It’s a shame to work hard at something only to end up with minimal results. It can be even more frustrating to get results and then watch them drift away. These are the problems that many people face when they work with their bodies. They work hard to improve the flexibility of their hamstrings, or their necks, or to reduce low back pain or knee pain, only to end up with miniscule results that don’t even last.
The major reason that people don’t get the results that they seek is that they don’t work on all three of the main causes of aches and pains. The three causes are lack of flexibility, lack of strength, and lack of coordination. We need all three if we are to be free of aches and pains. Most people who work on their flexibility will get a small improvement, but it won’t last. Other people who work on their strength will also get a small improvement, but it also won’t last. Only a few people work on their coordination, but even that doesn’t last. What is missing is a combined effort. We need to work on all three together.
Everyone needs to improve their flexibility. Everyone needs to improve their strength. Everyone needs to improve their coordination. But the order in which we work on these things is very important. You can’t improve the coordinated control of a region of your body if you don’t have the requisite strength to be able to control it. So you have to work on strengthening before you can work on coordination. Likewise, you can’t improve the strength of a region of the body if you don’t even have the range of motion to move the region. So flexibility must come first.
But if you only work on flexibility, then you won’t keep that flexibility. Stretching without strengthening doesn’t allow one to actually use the new range of motion in real life, so it disappears. You have to have the strength to control that new flexibility. So you need to strengthen in order to ‘lock in’ your flexibility gains. Similarly, if you only strengthen a region, then you won’t keep that strength because you won’t have the coordination to actually make use of that strength in the real world. So you have to coordinate a region of the body if you really want to keep any gains that you make.
We are left with one great solution: the FSC Sequence. That’s Flexibility - Strength - Coordination. We all need to go through this sequence whenever you’re trying to work with the body. We can’t just stretch and then call it a day. We need to stretch and then strengthen that new range of motion. But even more important than that, we need to coordinate that new range of motion so that it ‘sticks.’ We need to gain flexibility, strengthen that new flexibility, and then coordinate that new flexibility. That’s the FSC Sequence, and that’s the way to make real, long-lasting results.
For example, if you want to improve the flexibility of your hamstrings, then you need to follow the FSC Sequence. First you gently stretch your hamstring muscles, gaining a small amount of flexibility. Then you need to strengthen that new range of motion. You can do this in many ways. Squatting motions are a great way to strengthen the hamstrings. Then you need to coordinate your new flexibility and strength. You can do this by simply moving through the range of motion repeatedly in a smooth and controlled manner. You could bend down to touch your toes a number of times, slowly and smoothly coordinating the motion of your hamstrings, or you could just keep doing squats, which are great for coordinating the hamstrings as well as strengthening them. By working through the FSC Sequence in this way, you will make lasting results. This is exactly what we do on the ACTIVE100 routines. We work through the FSC Sequence for each region of the body.
If you follow the FSC Sequence, then you’ll find not only that you get better results, you’ll have long-lasting results. It’s the coordination that holds everything together. So if you want to keep it, coordinate it! But remember, you won’t have anything to coordinate if you don’t first gain some flexibility and then strengthen that flexibility. It’s the FSC Sequence that guides us to results.
The major reason that people don’t get the results that they seek is that they don’t work on all three of the main causes of aches and pains. The three causes are lack of flexibility, lack of strength, and lack of coordination. We need all three if we are to be free of aches and pains. Most people who work on their flexibility will get a small improvement, but it won’t last. Other people who work on their strength will also get a small improvement, but it also won’t last. Only a few people work on their coordination, but even that doesn’t last. What is missing is a combined effort. We need to work on all three together.
Everyone needs to improve their flexibility. Everyone needs to improve their strength. Everyone needs to improve their coordination. But the order in which we work on these things is very important. You can’t improve the coordinated control of a region of your body if you don’t have the requisite strength to be able to control it. So you have to work on strengthening before you can work on coordination. Likewise, you can’t improve the strength of a region of the body if you don’t even have the range of motion to move the region. So flexibility must come first.
But if you only work on flexibility, then you won’t keep that flexibility. Stretching without strengthening doesn’t allow one to actually use the new range of motion in real life, so it disappears. You have to have the strength to control that new flexibility. So you need to strengthen in order to ‘lock in’ your flexibility gains. Similarly, if you only strengthen a region, then you won’t keep that strength because you won’t have the coordination to actually make use of that strength in the real world. So you have to coordinate a region of the body if you really want to keep any gains that you make.
We are left with one great solution: the FSC Sequence. That’s Flexibility - Strength - Coordination. We all need to go through this sequence whenever you’re trying to work with the body. We can’t just stretch and then call it a day. We need to stretch and then strengthen that new range of motion. But even more important than that, we need to coordinate that new range of motion so that it ‘sticks.’ We need to gain flexibility, strengthen that new flexibility, and then coordinate that new flexibility. That’s the FSC Sequence, and that’s the way to make real, long-lasting results.
For example, if you want to improve the flexibility of your hamstrings, then you need to follow the FSC Sequence. First you gently stretch your hamstring muscles, gaining a small amount of flexibility. Then you need to strengthen that new range of motion. You can do this in many ways. Squatting motions are a great way to strengthen the hamstrings. Then you need to coordinate your new flexibility and strength. You can do this by simply moving through the range of motion repeatedly in a smooth and controlled manner. You could bend down to touch your toes a number of times, slowly and smoothly coordinating the motion of your hamstrings, or you could just keep doing squats, which are great for coordinating the hamstrings as well as strengthening them. By working through the FSC Sequence in this way, you will make lasting results. This is exactly what we do on the ACTIVE100 routines. We work through the FSC Sequence for each region of the body.
If you follow the FSC Sequence, then you’ll find not only that you get better results, you’ll have long-lasting results. It’s the coordination that holds everything together. So if you want to keep it, coordinate it! But remember, you won’t have anything to coordinate if you don’t first gain some flexibility and then strengthen that flexibility. It’s the FSC Sequence that guides us to results.
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