Nov 19 2015

Combo Hip Flexor Hamstring Stretch For A Healthy Spine

This is an awesome combo stretch for multiple muscles, joints and tissues on the opposite legs. It’s a safe stretching technique to improve the mobility of the hip flexor, anterior hip and quadriceps on one leg and the hamstrings, calf, glutes and posterior hip capsule on the opposite leg. For those of you who have difficulty stretching in standing or kneeling, this supine position is a good way to improve the mobility of multiple soft tissues.

Optimal mobility of the hips and lower extremity muscles is very important for a healthy spine. A word of caution for those of you who have an acute low back injury, be careful when stretching the hamstrings and calf since you will tension the sciatic nerve as well.

Tweetables:

Combo Stretch for Joints and Tissues on the Opposite Legs. [Click To Tweet]
Supine Position is a good way to Improve the Mobility of Multiple Soft Tissues. [Click To Tweet]
Safe Stretch Technique to Improve Mobility of the Hip Flexor, Anterior Hip and Quadriceps. [Click To Tweet]

Dec 15 2014

Hip Arthritis Treatment Self Traction

This a self-mobilization technique to help with hip arthritis pain. For those of your suffering from hip pain due to hip arthritis, this hip distraction technique is great for relieving compression on the hip while relieving irritation and pain associated with the degenerative changes to the hip cartilage. Wear and tear on the hip either due to injury, overuse or obesity can lead to hip arthritis.

Tweetables:

Self-Mobilization Technique to Open up the Hip Capsule [Click To Tweet].
A Simple Treatment Effective in the Early Stages of Arthritis [Click To Tweet]
Resistance Bands that are Heavy-Duty, Fair amount of Pull, and Different Grades Available [Click To Tweet]

Tools used in the video:

SeriousSteel (Single Band) 41”

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So I’m going to show you a technique to open up the hip capsule. This is a self-mobilization technique. A bunch of you guys had asked me about arthritic hips and what you can do to release some of the pain and discomfort associated with that. So basically, if the hip joint is worn out and you have arthritic changes or arthrosis, degenerative changes in the hip causing you pain, this is a simple and relatively effective, especially in the early stages of arthritis, technique to open up that joint space, to stretch out that joint capsule and also relieve some of the discomfort and pain associated with that arthritic hip.

I’m going to use one of these resistance bands. These are heavy-duty, so a fair amount of pull, and they have different grades available. So you need this, and you can use essentially any surface that’s stable that’s not going to move. Now, what I’m going to do is I’m going to use this thing; it’s nice and stable. Now, if you’re able to lie down or get up and down off the floor, you can do that, or the other option is you could do that lying on your bed or couch as long as you have something next to that you can tie the band to.

So I’m going to loop it around, make sure it’s nice and stable, it’s going anywhere. And then let’s say it’s my right hip I’m trying to target. So loop this, so now it’s not going to come off of my foot, and what I’m going to do is I’m going to be lying down. Now, if I want to increase the amount of pull that’s taking place, so basically what I’m doing is I’m just distracting or pulling that hip, doing a little bit of traction in that hip joint in that direction so that opens up that hip joint. So the further I go, the more pull I’m getting in that hip, and I can control that by my other leg and just scooting back.

So initially, when you start off, don’t crank on it. Don’t pull it way out. So go about 50% and just see how that feels to you. And you can hang out there for about 30 to 60 seconds and just test it out and see how that feels. Does it relieve some of that discomfort? If it does, then you can progressively increase the time you’re staying in a traction position. I can even work at doing some pulling that up using some the muscles and then relaxing to do some contract/relax to let sort of these muscles to let go, and I can start getting a little bit more traction.

So, quite effective, and I can just sit here and hang out and just get some traction. I could bring the other leg down too, but if you’re missing some range of motion in your hips, often this is not going to be comfortable to have your legs straight. So I prefer, especially for protecting your back, that you bend the opposite knee. And then hang out here, and then once you’re done slowly work at scooting back down to gradually reduce the traction, the pull that was there. And hang out for a couple of minutes till that load or that traction is taken off the hip so that you don’t just jump out of that position as the traction is being applied. It might be uncomfortable for you. So come out of that position slowly and then you can move around and see if that, one, helps you relieve some pain, or you find that it gives you a little bit more mobility in that hip.

So, pretty easy technique to do. Try it out and see how it feels.

If you have any questions, leave a comment. Make sure you check out the site. There’s lots of info on rehabilitation techniques.

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Nov 25 2014

Hip Flexor Stretching In Half Kneeling

Hip flexor tightness and hip joint stiffness can lead to low back pain, hip pain and knee problems. This is an advanced hip flexor mobility exercise that also stretches the quadriceps and tibialis anterior. Essentially all structures on the front of the leg. I highly recommend this technique for anyone looking to improve hip flexor flexibility for athletic activities and for preventing injuries.

For additional flexibility and strengthening exercises to improve performance click HERE

Tweetables:

Hip Flexor Stretching To Relieve Back Pain. [Click To Tweet].
Improve Sports Performance By Freeing Hip Flexors. [Click To Tweet].
Advanced hip flexor mobility exercise. [Click To Tweet].

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So I’m going to show you a stretch to open up the front of the hip and also get your hip flexors. Hip flexors in the front of your hip that help you bring the thigh up towards you. And we’re going to use a couch. You can use a chair, anything essentially that’s stable and where you can put your foot up on.

Now, what you want to do is you want to start with ideally your knee as far back as possible, but if not, if you don’t have enough mobility, you can bring it forward too. The foot is up here in this position. So I like to stretch because it really gets everything in the front part of the thigh and the leg. And we’re going to do two different variations of it so this way you can get the front hip capsule as well as your hip flexors and you can get your quads also, front of your thigh muscles.

So the first part you want to do once you get yourself set up in the position is, and this also helps protect your low back, you want to squeeze your butt muscles. When I tighten up my glutes, remember your glutes are opposite of your hip flexors and glutes help you do hip extension, bring your leg or thigh bone back, so when I tighten up my glutes I am taking away some of the load off my low back. I’m targeting this area. So as I tighten up and as I get my pelvis into a little bit of a posterior tilt, so when I tighten up my glutesand I’m going to lean forward in this position while I maintain the glutes in a tightened position – so the first variation of the stretch is I tighten the glutes and I shift my body weight forward. So as I bring my body weight forward onto that front leg, I’m really getting a good pull right in the front of that hip and even in this area, the slightly lateral side. So as I bring my weight forward, I’m going to stretch that front capsule, get some of the hip flexors, and I’m going to lean and I’m going to work at finding the sticky spots, stiff areas, and I’m going to oscillate back and forth. So hang out in that position, once again, while you maintain your glutes in tightened position and/or putting the pelvis in a slightly posterior tilt. So that’s the first part of it. And of course, it’s also helping my low back stay in a relatively neutral position.

So the second part is where I want to target and I want to get more my quads, the front of the thigh, too. So for that I’m going to lean back so I’m an upright position. Now, in this position, same thing: I tighten up my glutes again and I bring myself into more an upright position. Now I’m really getting a lot of pulling that’s taking place in the front of the thigh, and as I maintain the posterior tilt or that glute contraction and I lean back further, I get even a stronger pull right in this area.

One other thing that I like to do is I like to take my hand if I want to guide myself to maintain a better position, I’m going to place my hand right here above my glute. So what that does is it reminds me not to hyperextend, not to arch backwards because that’s not going to get you as much range from here. You’re going to be getting it hinging at your low back and getting the range from this region. So when I place my hand here, tighten my glutes and I glide that hand forward, so when I do this, that really hits this area. I’m giving myself a reminder that this is where I’m trying to hinge. This is where I’m trying to get the range. So same thing, you glide yourself forward, hang out, try to hit it from different spots. While you maintain, you might want to lean back a little bit more. So try to get it from different spots. Spend about four to five minutes really searching for those sticky spots so you can work at mobilizing, opening up that tissue. Make sure you don’t feel any discomfort in your low back, so really kicking your abdominals also. So kicking your abdominals, your glutes, your pelvis in a posterior tilt position, that’ll really help you isolate this region.

So spend, as I said, four to five minutes really working on those tissues. Make sure you try out both sides and see how it feels.

I just showed you a powerful mobility exercise for the hip joint, hip flexors, quadriceps and anterior tibialis muscles. If you need further guidance on mobility exercises to prevent injuries, my Build Better Knees recovery kit can show you lots more.

Nov 19 2014

Lunge Hip Stretches

Multi-plane hip mobility exercise to prevent low back pain, hip pain and knee injuries. A very effective stretch to improve hip flexibility from various angles.

Do you have hip pain? Click here to learn more hip mobility and strength exercises.

Tweetables:

Hip Mobility Exercise To Prevent Low Back Pain. [Click To Tweet]

Lunge Multi-Plane Hip Stretch. [Click To Tweet]

Hip Openers For Optimal Performance. [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, it’s Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So I’ve got a new video for you, a hip opener, and once again you can do these exercises anywhere, anytime essentially. We’re going to use a couch; you can use a chair, whatever you like. It can be done on the floor, but this is another option for you.

So this is a hip opener and what we’re going to do is start off in a lunge position. So we’re trying to get a couple of different things done. So when I start off in this position, right away I’m getting some hip extension on my right hip. So I’m stretching out the front of the hip on my right side, and I’m going to stretch out the back on the left side. So as I’m flexing that left hip, so it’s a lunge position essentially, but sometimes it’s a little easier for people to place the hand here to support yourself.

Now, if the back is too far back, it’s uncomfortable, bring it up a little bit or place another chair next to you if you’re not able to balance yourself and hold that position. What I’m going to do is I’m going to be in this position and as I shift my body weight forward, as I drive that forward, I get a stronger pull right here in my front of my hip on my right side. If I squeeze my right butt cheek, again I’m going to get a stronger pull in the front, not only in the front part of my hip capsule but also in your hip flexors. We’re trying to open these guys up.

So the other part we’re trying to get at on the other side though is, besides getting that hip flexion, getting a stretch right in this area or bending on that hip, we want to get some rotation, so working on opening up that hip, so some external rotation on that hip. The foot stays planted. So I take my hand, not on the knee, just above the knee or even further up, and I’m going to gently open up that hip. So I push it out a little bit. Now, you can either push out or I can step in too. So as I push out, I step in. So now that really works at opening it up. So I add on another thing to it now. I can do some rotation of my trunk away from it, and that really opens up this whole side, stretches that as well as my groin area, front of the hip capsule, and gets some external rotation done too.

Now, if I want to go the other way, I’m going to bring it inwards – internal rotation, adduction. So work at this position too. And you can adjust how much load you want on that. If I back off, put less pressure on that, I can still do that movement. And I’m just above the outside of the knee, so this way I’m not pushing my knee. So I do the same thing, glide, hang out, stretch, come back out of it. So I hit it from different angles, maybe in a more flexed position; I can do that with the hip. I do a little bit less flexed position of the hip. I do the same thing or less weight on the hip. So you can really work at different angles and different amount of load on that hip, so different positions.

So besides doing the internal and external rotation, add the body movement to it also, so trunk rotation away from it and as I really work at opening that up, and then in the other direction too. So maybe I’ll do external rotation and I’ll turn to the same direction where I really work at sitting in here and opening up this whole side. So, the point being that really try to get at it from various angles, and this is just one position.

You could do the exact same thing on the floor too. So I could be right here doing the exact same movement out here with my body movement going this way, or for that matter going in this direction, and I can direct how much pressure I want to bring on to this side, how much weight I want on my front leg too.

So try it out, do both sides, see which side is stiffer, and spend four, five minutes at a time on each side, but make sure, try to contract the back leg. So, for example, in this case back leg, if I want to target the front of the hip more and I want to protect my back, tighten up your butt muscles. That stretches the front of the hip a little bit more. Plus, it also protects your low back. So always protect yourself. Try it out for four to five minutes.

Yoga Modified Pigeon Pose For Hip Flexibility

A modified Yoga Pigeon Pose for hip flexibility. Great exercise to improve hip mobility and help with iliotibial band syndrome, low back pain and for knee injuries. This is a good one to make a regular part of your mobility routine.

Tweetables:

Relieve Tension and Stress in Pigeon Pose [Click To Tweet]

Hip Stretch Exercise Piriformis Flexibility [Click To Tweet]

Stretches to Relieve Lower Back Pain [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you a quick hip stretch, how to mobilize and open up that hip. And I’m going to use a couch for this, you can use a chair. It’s like a modified pigeon pose. So in yoga there’s the pigeon pose that you can do on the ground, but we’re going to use the couch for this.

I’m going to do apiriformis stretch and show a couple of different variations. Now, I can start off with my knee relatively in line with my belly button, and in that position what I want to do is my back is nice and straight. So I’m just going to sit back, I slide my back foot backwards and I let it sit down, I start getting a stretch in that hip, in my glutes, my butt, all through this region; my back sits nice and straight. So now this is the basic stretch. If I want, I can work at gliding out towards my left, I glide out towards my right. So try to hit it from different angles and different positions. You might even decide to lean forward a little bit and as I lean forward I sit back, and again I hinge up that hip and that really starts to get that hip and that butt.

You can also try to really get that IT band, that outside thigh, too, with the stretch. Start adding some rotations, so I start to rotate my upper body. I can go further and further as I get comfortable, get a little flexion in, and start hitting it from various angles, getting more flexion. Go out to the front this way. Go out in this direction.

Now, I also like to, if I really want to target further, I take my right hand, in this case this is my left leg we’re stretching, so I place it right in front of that hip joint, my upper thigh, and I’m going to glide it down so the force is going this way, not too hard, just stabilize it. Now that really focuses that stretch, again, from that hip. So I push down a little bit, again I sit down, and now it takes away any pressure and load off the knee, makes this the target point.

So same thing happens if I want to go, let’s say, in this direction. I can take the other hand and I place it just above my knee and my thigh. So now that opens it up even further. I’m almost doing like a rotation, like an external rotation, so when I rotate outwards and then I open up that hip even further, and then I can again come and sit in various angles and various positions, I could get stretching of that hip.

So once again, I can do the same thing, I can do some rotation with it, I can push down here, I can rotate again and sit back more. I can even place this further out, my foot up more as I get more mobility. Now I can really work at sitting down even further.

If you find that you are starting to get the knee involved more, you can place your hand just above the knee on the thigh. This really allows me to open up that hip further while I’m sitting down. So now I’m getting a good amount of stretch, no load on my spine, it feels comfortable, and I’m also getting some front-of-the-hip stretch. So you get to hit multiple tissues this way.

