Did you see “CARS II” over the weekend? Ron did & blogged about it: CARS II & Abdominal Cylinders…
Posted 06/27/2011
During the work week I have a great opportunity to consult with physical therapists at the Hruska Clinic regarding challenging patients. Friday, Dave Drummer DPT asked me to look at his last patient, whom he was having difficulty gaining flexibility at the hips. The patient’s left internal rotation was only 18 degrees, his straight leg raise across each hip was approximately 40 degrees and when he walked his legs and feet turned out.
This medium built, active 56 year old, normal anthropometric individual played a lot of baseball in his youth and now plays tennis. He still could only squat while staying up on his toes, just as he did when he was a baseball catcher.
I took my three grandchildren to Cars II this weekend and was reminded by Mater, the old tow truck, how important pistons are for power and freedom. This Pixar movie reflected on car parts, and that you don’t have to be dent-free to move fast, as long as your pistons are lubricated.
What a way to end a work week and a weekend. Piston power was needed in Dave’s patient to open and relax his pelvic floor, so that his small hip external rotators were placed in a position that would allow him to internally rotate his legs for walking power and in aligned pistons. In Cars II, you won races with good lubricated aligned pistons.
A piston is a cylinder or disk that fits snuggly into a cylinder and moves back and forth under fluid pressure. Dave’s patient had a cylinder, his thoracic-abdominal cavity that was too curved, or hyper-extended, and didn’t allow him to push his abdominal contents into his pelvic floor with his diaphragm, his cylindrical disc. His patient’s two diaphragms were poorly timed, and placed his pelvis in a position where his legs were in too much torque, affecting his respiration, thrust, flexibility and overall performance. His groin impingement decreased, his straight leg raises went to 80 degrees, and his leg internal rotation increased 10 degrees after he learned to squat with his heels down and reach forward with his hands to “straighten” out his cylinders. His pelvic floor power and position immediately became restored with every breath he took. This previous baseball catcher can now play tennis with two aligned cylinders.
… maybe we all need to go to a Pixar movie to watch animated cars breathe and talk, so we can learn about the power of good respiratory and pelvic floor mechanics.
