36year-old fit♂ - Realign First

Overview:
-36-year-old, extremely active male with tightness in the hip area
-3sessions
-ReaLine® devices used: ReaLine® Core, Balance Shoes (knee), Leg press

Wow. That’s the first thing I can say after my ReaLine session with Naomi.

Naomi started by asked about my injury history, explaining how the movement patterns I had developed were contributing to the lingering tightness in my hips, TFL and IT band.

I first experienced hip and leg pain while running a marathon several years ago. A variety of modalities had produced short-term results, however none lasted more than about a month before my biomechanics would reset. The ReaLine system offers a way to repattern my movements to be aligned, recruiting particular muscles to do their actions rather than overuse the dominant muscles.

ReaLine sessions with Naomi really fall under the mantra “less is more.” We focused on small movements of the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius to activate it for hip extension rather than my quadriceps. Focusing on the source of the imbalance through small movements designed to target specific muscles was harder than it seemed. Controlling the muscles used in squat required mental focus and a mindful approach to the exercise rather than simply relying on muscle memory to complete the exercise.

It quickly became apparent that my biomechanical issues derived from using the quads to perform the actions the glutes are designed for. Retraining my muscles to activate–and focusing on keeping the quads from firing–was challenging to begin with, but came easier with time.

Repetitions of small, specific exercises were designed to get me to perfect the muscle movement without any weight, so that I would store the muscle memory. Adding weight came later, and it was much easier to focus on the correct movement angles and positioning by using just the Realign devices.

I noticed changed immediately: I felt my piriformis releasing during my first session as Naomi focused the exercises on hip extension. Previously, I’d only felt the same release from my hips after an intense, 90-minute deep-tissue massage focused on the hips and IT bands. The same sensations of opening and free movement were apparent partway through the first session, continuing on throughout the day as I went for a longer-than-usual run. Similar results followed each successive session.

The ReaLine devices greatly facilitated getting in touch with how movements felt in my body. Feeling the gluteus medius activating during an exercise was neat: I’m much more in tune with the smaller muscles in my body after sessions with Naomi. The smaller muscles are now moving more naturally and in alignment thanks to time spent with the ReaLine devices and in Naomi’s studio.

Naomi is a wonderful trainer, down-to-earth and explains both biomechanics and anatomy in easy-to-understand terms. I encourage anyone with repetitive injuries, and anyone looking to improve their body awareness to book a session with Naomi. My hips have opened and released years of tension and misalignment and I’m excited to see what I can achieve being in proper alignment!