So the key point is try to go in different angles, different ranges, work your way around, so that way you can really work at hitting the tissue, the joint capsule and the local muscles from various angles. Hang out four to five minutes, don’t force it, and try it out from your left and right sides and see which side is stiffer.

Leave a comment if you have questions and don’t forget to learn more about our recovery kit to treat iliotibial band syndrome HERE. Thanks.

Jul 12 2014

Pulled Hamstring Treatment

Hamstring injury can result in thickening and adhesions at the site of injury resulting in poor skin glide and mobility. This is a scar tissue mobilization technique using cross friction massage and pump massage to break up adhesions and sticky spots.

This is a very effective technique that can really help restore proper mobility and tissue health of the hamstring muscle.

Tweetables:

Pulled Hamstring: Recovery and Treatment [Click To Tweet]

The Key to Successful Recovery From a Hamstring Strain [Click To Tweet]

The Best Ways to Treat Hamstring Injuries [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So, wanted to share a quick video on treatment of hamstring strains and soft tissue mobilization techniques to break up scar tissue and adhesions. Hamstring strains are quite common, and your hamstrings are a group of muscles that is made up of, on the inside you have your semimembranosus, semitendinosus, on the outside you have your biceps femoris.

So of course the strain or pull, which is quite common in athletic activities, can be anywhere along the length of the muscle, the muscle belly or further up at the attachment site at the ischial tuberosity, but we’re going to talk more about the strain along the muscle belly. So you’ll have to palpate and figure out where the strain is along the muscle belly. So movements that either stretch the hamstring muscle or contract the hamstring muscle are going to be painful, and these tend to become often into recurrent problems where it seems like it’s getting better but then the person continues to strain that tissue or irritate that tissue, which causes pain, and it’s often due to the initial injury if there are micro-tears in the fibers, and it ends up getting fibrotic changes, thickening or adhesions that form in the injured area.

So around that area things could be moving well and possibly strong, but that area becomes the weak point. So working at improving that mobility, breaking down the scar tissue so the whole tissue moves well—there’s good tissue between multiple layers—allows that tissue not only to heal but also to start working on strengthening to strengthen that tissue again. So those recurrent injuries, after a while they might form more scarring and thickening, and weakening the whole muscle.

So one of the things we want to do, of course, we want to find out first where along the belly you’re having the problem. So let’s say if we say that it’s—we’re going to pick just a spot in the middle of the muscle belly—so the muscle fibers are running up and down, so once you find those tender and thickened areas, you want to work at doing cross friction massage, you want to work at breaking down the thickening. So muscle’s going this way, I’m going across the fibers, not just on the skin but I’m also putting a little pressure and I’m going to back and forth. And you might find it’s not just across this way. It might be that at different angles you might find restrictions or thickening along that tissue. So I want to find that spot, put a little pressure and work on cross friction work.

So I can use my thumb, I can use knuckles and get a wider area, I can use my elbow where I can put a little pressure here and I can go back and forth. Now, I put the muscle, when I’m holding this here, I put it in a slightly slack position. It’s not as stretched as when the leg comes down, so it’s more comfortable when it’s really irritated. I can put it in a slightly slack position and I can get it in these positions and I can come across fibers in various directions. I’ll apply pressure with my elbow, go back and forth, back and forth. Usually it’s quite tender, it’s not very comfortable, but very effective.

So along different angles, different planes, I want to work at breaking down that expert, but then also lengthwise too. So I might want to work at massaging upwards and downwards direction also so I hit it from various angles. After you’re done with your massage part or especially cross friction massage—so spend about 5 to 10 minutes, that’s about how much time a person’s going to tolerate, I don’t apply it more than that—then I want to work at doing a little bit of tack and stretch, like that tack that tissue down and I stretch, tack and stretch. There’s also a bit of a pump massage technique to just globally stretch out the various tissues and from different angles. So I’m tacking it down and I’m pulling the leg down so I’m stretching that tissue from different angles, and also I’m improving circulation, just getting things moving up and just stretching out tissue from various angles. So I’m not applying too much pressure, just a little bit of pressure, upward direction, tack and stretch, tack and stretch.

And so usually this part is quite comfortable and people like this part and it doesn’t cause as many problems, so quite an effective technique to get rid of those problems. And I would do, starting off, you probably want to do that every other day or even take two days in between. Or, if it gets sore after the treatment, you want to give it a day or two to kind of settle down before you do the technique again. And after some time you’ll find that it won’t get as sore and it starts to move better, and then you can start focusing more on the strengthening aspect of things as well as doing more other stretching and mobility exercises.

I hope you found that helpful. Make sure you check out the site. We have our program on it now, it’s been live, Build Better Knees, and I think it’ll really help a lot of you with various knee injuries and problems. Subscribe to the channel and leave a comment. Thanks.

Jul 09 2014

Hamstring Strain Mobilization

Hamstring strain or tears can cause thickening and adhesions at the site of injury. Creating “sticky” spots with poor skin glide and mobility. Self mobilization using a lacrosse ball is one way to help break these adhesions and improve mobility of the hamstring. Once the tissue mobility is restored often much easier to stretch and strengthen the muscles.

This technique can be done for 5-10 minutes every other day. Once the tissue mobility improves and you are not as tight or sore can do the technique more frequently.

Tweetables:

Muscle Mobilization Techniques for the Hamstring [Click To Tweet]

How to Recover Quickly from a Hamstring Strain [Click To Tweet]

Hamstring Strains in Athletes: Diagnosis and Treatment [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and herbalist. So, today’s video, I’m going to show you another technique to help mobilize hamstrings specifically following hamstring strains or pulls, those injuries which become chronic due to adhesions and thickening that forms around microtears. So I’ve shown a couple of other videos on how to do mobilization of that tissue, how to break down that scar tissue using your hands and your elbows, which are soft tissue mobilization techniques. So this is more of a self-mobilization where you can use a ball, a lacrosse ball, to mobilize that tissue yourself.

So, edge of a chair or a table will work just fine, and what we’re going to do is we’re going to take this and we’re going to find…so let’s hit the strains along the…remember, your hamstrings are the muscle in the back of your thighs, so if the strain is along the muscle belly somewhere, we’re going to search and find the tender spot and put a little pressure on that, and then do some stretching of the hamstring tissue.

So let’s say we find that spot to be right about the area at the midpoint, and so all she’s going to do is she’s going to have her hands here on the side so she can maneuver herself back and forth and see where she’s at. So yeah, move yourself up and down, and so she can find that spot. Let’s say that’s the spot she finds, so now she can bear some weight on that and even control how much weight you bring down onto that tissue by your arms. So once you put some pressure—now, you can move your leg around back and forth, too, to figure out where the spot is, and it’s a matter of extending your leg, your knee, back and forth because that stretches that hamstring as well as maintains the pressure on it so it really helps mobilize that tissue.

And you might have to roll on it a little further or move back depending on where the spot is or a couple of spots are, and you can control the amount of pressure you’re applying on it. So if she leans her body forward a bit more and places more of the weight onto that ball, so that might apply more pressure now, and then she can work at sliding back and forth. And she could technically even apply more pressure with your hand on it, but if you’re doing a soft mobilization technique, so you can work at stretching that tissue. And now you wiggle side to side, go back and forth, really work it, moving in various directions to get those adhesions and the knotted-up tissue, and this will be a really good way to not only help improve that mobility but also to free up multiple layers of that tissue that are bound up. So once that tissue starts to move better, it can also help improve the tissue health, so better flexibility, and then you can start working on the strengthening part if you have less pain and less restriction on that tissue.

So your goal is here to work on getting rid of the sticky spots. I would spend about five, 10 minutes, five minutes initially first couple of times to search and work on that tissue. You could even maintain, sustain pressure on that spot for a minute or two, like doing self-acupressure on that spot to free up the knotted tissue. If you do too much it can get sore, so I would do it every other day initially or every two days till you get more comfortable with it. Once the mobility improves and you are not as sore, and then you can do it more frequently.

So I hope that helps, gives you another tool to help at self-mobilizing. Make sure you subscribe to the channel and make sure you check out our site. We have tons or resources on the site, and our program, Build Better Knees, is on our site too. Be sure to check it out and make sure you will leave a comment. Thanks.

May 28 2014

Hip And Inner Thigh Stretch

Another awesome exercise to improve hip mobility. More specifically hip internal rotation and stretching the inner thigh muscles. It is important to restore hip internal rotation for walking, running and athletic activities. This exercise can be done on the ground and using a chair or bed.

Tweetables:

Hip And Inner Thigh Stretch [Click To Tweet]
Hip And Inner Thigh Stretch [Click To Tweet]
Ways to Stretch Your Hip And Inner Thigh [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

This is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. In this video, I’m going to show you a hip mobility technique, another way to stretch or mobilize the hip as well as some of the inner thigh muscles. So this is an easy exercise you can do and it’s important to restore hip internal rotation as well as stretch some of the adductors, the inner thigh structures. So easy, and you can even use a chair. We’re going to use this treatment table here.

In this technique I am trying to get internal rotation of the hip. So this can be done on the floor also, but I’m going to use this. I’m stretching my left side and my weight is on my right leg on the ground. Now, what I want to do is I’m going to place my knee in about a 90-degree angle. Now, I am targeting…this is the area I’m going to get a stretch on the inner hip, as well as some stretching on the inner thigh, too, primarily through here. Now, all I do is I’m going to bend my right knee. As I bend my right knee, I drop my body down and I get a stretch right in here. So it’s internal rotation I’m trying to get in this hip. Just by virtue of my leg being in this position, it kind of opens up everything on the inner side as well as the inside of the groin. So the hip capsule also is getting the stretch in this position.

What you want to do is you want to work at dropping down and you want to try to hit from different angles. So I’m working on going backwards. So I’m trying to see where I feel more restrictions, and when I get to that spot I can hang out there and I can oscillate. I can go back and forth nice and easy. So I’m stretching my capsule as well as the inner structures – my adductors and other thigh muscles.

I use my left hand, I place on the upper part of my thigh, and I stabilize and I actually maybe apply a little bit of pressure doing a glide in the downward direction or an angle. So maybe that glide, it gives me a stronger pull to that capsule. So I’m maintaining that and I’m mainly trying to keep my torso nice and straight. So I’m not bending forward to do that. I’m not going to get as much of a stretch then. We want to maintain an upright position. This is the area you’re targeting. You’re trying to get that internal rotation.

So in addition to dropping down and kind of hitting it from various angles, now you can move your foot up too, the front foot, and I can go further, or I can drop back and I can sit back here and try to hit it from different angles.

The next thing you can do is I want to work at doing a little more internal rotation so I can control that stretch of my pelvis also. So when I do and I roll my pelvis forward a little bit, so you can see I’m using my hand to kind of guide my thigh more into internal rotation. Remember, we’re talking about internal rotation of the hip. So I’m gliding that forward, come down, roll here, so the pelvis does this. My left pelvis is going forward slightly and I’m applying some pressure here and I’m trying to stretch, internal rotation at the thigh, stretch, internal rotation, stretch, internal rotation, stretch. So you can see I can really get to hit it from various angles. It’s a pretty strategy. Now, as I say, you can do this on the floor too, but this is one way to get at it.

I hope you found that helpful. Please share if you think it can help someone else. It’s important for getting that internal rotation at the hip and important for walking, for running, for various things. If you have any questions, leave a comment. Make sure you check out the site.

May 21 2014

Should You Stretch Before Running

Why you should not stretch before running? Stretching before running or an athletic activity can increase the risk of injury and impair performance. It’s much better to warmup with a series of exercises like the Sun Salutation or other functional mobility exercises before your run or sports activity. Stretching should be part of your long term strategy done after your run or on days when you are not running.

Tweetables:

Is Stretching Before a Run Bad? [Click To Tweet]
Should I Stretch Before or After a Workout? [Click To Tweet]
Stretching and Flexibility: How to Stretch, When to Stretch [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

This is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. I’m going to answer a question that a lot of you guys have asked me, is whether you should stretch before a run or an athletic activity. So in my view you should not stretch before a run or an athletic activity. You’re lengthening a tissue. So let’s say if you’re hanging out really doing a lot of stretching before your run or athletic activity, you’re really lengthening that tissue, and then you’re going to ask yourself to contract that tissue when you go out and you decide to run or a high-level athletic activity, which can increase the risk of an injury and possibly will affect your sports performance.

So, a much better strategy is to work on a warm-up routine, a routine that helps you improve circulation within the system. It kind of gets your joints, muscles and all those tissues warmed up. It gets the blood flowing. It’s also a way to get your neuromuscular system, your system ready for that specific activity, so mental and physical warm-up which you’re doing. So you can do various activities for that. I’ve posted a bunch of videos on this, on warm-up routines also for runners, and athletes for that matter. But you can do like a routine, like a sun salutation yoga routine was a great routine to do before you get out there and run, which will get you ready mentally and physically, your neuromuscular system ready for that specific activity you’re going to do, you’ll get warmed up, circulation, and it’ll help reduce the risk of injuries.

So, mobility and stretching exercises to actually increase the length or the mobility of that tissue, whether you’re doing functional mobility exercise and stretching the joint capsule or the actual muscle, myofascia, all these other tissues, that’s your long-term strategy. You want to focus on doing that possibly after your run or your exercise routine or your athletic activity or your off-day routine. That’s part of your long-term strategy. So you spend time doing that every day as part of your long-term strategy to improve the mobility, length and proper glide within multiple layers of tissues as well as the joint capsule itself.

So spend time doing those things on off days or not immediately before your run, possibly after your run. You’ll do much better with the run or the athletic activity if your tissues are warmed up and mentally and physically you kind of geared yourself and prepped yourself for that specific activity you’re going to do, and then focus on improving the length of the tissue, the mobility of that tissue, on your non-run days or after the athletic activity. That’s a much better strategy to not only improve your performance, to do better at the specific sport or athletic activity you’re going to do as well as prevent injuries.

So if you found this useful, please share the video so others can find benefit from it. If you have any questions, leave a comment and subscribe to the channel. Thank you.

Apr 18 2014

Why You Should Strengthen Your Hip Muscles

Strong hip muscles should be an essential part of your injury recovery program. Especially for runners and athletes it’s essential to have good core stability and hip strength for optimal performance. Hip stability is important for all activities requiring walking, running, squatting and athletic activities. Without proper hip stability you are setting yourself up for knee injuries, low back pain and other pelvic instability problems.

