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Archive for March, 2010

Heeey Ya! Let the Music Motivate You

Mar 30

Posted by MoniquePT in General Information | View Comments

We all have that song. You know the one. The one you love to sing at the top of your lungs in the shower. It’s on your iPod’s “Top 25 Most Played” list, or it’s on your favorite mix tape if you’re living in the 80′s. You sink sheepishly lower into your seat when you notice another driver watching you belting it out and banging the air drums. When you’re in the safety and privacy of your own home you bust out a few moves like Napoleon Dynamite with fervor and conviction. It puts you in a good mood. You have more energy. It brings you back after a bad day. Music has the ability to do so many things.  Everyone knows how to shake it like a Polaroid picture and when we hear Outkast’s “Hey Ya” it’s hard to resist the pantomime.

The right piece of music will certainly motivate, but it can be a useful tool in other ways in physical therapy.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Sustained Positions And Its Effect on Your Movement

Mar 15

Posted by MoniquePT in General Information, Orthopaedic (Bones), Prevention | View Comments

And Finally...
Did you know that what you do when you aren’t moving will affect how you move later on?  Our body responds to the stresses placed on it everyday and adapts.  The sustained positions we put ourselves in may contribute to certain inflexibilities and a loss in joint range of motion.  Inflexibility and a loss of joint range of motion eventually impairs how we move and our ability to do certain tasks as well as we could.  There are several times when we may be in one position for a long time: sitting, standing, sleeping, lounging… and muscles and joints will adaptively shorten and stiffen based on these positions.  Think about the times during the day when you are in one position for a long time.  For many of us it may be sitting due to increased use of the computer for work and life.  If you work in a profession that requires lots of sitting, Read the rest of this entry »

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Exercise: The Bridge

Mar 5

Posted by MoniquePT in General Information | View Comments

Everyone by now has heard the term “core strength” and about how it’s so important to have it.  The core consists of abdominal, back, shoulder blade, hip, and glute muscles, in other words, the muscles in your trunk that support the spine.  Core strength helps to prevent and recover from a host of injuries, not to mention improve your self image and make you stand a little taller.  When I teach my clients to do a bridge, I emphasize squeezing the glutes together to activate them and maintaining smooth, slow movements.  The more control you have, the better your core strength.  If you feel cramping in your hamstrings (backs of your thighs) with this exercise, then you need to work on squeezing your buttocks together to activate your glutes.  This means your glutes are significantly weak and is something you  should focus on improving in your workouts.  Here are a few videos of a favorite core strengthening exercise: the bridge, and a few of its variations. Read the rest of this entry »

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