The post on hip abductor and adductor machines has generated quite a bit of discussion. Some of you are right, these machines will have a role for those who need these muscles strengthened when their strength is low, for example after spinal cord injury or joint replacement. I just doubt their usefulness in those with normal muscle power.
It is hard to see the machines causing any signficant problems in hip replacement in terms of dislocation, especially moving the legs apart to work the abductors, as this is the safe movement for hip replacements.
However I would be keen to know that the abductors were actually weak in these cases and if a lateral approach has been used, that the greater trochanter had healed up. Otherwise a non-union of the bone is possible with too much force put on it too early. Because everyone's case can be different, there is no substitute for asking one of the surgical team, which I would generally advise.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Sit Up Straight To Avoid Spinal Fractures
Poor posture and bony changes in the spine occur as we get older and can cause an increased rounding of the mid and upper back. This is called a kyphosis (ky-fo-sis), and when the curve becomes exaggerated at the junction between the neck and the trunk it may be referred to as a “dowager’s hump”.
Osteoporosis, thinning of the bones, is a common finding in older adults, especially women after the menopause, although it can affect people of all ages. Spinal fractures are also common and can cause stiffness, tenderness of the area and pain.
Due to the way the bony struts inside the spinal bones are organized, the front part of the vertebrae is less strong than the rear. Combine this with the constant tendency of gravity to push us down into a bent position and this increases the forces through the fronts of our spines.
Pressure on the fronts of the vertebrae can cause compression fractures which small breaks in the interior scaffolding of the bone, causing a wedging effect in the bone.
Imagine lots of wedges on top of each other and you can see they make a curve, causing the hump posture which can also reduce a person’s height. This posture increases the forces acting on the fronts of spinal bones, causing further fractures.
Sitting upright decreases the spinal forces resulting from a bent posture. A physiotherapist can prescribe posture correction and spinal exercises to counteract the tendency to flex. Avoiding a stooped standing or sitting posture or lifting weights with a bend spine is the best strategy.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Bigger muscles by slower work
I've started a new weight training regime and it's working well. My muscles are responding to the increased stresses by getting bigger and stronger at a rate I have not seen for many years.
I have been weight training on and off for 30 years. When I was 21 I was 6' 1' (187cm) and weighed ten and a half stone (147 pounds). Yep, that was me lite. And skinny. Weight training (and time!) have increased my weight to 13 stone and a half (189 pounds).
But it's been a slow process and as I get older I have less time for messing about in the gym. I've done weights so badly over the years! And I see that same ineffective work going on every time I go to the gym.
The Colorado Experiment is what I have based my present regime on, although the subjects of the experiment (which included Casey Viator) were very big guys before the experiment started. And I don't take it quite so seriously.
The key is intensity, that's what muscles respond to.
So what do I do? A warm up set with a very light weight first. Then just two sets with a moderate weight but very slowly. I make each half of the movement last for five seconds. Five whole seconds each way is very difficult to keep to but it racks up the intensity amazingly. I also do a full movement for the body part with no throwing.
This blasts my muscles and only takes 40 minutes for a overall body workout for the major muscle groups. It would be quicker but I get out of breath at times.
So if you want a real boost to your workouts, stick to moderate weights, good exercise form and ten seconds each rep. You will notice the difference.
I have been weight training on and off for 30 years. When I was 21 I was 6' 1' (187cm) and weighed ten and a half stone (147 pounds). Yep, that was me lite. And skinny. Weight training (and time!) have increased my weight to 13 stone and a half (189 pounds).
But it's been a slow process and as I get older I have less time for messing about in the gym. I've done weights so badly over the years! And I see that same ineffective work going on every time I go to the gym.
The Colorado Experiment is what I have based my present regime on, although the subjects of the experiment (which included Casey Viator) were very big guys before the experiment started. And I don't take it quite so seriously.
The key is intensity, that's what muscles respond to.
So what do I do? A warm up set with a very light weight first. Then just two sets with a moderate weight but very slowly. I make each half of the movement last for five seconds. Five whole seconds each way is very difficult to keep to but it racks up the intensity amazingly. I also do a full movement for the body part with no throwing.
This blasts my muscles and only takes 40 minutes for a overall body workout for the major muscle groups. It would be quicker but I get out of breath at times.
So if you want a real boost to your workouts, stick to moderate weights, good exercise form and ten seconds each rep. You will notice the difference.
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Developing a "Fitness Pill"?
So scientists are moving ever closer to developing a fitness pill. Narkar et al are about to publish their research in Cell, in which they detail how they treated mice with a chemical substance for four weeks.
The results were a surprise and may be important. The mice showed increased running endurance of 44% with the new treatment. It's possible that this chemical pathway could be used to increase adaptation to training and even to increase endurance without doing any exercise.
Wow! I can't see it all working out as it seems it might. This might be a useful technique if it can be shown to be stable and without serious side effects. People with abnormally low exercise ability due to illness or injury might be good customers for this treatment if it ever becomes one. Let's hope they continue this interesting research.
