Yes.

Okay. If I am trying to avoid that position and I have a different axial structure, my strategy would have to change where I might have to use a varus position where I'm going to push my center of gravity more forward and not down as far, and then that would keep me up, which means I'm going to ER more from proximal to distal. So you would get like your so-called varus presentation, right? So both could have the same archetype, but because the configuration of the axial skeleton is different, my strategy has to change because one has more downforce than the other. Do you see the difference?

Okay.

Okay. So this goes back to your cervical question. Yeah. Okay. Are you creating the late representation, are you creating a delay, so the delay doesn't turn everything in the opposite direction, it just slows it down? It's like, where's the expansion occurring under the circumstance? So you put your arm up, I got news for you, you just externally rotated your scapula. So right away, I have constrained the system to reduce the amount of rotation. So if I turn this way, I'm going to move more towards a late representation. If I delay, so I'm not turning, I'm not doing this. I'm just slowing this side down. So I'm not reorienting the thorax. See, that's the mistake. People are trying to, too many people when they're, so they think they're creating delay strategies and all they're doing is creating orientations. And that's why they get things like, 'Wow, I got so much IR, but I didn't get an ER.' It's like, 'Guess what you did? You created an orientation.' That's a dead giveaway for the orientation.

So you have to consider the parameters of the activity now, right? So you have to say, okay, how much load do I have? And then what am I constraining with my attachment to the sled? So pulling a sled with your right hand handle versus taking a strap and putting it around the pelvis are not the same thing, right? You're immediately constraining the thorax. So you're reducing relative motion in the thorax by having them hold on to the handle. It doesn't make it wrong. Just means that I know that I'm intentionally constraining it. I'm actually moving them towards a stronger middle representation because I'm taking away the turn that they would have available if I just attached them to sled with the hip belt, right? So I should expect that I would get more thorax activity. So again, I would expect that I'm going to have that load. Now, I can manipulate the degree with which I'm going to produce that IR by load. So the heavier the load is, the more I'm going to push them down into the ground as they're moving sideways. If your intention is to increase the relative movement, then typically I do not constrain the upper extremities for that reason. Because I want to create the turning capability through the thorax and drive it down into the ground as I push off the right foot like you were talking about, but I also want to create the delay strategy as I'm stepping out and bringing the foot over top.

No, honestly, so I'm supporting their arm in the scenario, the left arm. So can I get them just like lifted up without losing position?

One moment, please. Okay. All right. Where do you apply force to the ground? Okay. Where you apply force to the ground matters. How you apply force to the ground matters. So when we talk about positioning of foot, what are the contacts that I talked about incessantly?

A step up is a very middle propulsive representation. Middle propulsion is where the greatest demonstration of internal rotation would be. The shape of the pelvis will be biased towards internal rotation, the ability to access the space below the axial skeleton. So that'd be standing, okay, would be represented in that. And so to be able to perform an effective step up, one would have to be able to push through the ground and achieve an upright stance without a compensation. If we're talking about a traditional hip extension at zero degrees, that would be representative of somebody that has enough internal rotation to push through the ground and achieve an upright stance without a compensation. And so a step up is an easy way to do that. That just requires enough knowledge and understanding of what would be the representation to show me that they have that internal rotation. But that's the kicker. That is the representation that you need to understand. How you get there is going to depend on the individual entirely. So again, most people that come into a fitness environment, they're walking in the door, they expect to do stuff on their feet. And then so what our job is, is to have a little bit of understanding of what their capabilities are, but that's going to be our exercise selection. So let's just say for the sake of argument that you do have somebody, you do a little step up test and you go, you know what, they don't really have enough internal rotation to perform that activity without a compensation. You have just eliminated a lot of middle propulsive activities from your repertoire of exercises that you're going to choose because if they don't have that capability, that means they will have to use a compensation, which means they will have to create compression in certain places and expansion in certain places to move through space. It doesn't mean they can't do that. Just means that we want to choose exercises that do not challenge that space because they cannot access it. Yes, they can stand up. I understand that, but they're going to have to do that with some form of an anti-orientation of the pelvis, which is going to change the orientation of the spine, which again, under load becomes a little bit of a problem. And it might not be recognized today, tomorrow or next week, but over time. If they continue to use that strategy, it could become problematic. So again, trying to come up with a singular strategy to get somebody from the ground upwards is going to be dependent on the individual. There's variations in structure. There's variations in strategy that are going to influence someone's capability of managing gravity. We just have to protect them from themselves.

