HOW TO INCREASE YOUR STRENGTH BY USING YOUR EYES

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PUT DOWN THE BARBELL AND PICK UP THE PENCIL!

Kidding, not kidding.

The eyes aren’t just the “window to the soul”. They are the windows to reflexive or inhibitory movement! The eyes are connected to specific muscles that contribute to how we move our bodies, hold our posture and maintain our balance and stability.

Have you noticed that most of our population wears glasses? Glasses are amazing at supporting those with vision deficits indeed but how many people walk away from an eye exam with exercises? You wouldn’t leave a Physical therapy appointment without a home program or you wouldn’t go to a personal trainer without being worked out, would you?

Why are the eye muscles any less important than your biceps? Having strong arms are great, but strong arms paired with power and coordination is even better…thanks to those eyes of yours!

HOW MANY MUSCLES ARE INVOLVED IN MOVING THE EYES?

Did you know that there are 6 super important extraocular (outside the eye) muscles of which each performs multiple actions? A pretty nifty trick to be able to multitask movements in all different firing patterns…thanks to those eyes of yours!

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EYE MOVEMENTS THAT IMPROVE YOUR STRENGTH

Did you know that there are 4 patterns of reflexes that you learn while you were developing as an infant that relied on eye patterns and we utilize them ALL THE TIME without realizing it? For example, looking up reflexively contracts your back body muscles, cueing your entire posterior chain that it is about to be extended. Watch an infant…their first developmental milestone is to lift their head which then triggers their back muscles to engage which eventually turns on the power to push up to all 4s than to crawl, etc.

CHALLENGE YOUR STRENGTH WITH THIS EYE TEST

Try this:

Sit in a chair.

Look down with your eyes.

Try to stand up.

Notice how it feels to push through your feet and use your glutes to stand.

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Sit back down.

Look up with your eyes.

Try to stand up.

Notice if it feels any easier to engage your back body and glutes to stand.

HOW DOES USE OF MY EYES AFFECT MY OVERALL STRENGTH?

Looking down might help you feel more balanced but it does reflexively inhibit the natural extension pattern. An interesting concept when training balance and coordination.

I’m working on a really exciting project…stay tuned to learn more…help for all WORK FROM HOME and DESK WORKERS. The forgotten ones suffering the most over this pandemic.

Comment if you tried the challenge above. What did you notice?