Daily Maestroism

DM #277

Friday, February 24th, 2017

DM #277: If you follow me even a little bit you know that I’m ALL about rolling. And no, for the 100th time, NOT foam rolling. I’m talking about that baby stuff, that primal stuff, that foundational stuff: rolling on the ground.
Rolling is something that we’re able to do as tiny babies, demonstrating the proper reflexive stabilization and core motor control to allow us to perform this task. However, we grow up, stop moving so well, and often times this movement pattern gets all types of messed up. However, when we’re looking to assess how well someone can roll while leading with their arms, there’s more too it than just core stability.
If you’ve got ANY kind of cervical dysfunction, be it weakness, motor control, mobility restrictions, etc, it’s going to make rolling a whole lot harder. Lower extremity rolling patterns are easier than upper extremity rolling patterns for precisely this reason: lower extremity rolling patterns don’t require your neck to be on board.
I got to demonstrate this concept today in my RockTape course with an attendee who came in and said that despite all of her best training efforts, she couldn’t roll. Super quick assessment revealed good core stability but some pretty significant cervical flexion weakness.

Can’t lift your head? Can’t turn your head? How the heck you gonna roll? Where the eyes and head go, the body will follow. If you can’t look that way, or turn your head that way, your body doesn’t want to go that way. Plain and simple.
So, take-home message: if the neck doesn’t work right, nothing else will. So, start there.
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