The Legacy Institute is one of two divisions at Legacy Sport & Wellness Center.

The Institute is a teaching facility that regularly hosts programming for exercise professionals and health practitioners.  Course work includes original programming – Legacy’s Professional Development Series, Practical Application Workshops, and The Legacy Experience – in addition to ELDOA™ and Myofascial Stretching Certification Courses (Guy VOYER, DO).

Course work is  organized into short, intensive modules offered throughout the year, with yearly review sessions.  This organization of the modules is designed to stimulate problem solving, provide supervised practice time, and give practitioners more in-depth exposure to the material so they can master their skill set.

The Legacy programming is for Doctors, D.O.s, PTs, trainers, coaches, or wellness, exercise and lifestyle practitioners, as well as clients who want to learn why this type of exercise works for them.

Topics for Legacy’s Professional Development Series include the following:

ELDOA™ Certification Course

The ELDOA are postural exercises (LOADS) that you can do yourself with the primary goal being to increase the space between a chosen joint.  Designed by French osteopath, Guy VOYER, DO, the ELDOA utilize myofascial stretching to put tension around a primary lesion, making it the center of  “separating forces”.  The myofascial tension creates a postural normalization in a specific joint, resulting in numerous benefits. The ELDOA Program is a 6-level, stand-alone program.

ELDOA™ Level 1 – Practical Review

How to Organize a Group Workout Specific to ELDOA 1 Postures

• Warm-Up

• Basic Progressions

• Organization of Exercises

• Cool Down

This workshop is demographic specific:  Athletes • General Population • Clients with Arthritis

ELDOA Level 2 – Practical Review

A half day or full day review can be structured to discuss and practice aspects of the Level 2 Certification Course.

Additional Workshops:

• How to Organize a Group Workout Specific to ELDOA 2 Postures

• How to Organize a Cervical Spine Workout

• How to Organize a Thoracic Spine Workout

• How to Organize a Lumbar Spine Workout

 ELDOA 1 and 2 Intensive Practical Review

The workshop reviews all of the spinal ELDOA postures and offers discussion and practice to help you better implement these tools in your practice.

ELDOA Level 3 – Practical Review

This workshop reviews all of the postures of the Ribcage and Sternum, Shoulder Complex, and Hip. There will also be discussion and practice time to help you better implement these tools in your practice.

ELDOA Level 4 – Practical Review

This workshop will review the pelvic axes as well as the ELDOA Postures for the pelvis and sacro-iliac joints. There will also be discussion and paractice time to help you better implement these tools in your practice.

Focus on ELDOA™ Level 1: How to Become an ELDOA™ Instructor

Many of the Certified ELDOA Trainers have asked how they can become an ELDOA Instructor. There is a path to achieve that goal.

Scott Herrera and Legacy Sport & Wellness Center will present a workshop in the 2019 Summer School Program addressing how to instruct a level 1 Certification Course.

In addition, there will be a Workshop on How to Organize and Instruct a Group ELDOA Workout with an emphasis on cueing and Factors of Progression.

How to Teach Group Workouts,  ELDOA, and MFS for Athletes – In this workshop, we  discuss how to organize all of the elements of a group exercise session and how to plan the session to meet the needs and goals of your athletes.  This can be arranged for pre-season, in-season, and post-season requirements.

Myofascial Stretching (MFS) Certification Course – The Myofascial Stretching Course, originally developed by Guy VOYER, DO, is now a three-level Certification Program.

 

Myofascial Stretching Level 1:  The most frequently used myofascial stretching postures

Myofascial Stretching Level 2:  Expands upon the stretching postures from Level 1 with Factors of Progression and introduces new stretches for the upper and lower limb, and trunk

Myofascial Stretching Level 3:  The theory and descriptive anatomy of the fascia and the fascial chains are key points of discussion and adaptations to the classic stretching postures in Levels 1 and 2 are taught.

For a long time now, we believed we knew how to stretch muscles, but how is it possible to stretch a muscle when it is sheathed in a “leather casing”?  Stretching a muscle is only effective once the ‘skin’ that covers it is no longer dry and retracted. Fascia is the thin ‘skin’ weaving into and surrounding structures like the muscle tissue. Myofascial stretches respect the anatomy of the muscles, their aponeuroses, and  functions. To date, the analytical study of the fascial chains allows for an incredibly effective stretch position.

Introduction to Myofascial Stretching

Course Overview: Introduction to Myofascial Stretching is a workshop designed to teach several of the most frequently used MFS postures, based upon the work of Guy VOYER, DO.

What is Myofascial Stretching? For a long time now, we believed we knew how to stretch muscles, but how is it possible to stretch a muscle when it is sheathed in a ‘leather casing’? Stretching a muscle is only effective once the ‘skin’ that covers it is no longer dry and retracted. Fascia is the ‘skin’ weaving into and surrounding structures like the muscle tissue.

