CARs Morning Routine
- Class Length: 20 minutes
C.A.R stands for Controlled Articular Rotations, or to put simply, controlled joint circles. Completing the CARs Morning Routine is a non-negotiable daily habit of Better Movers. Done properly and consistently, taking your joints through their greatest range of motion with CARs can help:
- Improve body control
- Increase joint awareness
- Improve and maintain joint range of motion
- Improve joint health and function
- Reduce joint pain and inflammation
- And more!
When completing them, there are a few things you need to keep in mind:
- You need to keep a low level of tension in your body (we call it “Irradiation”) to create a solid foundation. This will also help you feel the muscles work as you move through the motion.
- The top priority is to keep it relatively pain-free. Some mild discomfort or painless crunching/popping/clicking is ok, but sharp pain or pinching needs to be avoided.
- A close second for priorities is to ensure the movement is isolated to the joint you are moving. The goal is INDEPENDENT joint motion – you want to minimize and eventually eliminate movement compensations from other areas of your body.
- You want to explore the GREATEST range of motion, without sacrificing point #2 and #3.
CARs are a skill – they take practice! As Better Movers say, “consistency over everything!”