Two of the most difficult areas of the body to try and restore stability and function to when injured are the shoulder and the elbow. The shoulder is such an amazing joint in that it has an incredible amount of mobility and is able to perform some incredibly powerful and dynamic movements. But this awesome mobility comes at a cost, as the stability of the shoulder can be very easily compromised. And when this happens is when injury and pain takes over. Funnily enough, the problems seen with the shoulder and elbow are closely related to the same dysfunction and instability being driven by the scapula. Unfortunately, this is an area often missed with typical treatments for the elbow, as people are fixated on trying to remove the pain. Trying to treat the elbow without addressing the underlying cause is pointless, and in this article, I will explain exactly how you can begin correcting your elbow problem at the source instead of treating symptoms.
Releasing Upper Trap Stiffness may be found in Strengthening and not Stretching
I will be the first to admit I labelled the upper trapezius muscle as a problem muscle that needed to be weakened, more than strengthened. I always thought exercises like shrugs were to be avoided and could not see why anyone would ever want to target a muscle known for developing stiffness and trigger points with a strengthening exercise. I thought this was the fast way to developing chronic neck pain. However, over time I learned there is more to this muscle than many realize and I began to appreciate the importance of the upper traps during movement. I came to see how vital the strength of this muscle is to health of the neck and shoulder and how many of us are trying to weaken this muscle when what it really needs is to be strengthened. Just like the hamstrings, it is fair to say it has unfairly copped a bad rap for a long time and is really misunderstood. In this article, I am going to share with you the things I learned the hard way and what the true role of the upper traps is. I will also show how to identify weakness, and most importantly how you can strengthen this muscle without aggravating your neck or shoulder.
Farmers Walks – The Most under-rated and Powerful Functional Movement
Carrying a heavy load is arguably the most common strength activity we use in in life, and it is also one of the most challenging. Yet, it is highly under-rated and many do not even regard this as an exercise. When you understand just how many muscles and complex interactions are involved to perform this movement efficiently, you gain a better appreciation of how valuable this can be to use in a workout. This is an activity we use every day when we pick up the shopping bags at the supermarket, a suitcase when we go on holidays, lifting a wheelbarrow in the garden, and endless other activities at work and at home. Even in the gym itself we unknowingly require this movement whenever we need to carry our dumbbells or weight plates over to the area we intend to train. When time is designated to this as an exercise, and it is trained correctly, it can provide significant strength gains to the entire body that may protect you from serious harm in life. In this article we will show you how.
Are Your Tight Hips The Cause Of Your Back Pain & Knee Pain?
Anybody who has had back pain, hip or groin pain before will know how frustrating this type of injury can be to shift. Apart from the frustration of re-occurrence if the underlying cause is not found and resolved, there is a stack of other injuries that are likely to follow if intelligent changes are not made. This article is intended to show you our most effective rehabilitation and injury prevention methods (injury tests, best stretches and exercises) that we have used successfully with many clients (see testimonials) for over 20 years working as Rehabilitation specialists in Melbourne. Our goal is to address the whole problem of your pain or injury, looking closely for the source of the problem so we can help you attain long term balance and optimal function. The hip joint, along with the ankles, is a joint we find where most of the troubles originate. It is also often missed in diagnosis of injury, as it may not present with pain, instead it will show stiffness and a lack of mobility. The hips are designed to be very mobile, having to withstand both direct loading stresses and large rotational forces with weight-bearing activities. It is especially vulnerable to injury in sports that involve pivoting or twisting movements, such as soccer, football, tennis and golf. Because the muscles around the hip joint attach directly on to the joint capsule, they have a large influence on the range of movement. And why we need explosive rotation in sports and even in some daily activities, these forces place tremendous strain on your ligaments, tendons and muscular structures designed to protect the joint. The failure to adequately control these forces can lead to chronic pain and a lifetime of restricted movement!
The Best Strength Training Methods & Exercises For AFL Football
We all know that strength training plays a massive part in making a sporting athlete great, and AFL Football is no exception. Over the years as the game has become more professional and the stakes higher it has become as important as the skills element of the game. All the professional clubs employ a full time Sports Conditioning coach to try and get every last drop of talent and potential from their players. Unfortunately the education of how they do this does not filter down to the amateur clubs or even semi professional players. Reliance on body building techniques, and overuse of useless beach muscle exercises like bicep curls and the bench press make up most of the current football players toolbox of exercises. Lifting progressively heavier weights will not in itself lead to improved power and speed, but many athletes and coaches still get caught up with this ‘heavier and bigger is best’ strategy. Too much bulk is just that: an additional load to transport around the field or into the air. If increased muscle size on its own brought the required results, then why do we not see body builders dominating the AFL? It’s how you develop the size and strength, and relate it to movements that you need in your game, that counts. As the Women’s Football League has developed it has become apparent that for females a conditioning program is just as important, if not more so. Females cannot get big even if they want to, but they can get stronger and faster. Remember bigger muscles does not necessarily mean better, and does not mean you can generate greater force and ultimately more power, which I would say is what every football player who has taken part in our Sports program says they want. You can still add size and some bulk but it has to be done at the right time of year. In this article, I show you exactly how.