Tweetables:

Hip Strengthening Exercises for Runners [Click To Tweet]
Strengthening Your Hip Muscles Exercise [Click To Tweet]
Hip Strengthening and Mobility Exercises for Runners [Click To Tweet]
Transcript:

This is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So this is another video in our continuation of our series with knee-related problems and injuries, and in this video I’m going to discuss another important component of when you’re designing your rehab or an injury prevention program specifically having to do with strengthening exercises.

So in the last video we talked about core stability, what is the core, what’s the importance of core stability, and why it’s important to work on core stability at first before working on a lot of the other muscle groups. So in this video I’m going to talk about hip stability or hip strength and we’re going to talk about a few of the muscle groups which are important in providing good stability and strength for the hip and why that is important for the knee. So it’s extremely important to work on hip strengthening exercises if you have knee issues, but for that matter even down the chain, knee issues, foot problems or low back issues.

So the hip muscles play a vital role in providing good stability and strength to your pelvis and your leg, and so the muscle groups we’re going to talk about are your gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, even your TFL, tensor fasciae latae, even your IT band, a lot of these structures, and of course some of the minor muscle groups. These muscles are essential for providing stability to your pelvis and they’re very important for balance and also for single-leg activities, even double-leg activities, but single-leg activities like walking, running, any of these things, going up and down stairs, any of these things you need to have good hip and pelvic stability. If those muscles are weak, it’s going to change the alignment of your leg, your thigh all the way down to your foot. They’re going to increase the amount of work that’s being done by other muscle groups. They can increase the risk of problems like IT band issues, patellofemoral problems, inside knee pain as well as compromising your performance when you’re running, when you’re walking, all those types of things, and for that matter resulting in low back injuries or other problems.

So, very, very important to work on your pelvic and hip strength and stability when you’re working on recovering from injuries, even if it’s knee injuries, or if you’re looking to prevent a lot of these problems. And very often I’ll find a lot of people are quite weak through those muscles. Remember, running, it’s pretty much a forward movement, so your body’s moving forward, your working a lot of your quadriceps, hamstring, calf, a lot of these other movers, these muscles, but in rotational planes you’re not getting enough work for your other muscle groups. Work on improving the strength and stability of your hip muscles. This is very important for providing good stability to your pelvis and also preventing problems, imbalance and biomechanical problems down the chain which put more stress on your knee or ankle or anywhere along the chain.

And you can design your program so that when you do have a problem, for example if I have knee pain in weight bearing activities where you load the knee like squatting, lunges, those kind of things will aggravate my knee and I can’t tolerate loading yet, I can work on non-weight bearing strengthening of my hip muscles. So work on your hip abduction, extension, various exercises, bridging, single-leg bridging, all these things to strengthen your pelvic and hip muscles in a non-weight bearing position first. So I strengthen them there, and then once I can start tolerating more loading in my injured tissues, once they have healed a bit more, then I start loading the joints more. So then I can do the same things and squatting, single leg or both legs, and many other exercises too.

So work your way up in terms of focusing on your core and then working on your hip muscles so that you’re designing your rehab program to cover everything above and below the injured area and not just strengthening things immediately around the injured area. So if it’s my knee, yes, I’m going to strengthen my quads and my hamstrings and the calf, but I’m also going to focus on really strengthening and figuring out what’s happening with my foot, get my foot muscles stronger, get a better stability, more control of those muscles. And up the chain, I’m going to really focus on building a good strength in my hip muscles, too, as well as my core.

So I hope you found that helpful and when you’re designing and thinking about your rehab or for preventing injuries. Now, I discuss a lot of this information in our upcoming program. Go to the website and sign up for it, especially if you want to hear about it early. It’s going to have a lot of information. We’re really combining a lot of physical therapy, exercise science techniques. There’s a lot of mobility/strengthening exercises, motor control exercises, balance exercises in addition to a lot of holistic stuff that I’m including in there too, which is more of the herbal formulas, dietary solutions as well as yoga. So there’s a lot of information in this program.

So if you think someone might benefit from this video, please share. Subscribe to the channel. Leave a comment if you have any questions.

Apr 01 2014

Outside Thigh Stretch For Iliotibial Band Pain

Great stretch to improve the mobility of the outside thigh – especially helpful for Iliotibial band pain. IT Band pain and patellofemoral pain can be due to tightness of outside thigh structures. Regular practice can help correct alignment of the patella.

Tweetables:

Iliotibial Band Stretching Exercises [Click To Tweet]
Stretch It: Iliotibial Band and Outer Thigh [Click To Tweet]
Iliotibial Band Stretching Exercises [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you pretty cool stretch mobilization technique to get better mobility of structures on the outside of your thigh. So, essentially, from outside of the hip all the way down to right outside of the knee we’re going target to mobilize and stretch those tissues. For those of you guys who have IT band problems or IT band syndrome or pain, this works really well, and even for patellofemoral problems. With a lot of stiffness on these outside structures, this is a really good way to steadily mobilize or improve the mobility of that tissue on the outside of that knee.

So we’ll start in a half kneeling position. This can be done in standing also using a chair, but in this video I’m going to show you in half kneeling. So make sure you have something next to you that you can lean on. You need something stable that it won’t move, that it provides some support. I’m trying to stretch my right side, outside of my right thigh and right knee, these structures. So what I want to do is start in this position.

So the next step is going to be I want to bring my left foot past midline more towards my right so that automatically what it does is it puts my right thigh, you look at my right thigh, it brings my right thigh relatively more towards my left. So as I lean towards my right side, I can use my hand to glide my hip to the right. Now I’m going to get more stretch on all these outside structures the moment I bring my pelvis out to the right. So I’m going to lean towards my right. My trunk stays relatively straight. It’s just my pelvis; I’m using my left hand to glide it to the right. So as I’m gliding it, I’m already starting to feel a stretch on these outside structures right through this area and a little bit here on my hip too. So I’m going to glide so I’m getting a stretch, and of course I can lean forward a little bit, I can go further. So you want to hit it from different angles, so make sure you target, so hang out in a position and oscillate. So I stretch, stretch, stretch, and mobilize there, then I go into the next position, next position. So you spend time hitting it from different angles to stretch out all of those tissues.

I’m going to make it a stronger stretch now. What I’m going to do is I’m going to lift my left foot up, I reach back with my left hand, and I grab just around my ankle. So now I’m in this position, I’m going to pull that foot up, my heel up towards my butt, so what that does, it bends my knee and I’m going to get a stretch, even a stronger stretch along my quads of course and along the outside of that knee. And as I do that, I want to make sure I’m not going straight up, I’m going to at an angle, so I’m doing a little bit of rotation here with my leg. So as I hit it from different angles, I’m going to glide it, I’m going to check and see what areas are stiff, and I can again maintain that glide as you bend from different angles trying to stretch that tissue, mobilize that tissue. The body, of course, the trunk stays relatively straight.

Now, that position, most of that stretching was done all along this area. So I’m going to show you from the other position so you get a better sense of what’s happening if you look at it from the back. If we look at it from the back, I’m going to try to stretch my opposite side, my left thigh, and that’s because this is on my left side. So, same position, half kneeling position, and what I’m going to do is I’m going to bring my right foot towards my left and I’m going to use my right hand to glide my pelvis towards my left, and that automatically puts more of a stretch on all these structures, especially here. So the moment I glide this, now that I’m in this position I’m going to rock back and forth and I’m looking for positions to stretch. And now what I want to do is same thing – I use my right hand, reach back, grab onto my ankle, and I’m going to oscillate. So I’m going to bend and I’m going to hold it there and I’m going to oscillate back because I’m feeling a good stretch on that outside of that knee, my quadriceps, and I’m going to hit it from various angles. So that really gets a lot of mobility, a lot of pulling along that region. Over time, it can improve mobility of that tissue and it can help in a lot of the patellofemoral issues if you have a lot of tightness that’s causing the alignment of the kneecap to be off. So that really helps with that too.

So if you enjoyed this video, please share it so others can benefit from it. And we’re launching our knee injury recovery program next month. It’s going to be an awesome program. It combines physical therapy, exercise science and holistic medicine, so it’s a really comprehensive program. It comes with a book, it’s got tons of videos, and it can really help you recover faster from knee injuries, it helps prevent knee problems, and if you’re looking to improve performance it’s awesome. It’s a really amazing program that we put together. So go to the site, click on the link below and sign up for the program. Thanks.

Mar 19 2014

IT Band – Why It Hurts and How to Heal it, Fast

Iliotibial band syndrome is the probably the second most common knee related pain which affects runners. IT Band pain is also a common injury for cyclists. The most common complaint is outside knee pain which can be from mild to excruciating. People often complain of soreness, burning, shooting and sharp pains. Can also have thickening and swelling of the band. IT Band pain often presents with patellofemoral pain syndrome.

Tweetables:

Iliotibial Band Syndrome Symptoms [Click To Tweet]
IT Band Problems: Why Does it Hurt? [Click To Tweet]
IT Band Pain Causes, Treatment, Symptoms [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So this is my next video on some of the knee-related problems a lot of you guys have been asking me about. And before I get into it, I want to remind you that we have our program coming up and it’s going to be launching very soon. So if you’re interested, get onto the site and make sure you sign up so you’re one of the first to hear about it. And as I mentioned I’ll be giving out some free copies, and the program is on knee injuries and how to get better, how to rehab, so combine both the holistic as well as the physical therapy and exercise science components together. It’s going to be a pretty awesome program. We’re very excited. We’re on the final phase. We’re getting the program done.

So the problem that I’m going to talk about today is IT band issues. So I’ve tried a bunch of videos in the past and I’ve discussed some of the treatment methods. I’m going to give you a little bit more in terms of the anatomy and what are some of the contributing factors to the problem.

So let’s just look at the knee model here and let’s kind of get a sense of what’s happening. So this is the front of the knee, this is the side view, your femur is the thigh bone on top, tibia is the shinbone at the bottom, and then you have your fibula – it’s that small bone that sits on the outside of your lower leg. So IT band issues or iliotibial band problems are very common in runners and cyclists, but again it can affect anybody, any athletes or even people in the sedentary population get affected by this problem, but definitely much more common, probably the second most common knee-related issue for runners, I would say.

The first one is the patellofemoral pain or runner’s knee or anterior knee pain that I discussed in my last video. This is probably the second most I would say common issue. And often, the patellofemoral pain, which is the kneecap and surrounding tissues causing the problem, and the IT band issues come together often or they definitely can come together.

Okay, so the IT band is that thick band that goes along the outside of your thigh. It’s that thick band that’s going on the outside of my thigh. It’s coming below that knee and attaching down on your tibia, on the upper part of your tibia, which is your shinbone right here. But you have fibers also of the IT band coming and attaching on the outside of your kneecap too and the IT band, it’s a thick connective tissue, so facial tissue, which attaches even on the bone itself, the thigh, going deeper and attaching. So it has few attachment points, and of course further up in the chain it’s attaching at your pelvis as well as some of the local muscles through here too.

So attachment site is here, it’s coming on the outside of your thigh, and the most common area of pain referral is going to be outside knee pain, so generally a person will point to pain on the outside of the knee, and most often the lower part of the IT band. You can have some stuff further up by the hip, too, on the outside of the hip or along the chain, but majority of the time the problem is indicated as pain is right here on the outside. So, can have a lot of tenderness along that region, can have some swelling, can have irritation, can be very sensitive to touch, burning sensation – so sharp pain/shooting pains. So all these things can be caused.

Now, underneath the IT band you also have fat which is highly innervated, so a lot of compression and irritation of that fat tissue. The bursa is basically a fluid-filled sac that sits underneath the IT band as well as the bone to prevent the band from rubbing into the bone. But some of the studies show that it’s not a bursa, so it is a little bit inconclusive. But nevertheless, all those structures, the IT band itself, and all the surrounding tissues, the highly innervated fat underneath it, all these structures can, if there’s repetitive rubbing and irritation of that tissue, can cause pain. Not only will it refer pain here but it can sometimes radiate in the outside of the upper part of the lower leg, too. It primary affects the outside knee, but then some of the fibers are attaching on the outside of that kneecap, so lateral patella pain is also not uncommon. So very often when you start digging in, you start checking the kneecap, the person can be very tender along that border, too, in addition to that band that’s running on the side.

What are the contributing factors? Overtraining is one of the big ones. Repetitive strain or overtraining can cause irritation of the tissue. And why is that happening? One, because you’re doing more than your body or that tissue can handle. Second, due to mechanical factors such as alignment of the kneecap, it might have to do with hip tightness, hip weakness resulting in change in alignment of tissues, excessive pronation or flatfeet. So by itself, one of these things is not the contributing factor, but when you combine all of them together they can definitely throw the biomechanics off, the alignment off, which can cause more stress and strain on that tissue, and of course it can get very tight after a while too and thickened.

So you have to consider that there are a lot of these factors that are affecting this problem. You might be missing an ankle range of motion. You might be missing your big toe range of motion, so your foot, you can’t bring your body over that foot let’s say when you’re walking or running. So you change the alignment of that foot, the foot drifts up; you have flatfeet for that matter. You might be changing your alignment because of that. You change the alignment of the knee. You get knee valgus or the knee drifts medially or the knee is drifting inwards, which is again changing the alignment of that knee in relation to the thigh and even relation to the pelvis or, for that matter, down to the foot. And further up in the chain, you might have stiffness at that hip. Maybe your hip flexors are too tight, your glutes are too weak—your gluteus medius, gluteus maximus—so they’re not stabilizing the pelvis when you’re walking and running, and after a while you get fatigued and then they’re not stabilizing the pelvis in walking and running or any of those activities, and that again starts to change the alignment of the thigh in relation to the pelvis, in relation to the knee. And for that matter, anatomical differences, so wider hips, Q-angle for women – larger Q-angle, have been cited as some other contributing factors. So as I said, not one thing by itself but multiple things combined will often result in an unfavorable environment where there’s excessive irritation of the tissues, which will set up a process where you’re overstraining or overworking that region and that can set up an inflammatory process, constant irritation, sensitivity, so that then after a while even a little bit of activity sets the thing off.

So treatment has to address all those mechanical things, and then of course, remember, treat always above and below the chain to address the problem. This gets irritated because there’s something going on along the biomechanical chain. So address those issues. Then of course, locally also, manual stuff, hands-on techniques, soft tissue mobilization, stretching all those tissues on the outside of that thigh, getting better alignment of that kneecap. Maybe all these tissues have gotten so tightened up constantly being pulled to the outside, so now you have a patellofemoral problem that’s being set up too. So address those issues. So all these things have to be accounted for and addressed. Taping and correcting the foot mechanics, strengthening exercise and flexibility exercise, all these need to be done to get rid of that problem. So all these things need to be addressed. Correcting biomechanics up and down the chain as well as treating things locally by massage or manual therapy techniques or joint mobilization, taping, and then internally taking herbal formulas are different things that can be done to address the problem effectively.