No. Unlock your knee.

How deep do you think you're going to squat?

Put on the ground.

Yeah, makes sense. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah, that clears that up. So I'll continue on the wides and narrows. So let's consider an athlete. I kind of picture the narrow as more like this slender, elastic guy, like a Kevin Durant. Obviously, we can't jump to conclusions because there are so many different representations, but during activities like jumping or sprinting, I feel like they wouldn't have as much hip bend as the wides would. They would have a hip bending more into the movement, so they're not really sinking into ground contact. Would that mean they have quicker ground contacts? Is that a correct interpretation or is it too variable?

You see the difference?

Yeah, yeah.

Okay, so if joint position is changing, then you're reducing the number of motor units that are producing tension, right?

Awesome. Does that clarify your thought process.

Okay. I'm sure you're not completely wrong.

Good morning. Happy Wednesday. I have no coffee in hand and it is perfect. All right. Today is Wednesday. That means that tomorrow is Thursday. That means tomorrow morning, 6 a.m., Coffee and Coaches conference call as usual. If you are not participating in these calls, what is taking you so long to get here? Because these are great calls. Great people, great groups. Obviously, you're seeing bits and pieces of these calls. These calls go about two hours. We share these Q&As during the day, about 30 to 40 minutes. So please join us for these calls. They are excellent. Like I said, great people, bring some coffee, bring a question. We'll have a great time. Okay. Today's Q&A comes from Frederick, and Frederick has a client with a spondylolisthesis. We talked strategy here. But let's talk about what spondylolisthesis is. So first of all, let's give you a little bit of a graphical representation. So on the screen right now, hopefully, if my technology is effective, you are now looking at what is represented as a spondylolisthesis. So this is the slippage of the vertebra forward on top of another and not a great situation. Many people are asymptomatic under these circumstances and they never know that this existed, and in some cases, it's going to cause or promote, I should say, a great deal of potential pain. Now, from a strategy standpoint, if we think about what this thing really is, what we have is this forward movement of the vertebra on top of another vertebra. That is actually an internal rotation strategy. So typically what you're going to have is you're going to have some form of a more extreme ER orientation. This is a compensatory strategy to produce the internal rotation. And therefore, the spine is the location of the compensation. In this situation, what we're trying to do then is we're going to try to drive an early representation of propulsion. So this is going to be the sacrum base moving backwards on the ilium. Because if we were to drive, say, a late strategy where we're moving the ilium forward on the sacrum, remember that late is going to be a very strong IR representation moving towards ER, where early is an ER where we have an early superposition of internal rotation. If we can move the sacrum back, we have a chance to reduce the IRD strategy in the spine. And so that's going to be the strategy that we talk about here with Frederick. And we talk through this. He's got another complicating situation that you'll see as we go through this that could produce some interference. So you always want to take that into consideration as well. The activities that people select tend to not be the best ones. The things that they like to do can actually become a potential influence as to why they are symptomatic. Frederick, thank you so much for this question. It's going to help a lot of people because this is a fairly common condition in the clinic. I think it's a very small percentage of the total population, but we see a fair amount of this in the clinic, especially with people that do what would be considered extension-based activities, like gymnastics would be one that stands out in my mind. So again, thank you for Frederick. If you would like to participate in a 15-minute consultation, please go to askbillhartman@gmail.com. Put '15 minute consultation' in the subject line so we don't delete it. We'll arrange that at our mutual convenience. I will see you tomorrow morning, Thursday, 6 a.m., Coffee and Coaches Conference call. Have an outstanding day.

