Rick's Weekly Tips & Tricks

This week we explore the second foundational movement in the series, the Pull. People perform numerous pulling activities during the day whether it be opening doors, getting objects off shelves or moving objects throughout the day. The primary muscles involved in pulling motion are the Lats, Trapezius, Biceps, Forearms in the Upper Body and the Abdominals, Obliques and Hamstrings. When looking at the comparison of pushing versus pulling daily activities, people tend to  push much more frequently during the day than they pull.This tends to create muscle imbalance and postural issues. When performing upper body pulling motions with your client...

This week we explore the first foundational movement in the series, the "push" People perform numerous pushing activities during the day whether it be mowing the lawn, shoveling snow, or just moving objects throughout the day. The primary muscles involved in pushing are the Pectorals, Deltoids, Triceps in the Upper Body and the Gluteals, Quadriceps and Calves in the Lower Body. When performing upper body pushing motions with your client, it is important they have good stabilization of the core musculature. Make sure you move around your client to view them from all angles to pick out common compensations. Watch...

For the next couple of weeks Dr Rick McAvoy will be discussing Foundational Movements Patterns. These movement patterns are the basis of Aquastrength’s Training Philosophy. Our bodies are a complex system that needs to work in harmony to create balanced, controlled motion.  A great way to improve this harmony is to incorporate foundational movements into our exercise programs. When developing our aquatic programs we should focus first on function. We should be using our time in the pool to make sure our clients bodies are 100% balanced and functional. The 7 Foundational Movement Patterns are: Pushing Pulling Hinging Squatting Twisting/Rotating...

Taking your feet off the ground and performing an exercise in the deep end is a very different challenge than if you perform the same type of exercise in the shallow end. In my experience both the shallow end and deep end of the pool offer many benefits and it is more of a matter of what type of pool you work in as well as what type of client you are training. This deep water exercise challenges alignment, stabilization, endurance as well as overall body awareness. The client begins with a flotation belt and establishes a vertical position by...

This week in Dr Rick McAvoy's tips and tricks he is talking about deep water, multi-directional running with 180 degree turns.  In my experience sometimes turning to the deep end of the pool with your client can really increase the challenge. By performing exercises in multiple directions as well as with multiple speeds it allows for less muscle adaptation to occur and can really help break through a plateau. This deep water exercise helps improve dynamic flexibility, alignment, stabilization, coordination, endurance as well as overall body awareness. The client begins with long stride running forward with opposite arm and leg...