Arthritis cases ‘set to double to over 17m by 2030′

Have a quick read on the BBC website when it talks about some worrying news about arthritis!

Musculoskeletal and Orthopedic MRI

More and more patients now come in to see their Osteopath with MRIs or with other imaging that has been done.  This is a really interesting and useful resource on MRI imaging here

 

LinkedIn and our Blog

Just to let you know Back to Back – The Earlsfield Osteopath has linked their Blog to Linkedin as well as Facebook and Twitter

Hamstrings – by Gary Gray

A simple but great description on how the hamstrings work by Gary Gray here

The eccentric loading is especially important!

Nike Golf Performance Specialist – soon!!

We have booked in to do NG360 with the Gray Institute from the USA to become a GPS (Golf Performance Specialist) in September this year.  

The NG360 Functional Performance System powered by Gray Institute is a ground-breaking educational program designed specifically for golf professionals and movement specialists who work with golfers. The NG360 Functional Performance System (FPS) is designed to enable professionals to achieve proficiency, competence, confidence, and credibility in the world of athletic golf. Based on Applied Functional Science from the Gray Institute, the FPS teaches a process for the analysis and training of performance specific to the game of golf.  Click here for more information.

Functional Exercise and Training – The Why and the What!

Tri-Plane Movement and Functional Training, these are both current words used to describe movement and training by the personal training and allied health professions (osteopath, physiotherapist, exercise physiologist and chiropractor). The health and fitness industry is going through yet another change, just like the swiss ball was the man of the moment in the 90′s, pilates and the core were the trend of the early 2000′s, many trainers and health professionals are now focusing on training movement rather than muscle, training functional exercises rather than non functional exercises, training groups of muscles rather than muscles in isolation.

What this means in simplistic terms is that trainers and health professionals etc are now moving away from the body building approach to training and conditioning (that is isolated weight training) and moving towards training that integrates movement with resistance that mimics upright function such as gait and other movement patterns that we perform on a daily basis i.e. squat, sit to stand, step up and down, push, pull & rotate.  Trying to use gravity as the driver by doing exercise on your feet or upright, rather than on your back or in a machine stimulates your proprioception much more effectively than fixing an area, therefore creating the correct chain reaction needed for full and appropriate muscle function.

This does not suggest that one training approach or philosophy is better than the other, it fundamentally comes down to what the specific individuals goal is. For a body builder looking to compete, then traditional weight lifting techniques that have been proven to produce muscle gain is required. For the olympic power lifter, olympic lifts are practiced. For the sporting indivdiual, there will be likely a combination of functional movement exercises as well as some strength, olympic and powerlifting techniques. For the individual wanting to improve their overall wellbeing, strength and mobility, there is also likely to be a combination of the above.

So what does Tri-plane movement, functional training etc etc mean. Tri-Plane movement simply refers to movement in the three planes (sagittal, frontal and transverse planes). If we look at the individual who is standing upright, the best way to describe movement in the sagittal plane is forwards and backwards movement. Movement in the the frontal plane refers to side to side movement (that is laterally stepping or performing a lateral lunge). Movement in the the transverse plane is when movement occurs with rotation.  That is, whilst standing you twist and turn to move or lunge backwards and laterally. Everyday movement occurs in all three planes at a bone and joint level and this is why there is this growing change in the way that training is being carried out. Previously most gyms and training programs were focused on training muscles in machines and/or functional training was restricted to movement purely up and down i.e squat movement or forwards (anterior lunge). As our understanding of functional biomechanics and movement improves, so does our training approaches and philosophy. Now days we are seeing more and more clients perform movements that involve all three planes of movement, involving less equipment and with movements that mimic real life activity.

Functional Training is probably one of the biggest buzz words in the health and fitness industry at this particular moment. There are many indivdiuals out there claiming to provide functional training. Functional training is certaintly not something that is new, rather it has been around for many many years and simply relates to training that mimics how we function. How this training relates to how we function will depend totally upon what and why we are training. For an individual who sits for their job for their entire life and wants to improve this, then training should focus on improving their ability to sit whilst working. For those individuals who are wanting to improve their everyday movement, that is sit, stand, walk, step up and down, squat, lunge etc etc, then training should reflect this. For the sporting individual, the training should mimic the sporting requirements, movements or athletic components that are that sport. So functional training has many meanings and therefore can be interpreted in many different ways.

For the general public, when we look at the body and how it functions, the most common movements or positions we are in involve walking (gait), sitting, standing, squatting, lunging, stepping up and down, single leg balancing, pushing, pulling and twisting. All of these movements are impacted by gravity and ground reaction force and these are two other factors that should be taken into consideration when prescribing a program. Gravity is something that we are always working against to remain upright. Therefore gravity is something that can easily be used to increase or decrease the degree of difficulty of an exercise. Ground reaction force relates to Newton’s laws and how force in one direction results in an equal and opposite amount of force in the opposite direction. This can be related to jumping and landing on the ground whereby an amount of force is exerted downwards and then the force will be transferred back into the legs and must be either shifted or absorbed by the body. So when it comes to functional training and tri-plane movement training, hopefully now you will have a little bit more of an understanding of what, why and how this might be prescribed in relation to yours or anyone else’s training program.