Why Romanian Deadlifts are The Key to Treating Hip & Back Injuries
Anyone who has read any of my previous articles about injury in the hip or knee region will know how much I emphasize using the Romanian deadlift (RDL) to correct movement dysfunction and muscle imbalance. The deadlift is such a great way to improve hip mobility while simultaneously improving core stability of the spine and gluteal strength of the hip. While the traditional deadlift is a great exercise, the single leg deadlift takes the movement difficulty up a notch or two as the stability and strength with the hip, knee, ankle, and feet are challenged to their full potential. Just like the single leg squat, this exercise demands perfect position for movement, as any deviation from optimal alignment will often see a person fall over to one side. In this article, I will explain exactly why this exercise is so good for treating nasty hip injuries like femoral acetabulum impingement (FAI), and lateral pelvic tilt, but also with back injuries like herniated discs, and SIJ dysfunction. I will also provide you with some excellent progressions to use to further enhance its relevance to sports and daily life. It really is the ultimate lower limb exercise to use in your training and should make up the foundation to build your workouts upon.
Bulging Disc Exercises & Effective Long Term Treatment Strategies
In my 16 years as a trainer specializing in rehabilitation and teaching people the principles of core strength and functional movement skills the most common injury I have seen is a Bulging Disc. An extremely painful injury that can significantly alter your daily life and take a long time to recover from. Some people come to me after years of severe pain, surgery, on all types of medication that not only did not help them but also ended up giving them side affects to new problems. This condition can really knock you down and give you a beating both physically and mentally if the right strategy from the outset is not adopted. While we have all heard about severe damage to backs which can occur because of lifting something too heavy, like a deadlift in the gym or moving a fridge in your house. Most back pain episodes, and in particular bulging disc injuries are the result of everyday activities, postures and sports movements, involving repetition and small to moderate forces. Over time, these add up to produce pain and stiffness. When in pain our instant reaction is to find something to get out of pain, and while this makes sense and obviously needed, is not the solution to the real problem. This process is only step one in a process of many if you want to get rid of pain for good and avoid it in the future. Unfortunately as we are so conditioned into treating symptoms this is where many people stop their rehabilitation program. Once the pain is removed they go back to their life this time making some adjustments to their lifestyle, (no longer doing gym, or changing jobs) to avoid being hurt again. This now sets you up for more injury as you begin to move in compensatory ways. In this article we are going to provide you with some tips on what to look for and how to change these compensations.
Piriformis Syndrome: How To Get Rid Of This Pain In The Butt For Good
Piriformis syndrome is an irritation of the sciatic nerve caused by an inflammation of the piriformis muscle. This often feels like a deep aching pain in the buttock, or a radiating sharp nerve pain that extends along the middle of the hamstring muscle in your leg. Some people even feel numbness and tingling right down into the calf and toes. These symptoms can be accompanied by low back pain and worsen after prolonged sitting. This is where it can often by misdiagnosed as a different injury and left untreated. The symptoms of often mimic those of many other injuries such as a herniated disc pressing upon the sciatic nerve, and various other hip or back problems. To be sure you have piriformis syndrome, the problem should be properly investigated by a medical professional to rule out more serious possibilities. You must also understand that this condition will become chronic if left untreated, so getting started with a treatment program straight away is critical. Rest and anti inflammatory medication may help in the beginning to reduce pain, but will not provide the solution to getting rid of it for good. A very carefully designed exercise program, that focuses on treating the cause, is the only effective way to deal with this injury. Even surgery will not address the real problem, which you will see in this article has a lot to do with your glutes (buttock muscles), your hips and most importantly how you move!
WEAK VMO & KNEE PAIN: How To Improve VMO Strength & Reduce Knee Pain In 5 Simple Steps
Knee pain is one of the most common injuries affecting people of all ages. It can cut down many young sporting athletes suffering with patella-femoral problems and more severe ACL injuries and it can greatly affect adults and people with a more sedentary lifestyle. If the cause of the problem is left unchecked it will develop into a much bigger problem and eventually begin to create injuries at other joints of the body. According to latest research, frequent knee pain affects 25% of adults, and osteoarthritis is the most common cause of knee pain in adults 50 years and older. Rates of knee replacements have tripled in women in the United Kingdom and have increased 8 times in the United States among those 65 years and older. In the early stages of treatment people are often told they have a weak vastus medialis muscle (VMO) that needs to be strengthened and it will make their pain go away. Unfortunately, it is not as simple as that as there are many factors you need to consider with correcting knee pain. While it is true that the VMO plays a massive role in stabilizing the knee, the methods you use to strengthen this muscle is the secret to finding the solution to your knee pain. In this article I explain the 5 steps you need to follow to get this right.
Why Tight Quadriceps Exacerbate Knee Pain & The Solution Is Not With Stretching
One of the most confusing things I have come across over the past 20 years as a rehabilitation trainer working with many complex injuries and movement dysfunctions is how confusing the role of the quadriceps can be with relation to knee pain. In most cases of knee pain there is significant stiffness at the knee joint leading to conclusions of tight quadriceps and hip flexors. For years I believed the answer for people who had limited knee flexion needed to spend more time stretching and foam rolling their quads and hip muscles to restore full range to the joint. It makes perfect sense, the muscle is noticeably tight and not even close to its full range of motion so it must need stretching to improve it. While some people showed some great results, there were many who showed little improvement with some even becoming worse! This failure led me to find that the solution was not to be found with stretching but from changing the underlying cause of the stiffness. In this article, I will show you how to find this and what things you can do to correct the problem for good.