Jim's Gym regularly presents a featured exercise, with a complete description and detailed instructions on the proper execution of the exercise. Check them out!
Kit Miller demonstrating the Torso Twist exercise at home.
Fill up a milk or juice jug to add resisitance.
This is a great exercise to strengthen core muscles.
If you had to pick only one exercise to do for your home training session, this full squat/overhead press would be an excellent choice.
For all of us that spend to much time sitting this is a great exercise to re awaken your posterior chain.
Demo on equipment at Jim's Gym and then at home.
This is excellent and there are variations provided that will work well for most of our members.
This is a follow up to registered physiotherapist Clyde Smith’s blog post titled “Why Your Misalignment Issues Persist, Pt. 1: Understanding the Cause”. Here, Clyde talks about alignment correction drills and post-correction exercises that he uses with his clients. For clients of Clyde’s this is a good refresher on how to execute them!
Alignment exercises are meant to bring your center of gravity (S2) back into a neutral position. In this position, your body can move more efficiently, with less stress on individual muscles.
Common popular treatment strategies that are often used, but fail:
A. Tight individual muscles or tissues (ITB, quadrates, hip flexors)
B. Muscle imbalance (hamstrings, VM)
C. Core weakness
None of these alone or in combination will solve an alignment problem. The symptoms are reduced but they return quickly. Once balance is restored then a participation in active strategies such and yoga, Pilates or other exercise programs will be successful.
FIRST STEP: Alignment drills and education. This may include leg length, feet and footwear assessment, and education (able to return to most activities immediately). (Shown below!)
SECOND STEP: Activation of all hip and pelvic control, muscle groups. (Shown below!)
THIRD STEP: Addressing other contributing anatomical and habitual factors (posture, sleep position, leg length, feet).
FOURTH STEP: Integration back to your life with understanding of contributing factors.
Before and after alignment drills. Figure on left: the hockey stick is not level, demonstrating a malalignment. Figure on right: the hockey stick is level.
Pelvic malalignment is a function of habits and repetition of movement patterns. Right hand dominance in sports and daily life activities lead to most people developing a predictable pattern of movement dysfunction. Other contributing factors include, posture, leg length, arch formations, and trauma. All can lead to chronic pain patterns (syndromes).
Because you are twisted you do an offset number of exercise or opposite movement patterns.
Remember these are not strength or stretch exercises, they are correction drills. Go easy!
Figure on left: twist the upper spine to right and cross the leg over and twist the lower spine to left.
Figure right: lift the leg to high position, lower and lift 3-5 times. Same on the other side and repeat the start side.
Right leg up twist right on exhale, (you want the trunk twisting and not just the shoulders) and repeat 2-3 times.
Hang down. Right only or right, left, right.
NOTE: THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, DO YOUR CORRECTION EXERCISE BEFORE AND AFTER ANY ACTIVE EXERCISE PROGRAM AND/OR A COUPLE TIMES A DAY.
Get an old road bike tire tube (or long resistance band tied in a loop) and a toy ball (about the size of a soccer ball).
How to prep your bike tire tube:
Exercise 1: Butt down
Exercise 2: Butt up (bridge position - image above)
Exercise 3. Hip Flexion (flex in diagonal plane to outside of shoulder)
Exercise 4: Rotation of Hip
DON’T FORGET:
THIRD STEP: Addressing other contributing anatomical and habitual factors (posture, sleep position, leg length, feet).
FOURTH STEP: Integration back to your life with understanding of contributing factors.
Clyde is a registered physiotherapist and founding principal of Allan McGavin Sports Medicine Centre. Clyde’s specialty lies in chronic injury as they relate to pelvic and back alignment. When Clyde is not in the clinic, you can find him on multi-day cycling trips, gardening, and spending time with his family! You can contact Clyde at bookaphysio@hotmail.com for more details about this blog.
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