So we're going to see it show up in the foot a lot. And so if we look at the way that the foot moves through space, we've talked about the heel rocker, ankle rocker, toe rocker thing. So as we hit with the heel rock and the foot goes to flat, we've got this supinated position at the sub-tail joint. So we have no relative motion between the talus and the calcaneus. They're moving together as one. As we move through this middle propulsive phase, this is where we start to see the relative motion. So that would be typically described as closed chain pronation. So we have the talus and the calcaneus moving in relative motions in opposite directions. And then as we move through the late propulsive strategy, we get the calcaneus and telus moving again together with no relative motion. So typically when we have knee pain, either like a medial compartment load or a lateral compartment load on the knee that results in pain, we have this loss of this middle propulsive phase so that we have a loss of relative motion. And then what's happening is that the lower extremity is trying to recapture some form of relative motion somewhere else. So when we talk about medial knee pain, we're going to see an early propulsive strategy in the foot. And what this is, is we look up above at the pelvis. What we have is the left side of the pelvis that's trying to get ahead of the right side. And so if we can't delay that propulsive strategy on the left side, we're going to plant or flex and we're going to try to hold ourselves in this early propulsive phase. That's going to be medial knee pain if we continue to drive the left side forward and over. So this would be typically that somebody is going to be anteriorly oriented in the pelvis and tipped up on an oblique axis. It's going to drive even harder and it's going to push us anterior and lateral over the foot. It's going to drive us towards a late propulsive strategy and that's going to result in lateral knee pain. So let's see what that looks like at the knee. So if I take a knee, I'm gonna move the patella out of the way so we can see the knee joint. So if I'm utilizing this early propulsive strategy at the foot to reduce relative motion, that's gonna result in a tibial femoral ER representation. If I continue this turn of the tibia into ER relative to the femur, I'm eventually gonna hit a constraint and that's gonna be a medial compartment load. So this is where we're gonna see this medial knee pain show up.

So we're going to see it show up in the foot a lot. And so if we look at the way that the foot moves through space, we've talked about the heel rocker, ankle rocker, toe rocker thing. So as we hit with the heel rock and the foot goes to flat, we've got this supinated position at the subtalar joint. So we have no relative motion between the talus and the calcaneus. They're moving together as one. As we move through this middle propulsive phase, this is where we start to see the relative motion. So that would be typically described as closed chain pronation. So we have the talus and the calcaneus moving in relative motions in opposite directions. And then as we move through the late propulsive strategy, we get the calcaneus and talus moving again together with no relative motion. So typically when we have knee pain, either like a medial compartment load or a lateral compartment load on the knee that results in pain, we have this loss of this middle propulsive phase so that we have a loss of relative motion. And then what's happening is that the lower extremity is trying to recapture some form of relative motion somewhere else. So when we talk about medial knee pain, we're going to see an early propulsive strategy in the foot. And what this is, is we look up above at the pelvis. What we have is the left side of the pelvis that's trying to get ahead of the right side. And so if we can't delay that propulsive strategy on the left side, we're going to plantar flex and we're going to try to hold ourselves in this early propulsive phase. That's going to be medial knee pain if we continue to drive the left side forward and over. So this would be typically that somebody is going to be anteriorly oriented in the pelvis and tipped up on an oblique axis. It's going to drive even harder and it's going to push us anterior and lateral over the foot. It's going to drive us towards a late propulsive strategy and that's going to result in lateral knee pain. So let's see what that looks like at the knee. So if I take a knee, I'm gonna move the patella out of the way so we can see the knee joint. So if I'm utilizing this early propulsive strategy at the foot to reduce relative motion, that's gonna result in a tibial femoral ER position. If I continue this turn of the tibia into ER relative to the femur, I'm eventually gonna hit a constraint and that's gonna be a medial compartment load. So this is where we're gonna see this medial knee pain show up.