Workshop Organization: In this workshop, students break into groups and organize stretching postures that respect the functions of the muscles. Group corrections are made and students discuss the anatomy and biomechanics with respect to the exercise posture. Myofascial stretching respects the anatomy of the muscles, the aponeuroses, and their functions. To date, the analytical study of the fascial chains allows for the incredibly effective stretch position.

Conclusion: Myofascial stretching is an excellent compliment to the ELDOA exercises in the ELDOA Cerification Program. This workshop is designed for students of all levels.

How to Teach a Group Myofascial Stretching Workout (Collective Class – Level 1 and Level 2) – In this course, the focus is on  how to organize all of the elements of a group MFS workout and how to plan the session to meet the needs and goals of your clients.

Practical Review of Abdominal Training – A thorough review of the abdominal training course as well as in depth practical discussion on how best to use these tools in your practice/training.

Introduction to the Squat, and How to Warm-up for a Squat Workout

There are over 100 factors of progression in the squat exercise making it one of the most neurologically challenging exercises to master. To squat properly is to manage all the axes of rotation in every joint of your body through movement. There is so much to the squat, and the different types of squat a client-sportsman should use or should avoid in their program. One squat that is universal for all people…master the gravity squat.

Integrating Your Team

Nutrition and Lifestyle – Nutrition and lifestyle are hugely important factors when considering an athletes performance and career longevity. In this module we will discuss diet, hydration, and creating a home program.

How to Integrate Global Exercise and Analytical/Segmental Training – Proprioception, Myofascial Stretching, ELDOA

Practical Review of Pumping of the Lower Limb, Upper Limb, and Trunk – With inflammation before we thought the best way to address it and all its repercussions was RICE or Cryotherapy. Now we know there are better strategies. Osteo-articular pumping is one of the modalities used to address inflammation.

ELDOA – the ELDOA are postural exercises (LOADS) that you can do yourself with the primary goal being to increase the space within a chosen articulation. As the ELDOA “create” space, there is an improvement in joint mechanics, increased blood flow, reduced pressure on the discs, a reduction of pain, spinal disc rehydration, better muscle tone, improved posture, and a sense of well-being and awareness.

The ELDOA General Group Classes are designed to enhance a client’s home program, whether that be an ELDOA program or as part of their on-going training program at Legacy.  Each class is structured to include ELDOA for each segment of the spine – lumbar, thoracic, cervical – and the exercises are beneficial to anyone and everyone taking the class.  The General Group Classes are open to Legacy Center Members and, if space permits, to non-Members wishing to drop-in for a class.

The ELDOA Specialized Group Classes are designed to focus on a specific area of the spine or a specific joint or set of  joints in the body.  They may also be formatted to enhance a specific sport, such as golf, tennis, hockey or rowing, by creating space in the areas of the body most affected by that sport.  This normalizes and reorganizes the tissue after the sport has unorganized the body.

Myo-fascial Stretching (MFS) – because a muscle is only one link in a global chain, connected to everything by fasciae.

For a long time now, we believed we knew how to stretch muscles.  However, how do we stretch a muscle when it is sheathed in a leather casing?  Stretching a muscle is only effective once the “skin” that covers it is no longer dry and retracted.  Myofascial stretching respects the anatomy of the muscles, their aponeurosis as well as their own function.  At this point, the analytical study of the fascial chains allows for an incredibly effective stretch position.

General Conditioning – General conditioning training sessions benefit everyone.  This type of exercise is a combination of Awareness and Proprioception, Muscle Strengthening exercises (analytical and global), Mao-Fascial Stretching and ELDOA postures. with emphasis on specific muscle groups.

This safe, effective training programs may vary the repetitions and number of sets based upon the level of conditioning, injury, or age of the client, but everyone receives the following benefits:

• an improved gravity line and sense of balance

• increases muscle strength for daily activities and pelvic stability

• additional flexibility and fascial suppleness

• decrease in back pain with an increase in spinal health.

Strengthening – Glutes and Abs – The gluteus muscles – glute maximus deep, glute medius, and glute minimus – act on the pelvis, hip, and knee.  They maintain the position of the pelvis, especially when standing on one foot, and play an important role as stabilizers of the hip and knee joints during standing and walking.

The abdominals muscles – transversus abdominis, internal and external oblique, and rectus abdominis – have no attachments to the spine, but move the spine.  They sidebend or ipsilaterally rotate the spine and ribcage, compress the abdomen and flex the trunk.

The muscles of the lower abdomen – obturator internus, levator ani, and coccygeus – comprise the muscles of the pelvic floor, supporting the weight of the pelvic organs.

Strengthening – Lower Limb – Whether the proximal psoas or distal tibialis anterior, there are hundreds of exercises which can solicit the proximal, distal, medial, lateral, middle, superficial or deep portions of each muscle in the lower extremities. Exercising all of these muscles strengthens and provides muscular re-enforcement of the Lower Limb.