The rest of us will just have to keep on exercising. When you exercise your car hard, it just wears out a bit quicker. When you exercise the human body hard, it responds with better and better performance. Besides, isn't it fun?
The results were a surprise and may be important. The mice showed increased running endurance of 44% with the new treatment. It's possible that this chemical pathway could be used to increase adaptation to training and even to increase endurance without doing any exercise.
Wow! I can't see it all working out as it seems it might. This might be a useful technique if it can be shown to be stable and without serious side effects. People with abnormally low exercise ability due to illness or injury might be good customers for this treatment if it ever becomes one. Let's hope they continue this interesting research.
The rest of us will just have to keep on exercising. When you exercise your car hard, it just wears out a bit quicker. When you exercise the human body hard, it responds with better and better performance. Besides, isn't it fun?
Simple exercises make a difference
I've been pleased recently with my dedication to my exercise regime. Starting exercise is easy but maintaining it over the long term is very hard. And the long term is where the benefits come in. Being a physiotherapist exercise advice is important professionally as well as personally.
Since I have a chest condition and am 53 years old, I have age and a (relatively minor) health problem to encourage me to keep going. I exercise every other day, alternating running with going to the gym.
Running 40 minutes near where I live is great, there's a large expanse of countryside with a river running through it. Lots of soft ground, short grass and great scenery. When I run past older people out walking, I think why am I doing this? Well, I'm trying to get to their age!
The weight training is different. I love the gym, all the clanking, creative exercising, posturing and mirrors! Most people don't exercise very well and bad technique is all around. I have changed my way of weight training recently and the results are very interesting. It's also taking me much less time to do my training and is kinder to my somewhat older structures.
I'll cover what's new in the gym in my next post. For the meantime, keep going with the exercise. You don't have to go mad or work at a high level, you just need to do it again and again. It 's the old practice makes perfect cracked record.
For suggestions for simple exercises go to The Simple Exercise Series. Seeing a physiotherapist may be your best bet to kickstart your exercise regime and progress it correctly.
Since I have a chest condition and am 53 years old, I have age and a (relatively minor) health problem to encourage me to keep going. I exercise every other day, alternating running with going to the gym.
Running 40 minutes near where I live is great, there's a large expanse of countryside with a river running through it. Lots of soft ground, short grass and great scenery. When I run past older people out walking, I think why am I doing this? Well, I'm trying to get to their age!
The weight training is different. I love the gym, all the clanking, creative exercising, posturing and mirrors! Most people don't exercise very well and bad technique is all around. I have changed my way of weight training recently and the results are very interesting. It's also taking me much less time to do my training and is kinder to my somewhat older structures.
I'll cover what's new in the gym in my next post. For the meantime, keep going with the exercise. You don't have to go mad or work at a high level, you just need to do it again and again. It 's the old practice makes perfect cracked record.
For suggestions for simple exercises go to The Simple Exercise Series. Seeing a physiotherapist may be your best bet to kickstart your exercise regime and progress it correctly.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Your golf swing could harm your knee replacement
It's been hard to know exactly how to advise people after knee replacement exactly which exercise activities they could safely pursue. Even though you can hear stories of people doing all sorts of things with their replacements, what is the sensible course?
Our usual line is "Contact sports, squash, skiing, tennis, jogging and jumping are a bad idea. Good sports are walking, bowls, golf and swimming."
Recent research in the US has thrown this consensus into disarray. Researchers have used specially designed knee replacements which can measure the forces put upon them from the inside. This has shown up that golf, usually thought to be a low impact activity, may put much larger forces on an artificial knee joint that previously suspected.
For further information please go to The Physiotherapy Site.
Our usual line is "Contact sports, squash, skiing, tennis, jogging and jumping are a bad idea. Good sports are walking, bowls, golf and swimming."
Recent research in the US has thrown this consensus into disarray. Researchers have used specially designed knee replacements which can measure the forces put upon them from the inside. This has shown up that golf, usually thought to be a low impact activity, may put much larger forces on an artificial knee joint that previously suspected.
For further information please go to The Physiotherapy Site.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Why use hip abductor and adductor muscle gym machines?
I'm in the gym at least twice a week for an hour, doing a whole-body routine to keep up my muscle power and mass as time goes by. At 53 I want to make sure I don't lose muscle every year as I inevitably would if I didn't train at all.
I do a mixture of exercises, using machines, free weights and the gym balls.
However, as a physiotherapist I really can't see the point of the hip adductor and abductor training machines. You know, the ones the girls make a beeline for and spend some time on, imagining it's going to do good things for their buttock profiles.
Somebody looked at the movements of the hips and said "Hey, we can make machines to exercise the hip in-and-out movements!". So the hip abductor and hip adductor muscle training machines were born.
The hip muscles are very powerful and have to cope with stabilising the pelvis in weight bearing and with propulsion of our high body weight every day. This is called walking! Or running or jumping. The forces involved are very high as the muscles are either stabilising or contributing directly to the movement of our whole bodies.
On the machine we can't approach the forces that we do day to day in walking and moving about generally. If you want train your buttocks then there are lots of exercises which might even be effective! Examples could be lunging, jumping, sprinting, leg press, squat. And many others.
