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Helping You Recover From Injuries and Improve Performance Using Physical Therapy and Ayurveda.

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.

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.

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.

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Kinesio Taping Patellofemoral Pain

Kinesio taping for patellefemoral pain, after knee injury, chondromalacia patella, knee arthritis, etc. This is a very effective taping technique for all sorts of different knee injuries and pain. Helps restore normal knee joint mechanics to relieve knee pain, swelling and restore movement. It helps support the joint and unloads irritated tissues while providing some neuromuscular feedback to local muscles. Tape can be left on for 1-5 days to teach the joint to stay in the correct alignment.

For quicker recovery from patellofemoral pain access Build Better Knees Recovery Kit.

Tape used in this video:

  1. Rocktape Kinesiology Tape :
  2. KT Pro Tape Pre-Cut Strips : This is another Kinesio tape.  Available in pre-cut strips so makes it easier to apply.

Tweetables:

Kinesio Taping: Knee Injury, Chondromalacia Patella, Knee Arthritis  [Click To Tweet]
How to Kinesio Tape a Patella Knee? [Click To Tweet]
The Effect of Kinesio Taping on.Patellofemoral Pain  [Click To Tweet]

Beat Knee Injuries With Side Plank For Core And Hip Strengthening

Side Plank position is great exercise to strengthen the core and glutes for low back pain, hip strengthening and knee pain. Good core stability and hip strength is a must if you are recovering from knee injuries or trying to want to prevent knee injuries. For all you runners out there, building a strong foundation with core stability and glutes medius strength is must if you want to do perform at optimal level and prevent chronic running injuries. This is also a good non-weight bearing strengthening exercise which won’t put pressure on an injured knee or hip.

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

Tweetables:

Side Plank Hip Strengthening Exercise  [Click To Tweet]
Side Plank position Exercise to Strengthen the Core and Glutes [Click To Tweet]
Knee Pain: What You Need to Know About the Core and Hip Strengthening  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript: 

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I want to shoot another video for you guys on core stability. We’re going to do two variations of the side plank position to strengthen your core muscles, but we’re going to add another component to that which is really focusing on your deep layer, your transversus abdominis, for core stability. Not just lifting up and not maintaining that forcibly while you’re in that position, but it also allows to work on your hip muscles too. So the way we’re going to do that is—and this is important for essentially if you have any old low back issues, you have hip problems, a lot of knee-related problems. For those of you who are athletes and runners, remember I talked about it in some of my other videos that the first rule is building that foundation where you have a good trunk or core stability, and then number two is getting those hip muscles stronger so your base is strong. When the base is strong, extensions all would work well.

So the way we’re going to do that is, again, this is the side position, so for the side plank we’re going to do the easier version first. The easier version, what you’re going to do is you’re going to have your knees bent till you get the positioning and the form down, you’re able to get stronger, and then we’ll go over the leg straight. So remember you’re working on this hip, so she’s working on her left hip, so glute strength, because she’s raising it up, she’s doing hip abduction effectively on that side to get those glutes stronger, glute medius especially which is essential for pelvic stability when you’re walking, running and all sorts of single-leg activities.

And the second part is working on the core. And since the elbow is bent and she’s bearing off of that left side, pushing off of that, doing a lot of scapular stability, shoulder girdle stability too to hold that position, that’s very important. So if you have shoulder issues, then you want to obviously be a bit more careful with that position, or if you’re not strong enough to hang out there, so modify the…or actually, if you have those shoulder issues, avoid that specific movement.

Okay, so what we’re going to do is, first step, remember, you fire your lower abdominals, your core. So we want to get those transversus abdominis firing. So the way we’re going to do that is take a deep breath, as she exhales she’s going to pull that bellybutton straight back and she gets to feel with her own hands those muscles firing and pushing up into her fingers. So she’s stabilizing through there. But once she kicks them in, she has to continue breathing normally. I don’t want you to hold your breath while you’re doing the exercise.

So now she’s got those on, so her base is fired, right? Those guys are working. The second step is now she’s going to raise up and she’s going to hold that position. Now, that is the easier version because the knees are bent. So she has to work on kicking in her shoulder girdle muscles, her abdominals are on, and she’s raising up that position and she’s working on her glutes firing too. Go ahead, come back down. So that’s the kind of position you want to work at maintaining the alignment is important. If you start noticing you start shaking too much, your form starts to go, you can’t hold the abdominals, you start arching your back to compensate, to hold that position, you start fatiguing, time to come back down.