So I hope that gives you a sense of what’s really going on and what’s happening with this issue and why it becomes such a chronic problem for a lot of people and they have a really difficult time getting this under control. But it can be, you can treat it very effectively once you correct all these imbalances, and this is what I am discussing in my program.

Alright guys, please share the video if you found this information helpful. Thank you.

Mar 19 2014

Safe Hip Flexor And Front Hip Stretch

This is a safe hip flexor and front hip stretch for anyone who is unable to kneel or stand due to knee pain or hip pain. This stretch is helpful for improving posture, low back pain, hip pain and improving iliopsoas and rectus femoris muscle mobility.

Tweetables:

Ways to Stretch Your Hip Flexor [Click To Tweet]
Understanding Hip Flexor and Front Hip Stretch [Click To Tweet]
An Easy, Effective Hip Flexor Stretch [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you a hip flexor stretch, especially for those of you who have knee pain or are not able to get down on the floor in half kneeling or just can’t put any weight on that knee to get a hip flexor stretch, or standing is difficult to do a stretch. So this is another alternative position that you can use to stretch out the hip flexors and just kind of open up the front of the hip.

So what we’re going to do is, bed will work just fine. I’ve had patients do it even on a kitchen table, but bed usually works just fine as long as the bed is not too high. So what you want to do is you want to think about, so I’m going to be stretching up my left hip flexor. So this is my right side. It’s the side that’s on the mat, is the one were stretching. So what I’m going to do is the other leg is on the ground; bring that leg forward. So if I can, I want to make sure my foot is flat on the ground. So just by getting in this position, it ends up allowing me to stretch my hip flexor a little bit easier on my left side.

So next thing I’m going to do is I’m going to tighten up my left glute, this one. When I tighten up this left glute, it protects my low back, it flattens out. And the same thing, by bringing this right leg down on the ground and forward, what I’m doing is I’m changing the alignment on my pelvis, I’m locking it out a little bit through here, and that allows me to protect my low back. We want to get the stretch from the front of the hip. Your hip flexors are muscles right through this region and they are doing this function. Your iliopsoas, your rectus femoris – these are your hip flexors. So when they’re tight, they cause all sorts of problems. So what we’re going to do is I want to bring my leg down first, the other leg is on the bed, I’m going to tighten up my glutes on my left side – that protects my spine and allows me to get an easier stretch for my hip flexors on my left side too.

So next thing I can do is I’m going to work using my arms to raise myself up. So just getting to this position will allow me to get a stretch in the front of the hip on the left side. So throughout the movement as I’m raising up, you want to make sure you keep your glutes tight. You could even tighten up your abdominals. So I might tighten up my lower abdominals almost doing like a posterior pelvic tilt. So I’m tightening up my lower abdominals, I’m squeezing my butt muscles on my left side, and I’m going to use my arms to bring myself up. As I raise up, I’m targeting the front of that hip to stretch out that front of that hip. And I can go higher up. As long as you’re comfortable, you’re not hinging at your low back or you’re not feeling discomfort in the low back and I keep my butt tight, I can raise up and I can get a good stretch in the front of the hip. But the whole time I want you to make sure you maintain tight abdominals as well as tight glutes on your left side, and I come up and I can get a good stretch in the front of that hip.

Now, let’s say if I want to go a bit further, I want to get a stronger stretch, so yes, I can come up here into an upright position and I can still work on bending my knee, and I might even decide to reach back and grab back so now I’m getting my quads also, my rectus femoris definitely, and I’m going to open up everything on my left side. But, again, keep in mind, keep your glutes tight, abdominals are tight.

Nov 21 2013

Amazing Iliotibial Band Treatment

Iliotibial band syndrome treatment using cupping technique. This is an amazing treatment for those of you suffering from Iliotibial band pain…common injury for so many runners and cyclists. Ilitibial band pain is not a friction injury, it’s a compression injury with irritation of fat between the iliotibial band and thigh bone. Cupping can really help improve circulation, remove blockages, stretch and decompress the injured area.

Tweetables:

The Best Iliotibial Band Stretch Ever [Click To Tweet]
Treat Your Own Iliotibial Band [Click To Tweet]
Iliotibial Band Syndrome Treatment Using Cupping [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you a technique for improving the mobility of the IT band. It’s a treatment technique for IT band pain or syndrome. But just to review, IT band is the thick band that goes along the outside of your thigh and will attach just below the knee on this area on your shin bone, your tibia, in the upper part of it, and most of the time people complain of pain on the outside or lateral side of the knee along this region. It could be further up, too, but most of the time the complaint of pain is right around this area. It’s most common in runners and people who do a lot of biking, and contrary to popular opinion it’s not a friction syndrome. So just the bending and straightening of the knee does not cause the IT band to rub back and forth on the bone, causing a friction and inflammation or irritation.

The band itself is part of the connective tissue and myofascia, what attaches around the layers of muscles along the thigh. So it’s too thick to be able to move back and forth, contrary to popular opinion, as I said. So the issue is more of compression and irritation of the fat pad as well as the connective tissue that’s underneath the IT band. That’s where the irritation is taking place. Because it’s too tight, it’s causing compression and irritation of a lot of those structures. The fat underneath the IT band, it’s highly vascularized and also innervated, so irritation to that and the other surrounding tissues, which causes all this pain along that region as well as the thick band fibers themselves who might get inflamed and thickened.

So a lot of that pain that’s coming there, we want to work at improving the mobility of that tissue. We want to improve circulation. We want to remove any thickening or adhesions that have formed along that region, free up that tissue so it moves a little better with less compression through there, and for that we’re going to use cupping techniques. So you see in some of my other videos that I’ve done, we use cups for quadriceps tendinosis or tendinitis issues, patellar tendon issues, and it can be used for lots of other things. So cupping treatment is very effective and traditionally used in Chinese medicine and in other Eastern medical systems also. So cups are really effective to improve circulation, to remove blockages and just promote blood flow, lymph, and other fluids to move through that area, an injured area.

But the other reason we’re using it also is because the suction’s that’s created with the cup, we can help separate layers of tissues, some myofascial stretching too, and free up adhesions along that tissue, which is very difficult to do with my hands. I can’t really grab a tissue and separate it this way. And remember, the IT band is too tight, is too stiff. You can stretch some of the surrounding tissues around it further up in the chain, but the actual band fibers are just too thick and it’s difficult to do that.

So we are going to use actually different-sized cups that I have here. Remember, you can go all along this region. So the first thing you can do is just to kind of apply a little bit of oil, herbal oil or some other oil you can apply there, so the tissue glides a little bit better. So one of the simpler techniques, first thing we can start with is, and as you can see I have suction when I pull back, skin tissue gets pulled straight up, I could work at gliding that back and forth, different parts of the thigh, and we can tighten it to tolerance. So again, when I tighten it up I can leave it there too, but I’m going to do just some movement back and forth here to free up that tissue and various layers of surrounding tissues. Pulling it back and forth also promotes some circulation in that area. So even though I’m having pain here, I’m still going to work at freeing up tissues all the way up through here because that’s going to impact what happens down here too. But that’s the first part, just to go along there to free that tissue up.

Second thing we can do is then get more specific. So this region just below the knee on the outside through here I’m going to suction to get good amount of pull with the cup. Next thing I’m going to do is I’m going to up to the next level. I’m going to tighten that up. Again, it’s to tolerance. And finally, the last thing we’re going to do is we’re going to go up through this one. So you can see it’s got pretty good pull on that, and I can leave it there for about five to 10 minutes. When I release, I’m going to pull this down and I do, and you can see how it gets a little bit of that redness through that area.

So, hope you found that helpful. Remember, five to 10 minutes maximum. And you want to make sure you’re not doing this on open skin, or if you have increased sensitivity of the skin, you have diabetes or some health issues, or if the skin is really fragile, you have someone who’s elderly, you don’t want to do that cupping there either. Now, no more than about five minutes initially. You can go up to about 10 minutes or so leaving that cup there, to tolerance, and see how it does. And I really, really find this very effective. It’ll free up all of that tissue here and really help improve mobility of that tissue, promote circulation, and help with getting that IT band issue under control.

So I hope you found that helpful. Leave a comment if you have any questions.

Nov 19 2013

How To Treat Tendonitis The Right Way

This video is continuation of my video on Tendonitis vs. Tendinosis. In this video I will discuss the fundamental principles for treating Tendinosis. I would recommend you check out the Tendonitis vs Tendinosis video to learn why most repetitive strain tendon injuries are not a tendonitis.

Emphasis on treating these injuries is on breaking down the scar tissue, improving circulation, removing blockages and providing the right nutrients to heal tendon injuries.

Tweetables:

How To Treat Tendonitis The Right Way [Click To Tweet]
The Best Ways to Treat Tendonitis [Click To Tweet]
Tendonitis: Treatment and Information [Click To Tweet]

Nov 15 2013

Tendonitis vs Tendinosis

Tendonitis is incorrectly used to describe chronic or repetitive strain tendon injuries. In order for an injury to be called tendonitis there has to be presence of active inflammation. Anything with an “itis” means inflammation. There are very few to no inflammatory cells present in repetitive strain tendon injuries.

The correct term to describe repetitive tendon injuries to the Patellar Tendon, Achilles Tendon and Quadriceps is tendinosis or tendinopathy. Anything ending in an “osis” means degenerative changes. Tendinosis is caused primarily by chronic overuse of the tendon and by not giving the tendon enough time to rest and heal.

Tweetables:

The Difference Between Tendonitis And Tendinosis [Click To Tweet]
Symptoms and Information about Tendonitis And Tendinosis [Click To Tweet]
Tendon Injury: Topic Overview of Tendonitis and Tendinosis [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So today’s video is a little bit different. It’s not an exercise or mobilization technique that I’m showing you. I wanted to go over something really important and that’s a major misunderstanding regarding tendon injuries. So the common term that most people know about repetitive tendon injuries or repetitive strength-type injuries to the tendons is tendonitis. So the term tendonitis, which is more popular, and I know even in some of my old videos, for example when I’m talking about patellar tendonitis or Achilles tendonitis, I’ve said the word tendonitis, but that’s just so it’s easier for most people to understand and because most people are familiar with that term.

But the correct term is actually, for those types of injuries, is tendinosis. So tendonitis, though it’s used more commonly, is incorrect, and the reason is because for repetitive strain injuries like patellar tendon issues for runners or athletes or quadriceps tendon issues of volleyball players or people who are doing a lot of activities that require jumping or Achilles-tendonitis-type problems, in a lot of studies I’ve seen this, when they really looked at it, there’s no actual inflammation going on at that tendon. And remember, and I mentioned this in some of my old videos, acute inflammation that takes place after an initial injury is a normal response of the body. It’s not a bad thing. It needs to happen for the tissue to heal properly. So first of all, regarding the tendon, there is no inflammation and they found that there are no inflammatory cells present in these injuries, and a lot of these injuries are very chronic problems. So remember, anything that has “itis” at the end of it means inflammation.

And now we look at tendinosis, which is actually the correct term for those types of problems, which are even caused more due to repetitive strain. Yeah, you can have a quick movement or an injury where is a forceful movement taken or load going to that tendon which causes micro-tears or ruptures or even a partial or complete tear – that’s something different. And in initial stages you might have an inflammatory process that takes place, but for chronic problems that come on over time the correct term is tendinosis. Anything that has “osis” at the end of it is degeneration, which means that it’s due to excessive wear and tear. The body basically just can’t keep up with the repair process and so the load that’s being placed on it, stress that’s being placed on that tendon, this just can’t keep up and heal that tendon.

So that’s a major distinction between these problems. And that goes for all sorts of repetitive strain tendon-type injuries, and that’s why use of anti-inflammatories or, in my view, ice and all those things, is not helpful for these injuries. It’s not going to take care of that problem.

So the normal tissue—tendons remember are made up collagen, collagen is protein—and normal tissue, normal alignment of the collagen and tissue is in a parallel fashion. They’re parallel bundles that are laid out, which give the tendon its tensile strength. So, normal fashion, they are laid out in an organized fashion, but once you start having these degenerative problems or degeneration and wear and tear of that tendon, and like we said there are no inflammatory cells present in tendon-type injuries, tendinosis, or tendinopathy is another term that’s used for that, so the collagen fibers are laid out in a disorganized manner. They’re not laid out in parallel bundles. They’re kind of jumbled and haphazardly laid out. So the normal healing process didn’t takes place properly. As the collagen was being laid down, as repair was taking place, it kind of went off and it gets laid down in a jumbled, disorganized fashion so that doesn’t give it it’s proper tensile strength to that tendon.

So you will see things like weakness and you’ll see things like swelling. You’ll see thickening of that tendon just because things are not organized and laid down properly. They don’t move properly. A lot of studies have shown there is more vascularity, so there are more blood vessels that are formed, but again they are formed in a haphazard manner, not laid down properly again. So they’re not necessarily helping the tendon in terms of the healing process.

So like I said, the cross-linking that’s taking place, which is that jumbled formation, they increase vascularity and there’s even more ground substance, which is the substance that’s surrounding the cells which supports the cells. So all these things kind of give it that thickened, swollen-type appearance to a lot of those tendons. So, one, they’re going to be thickened and swollen, they’re going to be weak, and of course you’re going to have pain and you might have some tightness along that tissue too.

So think about it from this perspective when you’re looking at treating these problems. So as I said, it’s not an inflammation type of problem. That’s incorrect. The understanding that most people have, “ice it and take anti-inflammatories, it’s going to take care of the problem,” it’s not going to take care of the problem. So it’s more of a degeneration that’s going on and so we need to do other things to get it better. So as in a lot of my other videos, you’ve seen cross friction massage techniques that I have done, heat application, and internally you’ve got to do things to help the system heal too, and of course backing off on the aggravating activity that’s taking place.

So I hope it kind of gives you an understanding of what’s going on, and we’ll keep talking more about shooting videos on treatment options. You’ve seen some of the treatments, and I’ll go more in-depth into some of the external factors and internal “within the body” factors that are taking place and causing these problems, why some people are more susceptible to those issues than others. Also, stay tuned, we’ve got our program coming up pretty soon—very excited—and it’s going to be awesome. For those of you guys who are runners and athletes, you’re going to love it, and we’re in the process, we’re building it up, and we’re going to get the editing and those things done pretty soon and it’s going to be out. And if you have any questions, leave a comment, and make sure you subscribe to the channel and click on the link below to check out the site. Thanks, guys.

