Mobility & Integrative Movement Coaching with Rhia
Functional Range Conditioning (FRC) & Assessment (FRA)
Functional Range Conditioning (FRC), is part of a system of understanding human movement in which the goal is to create the conditions for a more sustainable physical exercise or movement training, to mitigate injury, and maintain the health and strength of joints.
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FRC is the training component of the Functional Range Systems (as opposed to the rehabilitation component).
Consider FRC as..
mindful strength training & joint conditioning that, over time, makes your joints and surrounding tissues more capable to bear load and absorb force.
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What might that look like with practice over time?
(Examples from current/past clients and myself):
Hiking without getting that nagging knee pain.
Much less of a chance of getting injured in that place you got injured before.
Not experiencing that weird back pain that creeps up after a dance practice.
Feeling stronger AND more flexible.
Feeling like you have more freedom of expression.
Stronger performance.
Less fear around moving your body.
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This conditioning work is sometimes referred to as "mobility training".
The word mobility means different things to different people. Often in the fitness world it is confused and used synonymously with flexibility.
However, mobility is strength training at its most basic or foundational level. I'm not here to make you a contortionist.
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I find the blind spots, habit patterns, & where you could use a little more TLC and strength to significantly lessen your chances of injury and/or to help you develop more comfort with a specialized movement practice or group fitness.
Ultimately, I want to know what your movement goals are.
What do you want to be able to do with your body? What is most important to you?
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When I work with someone one-on-one, I look at movement goals from the perspective of whether someone's joints have the capacity to withstand the load that their body will experience day-to-day. This is the paradigm shift -- of looking less at, which muscles are doing what?, and more about which joints are doing what?
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Here's where private sessions are helpful for anyone:
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We each experience different types of load and movement day-to-day. What you will need in relation to your goals and body is different from anyone else's. (Think of your movement in the framework of nutrition.)
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There's a LOT of (free and costly) information available at your fingertips. I organize it so it makes sense for you.
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Accountability.
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I've never believed "one size fits all", and so not every movement is going to serve every body on any given day. This is the challenge with group classes, why my group classes stay very basic, and why I love working one-on-one with people. (I'm also a more introverted person, and I'm more likely to have a heart-2-heart tea date with a friend than I am to go to a party. Edited to add: especially nowadays.)
Foundational strength and conditioning has, for me, translated so well into a more sustainable and easeful yoga/meditation practice and dance practice.
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Joints stay healthy - our bodies stay healthy - when we move them actively. When they don’t move, they lose their range of motion. When they lose their range of motion, and strength in those ranges, your movement is compromised and that is what often leads to injury.
If you're trying to get good at anything physical, it would benefit you to take care of and learn about your joints, and find out where you could use a little more attention... AND how to make the most of your time and be kinder to your joints in the long-term. I'm speaking to all ages.
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What I personally practice, I consider 'integrative movement' because even though I find it helpful to look through the lens of the functional range system in private mobility coaching/consulting, I also draw from what I know from neuroscience beyond what the FRS system focuses on, as well as from somatic movement, the broader world of functional strength training, biomechanics, pain science, yoga, Thai healing arts --- any/all ways of connecting with ourselves & understanding our bodies that I've respectively studied over the years and continue to.
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