The Hip: Power Source, Biggest Rock, Best Friend

 By Barbara Fuller PT, FAFS
The late-seventyish woman looked at me with a bit of skepticism mixed with a little fear. After I introduced myself to her she said, “Before we start, I want you to know that I would like for you to address my low back pain, but I don’t want you [...]

Balance in Motion

 
  
By Andrea Wasylow PT, FAFS  
  The  billing  coordinator  at  the  small  hospital‐based  rehabilitation  clinic  where  I  work  is  
phenomenal.  In  addition  to  being  one  of  those  people  who  you  just  enjoy  spending  time  with,  
she  is  exceptionally  skilled  at  finding  those  small  discrepancies  that  could  potentially  delay,  or  
give  reason  for  denial,  of  payment  for  services.  Prior  to  joining  our  team,  she  worked  [...]

Multi Directional Hip Exercises

Due to the sedentary nature of many peoples lifestyle, the hip (among other things) gets very tight and restricted.  This leads to compensatory movement and muscle imbalances that effect movement and performance.  So, as they sing in the movie Madagascar…you’ve got  to move it move it!
Here are few examples of hip mobility/strength exercises moving in [...]

Calcaneal Eversion: The Switch That Turns On The Engine

 

By my friend, mentor and all around good guy David Tiberio PhD, PT, OCS
GRAVITY, GROUND, and the SWITCH 
The internal power sources that drive the body are the hips and trunk: the core of the body. There are many ways to activate that power source, but probably the most important for upright function in our gravitational [...]

The Functional Knee: Caught in the Middle with No Where to Hide

Injuries to the knee are seen throughout virtually all sports and all age ranges. Have you ever wondered why the knee is the most common reason for a visit to an orthopedic surgeon? Moreover, have you ever wondered how rehabilitation and training programs could better alleviate the stresses placed on the knee? The answers lie [...]

The Lumbar Spine: Unfairly Accused

 
Not that it could ever happen, but if given the opportunity to defend a body part in a court of law, without question I would choose to defend the lumbar spine. With mind boggling statistics such as 80% of all human beings will experience low back pain at some time during their life and that [...]

The Hips: The Monster Under the Bed

 
 
A few weeks ago, my six-year-old nephew was sleeping over at our house. I was awaken in the middle of the night by him exclaiming, “Uncle Joe, there’s a monster underneath my bed!” I went into his room and said, “Be nice to him and he’ll be your best friend. Give him a pop tart or [...]

The 4 Pillars of Human Movement

When you think of human movement it can be broken down into 4 basic categories.  Locomotion, Level Changes, Push/Pull and Rotation. These represent the 4 pillars of human movement as described by JC Santana in his book Functional Training; Breaking the Bonds of Traditionalism.  When designing rehab or fitness programs that are functionally based it [...]

Getting at the Core for Gymnastics (or Life)

 
While gymnastics is used in this post the concepts apply to any endeavor.  Most would agree that a strong “core” is essential to all sporting activities and tasks of daily living. What is the core and how do we train it to maximize performance? Generally speaking, the core consists of the lower back, lateral trunk and abdominal (rectus abdominus, obliques, transverse abdominus) musculature. [...]

Medicine Ball Chop Exercise

 

Great exercise for core strength. The body is in an upright position so you will strengthen and activate your core muscles more appropriately for function.
Stand holding med ball or dumbbell. Pivot feet lifting heels, rotate body and reach up and over right shoulder. Bring med ball down and across body towards opposite knee pivoting feet [...]