Your goal is to progressively work at increasing the time. So let’s say we start with a goal of 10 to 15 seconds first, get up into that position, and as you get better at it increase the time to 30 seconds or even more for that matter. And the reps you can work up – you can go from eight to 10 repetitions. That’s going to be plenty. If you’re doing 10 repetitions, holding about a minute each one, that’s quite a bit for holding that position.

So at that point you want to progress, you want to go to that next level, which is the harder part, which will be with your legs straight. So now she’s going to have her legs straight. So in this position, feet are together. Same setup, basically. And she’s going to fire these guys first, set your base, and then the next step she does is she pushes up and she raises up into that position, and she’s going to hold that spot again. So, good way to fire these guys, core is on, shoulder girdle is working, and come back down. And control the descent down, too; don’t just plop back down.

As you get better at it, you can even work at, as you raise up, you could lift that arm up to increase the challenge. You can even work at lifting the top leg up. So a lot of variations that can be done once you get the basics down, you can hold the position. And there are a lot of other positions where you can even add some movements with that arm, the top arm, too, but let’s start with this first and you guys get these steps down, and we’ll progress from there. So as I said, essential, very, very important for athletes, runners, and anyone who’s trying to get stronger, a lot of those core muscles stronger for even day-to-day activities.

Alright guys, so make sure you subscribe to the channel, and if you have any questions leave a comment. You can click on the link below and you can go to my site and you check out lots of information there. And we’ve got a pretty cool product we’re working on; it’s coming out pretty soon for those of you who are athletes and runners. A lot of you guys have sent me questions and with things you want included in the program. I think you’re going to love it. It’s going to be quite awesome for it has tons of information on all sorts of physical therapy, holistic medicine techniques, for injuries and all sorts of other stuff we’ve got on it. Alright, talk to you guys soon. Bye.

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.

Quadriceps Tendonitis Treatment With Cupping

Quadriceps tendonitis or quadriceps tendon injury treatment using cupping. Helps remove congestion and blockages, improves circulation, stretches scar tissue, muscles and fascia. Cupping has been used for thousands of years and is still practiced throughout the world and routinely practiced in TCM to heal injuries. Quadriceps tendon injury can be as a result of direct trauma to the muscle or tendon or after a forceful contraction of the muscle…usually an eccentric contraction while coming down onto the leg when jumping. It can also be due to overuse of the quadriceps tendon from too much running or over training. This has really helped my patients get better much faster. Can do cupping for 5-10 minutes with or without movement.

Tweetables:

Cupping and Quadriceps Tendonitis Injury  [Click To Tweet]
Knee Quadriceps Tendon Inury Treatment [Click To Tweet]
Advanced Cupping Techniques  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you something pretty cool to treat quadriceps tendonitis issues and I use this a lot with my patients. We’re going to do some cupping, and cupping is used in traditional Chinese medicine. Acupuncturists use it is used by a lot of different health practitioners throughout the world.  It is very effective for improving circulation to the local tissue.  It opens up and removes blockages, removes stagnation and congestion in a tissue as well as promotes circulation to that area.   If you have stagnation and blockages that are remo
ved and you have better circulation to the tissue, the tissue is going to heal better.

Second thing it does is the suction that holds the tissues up and separates layers, so stretching the tissues – different layers of muscles, fascia and connective tissue get stretched as well.  It’s a great way to get at that quadriceps tendon.

I like to use an herbal oil first to massage the tissue first.  I get right in that area and massage that area, and I’ve also shown some cross friction massage techniques in the past in some of the other videos that help to break down scar tissue and adhesions that form all along that quadriceps tendon. Remember that it sits just above your kneecap and that’s where a lot of times people get these injuries.  If you come down too hard while you’re jumping and runners also often get these quadriceps tendon issues due to overuse, or due to a forceful landing of the leg causing a strain or micro-tears in the tendon, that develops into a tendonitis or tendinosis or irritation of the tendon.

