The BEST Training Method You Are Missing Out On For Strength, Stability, & Mobility
2025-03-22
People love to argue if you could only do ONE exercise what would it be? I often think these are silly because even if you were stranded on an island with just your bodyweight, you would still perform more than one exercise (especially if it helped you swim off the island better). Yet, I understand people want to know with the time and energy they have, what SHOULD they spend their time doing?
We have LOTS of blogs that go over many of those answers, but I think one that keeps flying under the radar is that of diagonal patterns. Rarely will you hear about these ideas because their target is not to hit any one muscle, but they ARE amazing examples of true functional training. How do I mean?
In the 1940’s physician and neurologist named Herman Kabat began using proprioceptive techniques on younger individuals with cerebral palsy and other neurological conditions. What he discovered was by stimulating the distal segments (like the hands/wrists during arm movements), the proprioceptors in the more proximal segments became stimulated (the core muscles become increasingly more active).
The goal was to help and create movement in areas where the neurological system has been compromised. His techniques were based on Sherrington’s principles of irradiation, reciprocal innervation and inhibition (got all those, in other words really well founded principles of how the nervous system controls our muscles). These concepts refer to the rhythmic and reflexive actions that lead to coordinated motion. Our body is NOT this one muscle contracts then this one and so forth.
One of the keys to what are known as PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) is to get the muscles of the body to work in a more synergistic manner. Many may have seen these concepts tried to be borough to the gym environment through the use of lifts/chops. However, in DVRT we bring in MORE ways to use these strategies than JUST lifts/chops and we make lifts/chops better as we will discuss.
The Chop and Lift Reconsidered: Integrating Neuromuscular Principles into Orthopedic and Sports Rehabilitation.
However, I know that people are curious that will these funny looking movements actually make them stronger and perform better? After all, these drills are not going to get you a “pump” in any specific muscle or area and often are using smaller weights. What does the research say?
One study found that compared to bench press and leg press training, PNF patterns created more strength in the elbow and knee extensors (both areas that bench and leg presses target) as well as improved athletic skills as tossing a ball and vertical jump height (PMID: 18802264).
Another study found that PNF patterns decreased pain and improved function in people with chronic low back pain better than more familiar core exercises like a bird dog and abdominal crunch (PMID: 30361077).
We could keep going so I hope you see that there is A LOT of research on how these patterns can be so powerful. However, we have to address not just moving in a diagonal pattern is all the same. As you see below doing a kettlebell (same goes for dumbbell() version of a lift/chop and an Ultimate Sandbag version is VERY different. The kettlebell brings our hands together and puts our arms in a position that actually activates more of the arms and shoulders rather than the core and other synergistic muscles that help create stability.
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When we pull the outside of the Ultimate Sandbag apart, we gain activation of the lats/core which produces a VERY different effect. You can see that we can use these strategies in lots of different ways from foundational core based work to more advanced power training. Most don’t realize that our MAX lunges and hinges are ALSO PNF patterns.
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The addition our Mobility Balls have also expanded what we could do with PNF patterns. They allow us to increase the versatility and the stability levels because we can go more single arm and reduce the amount of tension we create. Plus, our Mobility Balls are designed to be used with our Myofascial Integrated Movement system that uses PNF patterns not just in the upper body but the lower body as well like in our silk reeling movements.
Your workout programs don’t need to be ALL PNF patterns, but they should look for ways to incorporate them into your warm-up, core, or main strength training programs. When you do, you will be training stability, mobility, strength, all at once while improving the efficiency of your nervous system. This all means greater overall fitness and performance improvements.
PNF patterns and their impact on stability, mobility, and strength in different levels of progressions are going to be a key point we break down in our upcoming Chronic Pain Masterclass. Don’t miss the LAST week to get a discount on this CEU online event with code “pain” HERE
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