Pritikin Longevity Center and Spa
TAG Team
When it comes to muscle and bone, you don't want to be an interesting case, says Frank Musumeci, the physical therapist who does "biomechanical muscular evaluation" at the Pritikin Longevity Center and Spa in Aventura, Florida. "Interesting" means that Musumeci is finding postural anomalies, asymmetries, hypo- or hypermobile joints, or crepitus — an ominous-sounding word that refers to crunching or crackling when the joints move. (If this corporeal music accompanies pain, inflammation, or loss of motion, it's usually a sign of abnormal mechanics.)
Unfortunately, there are a lot of interesting characters out there. "As a baby boomer myself, I see so many of this generation aging and developing similar pathologies," says Musumeci. "There's an anatomical position called "pelvic neutral" that we strive for — it's the foundation for the normal curve of the spine and spaces between the vertebrae. The pelvis, which is made of three large bones, can get out of alignment pretty easily — often because of improper training — and that will change many things biomechanically, such as the whole base of support for the lumbar spine. It's what we call an iatrogenic problem, meaning the treatment causes the problem: People are exercising the wrong way.
"I see people constantly getting injured by weight lifting — it's what I call the "mirror muscle" syndrome: They train looking in the mirror. When was the last time you heard people talk about strengthening their rhomboids? They want to do their pecs and abs. We're exercising as we did in our 20s, but these exercises are fostering poor posture and causing more cervical dysfunction. We're getting kyphotic — that's a rounded-shoulder appearance, and it's one of the most common reasons for people in their 40s and 50s to develop upper back and neck pain."
The Pritikin evaluation starts with a PMH — past medical history — because Musumeci knows from personal experience (a serious motorcycle accident and many subsequent surgeries) that at a certain point in life, we are the sum of our wear and tear. Working with partner Tom Fletcher and speaking in what sounds like the private language of twins, Musumeci examines shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, ankles, and feet, measuring extension, flexion, rotation, abduction, gait, tracking, mobility, and balance. I don't learn until after the hour-long session that it's very good to hear the acronym WNL — within normal limits. "We see what we can find by being methodical," he says. "Is the problem ergonomic, genetic, a past injury, an exercise routine? We're trying the get the mosaic, we're hunting and looking, and where there's smoke, there's fire."
After the evaluation, clients receive take-home diagrams of "prescription exercises" — customized preventive and corrective routines that employ "impingement-free angles," meaning the movement doesn't restrict or constrict the joints. The exercises are designed to avoid re-inflaming sensitive areas and to slow degenerative effects.
"By the time we're in the 40-to-60 age bracket, we all should have different goals," says Musumeci. "If you're hypermobile — what used to be called double-jointed — should you work on stretching? Probably not. If you're a skier, you need to strengthen the hamstrings, which are going to provide secondary strength for your joints. Joints have both static stabilizers (meaning the joint capsule and cartilage) and secondary stabilizers (meaning the muscles around the joint). We can't strengthen the static stabilizers, but working on the secondary stabilizers can decrease the possibility for injury."
The biomechanical musculoskeletal evaluation ($285), one of the most illuminating spa experiences I've ever had, is an optional part of the weeklong Pritikin Program ($3,000≠$7,600, single occupancy; $5,000≠$9,200, double occupancy). See the September-October 2004 Spa Rx for a detailed explanation. 19735 Turnberry Way, Aventura, FL 33180, 800-327-4914, www.pritikin.com
Aimee Lee Ball is the co-author, with Liz Tilberis, of No Time to Die (Little, Brown), a memoir of the former Harper's Bazaar editor's life in fashon and battle with ovarian cancer.
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