Foot strengthening

The foot is often neglected in work out routines. However, it plays a vital role in providing stability and balance for our entire body. Try following exercises:

The Vele/Skier exercise is designed to stabilize your foot muscles.

1. Start by standing a few inches from the wall.

2. Slowly lean towards the wall making sure to bend at the ankles and not through the back.

3. Try to touch your nose to the wall, feeling your feet muscles grip the ground (you do not need to actually touch your nose to the wall).

4. Return to neutral and repeat for 10 reps. Perform 3-4 sets per day.

5. Make sure that you are leaning forward and not bending at the waist.

The toe grip is another easy, but simple exercise designed to strengthen your foot muscles and improve balance:

1. Drop a sock on the floor and use your toes to grip and lift it off the floor.

2. Hold for 10 seconds, then release.

3. Repeat five times with each foot.

If you or any one you know is experiencing foot pain, call our office to schedule a visit. Stay active!

Balance

Balance, sometimes called proprioception, is communication between your mind and your muscles that allows the body to remain stable. Balance is an important skill for everyone, especially as we age. Injuries from falls and accidents are a significant risk for older adults. Maintaining stability throughout the course of our everyday activities is a key factor in maintaining health and wellness.

Squats with a ball

With the cold weather, many people hit the gym to get their workout in. Squats are a great exercise for toning the legs and buttocks. However, poor squat form is one of the most common injuries we will treat in the next couple of months. We've posted a previous video on a squat form drill. Enjoy this exercise and be cognizant of your form!

Running Man Glute Exercise

This challenging exercise works on glute strength in multiple directions, one legged balance, and body awareness at the same time. This is a fairly advanced exercise, and must be done with proper form to achieve the desired results. When performing this exercise, there should be very little knee bend, and you should feel it primarily in the upper outer portion of your glutes (buttocks muscles). The further back you reach with your leg, the more challenging the exercise will be. It’s normal to have some burn in other muscles of the leg. However, you should feel it primarily in the glutes. Enjoy!

Core Importance and Exercise

Having a strong core is important, especially since most physical activity involves these muscles. Core muscles are those muscles that make up our mid-section. They include the abdominals, obliques, lower back and glutes. These muscles are responsible for maintaining equilibrium and posture, while also providing stability for all forms of activity. By keeping the core strong, the rest of our body can function at a much greater efficiency. A strong core can help improve posture, prevent lower back pain and injury, and improve physical performance and balance. Some very effective core exercises involve abdominal bracing or “sucking in the gut”, planks, and bridges. Check out the video below for a great core work out!

The side bridge is a challenging exercise that builds strength and tones while being very safe for the low back if performed correctly. Listen for how to avoid the common error of lifting the pelvis vertically during the exercise. You can do this exercise with repetitions (ie 3 sets of 10 with a 5 to 10 sec hold), or it can be performed for time. I usually recommend starting at 30 sec and working up to 60-90 sec per side. Once you can complete a hold for this time, straighten the knees and perform the same motion, except with the feet contacting the ground (top leg in front of the bottom leg). Enjoy and have fun!

This exercise is part of a progression we might assign for back pain patients. If you or someone you know has back pain, please consider our clinic.

Correct Posture

Greetings! While poor posture itself can be caused by many different things, slouching and poor posture can gradually lead to a number of detrimental health issues.Injuries resulting from poor posture generally build up over a long period of time rather than the more sudden, acute type of injuries.

The human spine has three distinct curves that allow it to maintain integrity in the event of a contact injury. These curves -- the cervical, thoracic and lumbar -- form a natural S shape that poor posture gradually erodes. If you slouch while standing and sitting, the lower lumbar curve gradually rounds and loses its ability to resist and recover from injury. Injuries related to poor posture include chronic low back pain, muscular aches and stiffness, tightness of the upper shoulders and necks, and poor mobility. On the other hand, good posture helps you have better mobility and less prone to injury as well.

If you find yourself being sedentary for prolonged periods, place a reminder nearby or set a timer to help remind you to correct your posture throughout the day, and take occasional breaks to stretch your neck and shoulders.

Below is an exercise that allows overworked muscles to relax while activating under-worked muscles.

1. Sit down and spreading your feet shoulder width apart and your toes out.

2. Pretend there is a string pulling your chest up and out, extending your upper back.

3. Your arms should be at your side with your head looking straight in front of you.

4. Gently tucking your chin and rotating your palms foreword.

5. Extend your wrist and push down with your palms as if there is a bench under you. (optional

6. Perform 15 sec for every 15 min spent in a continuously seated position.

You might feel a slight muscle squeeze between your shoulder blades, but not a strong contraction.

You should still be able to talk when your chin is tucked, if you are unable to talk, relax a little bit!

Hip Hinge

We have seen quite a few injuries related to yard work in the last couple of weeks. If you're leaving the house on Monday morning with a beautiful yard and an aching back, you're not alone. A survey of over 500 chiropractors in Ontario, Canada showed that yard work is the number one cause of back pain from their patietns this time of year.

Avoiding back pain during any activity lies with proper preparation. Just as an athlete needs to warm up before exercising, leaping into yard work without properly preparing increases the chance of injury. Take a few moments to stretch out and loosen your back and hip muscles. Doing so will reduce the chance of straining a muscle. Check out previous posts for hip flexor, hamstring, and piriformis stretches, as well as the "cat camel" spinal exercise for a good warm up routine. While raking or mowing, stand as straight as possible and keep your head up. Ergonomic tools are helpful as well, as they are engineered to protect you when used properly.

Be careful not to overexert yourself. Lifting a bag of yard waste that weighs too much or carrying heavy equipment are two good ways to strain your muscles and possibly cause a bulging or herniated disc. Also, if you modify the way you bend and lift, you can greatly reduce risk of injury. This movement pattern is known as a hip hinge.

1. Stand with your knees slightly bent.

2. Keep your back straight or slightly extended.

3. Place one hand on your belly and one on your low back. Rotate your pelvis forward, feeling a slight stretch in the hamstring and glute muscles.

4. You should feel your lower stomach bulge and your lower back arch.

5. Squat down by bringing your hips backwards and down. Imagine is pulling your hips backward, making sure your knees are behind your toes.

6. As you squat towards the ground, make sure you do not round your back.

The hip hinge can be used to sit in a chair or pick something up from the ground or table.

You hands can be used to karate chop the hips back as a cue for proper hip motion.

If you or anyone you know is experiencing back ache/pain/soreness, please call to schedule an appointment today.