In our opinion, functional exercise should be used more and more when rehabilitating injuries or with patients post surgery.  The more you get patient’s bodies working proprioceptively and in 3 planes, their bodies can start to ‘switch on’ to allow them to recover better and stronger.

To find out more about changing your training program, making it a little bit more functional in relation to your specific goals, incorporating exercises that involve training in all three planes, then contact Back to Back – The Earlsfield Osteopath on 020 8605 2323 or click here

Swiss Ball Elbow To Hand Plank Exercise

Check out this exercise from the great Heath Williams here.  Just take it slow and be careful

Adductor Function – Not what the books say either……

I just LOVE this muscle!

It does most things other than adduct your hip!!  If you lie on the ground on your side and lift you lower leg… sure… your adductors adduct your hip…..BUT during function, it does a fabulous job at not adducting your hip.

They are the adductor brevis, longus, magnus oblique and magnus vertical.  The brevis and longus attach onto the posterior medial part of the femur, not just on the medial part as most people talk about.

A great and massively overlooked thing about this group of muscles is that they work with their opposite adductors.   The right and left adductors are turned on in gait (differently) but at the same time.

If the right leg is forward the right adductors are stretched in the sagittal plane and they slow hip flexion.  They are lengthened in the transverse plane (TP) and they help to internally rotate the femur.  They are also shortened in the frontal plane (FP) with hip adduction.

As we walk, and as the left leg swings forward, the right leg becomes the back leg and the right adductors are lengthened by hip extension (posterior medial attachment).  They are then lengthened in the FP by the pelvis leaning towards to the left leg causing hip adduction.  It is then shortened in the TP are they externally rotate the femur.  The facilitates top-down external rotation of the tibia and calcaneal inversion…. and locks out the mid tarsals ready for push off!

As I have said – both sets of adductors work as a pair…. The right adductor works with the left adductor to slow the movement of the pelvis to the left and visa versa.  If the adductors and tight in any plane, they will inhibit other planes.

But they can also be responsible for other dysfunction.  If the adductors are short or not permitting good function, your pelvis will be unable to move correctly in 3 planes of motion and so your lower back, mid back or neck may take the hit instead.  You might end up seeing someone for your back pain all because of you adductors.  This is why it is SO important to not always treat the symptom, but to go to the cause!!

If you have just injured yourself (especially after the marathon) or need to be assessed for injury or need treating, do give us a call at Back to Back on

020 8605 2323 or look at our website here

Hamstring function – This is not just a knee flexor and the books say!

Hamstring function – How it assists in knee extension

While on the subject of knee extension….

The hamstring can flex the knee against gravity when prone or standing with the foot in non-weightbearing….but during most function, the action of the HAMSTRING is so much more complex.

During swing phase, the hip is flexing and the knee is extending.  Both of these motions lengthen the hamstrings so that it is switched on before heel strike.  At heel strike, the forward motion of the trunk tries to flex the hip.  This is decelerated by the hamstring.  At the same time, the tibia is moving forward with knee flexion, which the hamstrings can slow down when the foot is on the ground.

As the heel bone everts,  the lower leg internally rotates and because of its greats attachment onto the lower leg and the pelvis, the hamstrings can decelerate both internal rotation of the tibia and the hip.  In the frontal plane, the hamstrings also decelerate abduction of the knee after the heel has everted.

The lengthening and eccentric loading of the hamstring at multiple joints in many planes make it very eccentric with the front leg in gait.  But once the ‘unload’ has started, the hamstrings become very concentric in all planes.

All of this eccentric control (loading) allows it then to do the opposite (explode) once it has been stretched and proprioceptively ‘turned on’.

So in function and gait…. the HAMSTRING is used so much more than to flex your knee as the books suggest.

If you have a chronic or acute thigh problem or any other musculo-skeletal concerns that you need treating, call Back to Back on 020 8605 2323

Gastrocnemius function – How it assists in knee extension

Gastrocnemius function – How it assists in knee extension

This attaches above the knee into the femur and into the achilles tendon.  It acts in a similar way to soleus, but as it attaches to the femur, its influence on the proximal joints and structures is more significant.

Gastrocnemius decelerates internal rotation of the femur when the foot is on the ground, but it is lengthened at both ends.  One end in the frontal plane, the other end in the transverse plane.  In the sagittal plane, it controls ankle dorsiflexion.

The knee flexion is transformed into knee extension by a number of muscles along with mass and momentum.  As the front leg in gait is moving through towards swing phase, the tibia is slowed down by eccentric lengthening of the gastrocnemius and a number of other calf muscles.  This slowing along with the momentum of the body creates knee extension as it pulls back on the distal femur as ankle dorsiflexion is decelerated. 

So in function and gait…. the Gastrocnemius are a powerful knee extensor!

 

If you have a chronic or acute calf problem or any other musculo-skeletal concerns that you need treating, call Back to Back on 020 8605 2323