Like the various musicians in a symphony orchestra, athletic movements require different muscles to activate and deactivate in a very co-ordinated fashion. When disrupted, this orchestra of muscular activity can not only affect athletic performance, but can also lead to different injuries.

Functional instability of the ankle is an example of an injury that has been shown to affect muscular activity in other areas of the lower limb. With functional ankle instability, many people have a history of repeated ankle sprains. Although their “bad ankles” are not painful, these athletes feel like their ankles may “give way” at any time. Several studies have shown that these athletes can have hamstring, tensor fascia lata and peroneal deficiency during double leg to single leg jumps. The significance of this can be show through an example…

Imagine a soccer player with a previous ankle sprain who moves from standing on two legs to standing only on their previously injured leg (like when they plant their stabilizing leg to kick a ball). Given the findings mentioned above, these players may not have normal muscle activity in the standing hip because of their ankle dysfunction. As a result, they may injure their lower back (for example) because there wasn’t a co-ordinated muscular response to adequately stabilize the spine. This is a case where an athlete incurred a non contact injury to the lower back because of “bad ankles”. Thankfully, identifying functional ankle instability and prescription of individualized exercises can help to prevent these injuries.  Feel free to contact us!

Questions? Comments? Please post them right on the site or email us directly. Like what you’ve read? Sign up for our complimentary email feed on the right side of this page so that you can receive these posts every two weeks.

References

Solomonow M. Sensory-motor control of ligaments and associated neuromuscular disorders. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology 2006; 16: 549-567.

Van Deun S, Staes FF, Stappaerts KH et al. Relationship of chronic ankle instability to muscle activation patterns during the transition from double-leg to single-leg stance. American Journal of Sports Medicine 2007; 35: 274-281.

Zampagni ML, Corazza I, Molgora AP, Marcacci M. Can ankle imbalance be a risk factor for tensor fascia lata muscle weakness? Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology 2009; 19: 651-659.

Disclaimer
The purpose of this blog is to educate our patients and those interested in improving their health and wellbeing. We recommend that you always consult with a qualified health care professional before applying any of the topics or suggestions mentioned on this website. This information is not intended to diagnose or treat your condition. Burlington Sports Therapy, Dr. McIntyre or Dr. McDowall accept no responsibility for any complications arising from the use of any suggestions, exercises or topics of discussion on this site.

   

 

 

The gluteus medius (pictured on the left) is a gluteal muscle that is best described as being on the “side” of our gluteal area.  It assists in several motions, including abduction movements (moving the thigh away from the midline) and stabilizing the pelvis during activity.  This muscle was definitely most active during side lying abduction. Interestingly, this exercise was approximately twice as effective as side lying clam exercises.  In descending order, other useful exercises were single limb squat, lateral band walk, single leg deadlift and sideways hop.  Other exercises studied but deemed as being in the lower “tier” of effectiveness for this muscle were (in descending order of muscle activation) the transverse hop, transverse lunge, forward hop, forward lunge, clam at 30 degrees, sideways lunge and clam at 60 degrees.  

The gluteus maximus (pictured on the right) is a large gluteal muscle that performs hip extension.  This muscle was found to be most active during the single leg squat and the single leg deadlift.  This finding is in agreement with other research which found that gluteus maximus activity is greatest during exercises that require single leg balance with hip flexion / extension.  Interestingly, the gluteus medius was activated to a similar extent during these exercises, suggesting that they are a great “bang for your buck” in terms of overall gluteal strengthening.

Questions about the exercises?  Comments?  Please post them right on the site or email us directly.   Like what you’ve read?  Sign up for our complimentary email feed on the right side of this page so that you can receive these posts every two weeks. 

References

DiStefano LJ, Blackburn JT, Marshall SW, Padua DA.  Gluteal muscle activation during common therapeutic exercises.  Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy 2009; 39(7): 532-540. 

Disclaimer

The purpose of this blog is to educate our patients and those interested in improving their health and wellbeing.  We recommend that you always consult with a qualified health care professional before applying any of the topics or suggestions mentioned on this website.  This information is not intended to diagnose or treat your condition.  Burlington Sports Therapy, Dr. McIntyre or Dr. McDowall accept no responsibility for any complications arising from the use of any suggestions, exercises or topics of discussion on this site. 

There is no question that the bench press is a very popular exercise for strengthening the pectorals. Although effective, this exercise can prove painful for many people so attention needs to be given to proper technique.  Here are a few tips that are supported by published research…

Not too low - That burning stretch you feel at the bottom of the bench press is not necessarily the good type of “burn”.  If you lower the bar to touch your chest, you’re likely to be straining the end of the pectoral muscle at the musculotendinous junction instead of targeting the pectoral muscle tissue.  It’s recommended that you keep the bar 4 to 6 centimetres above your chest when performing this exercise.  You can roll up a towel and place it on your chest if you need the reminder!

Not too wide - A grip that is too wide forces your shoulder into excessive external rotation.  This can damage the passive structures in the front of your shoulder joint leading to chronic capsular laxity.  If you’re someone who has dislocated your shoulder in the past or if you are known to have “loose” joints, a wide grip may increase the likelihood for certain types of injury.  The recommended grip width is no wider than 1.5 times your acromial width (the acromions are the bumps on the top of your shoulder).  Worried that this will reduce your strength too much?  According to the literature, you should expect only a 5% deficit in strength with this change.