So after doing your cross friction massage techniques I’ll use cupping.  You have to pick the right size cup from the setdepending on the size of your leg and your thigh muscle.  I’m going to place it right above the knee here and I’m going to suction that straight up. As you can see, it pulls that skin right up. I’m doing it in this partially bent position. You can also do it with the leg straight too. So it works quite well, and if you notice I’m trying to pull that up and it doesn’t really come off. Here’s my kneecap and it’s stretching out all those fibers.

Now, you can leave it there in static position.   Just leave it there for five to 10 minutes and it stretches all the tissues and opens up channels there. But the other thing I like to do sometimes with my patients is that I like to put the cup on and then I like to have them do some movement.   Gentle movement back and forth as they’re moving while it’s maintaining that pull there. Now, we’re not doing any squatting or loading of that tendon. We’re just doing gentle oscillations and movement to see if we can promote circulation there while we’re stretching it also and relieving that tension there.So I’ll just have them do 10, 15, 20, 30 times, moving back and forth, and then we’ll just leave it there for about five to 10 minutes to stretch the tissues.

After you do that, follow with heat. So I always use heat. I don’t use ice. My patients put heat there. You can also do a warm water soak with Epsom salt, baking soda, even ginger water sometimes. Depending on the condition, I’ll use various combinations. So, great way to do that, and you can remove the suction by pulling this up. You can see a little bit of that redness there. You can get some redness in that tissue where you’re doing that. Obviously, be cautious first time you use the cups. Don’t suction it too tight and make sure that your skin is not too sensitive. If you have thin skin, if you’re diabetic, and if you have open wounds or a cut, don’t do the cupping. And first time you’re doing it, don’t pull it up too tight. Test it out five minutes or so and then see how it does.

Like I said, you can have a little redness and usually some people get more red than others depending on the severity of the condition and how much congestion or blockage is going on in that area, and it can last a couple of days sometimes or even a little bit longer but it should go away. And so do it every other day or two in between your cupping sessions, so you can do it every other day or every two days and then do that again for about five to 10 minutes.

It’s an awesome technique. I love it and I use it for a lot of my patients and it works great with these conditions. I use it with tons of runners and it works really well.

So if you have any questions, leave a comment. Thanks.

Kneecap Mobilization For Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome

Restoring proper patellofemoral mechanics is essential for optimal functioning of the knee joint. Kneecap stiffness or patellofemoral joint hypomobility is often a problem with patellofemoral pain syndromes or runners knee pain. I also find this to be a major issue after knee surgeries: arthroscopic knee surgery, total knee replacement, etc. Any type of strain or injury which results in knee swelling, tightness, pain resulting in adhesions of muscles and connective tissues can cause impaired mobility of the kneecap. This is a physical therapy joint mobilization technique to improve the flexibility of the patellofemoral joint. Caution: avoid if you have history of knee dislocations or hypermobility of the kneecap.

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you guys a mobilization technique specifically for the kneecap. It’s a physical therapy technique to stretch out the kneecap or actually stretch the fibers around the kneecap. So we’re addressing the patellofemoral joint. Patella is your kneecap and femur is the thigh bone where the kneecap sits on. So often post injury if there’s swelling, there are adhesions that are formed around that joint, you can have things…the kneecap gets kind of bound up and it doesn’t move as well. It could also be due to the tibio femoral, the other joint, the main knee joint, which is your femur and tibia, the bottom bone. That not moving effectively also can affect this joint. For our purpose, we’re going to try to mobilize this joint.

Post surgically I see this a lot after arthroscopic surgeries, total knee replacements and a lot of other types of injuries, and then definitely runner’s knee, patellofemoral issues – people often are bound up through here and the kneecap is not moving effectively. So more often the quadriceps being really tight or quadriceps tendon, or the lateral structures, IT band and a lot of these other structures, some quadriceps expansion inserting into the outside border of the kneecap, getting bound up. So all these tissues are tightened up and that’s why often there’s that lateral drift of that kneecap. Alignment is a little bit off. So that mechanically affects the transfer of force and load through that joint and can cause problems.