Now, if the pelvis is driving me forward even farther over this extremity and I'm hitting the late propulsive strategy, I maintain the early propulsive strategy, but because I'm moving into a late propulsive foot where I have the loss of relative motion, what's gonna happen, it's gonna start to drag the femur with it, and so now the entire system. So the whole lower extremity is going to start to behave as a single segment, and it's going to drag the femur into ER along with it. So this is where we're going to start to see lateral compartment sensitivity. So the LCL will be sensitive, the Dyslite T-Band will be sensitive and probably produce pain as it pulls against its attachments on the lateral knee. You'll see lateral thigh pain, a lot of sensitivity down the lateral thigh. And so this is the distinguishing characteristic again for medial lateral knee pain, whereas this would be where the tibial femoral ER relative to the femur is going to be medial compartment load in medial knee pain. But if the whole thing starts to move as a system, it's going to move into a more laterally loaded strategy and you get the lateral knee pain. Either way, either way, the goal is going to be to try to restore the relative motion at this segment. So we're going to have to start this from the ground up. The typical places where you're going to want to be able to do that is through that middle range. So we're going to use a lot of knee flexed positions. So again, these are your split stance, half kneeling kind of positions is where you're going to start to recapture these things. So we can utilize that relative motion again.

So if you're a thrower, a golfer, a tennis player, a shot putter, or anybody that uses an implement that you turn into a projectile, this is going to be very applicable. We're going to do it under the guise of a golf question, but I want you to understand that the principles that we're going to talk about today apply to all of those types of activities. So, Brian went through askbillharman at gmail.com and he says, in a right-handed golfer, is there a hip shift that occurs in the downswing that causes the left hip ER or IR. This is a really, really good question because I think there's a lot of confusion as to what we're actually looking at—whether we're looking at ERs or IRs—and there's a darn good reason that it's one or the other. I actually get to use my pelvis as always, which is always fun. So I will grab it and then we will talk our way through this. At the top of the backswing on a right-handed golfer, we have to have eccentric orientation. We have to have expansion of certain areas to allow us to turn and to capture this external rotation position. So during periods of especially high velocity motion, we have to have these expanded strategies because we can't move through concentric orientations. We use high levels of muscle activity to actually stop motion to create acceleration into the implement. At the top of the backswing on a right-handed golfer, this hip is going to be in an early propulsive strategy, so we're going to move this hip into an ER position. Then we have an oblique turn of the pelvis, but both hips are going to be in an ER. My left hip for a right-handed golfer is actually in a late propulsive strategy, so again, also an ER position. So I'm starting at the top of the backswing with both sides of the pelvis and both hips in an ER inhalation strategy. As I pull the club down into the downswing, there are two moments of maximum propulsion in the golf swing: when the arms are parallel to the ground. Propulsion number one: I have to stop motion and bring the club towards the center of my body to accelerate the club head from this parallel arm position, so the club's still up and behind me relative to my arms, but I'm stopping the motion here to accelerate the club head. The second propulsive strategy is at impact. So if we were talking about baseball, when the lead foot hits the ground for a baseball pitcher and the heel hits the ground, that's propulsion number one; at ball release, that's propulsion number two. So again, anytime we have an implement, we're going to have two episodes of maximum propulsion. Under those circumstances, I have to be in IR because I have to be able to produce a high level of internal pressure, which means I'm going to be driving the pelvic diaphragm upward. I'm going to be expanding the bottom of the pelvis, which is going to be an IR strategy on both sides because I have to stop motion from occurring to allow the implement to accelerate. The smaller and lighter the implement, the shorter the duration of my maximum propulsion episode, or impulse if you will. So I like to tell a little joke here: with a golf swing or a baseball pitch where the implement is really light—baseball is what, five ounces? You get really, really light golf clubs—and it's about this fast. And then I say, you want to hear it again because it's really, really fast. Now if we were a shot putter, we have to sustain the output for a longer period of time because if we're throwing a 16-pound shot, we don't have the same time constraint as we do with something that's high velocity like a golf swing or a baseball pitch. So again, we're going to move in from these ER positions to IR for maximum propulsion under all circumstances. Anytime we need to produce that high level of force, it's going to be an IR strategy. It's going to be exhalation based and it's going to be concentrically oriented because I need that high pressure to stop motion from occurring to allow the implement to accelerate. The follow-through is going to mirror the backswing to a certain degree, whether we're throwing a baseball, a shot put, etc. So Brian, I hope that helps. So again, ER, IR, ER—just like when you're walking, just like when you're throwing, just like when you're reaching. It's the same thing over and over and over again. Make sure that you're training appropriately. If you have a sustained, propulsive impulse like something that's heavier, then heavier strength training is going to be more of your friend. If we're talking about high velocity stuff, we're at the other end of the spectrum; what we need is a much shorter, briefer impulse. We need to train that strategy to allow it to occur very, very quickly, very, very forcefully, but not to sustain it as we will reduce our velocity if we spend too much time in a propulsive strategy. So again, Brian, hope that's helpful.

