Anatomy in Motion (AIM)

Our Approach To Anatomy In Motion (AIM)

Anatomy in Motion is a new way of looking at the relationship between how your body moves and resulting pain. The system was developed by UK expert in human movement and anatomy, Gary Ward. His philosophy is simple: the human body is the ultimate healer. In developing AIM, Gary’s goal was to bring the body into alignment and create an environment in which the healing can begin.

At Urban Wellness Clinic, we understand the importance of working from the ground up. Using the Anatomy in Motion philosophy, we assess your feet, looking at factors such as how you position them, how you shift your weight, and how you strike while walking and running. These factors allow our practitioners to see how your feet affect the rest of your body and your natural movements.

Benefits Of Anatomy In Motion (AIM):

Tracking movement through Anatomy in Motion exercises helps our practitioners locate your center of gravity to improve your posture and balance. It teaches you how your feet affect your entire posture and how you move. We can then modify your gait to adjust for pain-free movement.

• Locates your center of gravity to improve balance
• Teaches you how your feet affect your entire posture and how you move
• Modifies your gait for pain-free movement

Often times, after an injury the body develops an altered center of gravity to compensate. The body can maintain this altered center for years, which can lead to further joint and muscle pain down the line. AIM used gentle movement that patients can perform anywhere to help to reset their center and achieve movement patterns they were previously unable to access.

Who Can Benefit from AIM?

Utilizing AIM therapy, we are able to look at people with chronic pain in a new light to help them overcome. The therapy practice can also be beneficial to anyone recovering from a foot or leg injury. Finally, AIM can help runners who are hoping to elevate their training and run at an elite level.

• Someone with chronic pain
• Someone who is overcoming a foot or leg injury
• An elite level runner

Every joint in the human body moves in under a second during its gait cycle. A practitioner can learn a lot about a patient’s body by analyzing their gait and understanding which joints should be moving at each phase of gait. Based on this information, our practitioners are able to see breakdowns in movement that most doctors aren’t even aware of.

Your Visit

During your visit to the Urban Wellness Clinic for Anatomy in Motion therapy, we will be focusing on the basics. We record your natural walk on your phone, without shoes, and off a treadmill. Observing gait on a treadmill tends to skew the results and oftentimes everyone looks like they are overpronating or rolling inward. We observe your gait patterns and the way your feet strike the ground, to see how asymmetries and old injuries travel up the kinetic chain to the top of your spine. We look to see if you are shifting equally on each foot, and if your injury is related to how you are walking. Often times an old injury will be exacerbated by walking and will show up in a gait assessment when it didn’t show up laying horizontal on a treatment table. That’s why we love to assess gait using Anatomy in Motion.

Once we’ve completed the filmed assessment, we design specific anatomy in motion exercises to help you find your center and get you moving properly. This treatment is especially effective for runners and those struggling with chronic foot injuries like plantar fasciitis, calf strain, or IT band syndrome.