So we want to get that joint moving better so it moves good, up and down moves properly, side-to-side movement is good too. So the way we’re going to do that is you’re going to basically look for the sticky or tight spots, and then we’re going to get in there and we’re going to stretch out that tissue. So let’s look at the top and bottom. So here’s the top of the kneecap. I’m going to grab on with the heel of my hand and the bottom part is held with my fingertips. Now, remember, I’m not pushing down into it, I’m going at parallel planes, I’m doing this movement. I grasp it and I move it back and forth. I go down and I hang out here and I stretch. I might go out to the side a little bit. So remember, you’re looking for not just straight down, you’re looking for different angles to see where things are tighter. So I’m going to hang out there, oscillate, I’m stretching— one, two, three, four, five—for about 20, 30 seconds, and I come back out of it. And I go to another spot and I’m oscillating it and I stretch, stretch, stretch. I’m going to go to the side now and I’m going to grab it here and glide from the lateral to medial going inwards, so from outside to inside, and I’m stretching. So really a lot of time people feel pretty strong stretch along this whole border here when you do that.

So let me give you a closer view. Come on over. Don’t be shy.

So now what we’re going to do is just to show you guys a top view. So here is the kneecap that I was showing, top of the kneecap, the bottom, up and down movement. So I grab through here and I’m just moving that up and down, just hanging out here and just stretching. Just hold and you will pulling all along this border. Right up here—this is the outside border—grab it in a diagonal. I’m stabilizing with the other hand so the leg doesn’t move as much from this side and I’m stretching that tissue again 20, 30 seconds, move to the next spot outside here, grab the kneecap, and I’m gliding it inwards so it’s going essentially this way. So I’m basically hitting all these different spots to see where I’m tight through here. So as I said, often this top and the whole outside area can be quite tight on runners. IT band issues, patellofemoral issues, with a lot of these problems you can really stiff and bound up.

So try that and do that about…spend four to five minutes or so in that position just kind of working through that whole tissue to free it up. You get a little sore initially. Do it like every other day and as you get better at it, as it gets easier and easier, you can mobilize it a bit more. And the soreness should subside as the mobility improves in that tissue.

Now a word of caution. So if there’s hypermobility, excess mobility or if you’ve had dislocations of the kneecap, you obviously don’t want to do that. You don’t want to mobilize the joint further if you’re already unstable through there, there’s a history of dislocations of that kneecap whether due to anatomic positioning of the joint or other issues. So don’t do that if that’s the case. But the rest of you, for your runner’s knee issues, IT band issues and patellofemoral issues, you want to get a lot of this stuff moving better. Get in there and mobilize that joint and get yourself moving well.

Alright, hope you find that useful. Subscribe to the channel, click on the link below, and leave a comment. Thanks.

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.

How To Treat Quadriceps Tendonitis?

How to treat quadriceps tendon injury or quadriceps tendonitis by mobilizing or breaking down scar tissue and improving circulation? Quadriceps tendon injury can be as a result of direct trauma to the muscle or tendon or after a forceful contraction of the muscle…usually an eccentric contraction while coming down onto the leg when jumping. It can also be due to overuse of the quadriceps tendon from too much running or over training. A lacrosse ball, tennis ball or racket ball can be used to break down scar tissue and improve circulation allowing the tissue to heal properly again. Follow the massage with warm water soak with epsom salt+baking soda+boiled ginger water or a heating pad.

Tweetables:

Quadriceps Injury Treatment and Management  [Click To Tweet]
Exercises for Quadriceps Tendonitis [Click To Tweet]
Exercises for Recovering From a Quadriceps Tendonitis  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So today I’m going to answer a common question that a lot of you guys have asked me and I get to treat a lot of my patients, too. It’s quadriceps tendon injuries or quadriceps tendonitis or irritation. So, just to give you a little bit of anatomy and as to where that is and what kind of problem it is and why it’s taking place, and also I’ll show you one treatment technique you can use to get that better.

So here’s your femur. This is a model of the knee. So your femur is the thigh bone and the bottom one is your tibia, the shin bone, and on top of those sits your patella, your kneecap. So underneath the kneecap through here is your patellar tendon and the top part through here is your quadriceps tendon. So quadriceps comes and narrows down until it becomes your quadriceps tendon. So that’s the area we’re targeting. That’s where you’re having problems. So to show you on my knee, that’s kind of like right through this area where you can have problems.

