Battle Of Your Breathe
In the clinic, we often get questions about how to avoid injuries and manage low back or neck pain. This blog will cover the functional implications that a faulty breathing mechanism can have on your body. Function vs Action Muscles have both actions and functions. During a movement that muscle can be asked to do either of these and it is often a sliding scale between one and the other. For example. If we choose your Gluteus Medius which is a muscle on the side of your hip that is commonly training by doing clamshells or hip abductions. For these exercises, your Gluteus Medius is being trained for its action. The action is abduction (lifting your leg out to the side) of the hip and external rotation. Because that muscle is not a very common movement you do day to day, let’s think about how the muscle moves when we are walking. The Gluteus Medius has the function of stabilising the lateral hip when you are walking. Meaning you can walk smoothly through your walking. Definitions Function: How muscles behave when we walk and breathe. Action: How muscles behave when we move the origin to insertion. So what happens when […]
What Is Causing Your Knee Pain?
Have you ever had knee pain that you do not know what is causing it and it keeps coming back? This blog will help you to understand what sort of knee pain you have and what is driving your pain. A lot of people develop knee pain while barbell training or playing sport but do not have a clear understanding of what is causing the pain. The common conditions we will cover today are: Illiotibial band Sydrome Patellofemoral Compression Syndrome Biomechanical Dysfuntion Patellar Tendinopathy Iliotibial Band Syndrome: The IT band is a thick band of fascia that starts at the hips and runs the entire length of your upper leg. The pain usually is on the outside of your knee. The reason for the pain is the compression caused by the thick IT band compressing on the bony part of the outside of your knee. Normally you will not get it from a specific incident but will gradually come on overtime. The pain can start as a dull ache and then progress into a sharp pain. Patellofemoral Compression Syndrome/ Biomechanical Dysfunction: If you have pain on your knee cap or underneath it is most likely down to a compression problem […]
How To Get A Stronger Squat (An Easy Test)
Recently in the clinic, we got asked if you should squat with your toes straight or turned out in the gym. This is a common question people ask themselves and understanding the link between both these squats will help you to produce a stronger squat and avoid injuries. Toes Forward: A squat is one of the main movements you do day to day, but then can also be used as an exercise. In the clinic when we screen patients and assess your squat the aim is to see the quality of your squat as a movement, rather than an exercise. Squatting with your feet pointing forwards is more challenging than with your feet pointing out. To squat to a full depth with your feet pointing forwards you must have three things: Good ankle mobility Good hip mobility Pelvic and core stability Your balance will also play a role in this and if you are more dominant on one side or the other. With your toes pointed outwards it is easier to squat to depth with an upright chest. If you have a poor bodyweight squat and you play sports this will impact movements such as jumping and then landing. A […]
Which Stretch Is Best?
When you were training for sports in your P.E classes, you were most likely told to hold your hamstring and groin stretches several seconds before starting your training session. This static stretching is very popular and is a common routine in any athletes routine. But more recently if you ask a medical professional or coach about stretching before your workout you will likely get a different answer. So why is some advice to stretch before working out and other advice is to stretch after your workout? We will cover the reasons behind this in today’s blog. To start, there are different kinds of stretching. These are listed below: Static Stretching: This is this most common stretching that people think of. For example, if bend over to touch your toes and hold the position, you are performing static stretching. Passive: This is when someone else moves your body into a stretch and proceeds to hold the tension while you are relaxed. Dynamic: This is a controlled movement into the stiff position. The best way to think about it is performing a deep squat or lunges. Ballistic: This involves using your bodies momentum to bounce in and out of stiffness. It’s not […]
Fixing Plantar Fasciitis And Other Foot Injuries: Part 2
In the previous blog, we talked about what causes Plantar Fasciitis and other foot conditions. This blog will cover how to resolve your foot pain. If you have not checked out part one of this blog series then go to our website to read all about it. A major issue that is a common cause of foot pain is footwear. By changing this we can cause a long term decrease in your symptoms. Firstly finding a shoe that has a very small heel and that has a wide toe box to allow your toes to sufficiently spread out. The less a shoe does to your foot, the better it is for your foot. Then as you walk during the day the muscles in your foot will strengthen. There are lots of brands to choose from when picking a barefoot shoe for example Vivobarefoot, Bearfoot Athletics, Lems, Xero and Feelgrounds. Finding brands that blend foot function with fashion will help your transition. If you do not wear barefoot shoes often then you may not be ready for a complete jump to barefoot shoes. For example, if you could not swim you would not jump in at the deep end straight away. […]
