Have you heard of the Regional Interdependence Model?

No? Most people haven’t, but it radically changes the way you look at the body and helps to simply the process behind eliminated aches, pains, and stiffness.

Let’s take a look at some examples…

Do any of these real life scenarios sound like you?

1. Middle-age male, active in CrossFit, who had been stretching his shoulders for 2 years and his overhead position still hadn't improved.

2. Female waitress in mid 20s, active with weightlifting and running, who had knee pain for a year and a half and didn't get better with months of physical therapy.

3. Female pro waterskier, early 30s with chronic back pain told to strengthen her hips, back and core, but had only short-term results that left her unable to ski and ready to retire because of it.
   These are all real cases. All of them got better or saw significant improvements* in 3 sessions or less as a result of a lens I use in my screens called The Regional Interdependence Model.

   *NOTE: Significant improvement does not mean FIX, it just means feeling better than before. Especially for those in chronic pain, it took 1-6 months of consistent work and application of the process I laid out for them for them to rebuild their foundation. Then real progress was rapid.

In a really simple sense, this model states that you cannot isolate one region of the body from another.

Try this...Grab the right shoulder area of your t'shirt with your right hand, then grab the left lower part of your shirt near your left hip. Keep your right hand in place and pull down on your shirt with your left hand. You'll see a line of tension appear between your two hands.

​The body works exactly the same way via connected lines of soft tissue (muscle, fascia, ligaments, connective tissue, etc).

In the case of someone with shoulder pain, this offers a clear picture as to how it is a completely viable explanation that limitations in the LEFT hip could cause excess tension and potential pain in the RIGHT shoulder. *

*Though this is definitely plausible and I’ve seen the hip affect the shoulder numerous times, 9/10 shoulder issues usually lie in limitations in the thoracic spine (your mid-back) causing reactions in the shoulder blades and shoulder itself

This is really powerful, because it makes it really easy to see how those 3 cases listed above could have gone misdiagnosed for all those years.

Let's break this Regional Interdependence Model down a bit further.

Every major joint in your body is designed for one of two primary purposes: mobility or stability (interchangeable with stiffness in some cases)

From feet to head we see the pattern clearly in alternating fashion demonstrated in the image to the above...
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When one of those areas takes on the opposite role (i.e. t'spine becomes stiff) the areas above and/or below take on the opposite role as well (i.e. low back and low neck become more mobile)
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​But mobility is good, right? Not when that's away from the original design...

​If the low back and neck are supposed to be stable, they're going to get more motion and more wear and tear than they should because they will hit their barriers sooner than they should to compensate for the stiff t'spine.

Similarly, I have NEVER seen a bum knee that didn't result from limitations (not pain) in the hip and/or ankle.

Here's another metaphor. Say you're in a fight. Your opponent punches you in the face. Your face is going to hurt. His hand is not going to hurt (or at least not as much). 

With back and neck pain, your stiff t'spine is placing a beatdown on your back and neck (or shoulder, remember!) and they're the ones shouting in pain to stop the beating.

HINT: If you currently have back AND neck pain right now, 99.9% positive it's going to come from limitations in your t'spine.

Make sense?

So, the common sense way to fix ALL musculoskeletal issues is to simply bring the major joints back to their original design.

How do you do bring the major joints back to their original design?

On your own...learn your limits and weak points.

Then, tailor your training towards ironing those things out as priority number one. Stiff? Attack it!  Left vs. Right side differences? Do your best to iron them out with single leg or single arm or one-sided rotational movements. Always aim for symmetry, even if you will never fully attain it.

Want the faster track?  Get assessed.

A skilled physical therapist can help you learn where your limitations are and attack them so you don't have to keep guessing. If you have laser focus on those areas, can get equipped with the right tools to attack them, you can develop a crystal clear strategy and see massive improvements that move you in a consistently forward direction.

Bringing it back to the cases from above:

1. The CrossFitter's shoulder issues were a result of a stiff t'spine which didn't allow his shoulder blades to remain stable and allow his shoulders to function like shoulders should. Stretching his shoulders was causing more issues, but they began opening up with his overhead position improving consistently with work toward t'spine mobility. 2 years wasted stretching the wrong parts. Now muscle-ups were in the cards.
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2. No results from traditional models for knee pain? It was because she had a sacroiliac joint dysfunction (a muscular imbalance across her pelvis and hips) altering the tracking of her hip, altering the tracking of her knee along with significantly limited ankle dorsiflexion, causing compensations and excess work at the knee. Better in one session, pain-free in 3 (remember...not FIXED..just feeling better for the first time in awhile. She's still working on those stubborn ankles, which can take 2-5 years to permanently open up if I'm being honest). One and a half years she spent not knowing how to fix it and not knowing that it was fixable.

3. Pro waterskier with chronic back pain...t'spine as stiff as a brick wall, and hip flexors so tight they were locking the knee and the back down (oh I forgot to mention...she had a history of meniscus tears and ligamentous injuries in her knees...all related issues under this lens). She feeling better in one visit, again pain-free in 3, and continues working with me while consistently placing top 3 in all major tournaments around the world. And she was seriously considering that it was time to retire!

PLEASE NOTE: I'm not saying I get these results are the kinds I get with everyone, but they are just some examples of people that got lost in the system and I was able to provide a different lens and a process to find their way back to freedom.

Friends...you don't have to live with pain. If you don't have pain, you can unlock a lot of things that seem unattainable with this kind of laser focus on your body and prevent major issues in the future.

If you're in the Winter Park, FL or Orlando, FL areas and want some help I'd be happy to meet you and see if we're a good fit to work together.

Shoot me a text or call to 407-900-8721 or email brandon@orlandomovement.com if you have any questions or would like some insight on how this model might apply to your specific situation.

Happy moving!
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Dr. Brandon