The Side to Side Lunge is an exercise within the Pain-Free Movement Specialist sequencing as a B/C exercise. A B/C exercise will generally fall in the middle or toward the end of a Function First corrective exercise program. We use this exercise to help create some disassociation between the pelvis and spine as we load ..read more

Pain isn’t just a physical sensation—it’s deeply influenced by context. Every situation triggers a unique response, and understanding why is key to helping our clients. In this captivating clip from a live educational session, Anthony takes a deep dive into how the brain processes pain under extreme conditions. Imagine a surfer surviving a shark attack ..read more

The full original post by the American Council on Exercise can be found HERE From the invention of the wheel to the advent of smartphones, one of the primary goals of advancing technology has been to reduce human labor and improve efficiency. And that’s almost always a good thing. But it seems we’ve reached a ..read more

This was very enjoyable for me, because Ken Miller and I go back so far. Ken came to one of my very first mentorships back in the late 90’s and is one of only a handful of PFMS Level 4 practitioners. Both Ken and Wendy are NASM Master Trainers and have made significant contributions to ..read more

I just recently came across this video even though it is a couple of years old. It is a great summary of the mysteries around chronic pain. I often suggest to many of my clients that they view Lorimer Moseley’s TED talk, because he is such an entertaining AND knowledgeable speaker. It was interesting for me to see on this talk that two of the examples he uses to help explain pain, are two examples that I have used for years in my professional presentations. The construction worker’s boot and the hot/cold study are the two that have helped me communicate these concepts. The animation is enterta ..read more

The couch potato takes 2-3000 steps per day. That’s a lot of repetition. Imagine the repetition for those who get their 10,000 steps per day? Since the majority of our clients walk, the Single Stance is an insightful way to see how the body responds to the forces acting on it during midstance in the gait cycle. In this video, we are going to dive deeper into what we can observe from the back view of this assessment, particularly as it relates to the coupled relationship of the pelvis and lumbar spine in the transverse plane. I’ll show you a quick review of the key points, and then share some a ..read more

Sometimes fighting the direction that our spine is challenged the most can often be ineffective, fatiguing and even painful. Using other motions that challenge the body indirectly can be extremely helpful. Such is the case with the classic rounding or “hunchback”, kyphotic posture. The Walking Pose offers a lot of convenience and benefits without the need for equipment, getting on the floor or even needing to be in comfortable clothes. It might surprise you that a rotational exercise has direct benefits to the rounding associated with upper back/neck issues. Anthony explains “why” and demonstr ..read more

A couple of weeks ago I worked with a close friend of mine who has been experiencing a bout of lower back pain. The lower back was not only painful, but it was starting to interfere with his work and his ability to earn a living. This was not his first rodeo. He has seen me at various times in the past and he has been a close friend for about 25 years and is in his mid-fifties. Because of our friendship, I felt compelled to do something differently with him that smacked of “tough love”. After getting an update on his situation, pain levels, provocative movements, interventions to date, etc., I ..read more

This is a clip from an interview I did with American Trends TV, where I was asked about Function First and my other company, Reactive Training (maker of Core-Tex and Core-Tex Sit). I’m sharing this short clip (3:13) because you will find a few nuggets in here if you have ever struggled with explaining what Function First does and why we do it. Many of my clients over the years have commented on how they struggle describing what we do when they are sharing their Function First experience with family, friends or other providers. Feel free to share this with someone who is curious ..read more

Sometimes one little change to our strategy can have huge returns. This little adjustment to your calf and plantar fascia mobility may be just that for you. Anatomically, there is a direct connection from the tendons of the toes, to the plantar fascia, to the Achilles tendon, to the calves, to the hamstrings that continues all the way to the base of the skull via the spinal musculature and its surrounding connective tissue. It is referred to as the Posterior Longitudinal System and is one example of how integrated our musculoskeletal system is. In the video below, I show how and why this littl ..read more