Understanding Plantar Fasciitis And Other Foot Injuries: Part 1
Foot injuries can be frustrating because they affect you constantly in the day. It hurts to run, jump, squat, getting up in the morning and can stop you from doing activities you love. A common condition people are diagnosed with is plantar fasciitis. The plantar fascia is a thick sheet of connective tissue that lies on the bottom of your feet. It runs from the inner part of your heel and spreads under your foot, attaching to the base of your toes. The function is to act as a shock absorber for the arch of your foot when moving. Imagine the plantar fascia as a rubber band. When you are not standing up the rubber band is relaxed. But as the foot hits the ground when walking or running, it is pulled taut. This is useful for two reasons. Maintains your foot arch. Allows the foot to be more rigid allowing the body to push off the ground propelling itself forward more efficiently. Imagine you are trying to run through quicksand. It is hard to push off and gather speed because you have not got a firm surface to push off. But the plantar fascia creates an effect in the […]
What To Do With Shoulder Pain
Shoulder pain is a common issue for a lot of people either in day to day life or when they are training. One of the most common conditions is shoulder impingement. To prevent shoulder impingement it is important to have strength and endurance in a muscle called the Serratus Anterior. In movements such as putting something up on a shelf or exercises such as an overhead press, this muscle activates and makes sure that your shoulder blade moves correctly and that your shoulder joint is stabilised in a correct position. If your Serratus Anterior is weak or if it gets tired quickly then it can cause unwanted movement in the shoulder joint and lead to an impingement in the shoulder. So what exercises can we do to strengthen the Serratus Anterior and also stabilise your shoulder? Half-Kneeling To Overhead Press A bottoms under kettlebell press is an excellent stability based exercise for the shoulder and this movement carries over to alot of movements you perform in the gym and daily life. Start with both knees bent with the kettlebell in the front rack position. Then keeping your core engaged drive up and bring your leg in front of you. It […]
Picking Your Best Training Shoe
When weight training, choosing the right shoe may help you break any personal records and improve performance. When you go into the gym you will see a wide variety of shoes. From bright coloured Nike and Adidas shoes to old school Converses or Metcons and Nanos. This brings us to the point of this blog post, you would not pick a pair of rugby boots to go and play tennis. Shoes are built for set purposes and you should understand what your shoe can do for you and your training goals before you go to the gym to make sure you have the right one on. Having A Stable Foot Your foot is your foundation when performing any weightlifting movement. If your foot is not stable then you will not have a solid base to generate force and power for your movements. Even though your foot is very mobile it has the ability to be in a stable position by being in a neutral arched position. So your choice of footwear must integrate this foot position. Barefoot Shoes Firstly the barefoot shoe. These shoes provide the feeling of training barefoot but still offer some degree of support for your foot. […]
Knees Over Toes When Squatting?
This blog will cover a common myth of the squat. It is commonly thought by many that the knees should never go over the toes when squatting. No one is certain where this originated from but it has become a common theme in the fitness industry and medical world. But, is it really a dangerous thing to do? For Olympic weightlifters to be able to lift the most amount of weight during their clean, they must catch the barbell in a deep squat position. Then in order to remain upright with the bar secured on the chest, the knees of many lifters will move past their toes. So does this mean all weightlifters are placing their knees in harms-way when they get under the barbell? When you squat poorly, the origin of the movement will commonly be from the ankles first. This means as the ankles move the knees are forced to hinge forwards. This creates a chain reaction of moving your weight onto the balls of the feet. This is called a knees first approach to squatting. Doing this in this way leads to greater shear forces on the knee joint and contributes to increased risk of injury and […]
No Pain, No Gain?
Currently, people will do anything to compete and perform at their best. When it comes down to game day, it is common for people to try and ignore their pain and then push through it. This goes back to the phrase we have been told from when we were young of ‘No pain, no gain’. In the world today, no pain, no gain is frequently said and acted upon to cover up pain. We wrap our ankles and wrists before games, wear knee sleeves and take pain killers and use creams to get through training by keeping the pain at a low enough level in order to perform. Although this allows us to compete on a consistent basis but these temporary solutions for dealing with pain during competition and even training sessions have become regular occurrences for people during their routines. So what can be the effects of pushing through pain? Pain tells us that there may be injury occurring to the body. The type of pain can vary from sharp, stabbing or throbbing sensation. Pain can be muscular or you could be feeling it in a joint. It often occurs due to overuse, poor technique and inflammation. It is […]