Oct 21 2013

Core Strength Exercise For Athletes

Core strengthening exercise all athletes must have as part of their training routine. It’s a more advanced technique, builds dynamic core stability and shoulder strength. Make sure to keep the form, focusing on keeping the abdominals tight, squeezing the glutes and setting your scapular stabilizers while doing the exercise.

Tweetables:

The Best Abdominal Exercises for Athlete [Click To Tweet]
The Best Exercises for Complete Core Strength [Click To Tweet]
What Is The Best Workout To Strengthen Core Stability? [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you another core strengthening exercise and we’re going to use a ball for this one, too. Remember, I mentioned in quite a few of my other videos that you want to work on building a solid foundation whether you’re engaging in athletic activities, you’re a runner or just stability and strength.

So what we want to do is, for this exercise, we’re going to use this ball. This is similar to one of the other exercises I showed you guys earlier; we’re going to add one more component to it. So what I’m going to do, and I’m going to start here, ball’s going to be under me, I’m going to walk myself out in a pushup position. Now, here’s where you have to work on getting positioning down. So what you want to do is you want to work on pushing up with your…doing a pushup. I set my shoulder girdle there, my scapular stabilizers.

Next thing I do is I want to pull my lower abdominals, my belly button, up towards the spine. So I kick in my lower abdominals. I’m not doing hip flexion, which is this movement. That’s not what I’m doing for this exercise. That’s bending at your hips. That’s not what I’m doing. I’m kicking in my lower abdominals, I’m setting my stomach muscles, my core, and the next thing I do is I squeeze my butt muscles, my glutes. So now I’m set and stable in that position. Once I’ve got that position, I can maintain it and I can work on, I can either hold the position, and do static holds, work up to 60 seconds at a time. And so this is an easier position. As I step out further, it gets more challenging, so I work the exact same thing. I kick in my lower abdominals, my glutes, and I set it and hold that position. So as you get better you get further and further up.

So now the other thing you can do is you can work on walking back and forth as you’re maintaining that position. So I come out here, and then I might go out here. Now, I’m holding that position again in this butt here, and so what I can do is I can also say, “Okay, well, maybe I’ll walk up to the side a little bit.” Then I’ll go up to my right side, I go to my left side, you go to your right side, so back and forth and forwards, and you work at going backwards. So you’re just working on stability and you’re working on maintaining your balance as you’re holding that position throughout that movement.

So, great way to get really strong and work on good stability for that core. So the ball, because of the unstable surface, it forces you to work on multiple planes while you’re maintaining that core stability. And work on increasing the time. If you start noticing your form starting to go and you’re starting to arch at your low back too much, you’re losing your lower abdominals, you can’t keep your glutes tight, and you start to shake too much, move too much, and you really start losing your form, maybe it’s time to back off and stop. So as you get better at it, increase the time.

Alright, hope you enjoyed that video. Make sure you leave a comment, and if you have any questions you can also shoot me an email through my site. I respond to all my emails. And subscribe to the channel. Thanks, guys.

Oct 15 2013

Hip And Core Strengthening Exercises For Running

Here’s another really cool glute and core strengthening exercise. It’s a bit more advanced, but those of you looking for something more challenging you are going to love it. It’s also one of the safest and most effective exercises to get stronger for running. It’s don’t put pressure on the joints and builds dynamic stability.

Tweetables:

Best Strengthening Exercises for Endurance Runners [Click To Tweet]
Hip annd Core Strengthening Moves Every Runner Should Be Doing [Click To Tweet]
How to Build a Runner’s Core [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I want to show you another hip and core strengthening exercise similar to the one that I did in my last video using this ball, but we’re going to, basically, I’m going to use a kettle bell here that’s stable and doesn’t move you could use for this exercise at the other end to hold on to. So, once again, the purpose of the exercise is to strengthen your glutes, your hip extensors, which will help you bring the leg backwards, kick the leg back, as well as working on core stability, your low back muscles. So, very, very important for good pelvic control and stability whether you’re playing sports, running or just day-to-day activities to have really strong glutes—glute med, glute max—as well as good lower abdominal and core stability through that area.

So what we’re going to do is we’re going to use the ball again and this time—last time the way we did that was we did a pushup position and then I had you work at lifting your leg up. So you had a wider and more stable surface. Now, if I want to make it a little more challenging for myself, I can roll back on the ball a little bit back and hold on to this here, the stable surface, and I can do the exact same thing. I would tighten my stomach muscles and I would squeeze my glutes and I’m going to work at lifting up again and I will hold that position. Now, of course, the ball being an unstable surface, it wants to move. So I will work at, I can hang out here, I can do hip abductions, bring my leg out, I can do hip extensions there, I can even work at rolling back and forth in that position, keeping that control and staying on the ball. So that way it’s a lot more challenging for me because I have to maintain stability on the ball as well as working at doing hip extensions with that.

So, really good way to get strong through all these muscles here. As I said, you don’t need…this is a kettle bell, you could use anything that’s stable, you could even grab onto the leg of the kitchen dining table or something, essentially anything that’s stable and you can hold on to and then work on some extensions with it. So try it out. It’s a great exercise.

And if you have any questions leave a comment. Make sure you subscribe to the channel and click on the link below to check out my site. I have tons of stuff on it and we’ve got some new stuff coming on the site, too, soon. So, thanks guys.

Oct 11 2013

Strength Training For Runners Strong Core and Glutes

It’s essential to improve core and hip strength for athletic activities and day to day tasks. Strong core and glutes are the foundation for avoiding chronic injuries and pain free running. This is a great non-weight bearing exercise to work on core and hip strength. It doesn’t cause load on your knees or hips and is a safe exercise to become really strong. Check out the video below….

Tweetables:

Hip And Core Strengthening Exercises to Improve Your Runs [Click To Tweet]
Exercises to Make You a Stronger, Faster Runner [Click To Tweet]
Core and Glute Exercises for Runners [Click To Tweet]

Oct 09 2013

Single Leg Bridge Test For Core And Hip Strength

Single leg bridge test is a great way to test strength and stability of the core, pelvic and hip muscles. If you are an athlete or runner you want to make sure you have a solid foundation with good core strength and glute strength to prevent injuries and for optimal performance. You are setting yourself up for injuries if you don’t test and work on building a strong foundation before running. All sorts of different injuries: patellofemoral pain, Iliotibial Band Syndrome, hip injuries and low back pain can be due to weak core and hip strength.

Tweetables:

Single Leg Bridge Test [Click To Tweet]
Using the Single Leg Squat to Test Core And Hip [Click To Tweet]
How to Do the Single-Leg Bridge Test [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you a quick test to determine if you have core and pelvic stability and whether you need to work on strengthening your core muscles, and then your glutes also or your pelvic muscles. So this is important not only for day-to-day activities, walking, but definitely for athletes and runners especially if you want to have good core as well as that pelvic stability. And if that’s not there, and often this is the case with a lot of injuries whether it’s low back injuries, hip-related issues and knee problems—so a lot of stuff is going on further up in the chain in the foundation as we’ve talk about of course in the other videos—that needs to be corrected first. So we’re going to work at figuring out if you have good stability at that pelvis, can you maintain the alignment, and if you’re not, well, what are the things that are happening and what do we do about it?

Alright, so this is a simple…it’s a bridging test and we’re going to do a single-leg bridge. So the first part of the test is going to be just rising up. So as she lifts up there, we want to see, is she able to maintain alignment of the pelvis? Does the pelvis stay level or does one side drop down? So if this side drops down, we know some of the muscles are not firing in those glutes. So that’s the big one we want to have in mind for this specific exercise. We’re targeting the glutes. And if the glutes are not strong or if there’s not enough stability of the core muscles, you’re going to have your low back muscles, the erector spinae or your hamstrings kicking in to compensate for that movement. So you might feel some cramping or excessive fatigue in the hamstrings or the low back muscles because the glutes are weak and they’re not able to maintain that alignment. So if I had a dollar or a stick or a ruler and I placed it here, this would be nice and level. It would not be tilting to one side or the other.

So what she’s going to do is going to come back down. So now when she lifts up this time, so we’re going to raise up, a little bit lower, so right about there, okay, so that is just stable, so we have to make sure the glutes really tighten up the butt muscles so you’re stabilizing. And now she’s going to lift one leg up. So we want to make sure she can maintain that alignment, the whole side doesn’t dip down when she lifts the leg up. Okay, good. Bring it back down. And she’s going to always compare and check with the other side. So as she lifts up, same thing, and she’s really firing these glutes on this side right now to hold that pelvis stable so it doesn’t drop down on that left side. Good, go ahead and bring it back down and come back down.

So you’re checking to see, one, the alignment of the pelvis, does it stay level; second thing is whether your hamstrings start to work more, they start cramping or tightening up by getting more strain on them, or your low back starts to really feel it, whether there’s a strain or cramping of those muscles, which means that they’re starting to overcompensate and the glutes are not firing to maintain that bridge position, and also to not to work at maintaining the alignment of that pelvis. Then, if that’s the case, then you go back, you’ve got to work on strengthening the glutes, and of course your core muscles too, always, to work on getting that good stability. And that’s important especially when you’re walking, single-leg activity; you need to have muscle stability on that pelvis so it does not drop when you’re walking and running and doing things because otherwise it’ll cause a lot of mechanic problems up and down the chain causing all sorts of issues for you.

So pretty good test, simple test, so test yourself and how long you want to hold it. Let’s see, work at holding for 30 seconds to a minute, see if you can do it for a minute. Can you really hold that position or do you really start shaking all over the place and you start to cramp in the spots that we mentioned trying to compensate because you can’t hold that position? So test yourself, and if you have weakness then you go back and you work on those glutes, and I’ve shown in some of the videos, other videos that I did, working on glute strengthening. So you work on those guys and you come back and retest yourself.

If you have any questions, leave a comment. Make sure you subscribe to the channel. And go check out my site. I have tons of information on at the site and we’ve got a pretty cool program coming up on recovery and injuries, specifically for athletes and runners. So stay tuned and keep checking out the videos. I’m going to keep posting information on how the program’s coming up. I think you guys are going to love it. So if you have any questions, leave a comment. Thanks, guys.

[Read more…]

Oct 03 2013

Core And Hip Strengthening For Iliotibial Band Syndrome

In this video, I am going to go over how to strengthen core and glutes for IT Band Syndrome. Whether you have low back pain, hip pain or knee injuries, it’s essential to work on core stability and hip strength. Your transversus abdominus, multifidii, pelvic floor and diaphragm muscles make up your deep core muscles. Gluteus medius, gluteus maximus and other hip muscles are very important for pelvic stability.

IT Band Syndrome is a very common problem especially in runners. This is a good strengthening exercise to correct mechanics involved in IT Band pain.

Tweetables:

Exercises to Treat IT Band Syndrome [Click To Tweet]
Knee Injuries: Strengthening Exercises for IT Band Syndrome [Click To Tweet]
How to Aggressively Treat IT Band Syndrome [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. We’re working on a pretty cool project and it’s a program we’re designing for runners and athletes and it’s going to be really cool. I think you guys are going to love it. So it’s going to be coming up soon, so make sure you keep checking on the channel and also on the site to figure out when the program’s going to come out. And especially those of you who are runners, I think it’s going to really benefit you.

So I wanted to show a quick video for you guys for some running-related injuries as well as if you have some low back issues; we’re going to talk a little bit about strengthening. More specifically, we’re going to talk about some core strengthening and then also some hip strengthening, which is extremely important when you’re suffering from low back injuries, and for that matter a lot of knee-related issues too. And especially for those of you who are runners, you have those IT band issues, patellofemoral problems taking place. So a lot of that stuff is related to what’s happening further up in the chain, right about your core and your hip.

So think about it as you’re working on building a foundation first, and your foundation comprises of your core, your abdominal stability, and the second part is we have to work on hip stability, hip strength. So this region is stable and strong. It sets a good foundation and a good base for the rest of the system to work effectively. And this is not just for hip or knee or ankle issues or injuries but I’m talking even further up the chain too, so shoulder-related or arm stuff. So you have to have core stability. And when I say core I am talking more not about the rectus abdominis or your obliques. It doesn’t matter if you can do a thousand sit-ups. That doesn’t necessarily translate over to good solid core stability. Those are your prime movers, your flexing, your trunk, your side-bending. So a lot of those muscles are working at that point. So we’re talking about your deep abdominal layers, your deep low back musculature, so your deep abdominal layer being your transversus abdominis layer and your multifidi in the back. You have your pelvic floor muscles, and on the top you have your diaphragm. So you’re creating this force couple for working on stability.

And it’s not just the strength from those muscles, the more important component is the firing pattern, so feed-forward loop. So what that means is that these guys need to fire first. It’s a timing issue. So a lot of people have chronic low back issues or chronic issues going on down the chain, knee-related stuff too. The firing isn’t taking place at the right time. So before I initiate a movement, before I reach out with my arm, before I run, before I kick, if I do any of these movements I have to stabilize the center, the core. So once this is stable, I have a good base to take off and perform my movement. So your base has to be strong in order for the extensions to work properly. So think about it that way.

So I find that when I treat a lot of runners, or for that matter other athletes or people suffering from various types of injuries, I find that they’ll spend a lot of time, for example, working on their quads, their hamstrings, a lot of these other groups which are around that whole region, which is important, but they neglect the more important part which is getting this stability down first. You get this down, this is not going to be as much of an issue. This will take care of itself too.

So let’s start with…this is one simple exercise I’m going to show you, yet very effective, and then we’re going to hit a couple of different things. We’re going to hit your core, transversus abdominis, and multifidi, we’re also going to work on the hip muscles. So the first part we’re going to do is, so this is a side-lying position, and clamshell exercise we’re going to call it. So what we’re going to do is you’re going to have your knees bent and you’re going to have your feet on top of each other. First, we’re going to kick in your core. So what you’re going to do is, we’re going to pull this up. What you want to think about is that when you’re pulling these guys in, it’s almost as if you’re sucking your gut and your bellybutton is going straight back. That’s how you’re activating those guys to stabilize that region. But I don’t want you to continue holding your breath as you’re holding that stability or that position.

So the way we start off with this—and when you do yourself you can feel. So you could put your hands…so here’s your anterior superior iliac spine, ASIS you call this, that bone right in front. So go about an inch above that point and maybe out to the inside a little bit, so you can gently put your own hand right about there. So take a deep breath as she takes a deep breath, and when she exhales, breathes out, is when she’s pulling your bellybutton straight back. And so she actually pulls that back, you’re going to find that transversus abdominis is going to be pushing out at your fingertips. So do it again. So she takes a deep breath, and as she exhales she’s going to fire those guys and she’s going to stabilize and strengthen the lower abdominals in this base right here. So now those guys are on, and then you resume your normal breathing while you’re holding that position. You’re stable through there. You’re also becoming more aware of this region firing and kicking in before you perform another movement.

