My Latest Articles and Movement Retraining Sessions
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Subscribe HereDo you find you use a banister to pull yourself up the steps, or do you jump with your "good" leg so the painful one doesn't have to do any work? Maybe you go up leading with the better leg and try to keep the "bad" knee out of it entirely. These are all good compensatory strategies, but they do...
Turning in bed can be painful or challenging for people with arthritis in their low back or hips, but it doesn't have to be. If you use the correct body mechanics, you can take the stress off your joints and easily get in and out of bed. When you learn to roll rather than lift your body you let...
Getting up and down from the floor can be quite challenging when you have arthritis. Previous videos have shown how you can do this on your own. If you are looking for an even easier way you only need a step stool for easy and pain-free trips from the ground.
Getting up and down is a lot...
FREE YOUR BLADES! The shoulder is made up of two bones, your humerus (upper arm) and your scapula (shoulder blade). To have a healthy movement pattern in the shoulder there has to be a specific and coordinated sequence of movement between the two. It is very common for people to take on a pattern...
Strengthening your core muscles will help to stabilize your spine preventing pain and injury. Common core exercises require you to get on the floor and require maximal muscle engagement, however, effective spine stability is more about coordinating muscles to control your body rather than...
Getting up and down from the floor is an important life skill, but can be difficult or even dangerous for many people. It requires strong leg muscles, good mobility in your ankles, knees, hips, and back, and good balance. People who struggle to get on and off the ground often make the activity...
Throughout the night, immobility and dehydration deplete the synovial fluid in your joints making them feel stiff and uncomfortable. Synovial fluid is a thick liquid located in your joints cushioning the ends of your bones and reducing friction when you move. Arthritic joints are very...
Putting on shoes and socks can be pretty difficult if you have arthritis in the hips, knees, or low back. It requires flexibility in your joints and a certain amount of coordination of your muscles to easily cross one leg over the other. This exercise teaches you how to maximize your ability to...
Your sleep position can greatly impact how you feel in the mornings. You may be habitually adopting positions that put a low-level strain on your joints. When you maintain that strain over hours you end up with pain and stiffness in your joints, especially if you have arthritis. Whether you...
Managing stairs is one of the most physically demanding things we go through in our day-to-day lives and a frequent cause of pain for people with arthritis in the legs or low back. You need a different type of strength and control for going down stairs than going up. That is why some people feel...
Stairs are a common challenge for people with joint pain. Some try going up leading with their "better" leg, or going up sideways, or just avoiding them altogether. All of these strategies focus on avoiding pain rather than improving technique. In this video, I demonstrate how to use your...
For some rolling in bed can be a challenging or even painful activity. I often watch patients struggle needlessly while attempting to roll on my treatment table. By following a few key principles nearly everyone can roll with less effort and little to no pain. In this video, you will see how to...
When it comes to sitting, we actually have a lot of options for positions and postures. However, we tend to gravitate to the same position all the time due to our habits and preferences. This will strain the same areas all the time and can lead to pain or joint breakdown. You may not give a lot...
How you shift weight from your back foot to your front foot will determine the type of stress you put through your knees and therefore how much pain you will have while walking. In this video, you will explore your own personal tendencies for weight shifting and learn how to make changes that...
Getting your arms over your head is a very complex coordination of actions between the arm, the shoulder blade, and the ribs and mid-back. People often subconsciously hold down their shoulder blades or stiffen their torsos restricting arm movement. This makes raising the arms strenuous and can...
We don't live life laying down, so it is important to practice core control skills in a standing position. In this session, we will take the skill that you have developed in using your core from laying, to standing against the wall, to standing with support, to freestanding. By the end of this...
Healthy movement begins at your center. The ability to use your core muscles to drive movement in the limbs will make you stronger and allow you to move more easily and with less pain. Being strong is important, but if you are not able to coordinate that strength to harmoniously engage with the...
Going downstairs is a significantly different activity than going up. Descending stairs requires different muscle coordination, produces strain in different areas, and requires your muscles to work in a different way as compared to ascending. Last week we broke down the process for going...
Marathon runners are less likely to have knee arthritis than the general population. That was the conclusion of a 2018 study in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Of the 675 distance runners studied, each with a minimum of 5 marathons completed, and a mean age of 48, arthritis was reported by...
Climbing stairs is a complex movement that requires a number of different skills to all come together seamlessly. Inability in even one piece of the movement can cause compensations leading to joint breakdown and pain.
In this video, I break down the act of climbing stairs into its key...
In our last session, we explored standing taller by changing the position of your spine. Today we will build on that by examining how you use your hips when you are standing. Most people who lose height from the hips have no idea that it is happening.
In this session, we will perform a diagnostic...
Do you feel like you're stooping forward a little more than you used to? Has your doctor told you you've "lost" a few inches? Well, you are not alone. Postural changes are a normal part of the aging process, but you can do something about it.
Join me in this session and explore a movement...
Rising from sitting is a challenge for millions of people. Whether you struggle to rise easily or sit gently or have pain in the joint when you do it, there are a few simple steps you can take to feel better right away.
In this video, we will discuss the 3 fundamental aspects of sit to...
Sit up straight!!! How many times have you heard this or perhaps even said it to someone else who was all slouched over? Today we will learn to let go of the idea of straight "perfect" posture and learn to sit up strong.
Understanding how to utilize your skeleton for postural support is the key...