So, often with athletes playing sports where you’re jumping, where there’s a quick movement and you come down hard on that tendon and there’s a lot of eccentric force going through there, you can have micro-tears or trauma to that area, which can result in scarring or thickening if it doesn’t heal properly, if a tissue doesn’t lay down properly, and circulation issues, which binds up that area, possibly resulting in tendonitis or tendinosis or some degeneration or wear and tear of that tendon. So breaking down those adhesions is an important thing in terms of freeing up that tissue and promoting circulation in that area so when you bend or when you contract that muscle you don’t have that pain. In addition to trauma or when you come down, as I said, quick on that leg, you can have repetitive strain of that tendon too. So runners often, with a lot pounding in that region and a lot of work for that region or over-training, can get quadriceps tendonitis or irritation-type issues too.

So one of the techniques you can use, and I’ve posted some videos in the past, too, with cross friction massage to break down the thickening and adhesions that form to that area, I’m going to show you just another technique to do self-mobilization using…this is a lacrosse ball. You can also use tennis balls or this is a racquetball if there’s a smaller area we’re trying to target. So what you’re doing is, we’re going to be doing self-massage, self-acupressure and self-mobilization of that tissue to break down the adhesions and then promote circulation in that area.

So mobilization part is, so here’s the ball, I’m going to be targeting just above that area, above that kneecap. So you’re going to be pretty sore through there. And not just that area, you want to kind of work all along that whole quadriceps muscle, all the way up in fact even into the upper front of the hip. But since this is the main target area, you’re going to work at just oscillating back and forth, look for those painful spots, outside, inside, so various positions. Spend 30 seconds, a minute on a spot, and just kind of rolling back and forth. You could even get to a position where you’re going back and forth and then hold that spot, and then bend and strain that knee. So when I bend my knee, I’m stretching that quadriceps. So I’ve got some pressure on there and I’m stretching it. You want to get some deep pulling through there; might have some soreness, too. So really spend about three to five minutes working on that tissue and freeing it up.

Now, remember, first time when you do that, don’t overdo it. Three to five minutes and see how you feel later that day, the next day. You’re trying to assess and see how it tolerates it. You might get a bit sore, but that soreness should subside after a day or two, and then you try the technique again. So if you overdo it, you’re going to get really painful and irritate that tissue further and, one, it’s going to be painful or sore for a few days, and two, you might not want to do the technique again.

So immediately after doing that, mobilizing that, you want to do some massage to that area and use some heat for that area. I posted some videos in the past about the importance of using heat instead of ice, so check out that video. You can even do some warm water soak for that region. Put some Epsom salt, baking soda and stick that leg in a bucket.

Knee Bending Stretch After Injury

How to do a knee bending stretch safely after after knee injury or knee pain. Great knee flexibility exercise specially after acute knee injury or arthritis. If you have knee stiffness due to swelling, arthritis or guarding after an injury…you want to do a non-weight bearing stretch to improve knee flexibility. This exercise also improves circulation and lubrication of to the knee joint without putting pressure on the joint unlike other weight bearing stretches like squatting, etc.

Tweetables:

How to do a knee bending stretch safely  [Click To Tweet]
Knee Stretches: Reduce Knee Pain and Prevent Injuries [Click To Tweet]
Exercise that Improves Circulation and Lubrication of Knee Joint  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So in this video I’m going to show you knee flexibility or knee bending stretch I’d like to show a lot of my patients. So especially after acute injury of the knee, if you’re missing that range of motion or just want to start getting that joint moving a little bit, a little bit of lubrication, and to facilitate circulation and get rid of the swelling, it’s a good way to stretch out that knee joint. So especially after an acute injury as I’ve mentioned in some of my previous videos, we want to do non-weightbearing, non-loading activities for flexibility, so obviously squatting, kneeling, those kinds of things are not going to be good because it’s going to compress and load the tissues, often causing more pain.

So using a ball, you can even use a basketball, soccer ball, essentially anything, any of those balls to work on this exercise. So what we’re going to do is I’m going to show you on my left leg lying down. What I’m going to do is—my other leg is straight—so just getting used to rolling that ball back and forth first, getting that bend. You might be restricted up to here, so you work at going back and forth till you start feeling some stretching. Even after quadriceps tendon injuries or the quadriceps injuries, you might be missing some bending at that knee because that muscle is just so bound up and tightened up.