Many muscles of the lower limb, act on the pelvic girdle and create movement of the femur.  It is necessary to create a strong, balanced set of muscles right and left in order to have good stability in the hip/pelvis region.

Strengthening – Upper Limb, Trunk & Spine – In training the Upper Limb, the goal is to move the hand.  The shoulder is the rest of the hand.  To manage the quality of the hand movement and the quality of the shoulder, there must be enforcement with lots of specific exercises.  The pecs are included in the upper limb.

You strengthen the upper limb in order to avoid the following:  carpal tunnel • tennis elbow • golf elbow • frozen shoulder • rotator cuff tear(s) • biceps tendonitis.

In strengthening the Trunk, the large spinal muscles must be trained along with the movement and support of the muscles.  The abdominals (obliques, rectus abdominis, transverse and pyramidalis) also need to be trained.  These muscles are not only functional but also aesthetic.  That is why clients learn hundreds of different exercises.

Butterfly exercises for the rhomboids are grouped with the spine not the upper body.

Strengthening – Cervical Spine – The cervical spine connects the head to the thorax.  C1 (the atlas) and C2 (the axis) have special modifications for support and movements of the skull.  C3 through C7 are more typical vertebrae, but have different shapes than the rest of the spinal vertebrae so the vertebral artery and vein may pass through.

Concussions, car wrecks, and other types of injury can wreck havoc on this area of the spine.  It is vital to have strong muscles and the maximum amount of space possible for the arteries, veins, and discs.

The ELDOA for the cervical spine are exercises that create strength and space and alleviate pain.

Strengthening – 6 + 2 Shoulder – The shoulder involves more than one joint.  It is a complex structure with two important, but somewhat contradictory roles.  It must be very flexible to allow the hand and arm the big range of motion they require.  It must provide a strong and stable fixed point for tasks like lifting heavy objects or pushing against resistance, for example.  There are many bones and muscles involved in the shoulder and when the biomechanics are wrong or repetitive movement is present, injury may occur.

6 + 2 is a series of exercises to strengthen or rehab the shoulder complex.

Abdominal Training – Abdominals are worked in flexion, side bending, rotation and positive torsion in all three groups:  supra-umbilical, sub-umbilical and hinge.  With over 100 abdominal exercises, the typical “crunch” is only one way to work the abs.  There are modifications that are taught for those with hernias or diathesis.

9 Part Abs – Peristalsis is a rhythmic and symmetrical contraction and relaxation of the colon to move waste from the body.  Often, due to dehydration, over-use of laxatives, stress, or Colitis, Crohn’s or IBS, this movement doesn’t work in the way it should.

Learning the 9-Part Abdominal Exercises can restore this function resulting in regular bowel movements, release of gas and abdominal cramping, and relief from debilitating symptoms.

The colon has different segments:  the cecum, the ascending colon, the hepatic angle, the transverse colon, the splenic angle, the descending colon, and the sigmoid colon.  In the 9-Part Abs, one “massages” each segment separately in order to enable the parts to work seamlessly as a whole.

Squat –  There are over 100 factors of progression in the squat exercise making it one of the most neurologically challenging exercises to master. To squat properly is to manage all the axes of rotation in every joint of your body through movement. There is so much to the squat, and the different types of squat a client-sportsman should use or should avoid in their program. One squat that is universal for all people…master the gravity squat.

Sauna – Sweating in a sauna has many great health benefits, including expelling of toxins, improving blood circulation, killing disease-causing microbes and improving mitochondrial function.

Research has even shown that regular sauna use correlates with a reduced risk of death from any cause, including lethal cardiovascular events, and may help stave off Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Proprioception – to rehabilitate the precise faculties of each ligament of the body in a lesional situation.

Global Postural Stretching (GPS) – which helps restore freedom of movement and comfort to a global part of the body, including bones, muscles, joints, veins, arteries, nerves, etc.

Cardiac – to improve aerobic and anaerobic capacity and power.

Pelvis & Pelvic Floor – The structural base of the spine contains three bones – sacrum, and two ilium – for a total of three joints.

The goal of pelvic floor exercises is to maintain the quality of these three joints.  The functional basement is the pelvic floor. Exercise programs for this area might include awareness of the pelvis and pelvic floor, reinforcement of the pelvis, sub-umbilical ABS and ELDOA of the Sacro-Iliac Joint (SIJ)

Legacy Quarterly Review Session – The Legacy Experience

 

Upcoming Courses at Legacy: Legacy Summer School: Dates TBA

All course work includes a review of the descriptive anatomy and biomechanics and respects the educational philosophy, “learn by doing”.

Legacy welcomes groups to our School or will travel to your location.

Contact Legacy Sport & Wellness Center for more information:
legacyperformwell@gmail.com            214-377-9115