Author: Atomic Dust

Hip Mobility

Can you move your pelvis like Elvis?

If you can’t, you may not win any dance-offs, but you could set yourself up for lower back pain. Your hips are designed to be mobile. Your low back is designed to be stable. The skinny is that if your hips and pelvis don’t move like they are designed to, your low back will move more to pick up the slack.

#1 problem for tight hips? Sitting. And we as a society sit…A LOT. So with the increased NY resolutions upon us, let’s set ourselves up for success for the New Year.

The low back (lumbar spine) needs to be stable at all times. This will limit the possibility for disc herniations and other nasty problems. But if your hips are tight and immobile, you’re opening to door for potential low back problems. More on low back stability in a future post.

Thanks to the guys at Movement at Medicine for these easy drills. http://movement-as-medicine.com/4-hip-mobility-drills-to-improve-your-squat/. The key with all these positions is to maintain good posture in your low back. If your position resembles an elephant performing yoga… take a step back and reset.

Always quality over quantity. These movements will help keep those pesky low back pains at bay. If you need something more specific or have questions about a particular problem, call InBox Functional Rehab to set up an evaluation.

 

Dr. B

Front Squat Mojo

Do you have cringe when front squats are programmed? Do you suddenly start grabbing your wrists and rolling them in clockwise and counter-clockwise circles in and OCD pattern? The good news is that you’re not alone. Even more good news is the problem is more than likely not in your wrist. (Air fist pump). Let’s look at 3 big culprits.

1. Lats
2. Tricep
3. Wrist flexors

First, The biggest problem that I see in clinic with a #frontsquatproblem is an overactive latissimus dorsi (lat. for short). If the lats are overactive the ‘elbows up’ cue is nearly impossible the achieve. The muscle is not technically ‘short’. It’s more likely that the lats have become neurologically irritated causing the tiny muscle units to hold contractions. (More on the neuro part of muscle tightness in a future post). To release some of the tension in the lats and regain normal ROM, hop on a foam roller for about 90 seconds and retest your front rack position.

The same over activity that you have in your lats, you could be experiencing in your triceps. This will also contribute to a lack of front rack perfection. In order to get into optimal elbow flexion, the tricep needs to be supple and pliable. In order to reduce the tension and adhesion in the tricep, hop a rolling and give this a whirl. Just like the lat, always retest after about 90 seconds of focused work.

Finally let’s look at the wrist flexors. These can become chronically tightened from all the computer work we do as a society. Over activity in the flexors limit the amount of range on motion available for wrist extension. Take a baseball, lacrosse ball, something similar to release the tension in the tissue. **Note: go much slower and be mythodical with the release. This dude took way too much pre-workout.

There’s always more to the story, and if these 3 tenchiques don’t help, it might be more of a joint problem within the wrist itself. We have 8 small bones (called carpals) arranged in 2 rows of 4. These rows need to glide and slide on each other as the wrist is flexed and extended. If there is aberrant motion or the motion is simply lacking in these rows, Houston, we have a problem! A specific assessment by your chiro, PT, sports med. doc is needed to determine if the wrist is the problem. As always, contact InBox Functional Rehab to get assessed so you can Feel Better Faster

 

Dr. B