Okay. I was thinking this was lateral calcaneus and this was medial calcaneus. This is medial calcaneus. And for me, my left shoulder, you know, I pole vaulted so like my left shoulder is always here, but I was always holding the pole like this and never really engaging here. And so just now when Jordan was doing it, I was doing it here. I really pushed through that spot in space. And it was just like my body just gave a sigh of relief. It was like, that's what you needed.

What measurement would you use in the hip to say, 'oh, we have space to move into'? Hip flexion. Okay, so hip flexion is what?

Right.

So when you, this is all process. So all we're talking about here is process. You understand the mechanics of what you're going to create potentially. And then so it's like, okay, how far do they move when you intervene? And that's the question that you're asking, right? So you don't know. You do something, and then you say, okay, that's in the favorable direction. I will do a little bit more of that, and then I will monitor that change and make sure it's still trending in the right direction. And then you're communicating with them. If we're talking about symptom relief and things like that, that's going to be something that you would monitor as well. And that might give you the answer that you're looking for is to like, how much do I need to bring you back? So somebody reports a reduction of symptoms, but not resolution, then you probably did something that's favorable in regards to creating adaptability, maybe you didn't create enough, maybe you didn't create enough in the right direction. So in those weird cases where you do something with an intention, like let's just say you were trying to create ER space and maybe you moved them a little bit in that direction, but you picked up a ton of IR and they go, oh, that feels better, but in your head you're going, okay, but that wasn't what I was really trying to do. So you created more adaptability, so you expanded the excursion that they can move through, but you didn't access the starting position into ER that you wanted. So again, that symptom relief versus the performance aspect of it that was your original intention, you still have to test. So it's always intervention and then reassess, and then intervention and reassess, intervention reassess. Because again, the questions that you're asking are great questions, but they are resolved in process. Because your predictive capabilities are slim.

If you're moving sideways and you're within that small space, you've just taken away space in front. So if you don't have that space in front of you, then everything's moving to the side. So you're closing in on middle. It's biased towards a middle and more middle representation.

Don't go that far.

Is that also an issue of practitioners not calling their measurements soon enough and they're performing it on the table? Or is that something that like, if you're being strict about not having like a lot of anterior humeral head translation when you're doing your IR measurement that you should prevent that? Yeah. There shouldn't be any. Right. Yeah. That's just me getting lazy sometimes and not calling my measurement when I should necessarily, not necessarily.

What's the difference?

Right.

That is correct. That is correct.

Well, I don't know that I'm successful. I'm happy, which is more important. Having a curiosity about what you do is one of the most powerful things because it drives you to continue to progress. I still have questions. I still look for answers. I think that's probably number one. Like the minute you stop being curious, you don't ask questions anymore, and then you make an assumption that you know enough, and then there's no growth. One of my greatest fears is that I'm actually an old man sitting in a nursing home in a wheelchair because that's where I don't want to be. I always want to be invested and excited about what I do. I think curiosity is the number one thing because it continues to push you when you're tired but you still have to answer that one question because it's just burning up inside of you to have an answer. I don't know if I would have a top three because I just think that curiosity drives excitement, excitement drives motivation, and then discovery is the reward. People like to talk about how they know something about the brain and say it's your dopamine reward system. Let's just say that is what's going on. Every time you discover something new or something of value or something that kind of makes sense, and you do get that excitement, like getting that perfect red velvet cake with the extra buttercream icing on it, and then you put your favorite caramel flavored ice cream on top of it. It's that moment where it's just perfect. You feel that and then you get driven again. Without curiosity, I don't think there's a cascade like that. If you're not curious about this, you're not going to do well because the struggle is therefore a reason to keep the challenge in front of you, which is really important. But if you're not curious and you struggle, now you hate yourself and you hate every moment, and you can't live like that.

That's what this scar is for right here. This is where I bleed on the way home.