When one searches for options to support their health on social media, one may be bombarded by a slew of fitness influencers, supplement sales and arguments, diet protocols, xyz exercise protocols, and combative arguments regarding all of the above. Functional Patterns is putting forth a solution that can appear somewhat more challenging than these quick fixes and simple-looking exercises, and it is partly shown in Naudi Aguilar’s systematic treatment of human biomechanical regeneration in his 10-week online course. While more nuances are developed in the certification courses, I want to speak to the larger issue of training priorities that this course invites us into.
When one takes this longer-term process seriously, then one begins to understand a potentially new idea that doesn’t “sell as well” in the sense of being a quick fix, though can offer a deep sense of hope when you really contemplate it: it is that the human body, almost of any age, can undergo a progressive and systematic process of biomechanical regeneration by focusing on the process of standing, walking, running, and throwing. First through slower more static steps such as myofascial release, standing posture work, and slow corrective integration, and progressing into more dynamic movements and as one masters the initial code.
Major migraine patterns, debilitating chronic pains, neurodegenerative disorders, and all manner of ailments are being removed or alleviated by this process of biomechanics training. It is a thoughtful form of physical fitness that is unfortunately being obscured at times by the dramas on social media, so I hope to give it a little light here.
Part of the reason why FP may seem inconvenient for many is that it asks patience of us. The process is a seemingly slow one, where the course encourages us to firstly do 3 full weeks of myofascial release, to explore the adhesions and restrictions in the body from perhaps a lifetime of inefficient and potentially painful movement habits. Part of the genius of the course is its scalability and accessibility to people of all ages— it is created as a safe and effective format that is also very low risk in terms of load and ranges of motion. Though these deceptively simple movements, when they potentiated with utmost precision, can be extremely challenging to execute because of the variety of internal restrictions people carry. It is helpful to slow down or remove our other activities, esp dynamic ones if we are suffering chronic pain, and give this unique process a chance, as it is both a general system though also an adaptable and precise process of rebalancing the tissues of the human body into the natural functionality of standing, walking, running, and throwing well (even if you don’t want to run or become a javelin throwing athlete, refining these functions in even slower contexts can create regenerative effects).
The course progresses from myofascial release to understanding posture and the different problems that can arise within it. This is a crucial foundation— how we stand: for how we stand, which for many in our culture is in a slumped, hip-shifted-forward position, limits our ability to move efficiently. Moving efficiently has a lot to do with rotational capacity, and this rotational capacity requires a complex connection between our gluteal structures / leg muscle chains, and how they interact with the rhythm, structures, and movements of our core/obliques/ribcage, shoulder girdle, and arms as a whole, carrying the neck and cranium atop it all. These structures can interact and complement or disrupt each other in complex ways in the oscillatory process of walking or running, depending on the individuals unique patterns.
The emphasis on rotating and moving these structures properly in relation to each other is a huge rabbit hole issue that rests at the core of why FP specialists get superior results to many in the field (@fp.evidence). This sense of a spiraling nonlinearity, a holistic/systemic view of human motion, could be said to be part of a paradigmatic shift in how we view the human body. One need only watch Usain Bolt or another olympic sprinter run in slow motion for 10-15 minutes to observe this complexity. What Functional Patterns is saying is that our physical training can be detailed enough to progressively account for this complexity, if only we took the time to give the thought and practice to explore these concepts. FP courses simplify the path greatly, and that is why my clients often take so much joy in our session results. I can help them see details that it is very difficult for them to see at first when they are doing very simple movements, and these small adjustments potentiates their structure in new directions, helping them notice nagging patterns, as well as making broader bodily coordinations and connections they forgot they were capable of. Though the ultimate goal is to help them build a deeper intuition of their own body so that they don’t need me for their training, having community and support in accounting for the complexity of the human body is helpful.