- As we move into the off-season for golf we will be seeing more and more people wanting to start exercise programming.  It can be very tempting to jump right into strength training exercises or doing the latest exercises you have seen on social media.  However, there is definitely a progression of exercises that all individuals should go through to reduce the risk of injury and to get the most out of the programming.  If you skip steps and start doing strengthening exercises around a dysfunctional movement pattern, then you are only going to make that movement worse.  To start a foundational program, whether it's for treating an injury or just starting an exercise program, you want to follow the Three R’s.

1. Reset - This is defined by any manual intervention that helps you improve mobility or motor control with little or no active participation. This means that a reset should not be a guided exercise. Ideally, tt should be a manual procedure demonstrated by competent clinical maneuvers. These can include mobilization, manipulation, myofascial work, soft tissue work, trigger point therapies, dry needling, and any other techniques that involve kinesthetic input and manipulation or interaction with tissues.  It is easy to see how a reset can be done for the purposes of increasing mobility. However, many techniques also increase sensory input and manually heighten sensory awareness in situations of poor motor control, poor balance and poor stability.  You will get through this phase much more quickly by having a professional guide you through it.  However, techniques such as foam rolling can get you started at home. 

2. Re-Enforce - Once we have reset a region, we want to re-enforce it so that mobility and/or increased motor control stays that way.  Simple discussions about hydration, nutrition, sleeping position, ergonomic position, driving position, workout modification, footwear, etc., as well as the use of forms of biofeedback create a proper reinforcement and behavior modification that facilitates the original reset. This is done in an attempt to not have you default back to a poor or old movement pattern following a successful treatment simply by perpetuating poor habits and activities that could exacerbate pain and dysfunctional movement behavior. 

3. Reload - Lastly is reload. Reloading is the application of a corrective exercise or strengthening exercise that challenges and stresses that movement.  This is where you would start adding in your strength training exercises.  By reloading the movement pattern we can start building strength and power to the system.