So my tip for today is, do something else rather than spend useless time on these machines. But I'd be interested to hear if any of you have different opinions.
I do a mixture of exercises, using machines, free weights and the gym balls.
However, as a physiotherapist I really can't see the point of the hip adductor and abductor training machines. You know, the ones the girls make a beeline for and spend some time on, imagining it's going to do good things for their buttock profiles.
Somebody looked at the movements of the hips and said "Hey, we can make machines to exercise the hip in-and-out movements!". So the hip abductor and hip adductor muscle training machines were born.
The hip muscles are very powerful and have to cope with stabilising the pelvis in weight bearing and with propulsion of our high body weight every day. This is called walking! Or running or jumping. The forces involved are very high as the muscles are either stabilising or contributing directly to the movement of our whole bodies.
On the machine we can't approach the forces that we do day to day in walking and moving about generally. If you want train your buttocks then there are lots of exercises which might even be effective! Examples could be lunging, jumping, sprinting, leg press, squat. And many others.
So my tip for today is, do something else rather than spend useless time on these machines. But I'd be interested to hear if any of you have different opinions.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Stretching Muscles After Your Workout
I love to workout in the gym, always have. It's the clanking of metal, the rubber flooring, the smell, it all means muscles and effort.
At the end of my workout I'm always keen to head for the shower. Yes, I try and leave out my stretches if I can. Even though I know they should help me become more flexible and allow me to exert more effort to build muscle.
Stretching is easy to build in to your workout, best at the end. There's lots of guidance around about how you should do them. I've found out a few tips over time.
At the end of my workout I'm always keen to head for the shower. Yes, I try and leave out my stretches if I can. Even though I know they should help me become more flexible and allow me to exert more effort to build muscle.
Stretching is easy to build in to your workout, best at the end. There's lots of guidance around about how you should do them. I've found out a few tips over time.
- Choose a stretch for each major muscle group
- Go to the discomfort point and hold.
- Don't bounce or move about. Relax into the stretch and breathe steadily.
- Hold it for 30 seconds. This is much longer than you think. If you guess you'll always stop too soon. Stretch so you can see a clock with a second hand.
- Go have a shower. Well done!
Achilles tendon rupture and age
Our bodies change with time. If we are lucky this is a slow process and we may not notice it much. Until something pulls us up sharp, that is.
Our ligaments and tendons are very strong to cope with the large loads we put them in sport and recreation. This is fine when we are young. As time goes on however, the loads we put on our tissues get closer and closer to the maximum stresses they will tolerate. You may have several attendances to your physiotherapist before the big one hits.
The achilles tendon is a large structure in the calf with a poor blood supply. It transmits all the forces of our bodyweight as we move about in life. These forces are sometimes very high.
Football (soccer), squash and sprinting in your mid-40s may just not be a good idea. An achilles tendon rupture is a risk and it's a disabling leg injury. If you get operated on it'll be six weeks in plaster and being careful for three months or more. If not, you're in plaster for much longer and it'll be six months or more before you're back to action.
That's a big chunk out of your normal life. And you'll need to spend some time with the physiotherapists to rehab your ankle.
A rupture of achilles tendon is a signal that you are putting stresses on your body that may be excessive. It is possible to be sportingly active over 45 but you need to be more careful with warm up and training if you haven't done it for a while.
If you have a pain problem then a steady and planned approach to activity is vital. Pacing is the important skill here, the ability to make logical measurements of your activity and increase by pre-chosen increments.
Actually, pacing applies to us all at any age. Athletes use the technique to get ready for the Olympic Games, pain patients to control their chronic pain.
Go to Pacing for Pain for a load of information about this important pain management technique.
Our ligaments and tendons are very strong to cope with the large loads we put them in sport and recreation. This is fine when we are young. As time goes on however, the loads we put on our tissues get closer and closer to the maximum stresses they will tolerate. You may have several attendances to your physiotherapist before the big one hits.
The achilles tendon is a large structure in the calf with a poor blood supply. It transmits all the forces of our bodyweight as we move about in life. These forces are sometimes very high.
Football (soccer), squash and sprinting in your mid-40s may just not be a good idea. An achilles tendon rupture is a risk and it's a disabling leg injury. If you get operated on it'll be six weeks in plaster and being careful for three months or more. If not, you're in plaster for much longer and it'll be six months or more before you're back to action.
That's a big chunk out of your normal life. And you'll need to spend some time with the physiotherapists to rehab your ankle.
A rupture of achilles tendon is a signal that you are putting stresses on your body that may be excessive. It is possible to be sportingly active over 45 but you need to be more careful with warm up and training if you haven't done it for a while.
If you have a pain problem then a steady and planned approach to activity is vital. Pacing is the important skill here, the ability to make logical measurements of your activity and increase by pre-chosen increments.
Actually, pacing applies to us all at any age. Athletes use the technique to get ready for the Olympic Games, pain patients to control their chronic pain.
Go to Pacing for Pain for a load of information about this important pain management technique.
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