So second part that you’re going to do is then you’re going to work on, your feet stay together, you lift your knee up. So she’s working on her glutes now. She’s doing hip abduction, external rotation. So you’re really firing that glute medius. Very, very important for pelvic stability when you’re walking, running or any kind of single-leg activity – have to have good pelvic stability. So if that’s not there, your pelvis is going to keep collapsing and you’re not going to do well down the chain.

So she’s going to work on working at…so it seems like an easy exercise but when you do it properly you really work on those muscles. So as you get better at it, you can add some resistance to it. So she could technically even put her hand right here so as she lifts up she could resist with her other hand. But even better might be we might use one of these bands, the Thera-Bands. So I’m going to loop it around. I’m going to go just above the knees right around here, maybe right around that level. So now when she does that, same thing, fire those guys first, and then you get to the top and you hold it there.

Now remember, you don’t want to kick so far off that you’re starting a lot of rotation, a lot of movement through here. You want to keep this stable, and then work on this, isolate those guys. Good exercise, especially in the beginning stages of rehab and you’re just getting going and you can’t do a lot of weight-bearing stuff because it hurts here or you can’t tolerate for your back. Good way to start getting those guys working.

So in the next part you can add to it is when you get to that top, you’re hanging out there and you can do some oscillations, so one, two, three, four, five. Now you’re really firing because you’re kicking those guys in. So you got this on, stable base, and you’re really firing those glutes through there. So, great way to do that.

Make sure you do both sides, you compare always and you see which side is weaker, which side is stronger. And were going, in terms of reps, I want you guys to work progressive work up to 15, 20 repetitions. You’re really going to start to feel a burn here. And in between reps you can come down and relax through there, and then fire it again and then do it again. Or, if you get really good at it, you can keep it on throughout that whole movement, throughout all your repetitions. So now you’re really working at stabilizing the whole time you’re working on these guys.

So I hope you really find benefit from that exercise and it’s a really good one. Start adding that as part of your routine especially you guys who are athletes and runners, which often neglect that fine motor control type of component that needs to happen.

Subscribe to the channel, and you guys can click on the link to the website. Go check out a lot of stuff there. And don’t forget, we’ve got that pretty cool product coming up, so keep checking on the channel and on the website and you’ll find information on it. Alright guys, thanks.

Jul 09 2013

Front Split Hamstring Stretch

This is an advanced hamstring stretch in a front split position. Not only will this get the hamstring muscles it will also stretch the iliopsoas and the front hip capsule. The opposite direction of the legs locks the pelvis making sure the rang doesn’t come from the low back and allowing you to stretch the hamstring more effectively. Don’t force this movement, work up to to prevent injury. Or start by doing the easier hamstring stretches and work up to this advanced hamstring stretch. 2-3 mins rocking back and forth to gently stretch to get the sticky spots.

Tweetables:

How to Stretch Your Hamstrings to Be Able to Do Splits [Click To Tweet]
Great Stretch To Loosen Up Your Hamstrings [Click To Tweet]
How to Do Half Splits Pose [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you an advanced hamstring stretch technique. This is quite powerful and you might want to work up to this position, but it’s a really good way to stretch out, not only hamstrings, you can really get the opposite-side hip flexors also. So, like I said, this is an advanced technique, so kind of work up to it and try out some of the easier ones that I’ve shown before you build up to this one, but definitely very effective.

It’s basically instead of a side split you’re doing a front-back split. So you can use a stool on the side if you need support initially, but as you get better at it you don’t need anything else, and you can have two of them if you need to initially, too. What I’m going to do is I’m targeting stretching out my right hamstring on this side, and as I get better I can go further and further down. So I’m going to start here first, and I like to keep a slight bend in that knee. So that protects my back a little bit too as well as allows me to control the movement a bit better. So the stool is right here next to me. I can support myself on that. I can put my other hand here. Putting that left leg with the opposite leg back not only stretches up my hip flexors on this side—it’s a really good stretch on this side—but it also locks my pelvis so that this hamstring will get a better stretch as opposed to if I have this leg further up and I’m bringing that leg forward. So now that locks it in so you’re going the opposite direction, so it’s going to really give that hamstring a much stronger stretch.

Always maintain upright posture. So if I want a stronger stretch, I can just shift my weight forward a little bit, sit into it a little bit. Now, I could even lean forward a little bit. Now, when I lean forward, make sure you’re hinged at your hips, you’re not rounding at your back. That’s not going to get you the stretch. That comes from the low back. You want to hinge at your hips and you want to lean forward – same principle as some of the other stretches we’ve used before. So the hip hinging, that really gets that hamstring all through here, the back, even the butt, and even some of the calf muscles too. If I bring my foot up, I’m going to get some of the calf too. Very effective. As I lean forward, I hinge forward and I sit in and shift my weight down, I’m going to get a really good stretch, my hamstrings and my hip flexors opening up the front of my hip on my left side.

A very effective stretch. As I said, as you get better and better at it, you can bring your hands down further, you can get rid of the stool and you can be in this position. So work up to it and be careful as you’re getting to these positions. Take your time. Don’t force that movement. And as I said, it’s a much more challenging, much more difficult and advanced stretch.

Leave a comment. If you have any questions, make sure you subscribe to the channel, and click on the link below.

Oh, by the way, make sure you can hang out in those positions for a couple of minutes oscillating back and forth. So you don’t have to be in a static position. You can move slightly back and forth, leaning forward and hinging back, just so you can hit those sticky spots. So try both sides.

Jul 01 2013

PNF Hamstring Stretch

Hamstrings are group of three muscles which help bend the knee and extend the hip. Hamstring tightness is very common and can cause low back pain, knee pain, running injuries and impair performance. Here’s a cool and effective hamstring stretch exercise using Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation or PNF technique. This is a physical therapy technique which uses the anatomy and physiology of the neuromuscular system to effectively stretch the muscles. A contract relax technique is used here to inhibit the hamstrings so they can be stretched more effectively. 10 secs of the contract phase and 30 seconds of the stretch phase for 2-3 minutes.

Tweetables:

Stretching for Tight Hamstring Muscles [Click To Tweet]
PNF Stretching for Hamstrings [Click To Tweet]
PNF Stretching – Stretching Exercises Guide [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you a hamstring stretch and we’ll use a physical therapy PNF technique, which is proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation technique where we’re going to use contract/relax to inhibit the muscle, specifically the hamstring, so we can stretch it a little bit better. So it works really well. It’s quite effective. So you can use a belt. You can use a rope, towel, anything you essentially need.

So the way I like to do it is this. So take this belt, loop it around my foot, cross it. We’re going to start down here; the other leg is down. Now, I’m going to bring it up. So when I first start feeling that stretch—you could get it in the calf a bit, you might get it in the hamstring through here—when you first start getting a decent stretch, so you get to that point and then I want you to…so before that the knee is locked. When you get to that point I want you to soften the knee a little bit, just bend it lightly. So it’s slightly bent. Now, that kind of protects the back too, especially if you have some neural tension along the whole chain and some old low back static nerve-type issues.

So we bend the knee. Now, what you’re going to do is, in that position and range, the contract phase is about 10 seconds or so. So what you’re doing is I’m going to try to contract my hamstrings to inhibit them. So it’s about 50% of effort that you’re going to do with that phase. I’m going to try to drive my heel straight down. So this is the direction I’m driving my heel down. My arms are not letting it go down though. So I’m contracting now, pushing it down. I’m going to holdfor 10 seconds, so one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. And this is an isometric phase, an isometric contraction. I’m pushing down and then I relax, and then I stretch, I pull it a little further. Now, that phase, the pull phase, I’m going to hang out there about 30 seconds or so. So as I hang out for 30 seconds, I would do the exact same thing and I would drive that heel straight down again. So when I’m driving that heel down and with a slight bend in that knee too, I’m really kicking in a lot of these muscles here also. So I’m holding that phase again, one, two, three, four, five, all the way to 10 seconds or so, and then relax completely and then pull, pull, pull, pull, pull. So do that for about two, three minutes or you could go even longer—contract, relax, contract, relax—and as you keep stretching that tissue further and further and further.

So, great way to do that. Make sure you do that stretch on both sides, left hand, right side, because remember, the goal is symmetry and balance between your left and right side. Very important to have good flexibility of that hamstring. Your goal, remember is about, ideally, especially if you’re an athlete but even otherwise, your goal is about 85 to 90 degrees, somewhere about here.

So this is pretty good. Now, if I’m like right about here somewhere, that’s going to be a more moderate amount of tightness in that. And as I get further down, so this is really tight. So this can get you in a lot of trouble. If I don’t have good flexibility to the hamstrings there, it’s going to impact what happens all the way up the chain, whether for running, whether for sports, even day-to-day activities, contributing to low back issues and all sorts of other things too. So especially for those of you who are runners and athletes, you need to have like 85, 90 degrees of range of motion in that hamstring.

So hope you enjoyed that. Make sure you subscribe to the channel, click on the link below, and leave a comment.

Jun 18 2013

Runners Guide To Hip Flexor And Quadriceps Stretching

This is an advanced stretch technique for stretching hip flexors, front hip joint and quadriceps muscle. Opens up the front hip joint, stretching iliopsoas and quadriceps. Kneeling in this position might not be comfortable for runners with knee injury. Use the standing or Thomas test stretch position for iliopsoas muscles. These muscles tend to be very tight in a lot of people from excessive sitting and lack of regular stretching. Hip flexor strain or injury can often cause micro tears and scarring leading to adhesions, thickening and pain.

Tweetables:

Advanced Stretch Technique for Stretching Hip flexors, Front Hip Joint and Quadriceps [Click To Tweet]
Hip Stretches: Stretching Exercises Guide [Click To Tweet]
Dynamic Stretching For Runners [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you another way to do a hip flexor upper quad stretch. This is a bit of a more advanced technique and it really gets the quads if they’re really tight, too, and it can also get your anterior tibialis and front muscles too. So for those of you guys who are runners and athletes really stiff through this whole region, your front of the hip capsule, the iliopsoas or your hip flexors, your rectus femoris and all these guys, it’ll really stretch it out.

So we’re going to use a couch. You can essentially use anything. You can use a chair, too.

So starting on an all-fours position, what you’re going to do is…and I put my foot up here almost to the point that my knee is hanging off so it’s not on the ground. So that right away puts my knee in a good amount of bend through here.

You can see how it starts to open up that front hip, so I’m going to tighten up my glutes. When I tighten up my glutes, the opposing muscle group to your hip flexors, it automatically starts giving me a stretch to the front of the thigh. Now, to protect my spine even further, I’m going to kick in my lower abdominals. So I really tighten up my stomach muscles. I tighten up my glutes. It protects my spine and it really starts to give me a good stretch in that upper part of the quads. So it’s like a high quad as well as hip flexor stretch through here.

So while I’m in that position, if I want to get a stronger stretch, I’m going to start straightening up my upper body a bit. So now that’s going to really start getting this. And if I want to even further stretch that out, I’m going to straighten up more and more. Now I’m really getting a good stretch through here. But you’ve got to make sure you don’t start arching at your back through here. This has got to stay relatively straight and stable through there by kicking in your lower abdominals and your butt muscles.

So as I go further and further, as I straighten out more and more, I’m going to get a stronger and stronger stretch right up through this area and probably in my quads and all the way through that chain. So hold that position. You want to think about—you could even put your hand just above the glute. So what that does is, and if I give a little bit of a push or glide forward with my right hand, I’m really forcing myself to just stretch right at that hip. Plus, it trains me not to arch at my low back. So I put my hand here and I glide it forward lightly so my force is going this way. Don’t do it too hard though. So, nice and easy, I glide forward and I keep my butt tight, and as I straighten up I get a very good stretch through here.

So look for tighter spots, side-bend a little bit, oscillate back and forth to see where you’re stiffer along the chain. Great way to stretch but bit of an advanced technique. And so check out the techniques that I’ve done before to loosen this up before you get into these positions.

So, hope you enjoyed that. Make sure to always do both sides. Remember, you want symmetry, even amount of mobility and strength both sides of the body.

Leave a comment to let me know what you thought about this technique.

May 21 2013

Super Stretch The Hip Flexors For Beating Injuries

Here’s an advanced technique for stretching the hip flexors and front hip joint. Using a resistance band to apply an anterior glide to the upper thigh bone adds a super stretch to the the hip flexors and the front hip capsule. Great technique for runners and athletes who are looking to really open up the front hip and hip flexor muscles.

Tweetables:

Great Stretch for Tight Hip Flexors [Click To Tweet]
Understanding Hip Flexor Stretch [Click To Tweet]
Advanced Technique for Stretching the Hip Flexors and Front Hip Joint [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So in our hip opener series, this is another one. This is a little bit more aggressive stretch for opening up the anterior or the front hip, your hip flexors, and really kind of opening up that whole anterior side or the front side of that area.

So I’ve done a couple of other stretches this way before, but we’re going to use a band for this one. And so it’s definitely a lot stronger than the other stretches, bit more of a mobilization with movement technique. You’re moving as well as you’re trying to mobilize and bring that whole femur, the thigh bone, forward, to give you a really good stretch. So I’ve got this band tied through this post right here and there’s a fair amount of force going through this band.

So I’m going to put this here and we’re going to set ourselves up essentially in that same position, so right about there in that half-kneeling lunge position. Now, what I’m going to do is, principle is the same: I’ve got to tighten my glutes first, so I really fire up my glutes, and the further I go back out, the stronger the pull is from the band and it’s pulling my whole hip, my thigh bone, my femur in this direction, forward direction. So I’ve got my glute, tightened up, my abdominals are tight, stomach muscles tight, so nice and stabilized through here. Tighten the glutes and abdominals, protects my low back as well as it helps giving me a lot stronger stretch in these structures, front of the hip and my hip flexors through here, the muscles.

So now what we do is, so I’m going to scoot back a little bit more to get a little more force through there, and I squeeze, and then I put my hand through here and I’m going to bring my arm up. I’m going to do a side-bend here. So I’m searching for spots, stiffer spots along the way. So I keep my back flat and I can extend a little bit higher up or arch up through here, and as I arch up a little bit I keep my low back flat and I definitely get a lot of pulling through this area. A little more side-bending through here, really open up the side. Add a little rotation to it.