So if you're a thrower, a golfer, a tennis player, a shot putter, whatever, somebody that uses an implement that you turn into a projectile, this is going to be very applicable. We're gonna do it under the guise of a golf question, but I want you to understand that the principles that we're gonna talk about today, apply to all of those types of activities. So, Brian went through askbillharman at gmail.com and he says, in a right handed golfer, is there a hip shift that occurs in the downswing that causes the left hip ER or IR. Okay. So this is a really, really good question because I think there's a lot of confusion as to what we're actually really looking at is whether we're looking at ERs or IRs and there's a darn good reason that it's one or the other. So I actually get to use my pelvis as always, which is always fun. So I will grab it and then we will talk our way through this. Okay. So If we're looking at golfers, we're going to need to talk about right-handed golfer, as Brian has requested, at the top of the backswing. So for us to move into this space, we have to have eccentric orientation. We have to have expansion of certain areas to allow us to turn and to capture this external rotation position. So during periods of especially high velocity motion, we have to have these expanded strategies because we can't move through concentric orientations. We can't move through high levels of muscle activity. We use the high levels of muscle activity to actually stop motion to create, to create the acceleration into the implement. So at the top of the backswing on a right-handed golfer, this hip is going to be in an early propulsive strategy. So we're going to move this hip into an ER position. And then we have an oblique turn of the pelvis as such, but both hips are going to be an ER. My left hip for right handed golfer is actually in a late propulsive strategy. So again, also an ER position. So I'm starting at the top of the backswing with both sides of the pelvis and both hips in an ER inhaled strategy. As I pull the club down into the downswing, There's two moments of maximum propulsion in the golf swing when the arms are parallel to the ground. Propulsion number one because I have to stop motion and bring the club towards the center of my body to accelerate the club head from this parallel arm position so the club's still up and behind me relative to my arms but I'm stopping the motion here to accelerate the club head. The second propulsive strategy is that impact. So if we were talking about baseball when the lead foot hits the ground for a baseball pitcher and the and the heel hits the ground that's propulsion number one at ball release that's propulsion number two and so again anytime we have an implement we're going to have two episodes of maximum propulsion. Under those circumstances, I have to be in IR because I have to be able to produce a high level of internal pressure, which means I'm going to be driving the pelvic diaphragm upward. I'm going to be expanding the bottom of the pelvis, which is going to be an IR strategy on both sides because I have to stop motion from occurring to allow the implement to accelerate. Now, the smaller and lighter the implement, the shorter the duration of my maximum propulsion episode or impulse if you will. And so I like to tell a little joke here with this one. It's like, so how fast is it with a golf swing or a baseball pitch or something where the implement is really light? So baseball is what five ounces. You get really, really light golf clubs. And so it's about this fast. and then I say you want to hear it again because it's really really fast. Now if we were shot putter, we have to sustain the output for a longer period of time because if we're throwing a 16 pound shot, we don't have the same time constraint as we do with say something that's high velocity like a golf swing or a baseball pitch. right? So again, we're going to move in from these ER positions to IR for maximum propulsion under all circumstances. Anytime we need to produce that high level of force, it's going to be an IR strategy. It's going to be exhalation based and it's going to be concentrically oriented because again, I need that high pressure to stop motion from occurring to allow the implement to accelerate. Follow through is gonna mirror the backswing to a certain degree as we'll all follow through whether we're throwing a baseball, shot put, et cetera, et cetera. So Brian, I hope that helps you. So again, ER, IR, ER, just like when you're walking, just like when you're throwing, just like when you're reaching. It's the same thing over and over and over again. Make sure that you're training appropriately. If you have a sustained, propulsive impulse like something that's heavier, then the heavier strength training is going to be more of your friend. If we're talking about high velocity stuff, we're at the other end of the spectrum. What we need is a much shorter, briefer impulse. We need to train that strategy. To allow it to occur very very quickly very very forcefully But not to sustain it as we will reduce our velocity if we spend too much time in a propulsive strategy So again, Brian, hope that's helpful. Happy Tuesday. I got a run. You guys have a great Good morning.

