The Functional Path is a path that had been traveled many times before but had fallen out of use in favor of smoother paved roads that promised faster and easier results. Seeking to follow and better define the functional path is a continuing journey, fortunately it is a journey that many have traveled before. Functional Path training is getting back to the basics of movement. It is learning to tune into the body and it’s inherent wisdom to produce rhythmic flowing movement. - Gambetta
Far too often I see athletes looking for the magic bullet, the quick fix. The same drive that makes them competitive and successful in sport can work against them in the sports medicine arena. The dynamic nature of racing and competitive sport requires a split-second approach they are able to surge ahead of their competition.
Quality sports medicine, as with quality training and coaching protocols, require patience and dedication. It is a methodical process. Many athletes can rehab injuries extremely fast, however others require a more diligent approach. This latter category sometimes has athletes looking for a short cut.
Because of their competitive nature, these athletes can look to jump to the next therapy before the ones they are implementing have the opportunity to take effect. By no means should any injured athlete stay parked in one clinic if they are not improving. Results are seen as tissues and movement patterns heal, not necessarily over night.
As athletes jump from doctor to doctor and therapist to therapist they become more and more impatient. The more impatient they become, the more they jump - and a viscous cycle is created. Unfortunately many athletes in this category continue suffer the effects of their injuries years later. No one has been given the opportunity to properly manage their injury and the potential is lost. The ones who exhibit even the slightest patience, get better. Depending on their injury it sometimes can take weeks or months with these more challenging cases, but they are able to return to sport much faster than if they tried to take a "short cut" which ended up being anything but short. Because we've addressed underlying biomechanical imbalances in the process, these athletes also end up being stronger and more efficient in their sport - thus being more successful than they were prior to their injury. Their injuries are fixed, their compensations are fixed, and their biomechanics are tuned and strengthened.
Practice does not make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.
What ongoing injuries do you have?
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