Tag: core exercises

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Whether you sit at a computer, shovel snow, lift sandbags or play hockey in Winnipeg, your back pain is probably the result of tight hip flexors

yourPhysio anatomy lesson first; your hip flexors are the dominant muscle in the ‘knee to chest’ action. Anatomically known as your; Iliacus, Psoas Major and Minor, and your Quadratus Lumborum, these muscles are attached to your hip, to your lower back and your pelvis. Consequently, when overused or tight they can reconfigure your lumbar spine, throw out your hip and back, affect your sacro-iliac joint, and change your biomechanics thoroughly.

Even though stretching is essential for all muscle work, it can actually be damaging if not done properly. When you stretch without warming up your muscles, it increases your likelihood of injury, as you are trying to stretch a cold muscle. So before you stretch, make sure you warm up; walk in place, cross-train, and increase the blood flow into your muscles so you can prevent an injury. As a physiotherapist, I do commonly advise patients to hold a stretch for 20-30 seconds, but why? The reason is because our muscles have a protective reflex to avoid over extension or contraction. When you are stretching your muscle, the muscle spindles, which are the components that produce contraction, activate a reflexive pathway which causes them to shorten in order to compensate for the stretch (called the myotatic reflex). This is what causes your leg to kick out when you tap your knee.

Knee Reflex

There are two main types of stretching: dynamic and static. Static stretching is what we just talked about, which is a stretching routine that includes holding 30 second stretches for specific muscles. When using static stretching before a sport that requires you to use specific muscles to initiate specific movements, it is hard to relate static stretches to dynamic activity. This is where dynamic stretching comes in. Dynamic stretching is designed to mimic the actions and movements you are expected to perform during a specific sport. For example, this would include kicking around a soccer ball in warm-up before a soccer game, so your body can get accustomed to activating the required muscles. That way, your muscles can make the necessary preparations to prevent injury, as playing a sport requires many specific dynamic and explosive movements.

Starting blocks

For your hip flexors, I teach a ‘dynamic lunge’; such that your hip flexors, quadriceps and pelvic muscles are used within the stretch. If you add Kegel exercises to this movement, the pelvic floor muscles are activated more and a greater effort can be applied to this core stretch. Remember those pre-natal classes guys? A patient was recently surprised to know that guys can do Kegels too! Guys are equipped with those same pelvic floor muscles and ladies should appreciate these efforts, as do the men!
Overall, stretching is very beneficial for movements involved in a regular day, and those involved in heavy labor, repetitive activity and sports. Therefore, it should be a priority for everyone to incorporate some sort of stretching into their daily routine (after warming up of course!), in order to maintain optimal functionality.  Flexibility is a highly underappreciated component of muscular strength and function, but key to good performance at work, home and recreation.

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Core training not just for your abs, improve your sitting posture, prevent back pain by Physiotherapy Winnipeg

We’ve all heard physios, chiros, docs and fitness experts claim that core training is important for overall fitness and health. Health clubs offer core training exercise groups and physiotherapists recommend it for those recovering from spinal injury. Your core is the collection of muscles that stabilize the spine, this includes the hips, pelvis, abdominals, lower back, mid-back, and neck regions of the body. These muscles are extremely important in all sports, so why do so many ‘office athletes’ that basically sit for a living overlook core training?

The reason most people skimp on this vital part of their workout is because the benefits are simply overlooked.

Benefits of core training:

It’s important to note that performing a few crunches is not proper core training. As a matter of fact, I recommend that these be avoided for much of a lower back stabilization program. We simply just do not need any more ‘flexion’ in our daily routine; you sit most of your day!

Since your core involves many different muscles groups, a variety of exercises are needed to ensure you work them all; some exercises to explore include, but are not limited to, lunges, bridges, planks, and crunches. Every patient learns how to properly stretch their hip flexors, the ‘culprit’ muscle that usually guards when the ligaments are sprained in the lower back.

Pilates and Yoga classes are also excellent for strengthening your core muscles while also improving balance and posture. Check out Pilates Manitoba as they are offering 50% off their introductory classes for first-time participants.
When your core is strong, your whole body works better. Core training isn’t just for athletes, it’s for anyone who would like to have their body working at its greatest potential. For anyone just starting an exercise program, be sure to talk to yourPhysio first.

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Winnipeg, have you heard? Sitting is bad for you…solutions by Physiotherapy Winnipeg, yourPhysio.com

Winnipeg, by now you know you probably know that sitting down all day is terrible for you. As computer hardware and software accelerate the ‘web 3.0’, we can do more than ever before from a sitting position. Ergonomics is no longer a foreign word, and our ‘core’ exercises need to be performed everyday!

Who needs scientists to tell you that sitting for even one hour causes the production of fat-burning enzymes to decline a whopping 90%, or that more than four hours of desk time each day raises your risk of a heart attack by more than 100%?

You can feel exactly how crappy sitting all day makes you feel at the end of each workday; though you may be shocked to learn that being a regular gym-goer doesn’t protect you from the harmful effects of all that sitting. Standing up more is scientifically proven to have huge health benefits, but in our digital world it’s not as simple as it sounds. Here’s how to make the switch to an upright workday.

Try the latest DIY option, I have had so many patients describe their attempts at raising their work surface by box, crate, home-made devices, etc. I’m sure you could find the latest ‘how-to-video’ on YouTube to get an idea as to how to produce something for your workstation. Ergonomic clients of yourPhysio.com have purchased electronic and hydraulic ‘sit-stand’ workstations to allow their employees the postural variety that may be necessary for back pain, hip strains or knee sprains. These rehabs require movement throughout the day, and consistent changes in posture is a great place to start.

Invest in an ‘anti-fatigue’ mat, change your shoes every 6-8 months or try an over-the-counter orthotic to replace those worn insoles. You may require a doctor’s note to have orthotics covered by your insurance plan, but it is an employment benefit; so benefit!

Tweak your ergonomics, hire an ergonomic consultant for an hour and learn the proper way, not only how to sit, but how to perform your job so that it will not cause pain. Ask questions about posture, exercise and equipment available to make any task easier and less painful.