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Tag: injury

Back doing Massage in Gloucester, Newent and Cheltenham


Hadn't realised how long it had been since my last update, so thought I thought I best get posting again!

Just like that we are nearly half way through May! It has been busy for me being back to normal with massage and injury treatment but light is at the end of the tunnel. 


With the joys of lockdown, I've also managed to complete my new training on the cervical spine and the jaw (really handy for tension headaches)


Lockdown and treatment wise I'm now back to normal seeing everyone! So if you've been putting off getting booked in now you have no excuses!!


Just a reminder of where I offer my massage and injury treatment:

  • Gloucester
  • Newent
  • Cheltenham
  • Tewkesbury
  • Forest of Dean


For those of you I have not seen recently, my referral offer is back on for May, so if anybody knows someone who has mentioned an injury or pain the past few months feel free to pass this onto them. They will thank you in the long run, plus it gets you both a great discount as well 

😊

My 1st Principle Of Lower Back Pain

​When we are in pain, certain muscles in our body subconsciously shut down; this is no different with our lower back muscles.

The more pain that you are in, the more your body will protect itself by limiting muscle activity in and around that area.


This means your performance, whether it be out on the pitch, in the gym or bending down to pick up something you’ve dropped, is automatically influenced and hindered if you have lower back pain.


If you have sustained a recent lower back injury, don’t be afraid to apply ice to this area for 15-20 minutes. Remove the ice for about an hour, and then reapply again.


Icing obviously won’t completely solve the issue, but it will help manage your back pain to begin with in the acute stage.


If you would like help with your own pain not just lower back pain. contact me on here using the messaging tool or give me a ring on 07759689612 to help you get back on your way to become Fully Fit!

Below is what one of my clients has said about how I helped him get Fully Fit!

When we are in pain, certain muscles in our body subconsciously shut down;
this is no different with our lower back muscles.
The more pain that you are in, the more your body will protect itself by limiting
muscle activity in and around that area.
This means your performance, whether it be out on the pitch, in the gym or
bending down to pick up something you’ve dropped, is automatically in?uenced
and hindered if you have lower back pain.
If you have sustained a recent lower back
injury, don’t be afraid to apply ice to this
area for 15-20 minutes. Remove the ice
for about an hour, and then reapply again.
Icing obviously won’t completely ?x the
issue, but it will help manage your back
pain to begin with in the acute stage.
Injury Treatment review


​L. Brymner

​Recreational Gym User

​​I had suffered a bad strain from the gym in my upper back trap area and was very immobile and causing me tension headaches. Rob managed to source the problem and relieve some of the soreness and get me on the road to recovery my back and neck were back too 100% within a couple of days and I was back in the gym, could not recommend rob more if you've got any pains or long lasting injuries I'd highly suggest you see Rob! Lewis

The 1# Cheat To Improve Your Squat

​Wouldn't you love to buy a bit of kit that would help you improve your squat ten fold?

Sounds too good to be true doesn't it?

Well.... this cheat is lifting shoes!

​How Do They Work?


Lifting shoes angle your foot so it is resting in a slight bit of plantarflexion (i.e movement of pushing your accelerator to the floor)

It does this by having a slight heel of around 2 to 2.5cm.

This slight heel increases plantarflexion by 3.5 degrees to 5 degrees, this then makes it feel like your dorsiflexion has increased. However it is more of an illusion as instead of your foot starting of flat it starts of slightly plantarflexed


​Conclusion


So if you are too lazy too follow my previous blog posts on fixing your squat this is a perfect cheat to help you squat a lot better by just changing your shoes!

If you aren't happy 'cheating' and want to improve your squat without relying on some magic shoes book in with me today to help you get on track and fully fit... see below for one of the many clients I have helped 

​​

Injury Treatment review


​L. Brymner

​Recreational Gym User

​​I had suffered a bad strain from the gym in my upper back trap area and was very immobile and causing me tension headaches. Rob managed to source the problem and relieve some of the soreness and get me on the road to recovery my back and neck were back too 100% within a couple of days and I was back in the gym, could not recommend rob more if you've got any pains or long lasting injuries I'd highly suggest you see Rob! Lewis



​For more information on squatting shoes give the below a read!

Sato, K., Fortenbaugh, D., & Hydock, D. S. (2012). Kinematic changes using weightlifting shoes on barbell back squat. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 26(1), 28-33.

Number 1 Alternative to the Squat!


​Continuing my theme on squatting, the squat is the main exercise that goes into most people’s mind when they think gym, even more so when you think leg day​!

The back squat is a fundamental exercise prescribed for both athletes and non-athletes for developing lower body strength. When included in training programmes it has been found to improve athletic performance.

But what happens when you don't want to do the standard squat? Do you just not train legs for the rest of your life?!  Actually there is another way that may even be superior!