Happy Wednesday. I have your coffee in hand and it is perfect. Can't wait to finish that. Okay. Wednesday is always a very, very, very busy day. Long clinic day, short morning, lots of stuff to do, but quick heads up. The first Q&A for IFSU members is up for your viewing pleasure. We've got a lot of questions that are rolling through the Facebook group as well. So that's pretty exciting. If you haven't gotten signed up for IFSU, I suggest you do that. We're building some great coaches in there already. So that's kind of exciting. All right. Quick Q&A for Wednesday. This comes from Julian. Julian says, I'm new to your channel and your content and cannot get enough, isn't that nice? Thank you, Julian. I've learned so much through your videos, especially during this time of COVID-19. I'm not sure if you've ever discussed hyperextension, the knees of so can you direct me towards information on that? If not, do you have any ideas on how to treat this problem? Yes, Julian, on all counts. So there's some information on me valgus on the YouTube channel that you'll find of interest because it's similar but not quite the same. So let's define a little bit about what we're looking at first. By calling something hyperextension, the implication is that there is some sort of position in the imaginary sagittal plane. And I would say that's more of just what it is. It's a cancellation out of ERs and IRs that produces that appearance that it's going backwards. So it's going into excessive extension. What you really have there is an external rotation problem. But we also have some relative position issues that are actually creating this appearance. So we can actually talk about elbow hyperextension, if you will, and knee hyperextension at the same time. Because they are the same as far as the etiology and then how it appears. So I'm going to grab my knee here. And so again, I got a plastic model that doesn't move like a real skeleton. So we have to kind of keep that in mind. When we're talking about the valgus, we have this tibial femoral ER relationship. And when we're talking about knee hyperextension, we still have that relationship, but there's going to be some differences that are trickling down and some stuff that's trickling up that make it go into what appears to be hyperextension versus the knee valgus. And you might see a little bit of both actually in some situations. But as the tippy rotates into external rotation, it hits its end constraint and it's going to take that distal femur with it. So we're going to get an ER here. We're going to get an ER here. But if we get a early propulsive strategy in the foot, this is where we're going to see concentric orientation of the anterior medial aspect of the musculature around the knee. We're going to see an eccentric orientation on the posterior side. So when we think about musculature that is eccentrically oriented, I think semi tendonosis is going to be eccentrically oriented. Your tibialis, the anterior is going to be eccentrically oriented, which is going to make it very, very difficult to flex the knee during gait. So again, so if we can't flex it during gait, then it's going to try to go into what we would perceive as being that high hyperextension. The short head of biceps is going to be concentrically oriented, the lateral hamstring, so bicep femoris, the full bicep femoris is going to be concentrically oriented as well. And so that's why we get this appearance of what looks like the hyperextension. It's actually a twist. It's an ER, bring the femur into ER, but an early propulsive strategy in the foot which is going to drive the force straight back through the knee. A lot of times what you're going to see up here is this is going to be your traditional sway back individual. So they're going to be probably narrow, probably posterior compression. You're going to see an eccentric um uh pelvic diaphragm and so again they're falling hard towards towards the center their center of gravity is going to be forward and and down through the middle but because they've got that early propulsive strategy in the foot they're going to drive that knee with what appears to be backwards into hyperextension. The elbows the same way. We get the same kind of twist in an elbow that creates the hyperextension. So instead of having the anti-medial compartment being concentrically oriented and the posterior lateral compartment being concentrically oriented, what you're going to get is you're going to get a posterior lateral compartment concentric orientation. So supinator and conius are actually going to create this really hard compressive strategy on the back side of the elbow, which again creates that appearance of hyperextension, but it's actually the twist of the radius hard into ER. When the anconius picks up its concentric orientation on the back of the elbow, it actually twists the ulna in the opposite direction. So we have this kind of a relationship of the radius and the ulna twisting this way, and it pushes that elbow forward into what appears to be hyperextension. So one of these circumstances, we got to get the elbow into it or the elbow or the knee, whichever one we're talking about. We got to get it into a position where we can recapture the relative motion in relative positions. So when we're talking about the knee, we've got to get the foot into a good orientation where we can capture that relative motion of the calcaneus, the talus, and then the distal tibia. And so that's going to be through this middle range of propulsion. So we're going to have to get to there so we can capture relative motions. The knee is going to be flexed so we can again capture relative motions. The hip is going to be flexed again so we can capture relative motions. And so what you're gonna have to do then is probably build somebody from the ground up. So these are the half kneeling people. You're gonna try to work towards a split stance. And if you wanna think about using the the hamstrings as rains on a horse to orient the tibia. So remember, if we're talking about knee hyperextension, then that medial hamstring, so semi-teninosis is going to be e-syntrophy-oriented, we need to pull that back to internally rotate that proximal tibia and try to hold that femur in its ER position relative to the tibia. So again, you're going to be using this is where people talk about weak VMOs and things like that. The reason that we have this weak VMO is because it's been out of position, if you will, for an extended period of time. So it's very, very difficult for it to move through its full excursion of eccentric to concentric orientation. So that's going to try to balance itself out just through the reorientation of the knee. but you're probably gonna be looking at medial hamstring to lateral hamstring orientation to get the tibia right, get the foot position correct, and then you just start to drive your chops and your lifts, your presses, all this stuff in half kneeling but really being particular about this half kneeling position to help you recapture this normal excursion of tibial femoral ER relationship to the femur, okay? So I hope that makes sense. If it doesn't, please ask a clarifying question as to where there may be some confusion. Like I said, it's very similar to the knee valgus stuff, but you get a different foot position that you're dealing with when you're looking at this hyperextension kind of a thing. but also keep in mind it's not really hyper extension. It's a rotation problem and it's people trying to go towards external rotation. So again, Julian, hope that's helpful. Have a great Wednesday and I will see you guys later.