Keep it flat - When you place the bench on an incline it forces your shoulder into external rotation.  If you’re someone with a structural deficit in the front of the shoulder joint (perhaps due to the aforementioned laxity or a history of dislocation) you’ll find that this increases the likelihood of pain or injury.  Try keeping the bench flat and see if that makes a difference.  Worried about strengthening your upper chest?  According to some literature, inclining the bench does not alter the activity of the upper pectoral.  Instead, it decreases the activation of the sternal portion of the pectoral (in the midline of your chest).

Questions or comments?  Feel free to post a comment on this site or email us directly.  Like what you’ve read?  Sign up for our complimentary email feed to receive these articles every two weeks.

References

Glass SC, Armstrong T. Electromyographical activation of the pectoralis muscle during incline and decline bench press. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 1997; 11: 163-167.

Green C, Comfort P. The affect of grip width on bench press performance and risk of injury. Strength and Conditioning Journal 2007; 29 (5): 10-14.

Lantz J, McCrain M. Modifying chest press exercises for athletes with shoulder pathology. Strength and Conditioning Journal 2005; 27 (3): 69-72.

Disclaimer
The purpose of this blog is to educate our patients and those interested in improving their health and wellbeing. We recommend that you always consult with a qualified health care professional before applying any of the topics or suggestions mentioned on this website. This information is not intended to diagnose or treat your condition. Burlington Sports Therapy, Dr. McIntyre or Dr. McDowall accept no responsibility for any complications arising from the use of any suggestions, exercises or topics of discussion on this site.

Overuse injuries are very common among distance runners. The repeated tissue stress can lead to such conditions as achilles tendinopathy, patellar tendinopathy, soft tissue and osseous stress syndromes and plantar fasciosis to name a few.  Think it won’t happen to you?  An interesting study published in Foot & Ankle International examined the injury statistics for 291 distance runners and found that the incidence of injury was actually quite high.  The average age of the subjects was 42 years and they ran an average of 65.2 kilometres each week. The following are some of the more interesting findings…

The injury rate was 0.08 injuries for each 1000 kilometres run.
Overuse injuries were more frequent than acute injuries.
The most predominant injury was achilles tendinopathy, affecting 56.6%.
46.4% of the runners experienced anterior knee pain.
35.7% of the athletes experienced shin splints.
12.7% of the subjects experienced plantar fasciosis.
Runners with more than 10 years experience had an increased risk for achilles tendinopathy.

So does this mean you hang up the runners?  Not at all.  We just want you to be aware of the common injuries associated with this type of vigorous exercise.  Consulting with a knowledgeable health professional can be helpful in providing you with a preventative strategy that is specific to your needs.  If you’re in pain, we always recommend that you get your injury examined and diagnosed early before it turns into a larger, more stubborn problem.  Good luck!

References

Knobloch K, Yoon U, Vogt P. Acute and overuse injuries correlated to hours of training in master running athletes. Foot & Ankle International 2008; 29(7): 671-676.

Disclaimer
The purpose of this blog is to educate our patients and those interested in improving their health and wellbeing. We recommend that you always consult with a qualified health care professional before applying any of the topics or suggestions mentioned on this website. This information is not intended to diagnose or treat your condition. Burlington Sports Therapy, Dr. McIntyre or Dr. McDowall accept no responsibility for any complications arising from the use of any suggestions, exercises or topics of discussion on this site.

Recently we came across an interesting paper published in the well known journal “Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise” which investigated the loads imposed on our joints when using an elliptical exercise machine. Some of the more interesting results were as follows…

In terms of cardiovascular exercise, an elliptical machine can give you a workout that is comparable to that of a stairclimber or a treadmill.

In general, there is less impact force with an elliptical machine when compared to a standard treadmill. Therefore, for people with conditions that are aggravated with impact (like osteoarthritis in the hips, knees or ankles) it may be wise to choose an elliptical machine over a treadmill.

An elliptical machine requires a greater amount of hip and knee flexion (pictured below). This places a greater demand on the hip flexors and the quadriceps than that found with the use of a treadmill. For those with an injury in either of these areas (especially overuse injuries in the quadricep complex or the hip flexors) extensive use of an elliptical machine may be unwise.

The pedal trajectory of a standard elliptical machine is usually wider than the trajectory used for walking. Since your feet have to follow the pedals on an elliptical machine, you’ll impose a different set of demands on your hips, knees and ankles than you would with the use of a treadmill. For some individuals, prolonged exercises on the elliptical may lead to alignment injuries like mal-tracking of the patella.

Therefore, the results of this study suggest that elliptical exercise is indeed a worthy form of exercise for the right individual. Consideration of your body type and history of injury can assist you in choosing the right path. As always, we recommend that you consult with a suitable professional who can help you make informed, objective decisions that are based on science. Good luck!

References

Lu TW, Chien HL, Chen HL. Joint loading in the lower extremities during elliptical exercise. Med. Sci. Sports Exercise. 2007: 39(9); 1651-1658.

Disclaimer
The purpose of this blog is to educate our patients and those interested in improving their health and wellbeing. We recommend that you always consult with a qualified health care professional before applying any of the topics or suggestions mentioned on this website. This information is not intended to diagnose or treat your condition. Burlington Sports Therapy, Dr. McIntyre or Dr. McDowall accept no responsibility for any complications arising from the use of any suggestions, exercises or topics of discussion on this site.