Direction (of exercises) matter

If your destination is on the right, and you go to the left, it’s not going to go well. Same applies in the human body. It’s estimated that 60 percent of the time patients have what is termed a “directional preference” (DP). This simply means there is a specific motion they need to do to get better. So often this is missed and pain goes on longer than it needs to.

Patients often have pain on one side of the body (right or left, front or back), yet they are doing exercises that are going in both directions. For example stretching to the right and then left, or bending the spine forward and then backwards. Essentially fixing and then unfixing the issue.

Keep it simple folks. You don’t need 30 core exercises and hamstring stretches. What you need is to stop wasting time and energy and get in-line with the problem.

There was a great study in 2004 titled “Does the exercise matter”. They took patients with low back pain and looked for a directional preference (DP). One group got treated with that, and the other with “evidence based practice”. The group treated with the DP did slightly better than the other one, but more importantly no one got worse! Why? They were matched properly. If a joint is to the right you best choose an exercise that moves it left!

Are you not getting good results? There might be a simple reason for that. We use an evaluation process that uses this approach. Want to learn more, call us today at (907) 561-1711.

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