This is where we're going to see concentric orientation of the anterior medial aspect of the musculature around the knee. We're going to see an eccentric orientation on the posterior side. So when we think about musculature that is eccentrically oriented, I think semi-tendonosis is going to be eccentrically oriented. Your tibialis anterior is going to be eccentrically oriented, which is going to make it very, very difficult to flex the knee during gait. So again, if we can't flex it during gait, then it's going to try to go into what we would perceive as being that high hyperextension. The short head of biceps is going to be concentrically oriented, the lateral hamstring, so bicep femoris, the full bicep femoris is going to be concentrically oriented as well. And so that's why we get this appearance of what looks like the hyperextension. It's actually a twist. It's an ER, bringing the femur into ER, but an early propulsive strategy in the foot, which is going to drive the force straight back through the knee. A lot of times what you're going to see up here is this is going to be your traditional sway back individual. So they're going to be probably narrow, probably posterior compression. You're going to see an eccentric pelvic diaphragm, and so again they're falling hard towards the center. Their center of gravity is going to be forward and down through the middle, but because they've got that early propulsive strategy in the foot, they're going to drive that knee with what appears to be backwards into hyperextension. The elbows are the same way. We get the same kind of twist in an elbow that creates the hyperextension. So instead of having the anti-medial compartment being concentrically oriented and the posterior lateral compartment being concentrically oriented, what you're going to get is you're going to get a posterior lateral compartment concentric orientation. So supinator and anconius are actually going to create this really hard compressive strategy on the back side of the elbow, which again creates that appearance of hyperextension, but it's actually the twist of the radius hard into ER. When the anconius picks up its concentric orientation on the back of the elbow, it actually twists the ulna in the opposite direction. So we have this kind of a relationship of the radius and the ulna twisting this way, and it pushes that elbow forward into what appears to be hyperextension. So one of these circumstances, we got to get the elbow into, or the elbow or the knee, whichever one we're talking about. We got to get it into a position where we can recapture the relative motion in relative positions. So when we're talking about the knee, we've got to get the foot into a good orientation where we can capture that relative motion of the calcaneus, the talus, and then the distal tibia.

