Originally published on BAFL.biz on November 23, 2016 By Loretta McGrath
Body Alignment For Life
-Injury prediction and prevention software-
Body Alignment for Life (BAFL) is a patented injury prediction and prevention web-based program that has the ability to identify and pinpoint potential repetitive stress injuries that can occur on the job, in a sport or in every day activities by testing an individual’s body in all range of motion.
The key is knowing your baseline of flexibility, or lack of flexibility, and in what areas. The Body Alignment For Life (BAFL) software guides the user on how to grade their range of motion in all ranges, then it generates a detailed report telling the user where they are weak, tight and imbalanced. BALF also detects what areas might be compensating because of old injuries. It’s like your body’s musculoskeletal system blue print! The software can be applied to an individual or the individual can apply it to oneself.
This image is a normal imbalance pattern for a desk job.
Having this knowledge with my clients has allowed me to focus on the areas that need attention as to not waste time on areas that are not of concern. The software allows the user to understand how to work their most important target areas so they can reach their goals faster. It also allows the user to see what areas are at risk and what areas could become injured with these imbalances.
The first question I ask is, “What are your goals?” BALF asks the same question. It might be that they want to be able to bend down and tie their own shoes in the morning, or sit cross-legged, do the splits, lift heaver, run faster or just be out of pain. This question allows the user to focus on the data in different reports on the software.
First, we need to find out why you CAN’T do the things you want to do physically. The range of motion (ROM) assessment findings will print out reports on what your flexibility is currently and gives you a baseline on where you are now so you have a guided plan to reach your goals. The report findings even show what areas are imbalanced and what can lead to compensations within a particular movement. These are all important pieces of information for an individual or even a person being hired to do a particular job. The person has the ability to plan ahead and prevent an injury instead of taking action after the fact.
With the reports you can visually see how the body is reacting to past injuries or trauma, even an imbalance you could have had from birth. Many imbalances are hereditary, but some come from growth spurts because bone grows faster than muscle. The muscle does not have time to lengthen with the sudden burst of strain pulling on the tissue and reacts by tightening in an area to protect it, sometimes it never really recovers. This is why I am a huge advocate of youth stretching; this is a must during these times for healthy muscle growth.
If the user is doing the assessment by themselves then an instructional video series will be available for that person to download and apply the corrective program personally. If the assessment is applied to the person by a stretch therapist then the therapist will apply the corrective program to that individual while they lie on a massage table and relax. It is up to that person to decide what is best for them.
So again the key is to find out what is stopping you from physically doing a movement. Then we work backward by finding imbalanced areas, work diligently on those areas by strengthening in their full range and stretching the areas that are tight.
Learn more: www.BAFL.BIZ
Visit us: www.BodyAlignmentForLife.com
www.DynamicBodyStretching.com