Joint Health: Controlled Articular Rotations (CARs) Everyday
As trainers we often help our clients build strength by taking them through loaded movements. We screen and assess movements to identify any restrictions a client may have, and weave corrective exercises into their programs to improve these limitations. We watch the client perform the assessments from a variety of angles to spot areas of compensation, imbalance, or asymmetry.
Movement Screens & Compensations
One common finding is that when a joint, or grouping of joints, lack the capacity to engage in a desired active range of motion, other joints will change their angle to accomplish the desired task. Examples: extension of the thoraco-lumbar junction during a shoulder press due to insufficient shoulder flexion, or excessive hip hinging at the bottom of a squat due to a lack of ankle dorsiflexion.
These common compensatory patterns reveal that the client lacks sufficient neuromuscular control or joint health to perform the tasks they want to. In addition to assigning specific homework to address deficiencies of highest importance (the ones most directly related to the client’s goals), it is important to address the totality of the body to ensure that all joints function optimally.
What if there was a way for your client to assess themselves every morning, and that self-assessment was part of their corrective exercise routine? What if daily use of this morning assessment routine maintained and improved active range of motion and motor control?
Controlled Articular Rotations are that morning routine.
Controlled Articular Rotations
Controlled Articular Rotations (CARs) can be defined as active, rotational movements at the outer limits of articular motion.
There are 10 major joint complexes that are covered by this daily routine. CARs take each joint, or grouping of joints, through their fullest active range of motion. It’s also a great way to warm up the body by introducing fresh synovial fluid into the joints, increasing the activity of the nervous system by facilitating afferent (sensory) feedback from the mechanoreceptors, and increasing blood flow to the muscles (joints only move because of muscle contractions).
The 10 Major CARs:
Cervical spine
Thoracic and lumbar spine
Scapulas
Shoulder
Elbows
Wrists
Hips
Knees
Ankles
Feet/Toes
The demonstration video below is at 10x speed. Scroll to the bottom for a follow-along video.
The Joint Capsule & Articular Health
The primary purpose of CARs is to send sensory information to the deepest part of the joint: the joint capsule. The joint capsule resembles a sac-like envelope that forms a sleeve around a synovial joint and encloses its cavity. It consists of two layers: an outer fibrous layer and an inner layer known as the synovial membrane. The synovial membrane produces synovial fluid that lubricates the joint. The joint capsule also seals the joint space, providing passive stability by limiting movements and producing active stability via its sensory nerve endings called mechanoreceptors.
Mechanoreceptors are specialized sensory neurons, located within the joint capsular tissue, ligaments, tendons, muscles and skin, that transmit mechanical information (such as joint rotation due to active motion or a passive positional change) into electrical signals. Stimulation of these receptors sends proprioceptive information to the brain. Proprioception is the awareness of one’s body position in space. Consistent or frequent stimulation of these mechanoreceptors (i.e., movement) produces more motor control as proprioception improves.
Articular cartilage has no blood supply. It receives oxygen and nutrients from the synovial fluid that surrounds it via diffusion. During movement, the variances in pressure provide the opportunity for the passive exchange of waste products and nutrients into and out of the cartilage cells. The health of these tissues relies on movement.
Muscular Irradiation
Muscular irradiation can be defined as the amplification of strength via the contraction of neighboring muscles. For example, if you make a fist you may only feel the contraction of muscles in the hand and forearm. Squeeze harder, the muscles of the upper arm (biceps and triceps) contract to produce more force. Squeeze even harder still, the deltoids and pecs will contract as well, producing even greater force.
Irradiation allows an individual to self-regulate how strenuous their CARs will be. High total body irradiation while performing CARs produces a training stimulus the same way traditional strength training does. Low irradiation CARs can be used as a way to stimulate the nervous system, produce more synovial fluid, and maintain articular health.
How to Perform CARs
Inhale. “Trap” the air in the lower abdomen, and breathe shallowly. (Irradiation)
Consciously stabilize all other joints in order to ensure rotation of the desired joint ONLY. (Irradiation)
Begin the rotation slowly, ensuring that the movement occurs at the outer limit of articular motion
Try to “expand the circle” on each subsequent repetition
The CARs Continuum
Daily CARs
The Swiss Army Knife of Movement
When to Perform CARs
CARs can be performed at any time of day, within any phase of a workout or training period, as often as desired. The determining factor will be how much irradiation is produced. The Morning Routine is meant to be done with low irradiation as a way to wake up the body. With moderate irradiation, CARs can be used to warm up all the joints and muscles. With high irradiation, the purpose is to build resilience and strength through the outer limits of the entire active range of motion. A single rep, max-effort hip CAR, for example, should be enough to exhaust even the fittest athlete - and usually requires proper coaching and cueing.
Who Should Perform CARs
I recommend and program CARs for every single client. CARs hit the “save button” on all of the mobility an individual can express. By going through the fullest ranges of motion for all joints on a daily basis, all of the tissues involved in those movements (bone, connective, muscle, nerve) get used and stimulated. Tissue function goes away due to lack of use or stimulation. As trainers, we know that if we do not use muscles they atrophy. This is the SAID principle. If a client uses and stimulates all those tissues responsible for movement every day, he or she will be able to utilize their fullest range of motion for as long as possible.
CARs Challenge
Here is a full follow-along video of the morning routine that I made for my clients. For individuals looking for a mobility routine that can be done literally anywhere, this is a great place to start. Dedicate 15-20 minutes every day for 30 days. Film yourself on day 1 and then again on day 30. Notice the differences in the amount of control, the range of motion expressed, and how the movements feel. Regardless of training age, biological age, body composition, gender identity, race, ethnicity, or athletic prowess, everyone can benefit from Controlled Articular Rotations.
Click below for the Daily CARs Follow-Along Video on YouTube