Exercises Lost, Now Found

If you've been in the health and fitness industry long enough, there is a good chance that you’ve had a movement or two that you used to prescribe, but have forgotten about. I know, because it has happened to me!

After 19 years as a physical therapist, I’ve seen trends change, and certain exercises fall in and out of favor. Likewise, if a long enough period of time went by where I hadn’t had a client with a certain type of diagnosis, there’s a likelihood that I forgot some of my favorite exercises for that condition. The human body’s capacity for movement variety is enormous. To think that a therapist or trainer, can keep in his or her head such enormous array of movement skills, is far-fetched. That’s why we rely on external tools like websites, apps, and even books to help us remember and uncover new favorite exercises.

To that point, while doing some exercise library housecleaning, it came to my attention that the software was missing two previously popular illustrations. The first movement is a side plank reach. You’ve probably seen this one – it’s where the athlete is in a side plank on his or her elbow and then reaches the top arm under the body, and then lifts it overhead again. It’s a great exercise for shoulder girdle stability, balance, plus hip and trunk strength. The second exercise is a plank tuck. This one is kind of like a “mountain climber” exercise, except instead of hopping one foot up to your hands, you bring both feet to under your chest. It’s a great warm-up exercise for high-level athletes.

To find the missing illustrations, I had to go deep into the exercise crypt. How deep? I had to boot up an old, white plastic-cased Macbook that hadn’t been used in years.

By the way, if you were wondering how those plastic cases held up, the answer is: They don’t. The white plastic gets all grimy and brittle with age. Aluminum laptop cases are where it’s at.

Regardless, those two exercises are now back in the BPM Rx exercise prescription database. You can find them by searching for “Plank Tucks” and “Side Plank Reach”.

As always, message me if there are movements that you can’t find in the library that you would like to see in there. Some recent user-requested exercises include standing lateral pelvis tilts, and upper extremity nerve glides.

Have fun and let’s keep the world MOVING!