And remember, if you want to add a little extra to that, the shift is forward, so meaning I shift my weight onto my front leg a little bit. That’s all I’m doing. I’m not arching my back to get that stretch. So there’s a really good amount of force going through here in a very solid stretch all through these structures.

So for those of you who are runners and athletes, this is a really good stretch and really helps open up that front of the hip. So two, three minutes, hang out there, stretching various directions, trying to hit all sorts of different angles and getting rid of those sticky spots. Do both sides. Make sure you protect your back. And as I said, fair amount of force going through this, and there are lighter bands available, too, so you don’t have so much force going through that.

I want to hear from, tell me what you think of this exercise.

May 20 2013

Modified Pigeon Pose For Iliotibial Band Pain

This is a modified pigeon pose used in Yoga to open up the hips. It stretches the pyriformis, hip joint, glutes, etc. This stretch is a must for runners with iliotibial band syndrome, patellofemoral problems and other running related knee injuries. Not only is this exercise effective it can be done by anyone using a chair or table. Athletes and runners should make this stretch a regular part of their flexibility routine.

Tweetables:

Stretch for Runners with Iliotibial Band Syndrome [Click To Tweet]
Best Yoga Poses for Runners [Click To Tweet]
Stretches For Runner’s Pyriformis, Hip joint, Glutes [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

I’m going to show you another stretch in this hip opener series. This is great for opening up and stretching the hip joint as well as the glutes, also great for Iliotibial band pain for runners and patellofemoralpain syndrome. I just want to show you that you can do the stretch essentially anywhere. It’s kind of a modified variation of the pigeon pose in yoga and we’re going to use this instead of doing it on the floor. You can use a chair, pretty much anything

Initially to make it a little easier, you’re going to have…so if this is 12 o’clock, my body’s facing there, I’m going to go about 10 o’clock, which is in line with the left knee. This makes it a little bit easier in the beginning. And what I want to do is I want to keep my back nice and straight so I’m not rounding at my back because a lot of the range is going to come from my low back. It’s going to keep my back nice and straight and I’m sitting into it. My right leg with the back leg is nice and straight, and if I want a stronger stretch I sit back into it, which is going to get this hip right here. I’m going to feel it in the loop through here as well as possibly even here, and even in that IT band sometimes and a lot of these back posterior structures on the outside.

So what I want to do is I want to work at searching for spots that are stiff or sticky. So I can even take my hand, I can put it right here and I can work at pushing down and opening up that hip, pushing out through here to externally rotating or opening that hip up. So I’m going to lean into it and I’m going to search for spots that are kind of tight along this whole chain. So that really works at opening up that hip.

Now, I can also add some external rotation to it with this and I can work at some rotation of my body. So I’m going to rotate my trunk towards my left side. So I’m rotating my trunk, too, now. So that gives me a lot of midback thoracic spine rotation and mobility too. You can also do the same thing, I can do it with my left hand and I can work at opening it up further and I can rotate the other direction. That really starts to open up, starts to hit it from different angles.

And if we want to make it tougher, so we’ll now bring this foot up more. So now I’m really getting into positions where I’ve got to have good mobility to even get that. It’s almost like a 90/90 position with my lower leg and my thigh bone, and I’m keeping my back nice and straight. So now I’m really getting a stretch in my hip. It’s kind of like that cross-legged position, too, where you have to have both your legs essentially in this position. So this really opens up that hip.

And remember, as I said, you can do some rotations here, too, turn your whole body, look to the left, and you work on going the other direction. And then search for spots. Push down here a little bit, lean forward keeping your back straight and look for those spots that are stiff through here, back here, and sit into it and search for those spots. And spend two, three minutes stretching out all that tissue, and then switch and do the other side. So from this side, basically, it would kind of look like this. So you can get another perspective and view in this position. And you can see that I have to keep my back straight again and I’m going to work at opening this hip up through here, take my left hand, push into that, and I’m feeling it a lot through here, the groin, this area, out through here. So any of these structures will stretch out and open up.

So I hope you find that helpful. It’s a pretty easy stretch as you get better and better at it, and it’s great for patellofemoralsyndrome, IT band syndrome and all sorts of other hip-related problems too.

Leave a comment if you have questions and let me know what you thought of the stretch.

May 17 2013

Hamstring Stretch For Pain Free Running

Stretch out those hamstrings so you can move easier and reduces chances of low back injury and running related injuries. In the modern world most people sit for long hours resulting in tight hamstrings which restricts proper movement. Hamstrings are group of three muscles that sit on the back of the thigh. They cross two joints, the hip and the knee…and their function is to bend the knee and extend the hip. Hamstring tightness can increase risk of injury and impairs optimal performance for athletes.

Tweetables:

The Best Ways to Treat Hamstring Injuries [Click To Tweet]
How to Improve Hamstring flexibility for Pain Free Running [Click To Tweet]
Hamstring Stretch Advice For Runners [Click To Tweet]

May 16 2013

Front Hip And Leg Opener Stretch

Use your couch for opening up the front hip and leg muscles. This is an advanced stretch technique which targets the front of the hip, hip flexors, quadriceps and anterior tibialis muscles. Great stretch for runners and athletes or anyone looking to open up the hip from too much sitting and biking.

Tweetables:

Stretch for Better Mobility in Your Hips and Leg [Click To Tweet]
Advanced Stretches For Runners and Athletes [Click To Tweet]
What Really Happens in Hip and Leg Openers Stretch [Click To Tweet]

May 08 2013

Hip Stretch Exercise Piriformis Flexibility

Hi everyone, this video is on hip stretch for piriformis and hip joint flexibility. It is a safe and effective hip stretch to improve the flexibility of the hip and surrounding hip muscles.

This hip stretch an help relieve low back pain, sciatica, ITB problems and some hip pain issues.

Tweetables:

How to do a Hip Stretch for Piriformis Flexibility [Click To Tweet]
Stretch to Regain Piriformis and Hip Joint Flexibility [Click To Tweet]
Exercises to Improve Hip Flexibility [Click To Tweet]

Apr 26 2013

Get The Chi Flowing Side Lunge Prehab Warmup

This is one my prehab, warmup, get the blood flowing, Chi moving and pre exercise movement series. It is designed to get your body and mind ready for exercise and athletic activities.

It’s a great to open up the hips, good for flexibility of the legs, feet and spine. Also good for coordination, motor control and general warm up.

***Remember not to force the movement, move in a comfortable range.
***Focus on relaxing and breathing naturally.
***For balance and support hold a chair or step stool in front of you

Tweetables:

The Complete Guide to Chi Flowing Side Lunge Prehab [Click To Tweet]
Exercsie for Coordination, Motor Control and General Warm Up [Click To Tweet]
Learn to do the Chi Flowing Side Lunge Prehab Warmup [Click To Tweet]

Apr 23 2013

Runners Open Up Your Hips By Stretching Your Hip Flexors

For most of us who sit for long hours in our modern lifestyle, hip tightness can be a major problem. This often leads lots of other problems like low back pain, knee pain, sacroiliac joint pain, hip pain and can basically affect structures above and below the hip joint.

The anterior or front hip tissues often become very tight. Very important to stretch the iliopsoas and rectus femoris muscles and anterior hip capsule/ligament to free up the hip.

This 1/2 kneeling position is a good one to stretch and open up the front of the hip.

Tweetables:

Best Stretches for Tight Hip Flexors [Click To Tweet]
How to Perform Stretching Hip Flexors [Click To Tweet]
Should You be Stretching your Hip Flexors [Click To Tweet]

Jan 18 2013

Hip Strengthening for Running Knee Injury

In this video, I am going to go over how to strengthen the leg muscles when you have Patellofemoral pain. We are going to go over non-weight bearing strengthening techniques for the hip and core muscles.

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome is a very common problem especially in runners. Often referred to has Runner’s Knee Pain. This is a good strengthening exercise to improve leg strength without irritating the patellofemoral joint.
[Read more…]

Dec 28 2012

What Are Some Common Running Injuries?

In this video I am going to discuss common injuries associated with running. Whether you are running to lose weight, improve fitness, or a running fanatic…running injuries are a very common problem.

Tweetables:

Common Running Injuries: Foot and Knee Running Injuries [Click To Tweet]
Running and Jogging Injuries [Click To Tweet]
Knee pain and other Running Injuries [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. Happy holidays, and I wanted to talk to you guys today about problems associated with running, so injuries associated with running. So I treat a fair amount of people who have various running injuries, so I wanted to kind of go over some of the common ones with you guys and what you need to think about addressing these problems. So let’s start at the foot and we’re going to kind of work our way up.

So with the foot, some of the things you want to think about are plantar fasciitis, which is essentially an irritation of the plantar fascia, which is the connective tissue that gives support to your arch. So with that repetitive pounding and in addition to if there are some mechanical issues going on, meaning you have flat feet, you don’t have adequate arch support as it is or high arch, usually more common flat feet, can result in plantar fasciitis type of problems. Heel pain, again, another one, so related to foot mechanics and just the amount or the volume of training you’re doing, and the surface you’re training on too.

So plantar fasciitis, heel pain, and of course, ankle sprains and those ones are there too, but we’re going to talk about some of the more common ones. And going up the chain, shin splints is another big one and also related to the foot mechanics, structurally how the foot is as well as strength and flexibility of the lower leg and even up the chain, going further up your knee, which is probably one of the more common ones having to do with runner’s knee pain, which is a common term used for that, which is patellofemoral problems or chondromalacia patella, which is irritation of the tissues between that kneecap which sits on top of your groove that’s created by your thigh bone, femur, and that gliding surface getting irritated. And underneath that is your patellar tendon, so patellar tendonitis or tendinosis, which is degeneration of that tendon. So any of those problems related to that are often very common ones having to do with the knee, and of course, any other ligaments around or within that joint can be affected too. So on the inside of the knee, which often people complain about knee pain, can be your meniscus, could be the MCL, which is the medial collateral ligament, either excessive strain on those structures, too much pounding or just structurally the way the person is built where there’s mechanical load going on at that tissue.

So those are some of the common ones around the knee, and IT band of course, which is on the outside of the knee, is that thick connective tissue that sits on the outside of your thigh and goes on the outside of the knee. That’s a common one too with irritation of that tissue. You can have the tissue get really inflamed, painful, sometimes sharp pains.

And then, heading further up, hip-related issues. So SI joint, sacroiliac joint irritation, is one of the ones that I often run into also. And the hip itself, if the hip is too tight, local muscles are too weak, you can have problems locally at the hip too or further up into the SI joint, which is the sacroiliac joint, or even into the low back sometimes.

So along the whole chain there could be a host of different problems that can take place, so it’s important to really keep in mind that if there’s an imbalance or you’re weak or not flexible enough or there’s structurally the way the person is built, that’s going to impact not just local tissue but up the chain too. So you’ve got to really keep in mind when you’re looking at various problems that are taking place that you’ve got to address the whole person, the whole thing. You can’t just target, “Oh, the person’s having foot problems.” Yeah, you’ve got to address the foot, but you’ve got to look up the chain, too, what’s happening. Maybe it’s the weakness in the hip and the core muscles which is giving them a poor base, so if you’re not strong through your base and your center, which is affecting what’s happening further down in the chain too, or lack of flexibility or motor control, a lot of those things.

So I hope that it gives you an overview of some of the common running injuries, and there are a lot of other injuries out there, I didn’t list all of them, but it gives you an idea of the various problems that can be taking place and that you can very effectively address these problems and I do it all the time in my clinic with a lot of my patients. And you can continue to run, but you really need to make sure you address those problems so they don’t become nagging issues and chronic problems where they start causing serious degenerative or other changes to the joint or other local tissues.

So I hope you found that helpful, and make sure you leave a comment if you have a question. There’s lots of info there. And happy holidays.Thanks.

Nov 29 2012

Dynamic Hip Stretch In Multiple Planes

In this video I am going to show you a dynamic hip stretch and mobilization in multiple planes. This is very effective to improve hip flexibility for sports and athletic events.

This stretch improves hip flexion, hip extension, hip internal rotation, hip external rotation, etc.

Tweetables:

A Dynamic Hip Stretch to Fight Pain and Improve Running [Click To Tweet]
Dynamic Hip Stretch to Improve Hip Flexibility for Sports and Athletic Events [Click To Tweet]
Dynamic Hip Stretch for Runners [Click To Tweet]

Nov 23 2012

Iliotibial Band Stretch Mobilization For Outside Knee Pain

In this video I am going to show you a stretch and mobilization for Ilio Tibial Band Pain. This can often get irritated and painful in runners and other athletes. Poor foot, knee and hip mechanics can contribute to IT Band problems and outside knee pain.

This technique is helpful for improving the flexibility of the IT Band and it can also help breakdown adhesions or thickening of the band due to injury or mechanical problems.
[Read more…]

Nov 15 2012

How To Mobilize Stretch Hip Muscles With Tennis Ball

In this video I am going to show you a pyriformis and gluteal stretch and mobilization for hip pain, pyriformis syndrome, low back pain with sciatica.

This technique is helpful for improving the flexibility of the glutes and pyriformis following surgery or strain often due to sports injuries or trauma.

It’s a great self acupressure technique too. You can use one or two balls to improve the flexibility of the muscles, tendons and fascia.

Tweetables:

Pyriformis and Gluteal Stretch and Mobilization for Hip Pain [Click To Tweet]
Tennis Ball Self Stretch [Click To Tweet]
How to Stretch to Regain Hip Mobility and Flexibility [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So today I’m going to show you guys a stretch/mobilization technique using tennis balls to mobilize your piriformis and your glutes. So a lot of athletes, a lot of runners having pain through this region or tightness, restrictions here, can benefit from this. I also find a lot of people who are suffering from chronic low back issues, especially with sciatica, can also have a lot of soreness, adhesions and thickening along this area. So this is a pretty good technique you can use.

Now, I have two tennis balls that I tied together. So I put tape around them lengthwise and then across, too, to hold them together. Of course, you can use a single tennis ball too. So what we’re going to do is I’m going to take the tennis balls—and you can do this on the floor or probably better do it on the floor or a hard surface, not on the bed, it won’t work as well—so I’m going to take the tennis ball, we’re going to put it down here and I’m going to go right on that, right on the glute, and I’m going to be rolling back and forth. Now, I control that by my other leg, which helps me go back and forth, and my weight is on my arms too. So you can decide how much pressure you want to put on that. If you’re really sensitive, don’t put too much pressure on it. Also, remember, your sciatic nerve goes out through this region too, so be a little bit careful.