​Rear Leg Elevated Squat

​Rear leg elevated squat, more commonly known as the 'Bulgarian Split Squat' is the alternative and it may actually be better for you!

This is because the exercise has been found to place less compressive force on the back, while placing more stress on the legs, hips and your stabilizer muscles. This means that this rear leg squat can be a great exercise if you are suffering from back pain and you are finding the normal back squat too much pain.

A key finding has been " that  similar  lower  body  muscle activity  can  be  achieved  using  the  RLESS with  half  the  load  of  BS” Therefore bigger and more ‘manly’ weight is not always better!


​In Conclusion

This means that for those clients who are UNCOMFORTABLE UNDER THE BARBELL–but still want good glute and quad results.

Another study going way back when to 2010 actually found more activation in gluteus medius muscle and biceps femoris activity than the back squat.

​ If you aren’t convinced yet, give the Bulgarian split squat a try! 

If you'd like further advice on squatting and how to squat and also manage your back pain, feel free to shoot me a message and we can get to work!


Further reading:

McCurdy K, O’Kelley E, Kutz M, Langford G, Ernest J, Torres M. Comparison of Lower Extremity EMG Between the 2-Leg Squat and Modified Single-Leg Squat in Female Athletes
J Sport Rehabil. 2010 Feb; 19(1):57-70

DeFOREST BA, CANTRELL GS, SCHILLING BK. Muscle Activity in Single- vs. Double-Leg Squats. International Journal of Exercise Science. 2014;7(4):302-310.


The Most Important Part of the Squat

​Following on from last weeks post and 6 top tips for your squat  i'm going to be talking about the most important part of the squat... this being DORSI-FLEXION

Insert Image

​What's DorsiFlexion?

​Dorsiflexion is the movement of bringing the front of your foot towards your shin.

It's such a simple movement and is crucial for an array of things from walking and running, through to todays topic of squatting.

How Does This Apply To My Squat?

The most crucial movement in a squat is maintaining a neutral or slightly extended spine as you lower down.

Once your lower back rounds into flexion (think of a nice curvy C), your form breaks, and there is a very dangerous load on your lower back and muscles.

 This obviously is the opposite of what you want, you are actually looking for your glutes to be loaded and firing. This doesn’t happen when you have your nice curvy C rounded back.

In an ideal squat, you are shifting your weight back just like you’re sitting back into a chair. This chair however is invisible!

So you’ve checked your form, and you sit back into your ‘invisible chair’ the posterior, and you lower down close to 90 degrees…and, you feel like you can’t get any lower! You try to maintain the form above and stop the curvy C but you just can’t keep your back straight and go lower!

You feel perfectly strong enough, but you just can’t get any lower and feel stuck.

This is you having limited or poor​ or however you want to describe it dorsiflexion

​How to check for a lack or dorsiflexion

1. Squat normally, check the angle between your hips, knees, and ankles.

2. Slide some 1″ blocks, weight plates or even books under your heels. Squat again and re-check the angle.

I’m guessing it got easier?! And you could sit further back!

 If the answer to the above was “yes”, you have reduced dorsiflexion.

It’s a questionable strategy to squat with the blocks under your heels, but it may train you into a better motor pattern until you resolve your dorsiflexion problem.

​Research that backs this up...

Now onto the nitty gritty ​that backs ​up all of the above!

Ankle dorsiflexion with flexed and extended knee has been found correlate significantly with squat depth, accounting for 38.8 and 23.7% of the variance in male and female subjects, respectively (p<0.05).

Hemmerich et al. (2006) reported that the average ankle dorsiflexion angle required was 38.5 ±5.9° during a squat. This is because the ankle is an important part of the closed-chain movement during deep squatting activities, limited mobility and stability of the ankle joint could inhibit performance of the proximal joints.

Boys Vs Girls

An important part to also mention is the slight variation that has been found between genders. The    ROM    of    the    ankle    dorsiflexion is a major factor affecting squat depth in both genders, followed by the hip flexion ROM in  male  and  actually ankle  dorsiflexor  strength  in  females.

For Further reading

Kim, S. H., Kwon, O. Y., Park, K. N., Jeon, I. C., & Weon, J. H. (2015). Lower extremity strength and the range of motion in relation to squat depth. Journal of human kinetics, 45(1), 59-69.

Hemmerich A, Brown H, Smith S, Marthandam SS, Wyss UP. Hip, knee, and anklekinematics of high range of motion activities of daily living. J Orthop Res, 2006; 24: 770-781 Equipment for squatting

​What to do if my dorsiflexion is lacking?

​You can book a session in with me, where I can tailor a plan not just to help your dorislfexion  but help with all the other movements and joints that help form a perfect squat.

