Mostability is Motion With Stability

Print This Post Print This Post

By Sal | September 30, 2009

It’s all about “Mostability, the ability to take advantage of just the right motion, at just the right time, at just the right speed, in just the right plane in just the right direction. Mostability is motion with stability.”

If you are a personal trainer, strength coach or weekend warrior these are words to live by.  Physical therapist Gary Gray (PT) of the Gray Institute and Joe Pyztula (Joe P) one of the top high school athletic trainers (AT) in the country in 33 words have defined the essence of what training for sport and activity is all about.  Gray came up with “Mostability,” and the original definition, but I like the twist that Joe P gives it.

Gray’s goes on to say the opposite of mostability is, “instability, which is any degree of mobility which cannot be controlled.”

Whether you are a competitive athlete or someone who exercises for fun and health, these 33 words should define the goal for your training.  Add the words of another great fitness professional – Vern Gambetta – to the mix and you’ll waste less time in the gym and/or be on your way to becoming an effective strength coach/personal trainer.  Gambetta says, “Train movements, not muscles,” and points out that the brain/nervous system doesn’t recognize individual muscles, but patterns of movement.

What this means is that people who use machines to exercise are wasting their time. Athletes who use machines are working against themselves and involved in training that is not making them better, but actually making them worse.  Slower, weaker, worse balance, less coordinated, etc.

In order to make the most out of training time and effort, exercises need to be done standing and in real-world positions.  The only people who should train in a seated position are rowers.  The only people who should distance run are distance runners. Even athletes who compete while prone and supine need to spend around only 10% of their time training in these positions.

Exercising the body in a manner that uses machines to train muscles in isolation is counter to the way our bodies work, whether you are a stay-at-home dad, gardening enthusiast, a hoops pick-up game addict or a competitive athlete.

So quit the machines, get on your feet and exercise the body the way it was meant to – and needs to – be exercised.

Related Posts

Topics: Personal Trainer Coaching, Training Education, Training Philosophy, Training Style | No Comments »

Comments

« | Home | »