An exercise to improve knee pain - single leg squat
If a client has pain in their knees, hips or lower back (even their feet) then I routinely examine the buttock muscles to check the strength and how they function in general and sporting activities.
I'm particularly interested in the strength of the Gluteus Medius muscles (the buttock muscle found on the outer part of your hips). These muscles support your pelvis and stop your knee from rolling inwards when you walk and run. They are frequently weak or under active (lazy) resulting in poor movement patterns and the potential for overloading the soft tissues (ligaments and tendons) around the inside of your knee which might cause pain over time.
Improving strength in these muscles is a great idea of you enjoy walking or running for exercise and one of the best exercises to strengthen the Gluteus Medius is to practice squatting on one leg:
A good tip is to practice this exercise in front of a mirror to begin with, so you can see what your hip and knees are doing. Start with a 1/4 squat like I am demonstrating in this video, being really precise with your technique, up to 30 repetitions on each side once or twice a day.
If you find it difficult to control the position of your knee, then tying a resistance band around the outside of the knee and using it for feedback can be really helpful.
For more ideas about strength and conditioning exercises to prevent knee pain, take a look at this article:
Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions at all,
The Physiofit Team
How to use a foam roller properly!
Would you believe me if I told you that for less then £20 you could significantly increase your flexibility, reduce muscle soreness, improve joint mobility and posture?
These are all benefits of regular foam rolling!
How does it work?
All of the parts of your body (muscles, organs, joints, bones, nerves etc) are encased in a web of soft tissue called ‘fascia’.
Fascia wraps in layers and folds around each structure binding everything together compactly and spreads continuously throughout the whole body joining it all up.
As I may have mentioned in several of my previous blog posts … sustained positions or activities that we repeat often through the day (e.g. sitting) encourage our soft tissues to remodel themselves. In time these changes can change our posture causing altered movement patterns and areas of accumulative strain, uneven pressure in joints and overuse of muscles. All of which can result in pain!
Changes in the fascia such as tightness and areas of localized restriction can be ‘released’ by foam rolling exercises. Foam rolling is also often used prior to a workout to increase flexibility and afterwards to reduce muscle soreness.
Tips for foam rolling:
- Apply a moderate amount of pressure using your body weight (it’s shouldn’t be a test of your endurance!).
- Roll slowly and if you find a tight or sore spot hold it for a few seconds until it relaxes. If it’s too sore, work around the area to help loosen it.
- Avoid rolling your back- use a spiked massage ball or tennis ball instead.
How to improve your hamstring flexibility
You might have thought that if you stretch out your tight hamstrings regularly they will eventually get longer, suppler and you might be able to touch your toes again … but this isn’t really how it works, so here’s my over-simplified explanation:
Your nervous system plays a large role in determining your “hamstring” flexibility!
What I mean is that when you bend forwards and you meet resistance or tightness in your “hamstrings”…. it’s really your brain deciding how far it is willing to let you move in this direction.
For example, if your core is weak then your hamstrings will be told by your brain to ‘kick in’ early to compensate for the lack of stability and act as a brake to activity that might overload and injure your back.
By working on core strength and alignment during movements such as bending you reduce the need for the ‘emergency brake’ action of the hamstrings and your brain is more likely to allow you to move further into range.
That’s not all …
Muscles are made up of little units, like links in a chain, called ‘sarcomeres’ which slide into and away from each other.
When the links slide together the muscle gets shorter and when they slide apart the muscle gets longer. Each link has a set ‘sliding’ distance and this won’t increase by stretching.
When you frequent one position habitually (e.g. sitting) your body tries to be helpful by making adaptations in the length of your muscles to make this position more comfortable for you.
Essentially if your daily routine involves sitting at work, driving home and then collapsing on the sofa exhausted… then your hamstrings are in a shortened position for most of the day and your body will efficiently break down the hamstring muscle links that are not in use when you are sitting.
Ergo over time there will be fewer muscle links ... your hamstrings become shorter … and you can no longer touch your toes!
So what’s the answer?
Simply stretching your hamstrings once or even twice a day is not enough of a stimulus and within one hour the effect of this kind of stretching is negligible. It would be far more effective simply to stand up and change position for a couple of minutes every hour in addition to stretching intermittently.
It takes a lot of determination to change the length of a shortened muscle, so as always, prevention is much better than cure ... change position and move frequently during the day, stretch intermittently with good alignment and strengthen your core muscles!
Hypermobility and exercise
Help for those with hypermobile joints
I’ve noticed recently that there’s been a rise in the number of my clients looking for help with the physical issues associated with hypermobility- an excessive flexibility meaning that the joints of the body have greater range of motion (laxity).
They do tend to be women - but not always - and although being hypermobile isn’t always a problem (for dancers it can be an advantage) for some having hypermobility means that they frequently sprain their joints just doing simple everyday activities.
Repeated re-injury of weak joints can lead to persistent (chronic) pain that can be widespread throughout the body. It’s an ‘invisible’ condition and as such there’s not always much sympathy or understanding and most of my clients have been dealing with these challenges since their childhood.
Getting back in control
There are lots of small elements - like workplace ergonomics, lifestyle modifications, pain relief treatments and pacing- that can make up a strategy for managing your condition and put you back in control.
I highly recommend Clinical Pilates with it’s focus on strengthening postural muscles, improving body awareness and maintaining normal joint positioning during movements to move the spine evenly, avoiding ‘hinging’ at the points of most natural flexibility.
Scissors
A great exercise for people with hypermobility is ‘scissors’. I’m teaching a lower level version of this exercise for beginners:
Pedal Power … how to set up your bike correctly
You know you’re in Cambridge when cyclists seem to outnumber the pedestrians! Cycling is a great way to get fit, stay fit and avoid the traffic … so here are my tops tips for setting up your bike correctly and avoiding bad habits that can lead to painful niggles:
1. Seat height:
Avoid knee pain by adjusting that the height of your seat so that you can straighten your knee fully with your foot flat on the pedal, when the pedal is down in the 6 ‘o’ clock position.
2. Stretching:
The more you cycle, the stronger your thigh muscles (quadriceps) become and over time these muscles will get shorter unless you stretch them out regularly … and by regularly I mean at least twice a day. Try lying on your side or your front and taking hold of your ankle and pull your foot towards your bottom. You’ll need to hold for at 30 seconds and repeat a few times on each side to see the benefit.
3. Knee alignment:
Are your knees rolling in as you peddle? Knee pain can still occur even if you have good flexibility and the correct seat height if your knees roll in when you’re on your bike. Weakness of the buttock muscles means that it can be difficult to maintain good alignment of your knees as you push down on the pedal and exercises to strengthen these muscles such as squats or lunges might be worth adding to your training.
4. Handle bars too far forward … too low … or if the bike is simply too big for you:
All of these will cause you to lean forward too much and overstretch your back muscles, which can cause low back pain. It’s really worth taking your bike to a good fitter who can take a good look at you on the bike and make the proper adjustments to suit you.
5. Core strength
Being able to keep your lower back and pelvis still while cycling means that you can put power down through the pedals. A stronger core is key to this and will help prevent overuse injuries, improve balance and stability and improve your performance by making you leaner and more efficient.