Alternatively wait till next week where I give some advice on improving your dorsiflexion

​Lastly in the near future i'll be starting skype sessions to go 1v1 anywhere in the world to help tailor a plan to you, subscribe below to find out when this will be launching!​

Click Below To Book In Today!


6 Tips to get the most out of your squat

1

If you’ve got an existing injury or previous reconstruction of the PCL, it is best to restrict flexion (bending your knee) to 50°to 60°so that posterior shear force is minimized as much as possible.

If you are wanting to work your quads their development is maximized by squatting to parallel, with no additional activity seen at when you go deeper into the squat.

However hip extensor movements increase with increasing squat depth, so full squats may be beneficial for those seeking to maximize strength of the hip musculature i.e. glutes.

2

How fast should I squat?

The speed of the movement should be based on goal-oriented

Specificity to the force-velocity curve. However, given

that speed of movement has been shown to significantly

increase both compression and shear forces (You want to minimise this as much as possible) , there is a trade off between optimal transfer of performance and

risk of injury. This is especially true on the eccentric aspect (going down into the squat)

of the squat where rapid deceleration generates exceedingly high joint forces at the knee.

3

Failure to control this descent can result in the ballistic contact between the hamstrings and calf muscles,

which can cause a dislocating

effect on the knee ligaments. Therefore, unless

your goals specifically dictate otherwise, squat descent

should always be executed in a controlled fashion, with

a 2 to 3 second eccentric tempo is a good rule of thumb.

4

Additional muscles you can target when squatting-

A wider stance squat is preferable for those seeking optimal

development of the hip adductors and hip extensors.

Where as a closer stance is more appropriate for targeting

development of the gastrocnemius.

Stance can also be varied to alter joint-related forces: a narrow stance helps to

minimize patellofemoral and tibiofemoral compression

while a wider stance results in less forward knee

translation and thus reduces shear force.

5

Low bar or high bar?

Low bar back squats tend to produce greater hip extensor

torque and a decrease in knee extensor torque compared with high

bar back squats. However, the magnitude of forces for both

movements are well tolerated by the associated joint

structures.

This means it is down to personal preference where you decide to have the bar

The front squat produces significantly lower

knee compression and lumbar stress in comparison with

back squats, making it a viable alternative for those

suffering from various knee and back pains.

5

Low bar or high bar?

Low bar back squats tend to produce greater hip extensor

torque and a decrease in knee extensor torque compared with high

bar back squats. However, the magnitude of forces for both

movements are well tolerated by the associated joint

structures.

This means it is down to personal preference where you decide to have the bar

The front squat produces significantly lower

knee compression and lumbar stress in comparison with

back squats, making it a viable alternative for those

suffering from various knee and back pains.

6

Fatigue can have a detrimental effect on squatting

technique, potentially leading to knee instability and

increased lumbar shear force. Therefore you may want to think twice about one last rep.


So there you have 6 tips you can utilise next time it's leg day to help you get where you want to be. If you would like more help with your squat click below to book in with a session... for further reading the paper I used is

Schoenfeld, B. J. (2010). Squatting kinematics and kinetics and their application to exercise performance. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 24(12), 3497-3506.


Click Below To Book In Today!



Hip Pain, Knee Pain Or Ankle Pain?

massage

legs



If you have any of the above it could be a muscle called Glute Medius and it’s weakness that is causing the problem.

In a nutshell a weak glute medius can reduce your athletic performance and it can also predispose you to injuries at your hip, knee and ankle.

Before I get into how you go about strengthening I’ll give you a bit of back ground about the Glute Meidus…

The glute medius is in charge of abducting, internally rotating and extending the hip.

For everyday movements it keeps the pelvis from dropping during walking and running.

Without this we’d look like we would be walking with a limp. This means the glute medius plays a massive role in our everyday life.

    But how does my glute medius get weak in the first place?


The muscle can get weak from somethings so simple as when standing having more weight on one leg than the other and also sleeping on your side with your top leg bent (a bit like the foetal position) both these positions start causing weakness as they elongate the muscle causing stretch weakness.


This weakness can lead to ‘Trendelenberg gait’, lower back pain, Iliotibial band syndrome and lateral ankle injuries
So now you know what a weak glute medius can do, how do you strengthen it!?

    My go to exercise to begin with the ‘clam’


Side lying with both knees bent up. Line up heels with hips and pelvis. Keep pelvis neutral or slightly buttock region of the top leg, sometimes in the bottom buttock as well. Aimfor 2-¬‐3 sets of 10-¬‐20 forward (don’t let it roll backwards or open up).

•Breathe out, engage core and lift top knee up towards the ceiling slightly.

•Breathe in and lower slightly.

•Repeat to fatigue. Aim to feel it in the lat reps

The easy way to progress this to tie a theraband round so it is just above your knees and repeat the above. You’ll notice a complete change in difficulty

As always if you would like more advice or you would like to book a session, give me a call on 07759689612.

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