So this is a good way to just oscillate back and forth, move back here a little bit. So now I can really work at stretching it out. The ball’s good because there’s friction with the ball, so it allows you to glide a lot easier. So you’re just rolling back and forth nice and easy, oscillating for a few minutes. Now, as you get better at it and you want to get a bit of a stronger stretch, you can start to bend the knee, pull it towards you a little bit more. You can get to the end range, you can hang off for 10, 15 seconds, stretch it, and then go back out. And you can even do full extension. So you get to the other direction, make sure you’ve got full extension or straightening of that joint.

So if you wanted a bit of a stronger stretch at that joint, you can use a belt, a towel, rope, anything you can find basically, loop it around the lower part of that shin. And I can use my hands. If pulling it back and forth bothers you or you’re not able to do that, you can always use your hands to bend that knee and stretch out that joint. So again, I can bring it all the way back and I can bend that knee and I can stretch it. This is non-weightbearing. It really allows that joint to stretch but also facilitates circulation and just working at getting rid of some of that swelling and prevents soft tissue thickening and adhesions that form immediately after an injury.

So spend time, a few minutes doing that, and then reassess and see, how does the joint feel? Does it feel better? Does it feel worse? And usually this should not cause you pain, and if you’re doing this and you start having a lot of pain, obviously you’ve got to either not push as hard or don’t go as far, or if there’s something more serious going on and it’s not letting the joint bend, you’ve got to get it checked up.

So I hope you find that useful. Good early-acute-stage-of-injury flexibility exercise. And make sure you leave a comment.

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.

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]

Improving Hip And Ankle Mobility For Healthier Knees

A lot of knee problems can be treated effectively by addressing hip and ankle flexibility. Knee pain might be the symptom, but the underlying problem could be a stiff ankle or hip. As I always say always treat above and below the affected area.

Often people spend time treating the painful knee but neglect the other structures in the chain that are causing the problem. Remember the whole system works together and thus you have to address every piece of the chain.

Stiff ankle or hip can cause poor mechanics up or down the chain and putting excessive stress on other joints, muscles, ligaments and tendons.

Specially for optimal effortless walking, running, squatting, etc., you need balanced flexibility, strength and motor control along the whole chain. Otherwise you are setting yourself up for injuries, excessive wear and tear and poor performance.

Tweetables:

Learn How to Improve Hip and Ankle Flexibility and Mobility  [Click To Tweet]
Hip and Ankle Mobility: Why it’s important and how to improve it [Click To Tweet]
The Best Mobility Exercises For a Stronger Squat and Running  [Click To Tweet]

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…]

Quadriceps Strengthening For Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome

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 quadriceps, core and hip 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.

Tweetables:

Strengthen the Leg Muscles of Patellofemoral Pain  [Click To Tweet]
Best Strengthening Exercise to Improve Leg Strength [Click To Tweet]
Muscles for the Treatment of Patellofemoral Pain  [Click To Tweet]

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.

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…]

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.

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.

Knee pain exercises and neck pain exercises

Hi guys, this video was shot for a friend who injured her knee and wanted to know a simple exercise to bend the knee.  She had injured her MCL (medial collateral ligament) and was in a brace for couple of months, which caused her to lose range of motion.

She wasn’t able to bend her knee and wanted knee exercises for bending.  She was also starting to have neck pain because she was walking incorrectly with crutches.  It’s quite common to find people having neck or arm pain because they are walking incorrectly with crutches.

[Read more…]

Natural solutions for treating knee cap pain

Here’s a question from a viewer regarding knee cap pain and some natural solutions that can help treat this injury.

Natural solutions for treating knee cap painKeralafunbe: hi Mr. Manu. My doctor diagnosed me with chrondomalacia knee. It happened because i used to kneel down a lot at work. I do not have any pain but I am not able to walk or take the stairs or use my knee i used to before. Which exercise do u recommend for me to do to strengthen my muscles. I do not want worst the thing doing something wrong..

Manu: I am not sure why you are unable to walk or use stairs if you don’t have any pain. What is limiting you from walking, stiffness? weakness?  For strengthening focus on the non-weight bearing exercises I discussed in my video.   Pick exercises that avoid bending and straightening of the knee.  Doing the exercises with the knee straight will avoid irritation caused by the patella gliding up and down in the intercondylar groove of the femur. [Read more…]

Lunges and squats causing painful knees, try non-weight bearing exercises and herbal solutions

With an already painful knee, exercises involving lunges and squats which only make the knees more painful.  There’s a lot of confusion about whether one should do weight bearing exercises like squats and lunges when recovering from a knee injury.