And so that's going to be through this middle range of propulsion. So we're going to have to get to there so we can capture relative motions. The knee is going to be flexed so we can again capture relative motions. The hip is going to be flexed again so we can capture relative motions. And so what you're gonna have to do then is probably build somebody from the ground up. So these are the half kneeling people. You're gonna try to work towards a split stance. And if you wanna think about using the the hamstrings as reins on a horse to orient the tibia. So remember, if we're talking about knee hyperextension, then that medial hamstring, so semi-teninosis is going to be eccentric-oriented, we need to pull that back to internally rotate that proximal tibia and try to hold that femur in its ER position relative to the tibia. So again, you're going to be using This is where people talk about weak VMOs and things like that. The reason that we have this weak VMO is because it's been out of position, if you will, for an extended period of time. So it's very, very difficult for it to move through its full excursion of eccentric to concentric orientation. So that's going to try to balance itself out just through the reorientation of the knee. but you're probably gonna be looking at medial hamstring to lateral hamstring orientation to get the tibia right, get the foot position correct, and then you just start to drive your chops and your lifts, your presses, all this stuff in half kneeling but really being particular about this half kneeling position to help you recapture this normal excursion of tibial femoral ER relationship to the femur, okay? So I hope that makes sense. If it doesn't, please ask a clarifying question as to where there may be some confusion. Like I said, it's very similar to the knee valgus stuff, but you get a different foot position that you're dealing with when you're looking at this hyperextension kind of a thing. but also keep in mind it's not really hyper extension. It's a rotation problem and it's people trying to go towards external rotation. So again, Julian, hope that's helpful.

That was kind of cool.

I have a question. It's kind of off-topic, but how young is too young to start looking at interventions for how kids set up? My son is too, but he has severe anterior tilt; his thorax is very forward compressed posteriorly. Every time he runs, he basically falls and catches himself. That's his style of running. Obviously, you're watching it as a coach and it hurts.

So I think that you're just going to make sure that he's exposed to a number of different environments and let him adapt. That's what we do. Like the worst thing you could do under those circumstances is to try to restrict his behaviors. We want to provide exposures of behaviors. Kids figure it out. And there are concerns like, oh, is this normal? Yeah, absolutely. It's normal. It's like they just found a strategy that worked and they're going to play with that for a while and then they're going to do something else. So it's not like there's something wrong with them. It's just a matter of like this is how he figured it out for right now. And the thing that you want to recognize is just expose him to a number of different environments so if you take him outside and you're like crawling around in the grass he's going to be in a totally different position and that's what we're shooting for. We just want lots of exposure.

Yeah.

And that's what we do. Like the worst thing I think you could do under those circumstances is try to restrict his behaviors. We want to provide exposures to behaviors. Kids figure it out. There are concerns like, oh, is this normal? It's like, yeah, absolutely. It's normal. They've just found a strategy that worked and they're going to play with that for a while, and then they're going to do something else. So it's not like there's something wrong with them. It's just a matter of like, this is how he figured it out for right now. The thing you want to recognize is just expose him to a number of different environments. So if you take him outside and he's crawling around in the grass, he's going to be in a totally different position, and that's what we're shooting for. We just want lots of exposure. If you ever have an interest in that kind of developmental stuff, Esther Thelen looks at neonatal development from a dynamical systems perspective rather than milestone reflexes. Because the baby's head is about a third of his body weight, it's one of the reasons why babies squat well but can't hinge. Because their heads are too heavy—if they try to do an RDL, they face plant. So people get so excited about, oh, look at the baby. He's got a perfect squat. He didn't have a choice; he had to do it that way. I don't like giving credit to the young ones for being such great squatters. They're just figuring out, based on the system, what is available to them and how to do it in the most efficient way.

How would you restructure the school system? I know this is a big topic, but if you had the choice, how would you design it?

Tough call. I think that the easiest thing to do under these circumstances is not to worry about it. So the number one priority across all aspects is the static element, right? And this is also a bias from being an exercise guy, right? You think about all the creativity that comes from movement, and figuring things out from that perspective and problem-solving from that perspective is really, really powerful. We know the impact of exercise on the brain. So number one, there should be a foundation of movement and activity that should be standard. When I went through elementary school, we had three recesses a day. And now I actually believe in having success for the elementary kids.

I don't know. They had recess and I was in elementary school.

Oh, did they?

Yeah.

Do you nasty?

Yeah, elementary level, but middle school, high school, it's pretty much.

Yeah. And then you have to have like one semester of gym class in four years of high school. Am I correct?

I mean, it's a lunch, but yeah.

And then you have to have like one semester of gym class in four years of high school. Am I correct? Yeah.

