You now know the key trait that makes some athletes display virtuosity with almost every time they execute (even if they miss or fail an attempt) while others struggle beyond a certain percentage for their maximum and look uncomfortable. And why some athletes have long pain-free careers while others have short ones marred by injuries.

And yes, although the way these athletes train and live does make a big impact and is a key factor to consider, it is their state of being integrated which makes such training effective (or even possible in some cases). It is the very foundation which every other trait is built upon.

So far, having an early (ideally pre-teen) and proper initiation into an athletic pursuit has been the only anecdotal evidence that correlates with the existence of such a foundation. And more often than not, the lack of the same is because of an inactive or poorly lead lifestyle during teenhood and/or thereafter.

Integration for the unintegrated

For some, especially life-long athletes or those without any serious limitations, implementing the following tenets of integrated movement in their training should begin the transition.

1. Proper understanding of movement mechanics.


2. Moving away from isolated cues and working towards using high level and whole cues.


3. Learning to use body awareness (active and conscious presence in the body) to feel the movements instead of just "going with the motion".

Here, limitations could be anything from flexibility or range of motion issues (e.g. butt-wink) to chronic injuries, proprioceptive issues, nagging (chronic) pains, tightness or the like, that prevents one from getting into positions or transitioning between them. (e.g. sore or tight shoulder, knee, wrist, hamstring, back etc).

However, when I use the word, I don't just imply the symptoms by themselves. I also (and in most cases only) mean the underlying issue that is the root (usually there is one) cause for these symptoms to show up (via compensation patterns).

And as I said in the previous post, for late beginners or athletes with such persistent limitations, the one and only way towards integration is to understand their limitations (i.e. their "what"). This calls for them or their coaches to not settle with the diagnosis until the root cause is identified.

Unfortunately, in most cases, the root cause is not found. As the individual in question is prescribed localized or isolated "drills" too soon, to "fix" one or more muscle groups (e.g. shoulder, knee etc). This keeps one busy while having to rely on even more cues and constant maintenance work for the remainder of their career or life!

Understanding core and the lumbopelvic control

From our experience, an important reason behind the existence of such limitations is that these individuals are unable to contract their abdominal muscles strongly enough and thus are unable to assume proper posture. And this usually stems from their lack of awareness and neuromuscular control of deep lumbopelvic muscles.

The last line is so important that it is worth repeating.

And as one continues to strengthen the superficial muscles only (rectus abdominis, glutes etc) and keep loading a "braced" position during strength movements, they not only move ineffectively in the short term (and thus welcome the prospect of long-term injuries) they move farther away from the ability to control their deep postural muscles. And that's because:

The deep postural muscles must contract before the big and strong superficial muscles fire.

And again, this is why the "normal" bracing instructions that float around, are ineffective. They are all aimed at stabilizing the core as a whole without caring about control. On the other hand, If one has proper control of aforementioned muscles, stability is the by-product without the need for constant maintenance!

Before you start arguing that just by bracing, the deep muscles are actually "active" and are being "used" in stabilizing, I must point out another hard (and sad) truth:

Continued in part 7.

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