The acronym CAR stands for CONTROLLED ARTICULATION ROTATIONS. An articulation is a fancy name for a joint in human anatomy language. An anatomy CAR is an exercise of an isolated circular movement of a singular joint.
A CAR exercise is designed to take a joint through its greatest range of motion to accomplish any of the following:
1. CARs can be used to exercise a full movement pattern within a joint and help to stimulate adaption towards stronger and freer movement of that joint.
2. CARs can be used as a “warm-up”, "opening up" the joint and allowing freer access to mobility range for upcoming movement activities.
3. CARs can be used for “firing up” neuron pathways for quicker movement response (reaction time) in the upcoming activity.
4. Finally, CARs can be a good measuring tool, used to test one’s progress in mobility over time.
CARs are an effective tool that should be included in all mobility strength programs, whether you are a young athlete, an "old" athlete, a pro athlete, an active “everyday human”, or an active senior.
To help you learn how to perform some CAR exercises, check out the following video below:
(FYI: This video is fairly lengthy (14 min) and gives instructions for a whole series of CARs starting at the neck and working downward through each joint ending at the toes. Keep this order in mind if you are looking for a specific joint CAR (ie. knee CAR)so you can fast-forward to search for what you need more easily)
If you have any further questions on CARs and how to use them effectively to complement your mobility strength program don’t hesitate to contact me or any Alliance coach. Thanks for reading!
Sara Gillis
Alliance Coach
sara.a.gillis@gmail.com
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