing and reaching.
Want to know more about WAV for training a healthy squat? Contact us for more information about our sensory-based training approach.