Tom W.

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Posted

19 Jun 05:40

00:31

👉Shoulder internal rotation is an important movement that allows you to reach behind your back, across your body, and perform countless daily and athletic tasks. 

🔎Whether it’s tucking in a shirt, fastening a bra, reaching into a back pocket, or following through in a throwing motion, adequate internal rotation mobility is essential in many areas of life. 

🧠When this range of motion is limited, it can contribute to shoulder pain, impingement, and functional limitations. This video shows three exercises that can help improve your shoulder internal rotation mobility.

1️⃣Sleeper Stretch

2️⃣Prone Behind-the-Back Reach

3️⃣Prone Lift-Off

✅If you’ve noticed difficulty reaching behind your back, discomfort with overhead sports, or limitations during daily activities, adding these exercises to your routine may help restore healthy shoulder motion and function.

Posted

17 Jun 05:34

Posted

13 Jun 01:50

00:19

📚The trapezius muscle is a large, flat muscle that sidebends and extends the neck and elevates, rotates, depresses and retracts the shoulder blades.

🧠Trapezius is often thought to be associated with neck tightness, certain types of neck and shoulder pain and neck-related headaches. As such, interventions designed to treat this muscle are commonly utilized in the physical therapy clinic.

🔎One way to address neck tightness and/or pain associated with this muscle is through massage or soft tissue mobilization. Most people are generally familiar with how to massage trapezius, but this video shows a technique I often like to use.

✅Besides massage, it’s important to incorporate stretching and resistance training exercises that target the trapezius muscle. The neck pain program here in the app guides you through three phases of rehab and includes a number of trapezius exercises. Here is a link for the neck pain program.

https://membership.rehabscience.com/programs/neck-pain?category_id=260344

Posted

11 Jun 11:55

Posted

07 Jun 14:40

00:17

🔎Tender points in the posterolateral hip region (gluteus medius and minimus area) are a very common finding in the clinic.

🧠While the physiology underpinning these tender points is likely complex and can result from irritation of hip, lumbar spine and/or sacroiliac joint structures, simple exercise strategies are usually quite effective in terms of reducing discomfort.

✅Here in the app, you will find programs for piriformis syndrome (deep gluteal pain syndrome), SI joint pain and gluteal tendinopathy, which can all help with pain in the glute region.

Posted

06 Jun 08:30

00:20

👉Many people think a spinal manipulation works by “putting a joint back into place.” Research suggests the effects are likely much more neurophysiological than structural.

🧠A thoracic thrust manipulation creates a rapid burst of sensory input from the joints, muscles, and surrounding tissues. This input may temporarily alter how the nervous system processes pain, reduce pain sensitivity, and change muscle activation patterns.

🔎As pain decreases, the body often becomes less protective, allowing movement to feel easier and less restricted. This may explain why many people experience immediate improvements in mobility and comfort following treatment.

👌Interestingly, the audible “pop” is not required for a successful outcome. Research suggests the benefits can occur whether a pop is heard or not.

✅The takeaway: Thoracic thrust manipulation may help create a short-term window of reduced pain and improved movement. Exercise and movement can then help you take advantage of that window to build longer-lasting improvements.

📚 References:

1️⃣ Coronado RA, et al. Changes in Pain Sensitivity Following Spinal Manipulation: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. J Electromyogr Kinesiol. 2012.

2️⃣ Walser RF, et al. The Effectiveness of Thoracic Spine Manipulation for the Management of Musculoskeletal Conditions: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. J Man Manip Ther. 2009.

Posted

04 Jun 14:33

00:53

👉The gluteal region is much more than just the gluteus maximus. Beneath the surface lies a complex network of muscles and nerves that play an essential role in hip stability, movement, and lower extremity function.

📚The large superficial muscle shown here is the gluteus maximus, which primarily contributes to hip extension and external rotation. Beneath it sit the gluteus medius and minimus, which help stabilize the pelvis during walking, running, and single-leg activities.

🔎Deeper still are the six short external rotator muscles of the hip: the piriformis, superior gemellus, obturator internus, inferior gemellus, obturator externus, and quadratus femoris. These muscles act together to provide dynamic stability to the hip joint while assisting with rotation and controlling femoral movement during functional activities.

🧠One of the most important structures in this region is the sciatic nerve, the largest nerve in the body. It exits the pelvis and typically travels beneath the piriformis muscle before descending through the posterior hip and thigh. The sciatic nerve supplies motor and sensory function to much of the lower extremity, making it a clinically important structure in conditions involving buttock pain, posterior thigh pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness.

3

Posted

03 Jun 09:28

00:11

Here is a quick tutorial on how to perform the nordic hamstring exercise at home.

These are a great late stage hamstring strain exercise or prehab drill to keep your hamstrings strong and potentially reduce the risk of suffering a strain.

Did you know that the Nordic hamstring exercise was shown in one study to reduce hamstring re-injuries by close to 85%.

A more comprehensive hamstring rehab program can be found here in the app. Here is a link for the program.

https://membership.rehabscience.com/programs/hamstring-pain?category_id=258965

2

Posted

02 Jun 13:44

00:13

The peroneal or fibularis muscles evert and plantarflex the ankle and help support the arch. I have demonstrated three exercises here that can be used to train the peroneals and may be useful if you want to strengthen the region, if you have had a recent ankle sprain or are experiencing lateral ankle pain.

1️⃣Band eversion and plantarflexion - the key here is to point the foot (plantarflexion) and turn the foot out (eversion) at the same time. The band acts to pull the ankle toward inversion, so the evertors must work to resist the tension.

2️⃣Monster Walk with Band at Toes - in this exercise, the band placement at the toes acts to pull the ankles into inversion, so, again, the evertors are put to work.

3️⃣Calf Raise with Eversion Focus - in this exercise, a band or long towel is placed under the ball of the big toe and put on tension. Pressure must be kept over the big toe or the band/towel will slip out. The peroneals create the eversion necessary during the calf raise to keep the band/towel in place. If it slips out, then you are not engaging the peroneals enough.

✅The ankle sprain program here in the app includes peroneal strengthening exercises. Here is a link for that program.

https://membership.rehabscience.com/programs/ankle-sprain?category_id=261017

Posted

01 Jun 09:13

00:12

🔎In this video, we can see the biceps brachii (long & short heads), brachialis and lateral heal of the triceps brachii as the elbow moves through flexion and extension.

🧠Tendinopathy of the long head of the biceps brachii (LHB) tendon usually causes pain at the front or anterior aspect of the shoulder and is often aggravated with reaching activities, lifting overhead and after strenuous biceps strength training sessions (pull-ups, rowing, climbing, gymnastics, etc).

✅The biceps tendinopathy program can be found here in the app in the shoulder rehab section. Here is a link for the program.

https://membership.rehabscience.com/programs/biceps-tendinopathy?category_id=259882