So I’m going to go back and forth and I’m going to search for those tender spots, and I can hang out there and I can stretch, I can roll back and forth and get a little bit of self-acupressure with the ball on those spots. So, break down those thickening and adhesions and really help loosen up that tissue. And I could even turn my leg in a little bit more and I could get different parts of that gluteal area that might be tightened up or painful or just sore and restricted. Now, remember, you can also go further down through here too, get the rest of the gluteal area, even to the ischial tuberosity bone and even further down into the hamstring if you needed to. So you can really spend time, a few seconds at a spot, just work, work, work, loosen it up, and then come back. So this works pretty well and I find that it really helps our patients loosen up that tissue through there and it can help relieve pain too.

If you have any questions, make sure you leave a comment. Thanks.

Nov 14 2012

How Treat Knee Pain By Strengthening Hip Leg And Core Muscles

Hi everyone in this video I am going to show you a high level exercise for strengthening the hip, core, leg and back muscles.

This exercise is very effective for recovery after various ankle, knee and hip injuries.

It is helpful for ankle sprains, ankle instability, patellar tendonitis, patellar tendinosis, Chondromalacia patella, patello femoral pain, etc.

This hip, leg and core strengthening exercise helps strengthen various muscles throughout the chain. Improving strength, coordination, balance and proprioception.

This a high level exercise which requires strength and motor control to perform it correctly.

[Read more…]

Nov 12 2012

How To Improve Hip And Core Strength With Bridging

Hi everyone in this video I am going to show you a great exercise for strengthening the hip, core, hamstrings and back muscles.

This exercise is very effective for recovery after various hip and knee injuries. It is also helpful for patellar tendonitis, patellar tendinosis, Chondromalacia patella, patellofemoral pain and post surgical or post injury knee pain.

This hip and core strengthening exercise helps strengthen hamstrings, hip and core muscles.

Using a gym ball really makes this exercise more challenging, so you should make sure you are able to do the exercise without the ball first.

Tweetables:

The Importance of Hip and Core Strength [Click To Tweet]
Hip and Core Strengthening Exercises [Click To Tweet]
Hip and Core Strengthening Exercise to Strengthen Hamstrings, Hip and Core Muscles [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So today I want to show you guys another hip, glute, hamstring, and core strengthening exercise. So we’re going to use a TheraBand for resistance and you could do this on the floor; doesn’t work as well on the bed unless the bed is a bit firm.

So I’m going to be bridging, so basic bridges basically where you’re lifting your butt up off of the mat. So we’re going to use a TheraBand to make it a little bit more challenging. I’m going to tie this around. It’s a resistance band. I’m going to tie it around my knees or just above the knees. I’m going to put it right here. So now what I do is, before I initiate the bridging, before I lift up, I kick in my glutes first always. I pull the band apart so I’m kicking a lot of my glutemedius. These are important muscles for walking, stabilizing the pelvis. Very important, a lot of these muscles, for runners, for athletes, and I think they’re neglected by a lot of people. People focus more on their quads, hamstrings and other groups and they won’t focus on the core as well as these muscles, a lot of these hip muscles. So hold the band apart, squeeze the butt muscles, and then I’m going to lift up and you hold that position, and you can kick in your abdominals too.

So the key is you have to really make sure you’re pulling in your butt muscles, you’re tightening up your glutes, and making sure the pelvis stays nice and level. So if it’s weak, it can start to drop down. So you really want to kick in your abdominals and your glutes and keep pulling that band apart. That’ll really fire up these guys here. Very safe and effective exercise. Great for people who are having a hard time with doing weightbearing exercises. If you have knee problems or different things, you can’t do a lot of standing, squatting and those kind of things, this can be quite effective.

So as a progression of this exercise, I’ll show you how to do something with a ball. So we’ll use the same band and we’ll do the bridging on the ball this time. So, same position essentially, and I’ve done some of this in the past. So I’m going to put this band, again, through here. Now, principle is still the same, it’s just the surface is unstable. So the ball is moving and it’s a lot more challenging. So build up your base with the other exercise first, then you progress to something like this. So I do the same thing, I kick the band apart, squeeze my glutes, and I lift up and really pull that apart. Make sure these guys are really on though, your abdominals are on and you’re really holding that position. You got to really kick in those glutes. Don’t let the pelvis drop to one side or the other. You want to be nice and stable and strong. Again, as I said, very, very effective, much more challenging than the other version. So they both work really well, and I hope you enjoyed these exercises.

If you have any questions, make sure you leave a comment. Thanks.

Nov 10 2012

How To Strengthen Quadriceps And Hip With Single Leg Squat

Hi everyone in this video I am going to show you an exercise for strengthening the knee and hip muscles. This exercise is very effective for recovery after various knee problems and injuries. It is a higher level exercise which requires a lot of quadriceps, hip and calf strength to perform properly.

This knee pain exercise technique specially helps strengthen the quadriceps, glutes and other hip muscles and ankle and foot muscles. It’s also very effective for improving balance and coordination.
[Read more…]

Nov 08 2012

Hip and Core Strengthening Bridging on Ball

Hi everyone in this video I am going to show you a great exercise for strengthening the hip, core, hamstrings, quads and back muscles.

This exercise is very effective for recovery after various knee problems and injuries. It is helpful for patellar tendonitis, patellar tendinosis, Chondromalacia patella, patello-femoral problems and post surgical or post injury knee pain.

This hip and core strengthening exercise specially helps strengthen the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes muscles, other hip muscles and core muscles.

Using a gym ball really makes this exercise more challenging, so you should make sure you are able to do the exercise without the ball first.

Tweetables:

How To Improve Hip And Core Strength With Bridging [Click To Tweet]
Build Hip Stability and CORE Strength with Ball Bridge [Click To Tweet]
Core Training using Exercise Ball Workouts [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So today I’m going to show you a strengthening exercise using a ball and target strengthening your gluteal muscles, your glutes, your hamstrings, and even your abdominal, your core, your trunk muscles.

Thefirst thing I’m going to do is bridging on the ball, with your feet on the ball. So it helps if you have a ball that has a good amount of air in itmaking it stable. So I’m going to put my feet on this and I’m going to push down and I’m going to raise up. The key is to make sure you’re really tightening up your glutes because your hamstrings are really going to be working. Hold the position, tighten up your abdominals and maintain that. You can even do repetitions back and forth or static holds in that position. Really works at kicking in your hams and even your calf muscles are working, your glutes are working, the abdominals and your trunk muscles are working too. It’s definitely a challenging exercise.

Now, the other variation to that would be having your knees straight or extended. This is a bit easier, this way of doing it where I’m raising it up. This will target more of your glutes, less of your hamstrings like the other one. Again, the key is to make sure your stomach muscles are tight, really squeezing your butt, and these guys are nice and stable. If you wanted to, you could do some arm stuff here too up and down, even with weights to make it more challenging for yourself. Isometric holds, hang out in that position so you really fire up all these muscles.

So, great exercise to strengthen those glutes, core muscles, especially for athletes, for runners and people who are suffering from knee problems or any joint-related things where you can’t do a lot of weight-bearing or loading exercises but you still want to maintain your strength, and especially if you’re trying to prevent injuries, too, and so you want to strengthen all those core muscles through here as well as your glutes or your base through here. So, very effective and you should definitely make it part of your regular routine.

Have any questions? Make sure you leave a comment. Thanks.

Oct 02 2012

Running Injuries Outside Knee Pain

In this video I am going to share with you reasons for outside knee pain. This video is great for runner who are experiencing pain on the outside of the knee and want to learn what structures could be causing their problems.

Tweetables:

What are the Causes of Pain on the Outside of Knee [Click To Tweet]
Guide to Pain on the Outside of the Knee [Click To Tweet]
What Causes Outer Knee Pain While Running? [Click To Tweet]

Click here to download free report “5 (easy) Exercises To Beat Knee Pain And Run Stronger. (Hint: It’s Not The Ones You Think)”

Additional Posts You Might Find Helpful…

1. What Are The Causes Of Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome or Runners Knee?

2. Runner’s Knee Injury

3. What Are Some Common Running Injuries?

4. Knee Pain And Squatting

5. Runner’s Knee – Inside Knee Pain With Running

6. Iliotibial Band Stretch Mobilization For Outside Knee Pain
[Read more…]

Sep 07 2012

Dynamic Hip Flexor and Anterior Hip Mobilization With Movement

In this video I am going to show you a dynamic hip flexors, anterior hip joint, rib cage, lats and shoulder stretch.

This is a high level mobilization with movement stretch to improve flexibility of the anterior hip, thigh, trunk and shoulder.

Tweetables:

Dynamic Hip Flexors, Anterior Hip Joint, Rib Cage, Lats and Shoulder Stretch [Click To Tweet]
Advanced Stretch to Improve Flexibility of the Anterior Hip, Thigh, Trunk and Shoulder [Click To Tweet]
Anterior Hip Mobilization and Dynamic Hip Flexor [Click To Tweet]

Sep 04 2012

Foam Roller Exercises For IT Band, Quadriceps Hamstring Stretch

In this video I am going to show you how to use a foam roller to stretch and mobilize IT Band, Quadriceps, Hamstrings, Glutes and Calf muscles.

This video is for educational purposes only. Please consult with you physician, physical therapist or health practitioner before starting any exercise program or trying any of the herbal therapies/recommendations mentioned in this video.

Tweetables:

How to Use a Foam Roller For Stretch [Click To Tweet]
Exercises for Foam Roller Stretches [Click To Tweet]
A Beginner’s Guide to Foam Rolling Tight and Sore Muscles [Click To Tweet]

Aug 30 2012

Shoulder Hip Thigh Dynamic Stretching

In this video I am going to show you how stretch your hip flexors, anterior hip joint, quadriceps, anterior tibialis, rib cage, lats and shoulder.

This is a high level dynamic stretch to improve flexibility of the anterior hip, thigh, trunk and shoulder.

Tweetables:

Dynamic Stretches to Improve Hip Thigh Mobility [Click To Tweet]
Dynamic Stretching and Mobility Exercises [Click To Tweet]
Dynamic Stretch to Improve Flexibility of the Anterior Hip, Thigh, Trunk and Shoulder [Click To Tweet]

Aug 29 2012

Anterior Thigh Hip Multi Joint Functional Stretching

In this video I am going to show you how stretch your hip flexors, anterior hip joint, quadriceps, anterior tibialis, rib cage, lats and shoulder.

This is a high level functional stretch to improve flexibility of the anterior hip, thigh, trunk and shoulder.

Tweetables:

Advanced Exercise to Improve Flexibility of the Anterior Hip, Thigh, Trunk and Shoulder [Click To Tweet]
Stretching for the Anterior Thigh Hip Multi Joint [Click To Tweet]
Stretch to Improve Hip Flexors, Anterior Hip Joint, Quadriceps, Anterior tibialis, Rib Cage, Lats and Shoulder [Click To Tweet]

Jun 04 2012

Hip Pain Exercises and Back Pain Exercises

Hi everyone in this video I am going to show you a one of my favorite hip pain exercises and back pain exercises which strengthens the core muscles, scapular stabilizers, hip and hamstring muscles. This exercise is very effective for recovery after various hip, knee and low back problems and injuries. It is helpful for people suffering from low back pain, hip pain and knee pain.

This hip pain exercise technique is performed in a quadruped position which is a non-weight bearing position. This position reduces load on the joints and muscles. It is safe and specially helps strengthen the abdominals, low back muscles, shoulder girdle muscles, hamstrings, glutes and other hip muscles.

Tweetables:

Improve Recovery after Various Hip, Knee and Low Back Problems and Injuries [Click To Tweet]
An Effective Stretch for Hips and Low Back Pain [Click To Tweet]
Easy Exercise Program for Hip and Back Pain Relief [Click To Tweet]

Hope you enjoyed this video on non-weight bearing hip pain exercises and core strengthening exercises.

Thank you for watching this video.

This video is for educational purposes only. Please consult with your physician, physical therapist or medical practitioner before starting any exercise program or trying any of the herbal products/recommendations mentioned in this video/article.

May 29 2012

How to recover faster after injuries

The eastern view point on injury recover and rehabilitation: improve the flow of Qi/energy and blood, remove blockages, promote removal of metabolic waste products and digestion/assimilation of nutrients. Your body has immense capacity to heal itself when given the right environment.

One other thing of utmost importance is optimal macro/micro digestion (at the GI level and cellular level). This combined with proper removal of waste products (urine, sweat and feces) is essential for a healthy and strong system.

So right now you want to eat light and possibly even fast 1x/week – if hypoglycemic, have some juice during the day. This not only cleanses out the system, gives a break to your digestive system, burns of toxins and accumulations, and strengthens the digestive capacity (will also aid your with your weight loss).

From a western perspective, mild starvation has also shown to increase HGH production. I am sure you know about the rat experiments where the underfed ones lived longer. Also cultures throughout the world have practiced fasting, though most have forgotten the physical and mental benefits and just practice it for religious reasons.

Tweetables:

Ways to Help Your Body to Recover Faster [Click To Tweet]
Great Way to Faster Recovery From Injury [Click To Tweet]
Sports Injuries? Get Back In The Game Faster! [Click To Tweet]

May 25 2012

Knee Pain Exercise Strengthening For Knee Hip and Foot

Hi everyone in this video I am going to show you a great knee pain exercise for strengthening the knee, hip, ankle and foot muscles. This exercise is very effective for recovery after various knee problems and injuries. It is helpful for patellar tendonitis, patellar tendinosis, Chondromalacia patella, patello-femoral problems and post surgical or post injury knee pain.

This knee pain exercise technique specially helps strengthen the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and other hip muscles and ankle and foot muscles. It’s also very effective for improving balance, proprioception and coordination.

Hope you enjoyed this video on weight bearing knee pain exercise.

Tweetables:

Simple Moves to Eliminate Knee Pain and Strengething Knee Hip and Foot [Click To Tweet]
How To Strengthen Knee Hip and Foot [Click To Tweet]
Exercise that Improve Recovery after Various Knee Problems and Injuries [Click To Tweet]

Thank you for watching this video.

Jul 15 2011

Hip pain and injury assessment and treatment guidelines

Hip injuries though less common due exist specially for the contact athlete. To date assessment whether by objective tests or by imaging studies has been less sophisticated in identifying pathology.

The increased use of hip arthrosopy surgery has allowed clinicians to learn more about intra-articular (within the joint) disorders that were undiagnosed or not properly understood in the past.

Lets look at common hip joint pathologies, methods of assessing dysfunctions and the treatment options available.

Additional Posts You Might Find Helpful…

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