In my view, there is no point loading an already painful knee joint. Better to strengthen the local muscles in non-weight bearing first without loading the painful joint.  In the early stages of recovery it’s much better to do exercises in sitting or lying down for strengthening the knee.  Once the irritability has subsided, pain and/or swelling is gone, the joint can tolerate standing exercises like squats and lunges.

See my recommended program to recovery from knee injuries Build Better Knees Recovery Kit

Regular massage of the painful joints with Ayurvedic Mahanarayan Oil, Castor oil or Sesame oil followed by heat is also very helpful for controlling the pain, improving circulation and lymphatic flow.   Depending on the type and stage of injury the following herbal formulas are helpful:

  1. If there is acute inflammation use Kaishore Guggulu herbal formula
  2. If cracking/popping and pain, Yograj Guggulu herbal formula
  3. If the joint is swollen, stiff or cool use Punarnavadi Guggulu herbal formula
  4. Can also take Ashwagandha, Turmeric Musta and Tagar for managing pain and strengthening the joint.

If you need be, use a good brace to support the joint and avoid bending or prolonged weight bearing.   Focus on improving the overall strength of the metabolism and the nervous system to facilitate faster healing.

Recommended solutions mentioned in this post:

  1. Kaishore guggulu tablets for pain relief and inflammation
  2. Ashwagandha powder for joint and muscle strength
  3. Mahanarayan oil for massage
  4. Yogaraj Guggulu tablets for healthy joints
  5. Punarnavadi Guggulu tablets for swollen and puffy joints
  6. Turmeric  – natural anti-inflammatory
  7. Knee brace  for joint support

Tweetables:

Knee Pain With Lunges and Squats  [Click To Tweet]
The REAL Reason Lunges and Squats = Knee Pain [Click To Tweet]
Why Do Lunges and Squats Hurt my Knees?  [Click To Tweet]

*This information is for education purposes only.  Please consult your Physician, Physical Therapist or Wellness Practitioner before starting any rehabilitation, wellness or fitness program.  These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.  These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

(C) Copyright 2016 Manu Kalia All Rights Reserved

Do knee strengthening exercises actually strengthen the knee joint?

What are some tips on strengthening the actual knee joint?

Resistance exercises focus on strengthening the muscles around the joint and if the muscles are strong the joint moves properly and is able to take compressive, shear and torsional load more effectively. Load bearing exercises can also help joint proprioception and the overload placed on the joint results in increased joint, intra/ extra articular ligament, articular cartilage and meniscus strength.

In addition to strengthening exercises, it’s also very important to work on maintaining optimal joint mobility.  Lack of joint mobility can result in injury and poor function.  It’s essential to do regular mobility exercises that take the joint through it’s full range of motion.

For more information on improving knee joint strength follow my recommendations in the book Build Better Knees – Pain-Free Knees Without Medications or Surgery

Some effective holistic medicine treatments that can also help improve the strength of the knee joint include; regular massage with Ashwagandha Bala oil or Sesame oil to strengthen the joint and muscles.   Taking herbal supplements like Yogaraj Guggulu, Ashwagandha, Boswellia Serrata, Glucosamine, Omega 3 fatty acids to provide nutrition to the joint and improve tissue health.

Natural solutions discussed in this post:

  1. Ashwagandha Bala Oil improve strength and wellness
  2. Ashwagandha powder for improving strength
  3. Yogaraj Guggulu tablets for joint recovery and healthy joints
  4. Boswellia Serrata (Sallaki) for healthy joints
  5. Glucosamine  Glucosamine can helps with cartilage production in the joints.
  6. Omega 3 fatty acids  have been show to be helpful for the heart, brain, joints, skin and nervous tissues.

Tweetables:

Effective Holistic Medicine Treatments  [Click To Tweet]
Guide to Knee Strengthening Exercises [Click To Tweet]
All about Knee Strength and Flexibility  [Click To Tweet]

*This information is for education purposes only.  Please consult your Physician, Physical Therapist or Wellness Practitioner before starting any rehabilitation, wellness or fitness program.  These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.  These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

(C) Copyright 2016 Manu Kalia All Rights Reserved

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