Controlled Articular Rotations (CARs) became popularized through the Functional Range Conditioning (FRC) system and they are something we use in one way or another in most of our client’s programs. In general, we program hip and shoulder CARs most often, but we do occasionally program other variations, such as ankle, eye (huh?) and ear CARs (okay, not really). So, what the flim-flam (technical term) are they really, and why should you be doing them?  That’s what today’s post is all about… BAM!

 

 

CARs: not exactly what they look like

It’s easy to look at someone performing a shoulder CAR and assume they’re just doing arm circles. That’s not a shoulder CAR though, although it is a solid way to fight off ghosts if they attack you. It’s worth emphasizing the word “Controlled,” in Controlled Articular Rotations. We can think of CARs as large joint circles in which we move the desired joint with tension and control. Since we’re moving that joint with tension, then we should feel that joint working. If we feel nothing when doing them, then it could simply mean we’re moving so fast there is not control, and thus there is no tension.

 

Besides moving with control when doing CARs, it’s important to only move the joint we wish to move as well. Using a right shoulder CAR as an example, we should only have movement through the right shoulder. Imagine that as we move the right shoulder the rest of the body is turned into concrete. Feel free to dump concrete on the rest of your body if you’re worried about cheating these (please don’t actually do that, because that’s a HARD situation to get out of and not a very SOLID idea).

 

 

As you perform the motion imagine reaching to the wall in front of you, to the ceiling, and to the wall behind you as you go through the motion (think “big circle”). You’ll notice once you get your arm overhead that you eventually hit a “roadblock” and can’t move further. Once that happens simply start rotating your entire arm as you continue the circle. We usually only program these for 2 reps per side and if done right, that’s plenty.

 

The video above showcases what we don’t want happening when doing CARs.

 

Why CARs?

So, now that we established that we aren’t trying to fight off ghosts, and we’ve established a better understanding of how to do CARs, let’s discuss the reasons for using them:

1. to help us to maintain the range of motion of our joints
2. to act as a self-assessment tool because they tell us how much active range of motion we have
3. to help us develop better motor control of that joint (get better at shoulder CARs = easier to do other shoulder-y things)

 

An important aside is that CARs are not an exercise, per se, but a concept. We can perform CARs in multiple positions, so long as we stay true to the principles behind them. For example, we can do hip CARs while standing and facing a wall, while standing facing perpendicular to the wall, in a half/tall kneeling position, in quadruped, in a leopard crawl position, prone, while driving (don’t actually do that please…save your CARs for outside the car).

 

The above video shows an example of Quadruped Hip CARs and ½ Kneeling Shoulder CARs.

 

Seems like a pretty nifty concept, right? To have something that helps us maintain our range of motion, gain better control, and make us look like we’re awkwardly waving at people (for shoulder CARs at least). As with anything though, if done incorrectly we won’t get much out of them. Do them correctly and you’ll reap the benefits. To finish with some dad jokes, you should: drive slow when doing CARs, steer clear of letting other parts of the body move, and they’ll help you be successful in reaching your destination.

 

Told you they got worse…