Something about you.

You know, you read a book like Spark. Have you ever read Spark? It's a quick read, great book. And it's all about neurotrophic factors. So neurotrophic factors include brain-derived neurotrophic factor in it. The book Spark is by John Ratey, I believe. Anyway, they did a lot of research. It was in a school system in Chicago or outside of Chicago. Maybe Naperville. They brought in kids that were having trouble with grades and such, and they gave them a special gym class focused on driving up their fitness levels. They had significant improvement in their ability to raise their grades, especially within the first three hours after exercise exposure. They even narrowed it down that far. So they're looking at, well, why is that? And then they look at the elements associated with exercise. So you have brain-derived neurotrophic factors, which makes neurons. And then you have vascular endothelial growth factor, which contributes to blood flow. And fibroblast growth factor, which is another cellular—it's like they call it 'Miracle-Gro for the brain.' So exercise would be that would be the first thing I would do would be movement-based. And then you grade it not on some generalized standard, but to that person. So each individual has goals they have to meet as an individual. Like, when we went to gym class, you had to show up so many times. If you forgot your gym clothes on so many days, you got a reduced letter grade or something ridiculous like that. That's the standard. So you have to have a fitness standard of some sort, but it's got to be individualized. Okay. So that would be the foundation of everything because movement promotes creativity and problem solving. So right away, you already have a kid that's primed for learning. And I think that's the first and foremost thing. I realize there are some things they have to learn beyond foundational math. Yeah. Some basic foundational math, foundational sciences, things like that. I think you have to have those in there. But then I would say that you probably want to have something derived from that again to promote creativity and life skills.

OK.

The book Spark is John Ratey, I believe is the author. Anyway, they did a lot of research. And it was a school system in Chicago or outside of Chicago. Naperville, maybe. And they brought kids in that were having trouble with grades and such, and they brought them in and they gave them a special gym class and it was all about driving up their fitness levels. And they had significant improvement in their ability to raise their grades, especially within the first three hours of their exercise exposure. So they even narrowed it down that far. And so they're looking at like, okay, well, why is that? And then they look at the elements that are associated with exercise. So you have brain-derived neurotrophic factor. So that makes more neurons. And then you had vascular endothelial growth factor, which contributes to blood flow. And then fibroblast growth factor, which is again, another cellular growth factor for the brain. So, exercise would be like that would be the first thing I do would be movement based. And then the way you grade it is not like on some sort of generalized standard, you grade it to that person. So each individual has goals that they have to meet as an individual. Like, used to be like when we went to gym class, you had to show up so many times. And if you forgot your gym clothes on so many days, you got a reduced letter grade or something ridiculous like that. That's the standard. So you have to have a fitness standard of some sort, but it's got to be individualized. So that would be the foundation of everything because movement promotes creativity and then problem solving. So right away, you already have a kid that's primed for learning. And I think that's the first and foremost thing. I realize that there's some things that they have to learn beyond foundational foundational math. Foundational math, foundational sciences, things like that. I think you have to have those in there. But then I would say that you probably want to have something derived there, again, to promote creativity, and then life skills.

Yeah, that's a huge one. That's missing.

My brother, five years older than me, and he had to take a home ec class in high school. So he had to learn how to cook for himself. And he had to learn how to sew. And again, it sounds stupid, but I didn't get married until I was in my thirties. So I had, you know, decade and a half, maybe a little bit more of where I had to learn things for myself. Okay. And if you don't take the time to learn these things, then you're the guy that's eating all the fast food. But again, just like life skills like that and just things that like, hey, simple toilet repair. I would love to have that because I got a toilet right now that does not shut up. Or I should have become a plumber because they're apparently doing very well right now. Those types of skills. But again, like all that kind of stuff, like making a good human with a foundational science background so that they can speak intelligently about a number of different things, right? Rather than having these standardized tests that, you know, but they're teaching, and I don't know, because it's better than I can on any level. It's like they're teaching classes to pass a test. They're not teaching, they're not teaching humans to be great people.

I think it goes back to what you're saying, Bill. I think there needs to be more emphasis on movement and just like, you know, I do it all the time for my kids is like taking them on a walk. I'm like, all right, we got 70 minutes of class. Let's do history stuff. And then we're going to go for a walk for like 10 minutes and just get outside.